1.4 | If The Shoe Fits ✓

02 | the one with the tampon party

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the one with the tampon party

"WHERE IS EVERYONE?"

Nala looked up at the sound of his voice. Seung Jae made a beeline for her table, but his gaze swept around the room.

She immediately sat up straight and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. An empty room and dimmed lights. For all intents and purposes, this was the very setting for an office romance. Odds were, though, she'd bound to mess things up with that notoriously bad luck of hers.

"They went to the Mortezion," she said. "There's a grand dinner coming up, and our department's in charge of preparations. I'm just finalising the guest list. The big boss man wants to invite the head of Breckenridge Home for Orphans, which is a nice gesture but completely tedious. That place doesn't even have a website! I had to look through the phone book for a way to contact them."

His lips twitched. "Did you get them?"

"Yes, but only barely. I even had to make a trip to the Home this morning. Bloody Kaden Bretton and whoever put that stupid idea into his head!"

"Careful—walls have ears."

He brought out his clipboard and leaned towards her desk. But then he stopped. Confused by the startled expression on his face, Nala followed the direction of his gaze to...

Shite.

"I didn't know Bretton Industries made tampons," he mused at last.

She stared in dismay at the Tampax boxes stacked on her table. Honestly, it hadn't seemed so appalling to have them scattered across her desk when no one was around. But now, it seemed that her major flaw of procrastination was finally coming to nip her in the butt.

"Right, those!" She let out a breezy laugh and grabbed her pen to sign off. "See, funny story—I passed a department store on the way back from Breckenridge, and they had these tampons on sale. Now, normally, you hardly ever see them at half price. And they're really expensive for something you stick up your vagina for four hours."

"Is that so?"

"Absolutely. Anyway, I bought a bunch because I'm running low on them myself and..."

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered that she was still talking. Still bloody talking. Say something, she thought. Anything to save your dignity.

"...and all the girls here will be having a blast the next few days because our menstrual cycles have synced up, so you best stay away!"

The startled pause that ensued made her wish she had a plot of land. Any plot of land, really, to dig her own grave and lie in there for all eternity.

Cheeks burning, she scribbled her name across the clipboard and shoved it back at him. "Here you go!"

"Thanks." He returned the clipboard to his bag and shot her another glance. "Well, have a good...tampon party, I guess?"

"Oh, um, we will."

His lips twitched again and he said a quick goodbye before heading out of the office. As the glass doors swung shut, Nala let out a groan and buried her head in her arms.

There goes my dignity.