Ashley's POV
'Finally! ' I couldn't help but blurt out.
'What's up?' Beside me, Gabby raised an eyebrow.
'Time to knock off.' I said cheerfully.
'You're acting weird, Ms Perez, ' Gabby raised a perfectly trimmed brow and flicked her long curtain of purple hair over her shoulder. 'You're usually the last to leave.'
'Call it the Monday blues. ' I shrugged, dumping everything into my tote bag quickly. 'See you tomorrow! '
'Hey, Ash! ' Quinta came up to me.
'Yeah? ' I said,checking my watch. I wasn't actually looking forward to what I was going to next. A blind date. Yup. Thanks to my mom. And my inability to get guys.
'I think Andrew needs your help, but he's too shy to ask.'
'Huh? '
'He's been rewatching all the Buzzfeed videos the whole day. So I gave him an idea... '
'Such as?' I sighed. Quinta had some pretty crazy ideas sometimes. Yes, even crazy for me, Ashley Perez.
'I suggested he could collab with you on a video... yknow like how Justin and I did... ' she shot me a guilty smile.
I shrugged. 'Alright, but not now, I actually have-' I paused. 'Actually, is Andrew free now?'
Sorry mom. Work takes precedence. Even though the guy I'm about to work with is an emotionaless robot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew's POV
'So Ashley agreed. ' Quinta came bounding up to me.
'Huh?'
'To help you with your video?'
'Oh, um. Actually, I threw one together, so it's cool. Um, want to see?' I offered.
'Alright. ' she shrugged. 'What's it about? '
'15 Childhood Moments Everyone Can Relate To, ' I said, hitting 'play'.
After 2:46 mins, Quinta nodded. 'That was interesting. '
'Ok, it's bad. What?' I sighed, feeling kinda annoyed that I've only come up with this all day only to be told that it sucked ass.
'It's really not too bad. Just, a little mainstream. '
'Ugh, I'll work with her then. ' I groaned, not masking my dissatisfaction. Seems like everyone at Buzzfeed was bent on making my life more miserable than it already is. I plastered on a fake smile. 'For the sake of this company.'
'That's great! ' Quinta perked up almost instantly. ' I mean, I can help y'all do the scripting and stuff. Honestly, I've been wanting to do couple scripts for so damn long, and usually the lines I have with Justin are not scripted by us. ' she rambled on relentlessly.
Guess I'd better call up Emily and tell her I have lots of work to do. Even though it's the first day of my new job.
'Hey, ' Ashley greeted. Without realising it, we had walked over to her work station. The lively sparkle in her eyes seemed to have dimmed and her smile doesn't seem so genuine. Well Andrew, you deserve it, after the way you'd given her the cold shoulder.
'Ok, guys, shall we begin?' Quinta was practically jumping up amd down.
'Whenever you're ready. ' I stuffed my hands into my jeans pockets.
'So I was thinking... '
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashley's POV
'Ash, scoot a little closer towards Andrew. Yes! Stay there. ' Quinta beamed.
My skin grew warm, then hot as I brushed against his arm. I usually wasn't this uncomfortable even around strangers, but it was a different matter with Andrew. I think even my body/subconscious could tell how weirded out I felt.
'Ok Andrew, tilt your chin up and look into her eyes for a brief second. '
Andrew looked up at me, dullness a hazy film that dimmed his blue eyes. My heart skipped a beat involuntarily. But it was a fleeting moment and the next second I was staring at his blond hair as he looked back down.
My hormones are being weird. I should get a period calendar.
'Alright guys! Great work. ' Quinta replayed the shot with a giant grin on her face. I've never really seen her look so excited and happy. And we're talking about Quinta here.
Andrew and I looked away from each other awkwardly.
'Sorry I've held you back for so long, I'm such a perfectionist. ' Quinta apologised sheepishly. The digital clock on the wall flashed 20:33. 'I gotta go now. See you tomorrow guys! '
I busied myself with checking for new text messages (0) while Quinta bounded away.
'Hey, um, Ashley? ' Andrew cleared his throat. 'You were good. I mean... '
'Thanks. You were too.' I absent mindely ran my fingers through my hair, as if it wasn't messed up enough already.
'And um, I'm sorry about today. I wasn't the best colleague. Or person. ' Andrew continued to say, totally surprising me.
'It's cool. And it's not your fault, I am not exactly having the best time of my life today. I was kinda supposed to go on a stupid blind date... ' I sighed. Um, did I just admit something I never normally would to a random person?
Andrew let out a (surprisingly) low chuckle. 'I feel you. Before I met my girlfriend, my parents would always ask me when I was getting one etc etc, ' he rolled his eyes.
Oh, he has a girlfriend. Wasn't quite sure how I felt about it, but okay. I mean, I guess he's pretty nice when you get past the Mr Cool Guy facade.
My stomach chose this time to let out an embarrassingly loud rumble. 'I haven't eaten anything since late morning, ' I explained sheepishly. I was too busy editing my next video. That happened a lot, actually. I always got so involved in something I tended to neglect something else equally or more important- my stomach in this case.
'Want to go grab something? ' Andrew asked.
'Sure,' I perked up.
Hmm, this day wasn't too bad, after all.
A/N: a rather long chapter! I really hope you guys enjoyed this, and don't forget to vote and comment because I'd really appreciate it. (':
