Make Me (Editing)

twenty four

Going against my friends' advice, I showed up to work on Monday morning looking completely decent and professional. After spending the weekend with Nate, who was blissfully unaware of half the drama that was going down, I'd practically forgotten that anything was going wrong in my life. So, in the spirit of keeping it that way, I'd decided not to play into Tyler's games.

"Good morning, Bella," I greeted the receptionist as I walked past the desk towards the elevators.

"Morning, Al," she smiled brightly. "Hey, I was actually wondering if- ah- there was any chance you wanted to have lunch with me?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I'd love to."

"Great!" She grinned once again. "Just swing by the desk when you're on break and I'll be good to go."

"Sweet, I'll see you then."

When I got up to the top floor, Nikki was nowhere in sight. I recalled her mentioning an early-morning meeting with a media outlet that she'd been dreading for weeks. I had to hope that it was going well for her, as the work that she did often had rather large implications on the company as a whole.

After successfully making it to my office without attracting too much attention, I started up my computer and located my list of jobs for the day. Before starting on the rather lengthy list, I sent a quick text to the group chat I had with Nikki and Conner, informing them of my temporary change of lunch plans. I then put my phone off to the side and started on my work.

About half way through the morning, I got a knock on my door and instantly prayed that it wasn't my boss.

"Come in," I tentatively called out, straightening myself out just in case.

To my great relief, it was Nikki who opened the door, yawning as she walked over to the seat in front of my desk.

"Long morning?" I chuckled.

"Oh gosh, is it too early for alcohol?" She replied, her eyes closing shut involuntarily.

"Lucky for you," I chuckled opening up one of my desk drawers, pulling out a metal bottle, "I had a feeling today would be entirely too much for one of us."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Nikki took the bottle from my hands, taking a good swig of whatever cheap liquor I'd managed to find in my cupboards this morning. "I'm not even gonna ask what this is."

"Oh that's a relief," I laughed, "because your guess is as good as mine."

My admission didn't seem to bother her as she took a couple more long swigs of the amber liquid.

"I'll leave the rest for you," she screwed the lid back on, sliding the bottle across my desk to where I sat. "I'm assuming you'll be needing it in good time."

"Thanks," I smiled, returning it to it's hiding spot. "So anyway, how was the meeting?"

"Oh it was great," she grinned, straightening up in her chair a little. "Everything was signed that needed to be signed, and the bitch seemed to buy my bullshit, so that's all I can ask for."

"Well congratulations then."

As we were chatting away, both of our phones simultaneously rung, notifying us of a new text. Sure enough, Connor had responded to my message on the group chat.

Connor: wowwww cheating on us with the receptionist I SEE HOW IT IS

I typed up a quick reply, playing along with his joke.

Ally: gosh babe just cause we went out a couple times doesn't mean I owe you another date

Conner: and here I was thinking that Niks was the one with commitment issues