Writing's Second Taste

Extra Two: Rush

I put on my denim jacket and grabbed my bag that settled on the floor underneath my desk. This day was more exhausting than usual because my precious co-interns just love this job so much that they kept dumping all the work on me.

I didn't even bother with saying goodbye to any of them. They were just going to make my head hurt.

You know that an elevator is supposed to stay open for twenty seconds before it closes again? And in that twenty seconds, Mister Annoying and his little posse managed to get inside the same elevator as me, much to my dismay.

"Grace!" he grinned, as if we weren't in the middle of an insult match this morning, "Why didn't you tell us you were a Lelyveld?"

Please take that fake pleasantries far away from me.

"I don't see you parading your last name, so why should I?" I replied with a raised brow, my eyes focused on the screen showing the descending floor numbers.

At this point, I didn't care if they thought that I was rude.

Still, for this little buzzing bumblebee that won't shut up, it wasn't enough to deter him, "So we were planning to go drinking tonight, want to come?"

And by the grace of god, the elevator doors opened to the sight of the ground floor. I marched out with a huff, but still not forgetting to send a friendly smile to the receptionist and security guard.

These people were seriously thinking of drinking? When we have another day of work tomorrow? Unbelievable!

"Grace? What do you say?" he kept of probing and I was a hair's width away from snapping on him once again. When we all managed to get out of the building, I felt like the universe decided to bless me with one thing to make it up for the shitty day that I just got.

I saw Adam walking along the sidewalk, looking around with a to-go cup in his hand. We might not be close, heck I don't even consider us more than acquaintances, but it was enough for me to get these people off of my back.

"Adam!" I yelled out, faking enthusiasm, "It's so nice of you to pick me up."

He was so confused, it was written all over his face. Still, I continued on with my act and turned to the other interns, "Sorry guys, but I already have plans."

I shot them a tightlipped smile and stood next to Adam, silently urging him to walk away with me. Even though he had no idea what was happening, he followed me until we rounded up the corner and I was sure they couldn't see us anymore.

"I'm so sorry but I really had to make up an excuse to get them away from me," I explained hastily, constantly looking over my shoulder as if they were going to appear at any moment, "Thank you so much for playing along."

He blinked for a second to let my words register before his lips turned into an amused smile, "It's alright, I was just on my way back to the hotel. I tried to go around but it's rather boring when you're alone."

"Where's Sienna?" I asked because if he had only asked her, I was sure that she would say yes, "Didn't you ask her to go with you?"

"Well, she went me for a while but her boyfriend called and I told her to go ahead," he said, "I didn't want to go home just yet so I thought I would stroll around for a bit."

Wait, didn't he say that the main reason he was here was because he came for his best friend's birthday, "And your best friend?"

"Uh, she and her fiancé had to go to California for work reasons," he told me, scratching the back of his head, "I was supposed to go with them, but I already promised Sienna that I'd meet her in New York so I told them to go ahead without me. She booked me a flight for tomorrow morning instead."