Chapter Six

Audrey

"No way," she laughs, throwing her head back and covering her mouth with her hand, muffling the sound.

I want to tell her to remove her hand. I want to witness the full effect of her laughter, from her crinkling eyes to her wide smile. If it's half as beautiful as it sounds, then it's worth the view.

I have been talking for half an hour and I can't remember when last I heard the sound of my voice for this long. It's refreshing.

And she's actually listening. I didn't think I had the words to get someone like her to listen, to be invested, and even laugh. It's already the best day I have had in a while and it's barely midday. I am talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

"No seriously, I literarily just walked in. My first day on the job and the only thing he could ask on meeting me was what I was mixed with," I continue as she cracks up.

As I'm narrating my first meeting with Mr. Briggs, the memories come flooding back to me, and I realize I haven't shared them with anyone.

"That's so inappropriate," she shakes her head.

"After I replied, he told me I could be passing and no one would know."

I wanted to ask him why I would want to do that but I needed the job, so I kept my smart mouth to myself. Maybe that's why I got to keep the job that I was clearly not qualified for.

"So tell me, what's your first impression of me?"

I pause. The question catches me off guard. Why would she want to know what I thought of her? To be honest, I thought she was an angel. She popped up unexpectedly, glowing with a heavenly radiance, and then she offered me the one thing I needed.

"I thought you were a nice person, and still think you are." I simply put.

Scarlett bursts into laughter, this time not covering her mouth. As I imagined, it's beautiful.

"If you tell anyone that knows me that I'm nice, they will think you are full of bullshit."

"Well, you are nice to me."

"Only to you Audrey," She smiles. "Only to you," She whispers.

The rest of the day was a blur. The only thing that mattered about the day and I will never forget was, seeing her laugh and it was beautiful.

~~~~

"Late night?" I ask, putting my lunch in a paper bag.

"Yeah," I watch a shirtless Tripp lazily walk into the kitchen. He opens the refrigerator and gives it a quick scan before he looks up at me, "No milk?"

"I will go grocery shopping when I get out of work today."

"No worries, I will do it before I leave this afternoon."

"What time did you get back yesterday?"

I tried to stay up yesterday night, waiting for him but I ended up falling asleep. I heard him come in but I was too lazy to get up.

Back then, no matter the time he arrived, I would sit up in anticipation, listening for the sound of his voice as he recounted his day. Then we will have dinner together. Now, I need to consider the fact that I have to get to work early.

"By 3, I guess."

I walk out of the kitchen and see my bag resting on the couch, exactly where I left it. "You should get some sleep. The sandwich on the counter is breakfast."

I walk back to the kitchen. "Before I forget, I need you to be available this weekend. Daisy is finally visiting."

I can see signs of protest on his face but he doesn't voice it out.

Tripp is not one to complain. He tries to look at the positives of every situation. With so many negatives around us, I just hope he doesn't get tired.

I know I am.

"You got to promise, Tripp," I say with a straight face.

"You know your sister doesn't like me, right?"

"She doesn't know you." I sigh, "That's why you need to be there."

"And I will," He says in defeat.

"Thanks, I got to go."

"Wait a minute." He follows me out of the kitchen. "There's something different about you today." He says with an eyebrow raised.

I freeze. "What?"

"Relax, you look beautiful as always. Is that a new dress?"

"This old thing?" I shrug like I didn't spend hours trying to find it in the heap of our clothes.

I bought this short black dress a while back as a birthday gift to myself but I haven't found an occasion to wear it, so I decided to put it on today. I also spent hours this morning in front of the mirror to make my curls perfect.

"I love it but you know," He walks up to me with a mischievous smile on his face. "I will like it better off."

He begins to lean in, I take several steps back.

"You are going to ruin my makeup," I say, taking another step back.

"Since when do you wear makeup?"

Also, I did a little makeup.

I offer a cheeky grin as I say, "I got to go," hurrying out of the apartment.

~~~

I adjust my dress for the thousandth time as I stand with a cup of coffee in hand. From the window, I saw Scarlett's car pull up minutes ago. Since then, my palms have been sweaty, my heart beating fast, and I have been torn between sitting down and standing up.

