Catfish (GirlxGirl)

Ch. 1 : One of Those Days

When Kelsey got to work that day, the place was in an uproar. She could hardly see the elevator, a straight shot from the front door through the lobby, through all the people milling around in various states of anxiousness. 

"What on earth?" she murmured, working her way through the crowd. 

"This way for the Gallery, that desk there to make an appointment!" The docent was working overtime, pointing this way and that, whirling in his tailored vest and slacks like a character on Broadway. Kelsey tried to smile at him, but he was directing a mile a minute and didn't even seem to see her. Not that she ever got more than a brief, tight-lipped smile from him, anyway. Or anyone on the main floor. She smiled that way herself and ducked her head down. No one hailed her on the way to the elevator. 

She got on with three other people. Nobody said a word. The muzak piping through was the same old MIDI melody. Kelsey tried to keep from humming under her breath. She studied herself in the mirrored wall instead.

Same old her, too.

Brown hair pulled up and stuffed into a bun overemphasized the roundness of her face, and pewter rim glasses dulled her already unremarkable hazel eyes. Kelsey frowned and pouted her lips, her lipstick already smudged. She could fix it with a finger, but she'd probably only make it worse, and she was wearing a light color blouse today so couldn't use her sleeve.

Her waist didn't nip in far enough and her hips were too curvy. Perched on loafers with heels, in hose, Kelsey felt like a brown paper bag on a coat rack.

She departed the elevator in the same silence she'd boarded. It wasn't until she was slipping into her cubicle that anyone said anything directly to her.

"Ms. Kardinsky, lovely to see you as always." It was the guy from the cubicle next to hers. He had hair like Justin Timberlake and eyes the color of mold. He wore suspenders; not because he genuinely wanted to be stylish, but because he was a pretentious asshole. Today's print run of girls all wanted Christian Grey, but in this economy not all men could afford a tailor. And few men make a suit from Ross look like a Brioni Vanquish. 

This was not one of them. He was leaning his elbow on the cubicle wall like he owned the place, but that wasn't white gold stitching pulling apart at the seam.

His coffee mug was steaming. He'd just come from the break room. Kelsey could hear tittering from that direction, and could have rolled her eyes. This guy had always made such an impression on the younger, prettier employees. She'd seen him chatting them up, all suave exterior barely concealing an eager, handsy puppy. 

But his smile was more like a shark's when he continued to speak with her, saying, "I hear the quarterly retreat is in Bali this year. Do you think you'll be there?"

Of course what he meant was, "Would anyone care to bring you?"

Asshole, Kelsey thought.

"I'm sure I don't know," she said. "Are you taking anyone?" She kept her face pleasant as she said it. 

The asshole--she didn't even rightly remember his name--inspected his fingernails. She'd made him uncomfortable, though he was good at not showing it.

"We'll see," he said to his nails.

Then he turned on his heel. "Have a productive day, Grammar."

Since no one could see her, Kelsey stuck her tongue out at his back.

* * * 

That evening after she drove home from work, she propped open her laptop on top of her four-slice toaster in the kitchen while she made dinner. The space was cramped, but she made do. It was... cozy. As she swayed from the stove to the laptop and back, the floor creaked underfoot. 

A**hole asserted himself again, she typed into the chat window. She sent it.

The typing indicator popped up almost instantly. 

>glitchiebee: he's such a prick

>glitchiebee: you should report him

Kelsey chuckled to herself. She whirled around the kitchen, stirring her pasta and sipping her water bottle full of energy drink.

<grammari4n: he hasn't done anything worth reporting, yet

>glitchiebee: if only being a f***ing d**k were illegal

>glitchiebee: how was work?

Sipping her drink, Kelsey thought about what to tell her friend. She tended to fly off the handle when Kelsey told her little stupid things that people said or did or didn't do at work. It was sweet, but sometimes it got a little overwhelming. 

<grammari4n: uneventful. i got my project moving smoothly again

Kelsey worked for a popular architectural magazine. She and others on her floor helped set typefaces and format pages. She didn't mind her job, loved working at the computer, but she'd be perfectly fine never having to wear a skirt again much less every day at work. 

>glitchiebee: f***ng awesome

As she pulled the pasta off the stove to drain, Kelsey smiled over at the screen. 

>glitchiebee: are we all set for the new episode of trn bc i am nOT ready

Turntown, or TRN for short, was their favorite show. It was about a town in New England that kept seeing paranormal and supernatural activity, and most of its residents had secrets. In the current season, they had just found out that Devon, the bad boy lead, and his sister Sarah were trapped in a basement being tortured by an early-series villian who had secretly returned to town. Of course the episode had ended with a cliffhanger, the fandom was going nuts, and Kelsey and Richie were no exception. 

<grammari4n: you know it. we're gonna die

>glitchiebee: so long as my bby doesn't i'm good

Richie was vehemently in love with Devon's sister. Kelsey felt a small, secret smile form on her lips.

Kelsey was a little bit in love with Richie. 

That was okay. She was okay. She was perfectly fine never progressing this relationship beyond chatting. No photos, no Facebooks. It's when things get real, get serious, that you tend to get burned. Kelsey could spend the rest of however long just imagining what Richie looked like based on how she spoke in the chat, and talking with her about whatever. Richie got her.

<grammari4n: i'm here for u

They had met on a fan forum for Turntown some months ago, and Kelsey wasn't planning to go anywhere.

She could only hope Richie felt the same way.

* * *

Please comment and let me know what you think of the story, the characters, anything! I'm not sure when I'll continue this one, but it's ever at the back of my mind.