I should probably sit. She will think I'm weird, just standing there. Before I can walk back to my sit, she walks in with a cup of coffee already in her hand.

"Good morning," I say with a bright smile on my face.

She didn't respond, her thumbs tapping away on the phone screen. "I want today's schedule on my table as soon as possible." She says, her head still buried down.

The smile on my face slowly fades as my heart sinks.

She looks up and I could feel her eyes slowly taking in my appearance. I feel like the ground should open up and swallow me.

Her eyes are back on her screen. "I have a meeting with Mr. Bailey in an hour, so I need you to come into the office in the middle of the meeting and think of an excuse to get me out."

"Okay, I will," I say, fighting back tears. She had already walked to her office before I could complete my words.

I don't know why I am getting emotional. This is embarrassing. I walk to my chair teary-eyed and I drop the cup of coffee on the table.

I blame my period.

I can't help but recall our conversation yesterday. Maybe I jinxed it by calling her a nice person. Maybe it's silly of my thinking I can be friends with my boss.

~~~

My day hasn't been going great. The last thing I need is to sit through an uncomfortable lunch with Zoe and her crew.

I was seated alone at the beginning of lunch, then all of a sudden, Zoe and friends came to my table to join me.

Feels like high school all over again.

Right now, I won't mind sitting with Jamal and listening to him go on and on about his kid. It's better than this ambush.

"I love your dress," Zoe starts.

I pause for a second, dropping my sandwich on the plate. Trying to wrap my head around the compliment directed at me.

They shade me; they talk about me but they hardly talk to me, now compliments?

I don't blame them, though. When I first started working with them, I wasn't exactly friendly and I kept to myself. Because at the back of my head, I thought this job wasn't permanent. I actually believed that Tripp could make it big here. So there's no need to fake a friendship but now, this job is looking permanent to me and I don't have work friends.

"Thanks," I say lowly, not lifting my head up.

I once heard them remark that my clothing style was that of a tired, working-class mother of three.

"So, how's your new boss?" Jody goes straight to the point.

There it is, the main reason they are here. They are not interested in me but in Scarlett. But to be fair, I am also interested in Scarlett.

"Uh, she-"

Jody interrupts me, "I heard her family owns Bells digitals, our rival company. And she like, comes from like generational wealth."

Zoe continues, "She looks like she comes from wealth. And she has a twin. I remember meeting him once at a media conference once. He is swoon-worthy."

"My boss doesn't like the idea they gave her such a high position. He says it is because she is a Bell not because she is qualified."

"Your boss is a misogynistic piece of shit. Scarlett is qualified." As soon as those words come out of my mouth, I freeze. I slowly raise my head and am met with their eyes widened in surprise, a reflection of my own expression. I can't believe I said that out loud.

"Well, I heard that Mr. Bailey puts total trust in her hence the reason he fired Mr. Briggs without hesitation," Jody says. They both continue their speculation about who Scarlett is.

It seems they aren't trying to get information from me. They have all they need. I admit, unlike all their other conversations, I am invested in this one. I hate to get to know Scarlett through this gossip but I will take what I can get.

You amuse me, Scarlett Bell.

~~~

I close my eyes, feeling my heart pound in my chest before I firmly knock on the door with my balled-up fist.

"Come on in," I hear her voice from the other side of the room.

I feel my breath seize just by hearing her voice. I pushed open the door, gathering enough courage to walk in.

"I came to drop off the files you requested before I head home," I say, standing far away from the desk as possible. I thought it will make me less nervous, but it's not working.

The view of her office is vibrant with the colors of the setting sun. It's penetrating the glassed wall, illuminating Scarlett's frame.

It's simply unreal.

She looks up at me from her laptop. "Drop it here," she gestures at her table.

I walk up to her table and the papers rustled in my hands as I drop them. I want to stand and stare, watch her work, and be Scarlett-whoever that is- but I can't, so I find myself walking away.

"By the way Audrey," she calls out to me. I turn around. "You look beautiful in the dress." She softly says.

The moment I heard those words, I knew I'd been longing to hear them all day. A compliment from her is what I wanted. I feel my cheeks heat up, so I turn around to hide it.

What are you doing to me, Scarlett?