Make Me (Editing)

seven (edited)

After the awful weekend that I'd had, walking into work on Monday morning actually came as a relief. It didn't change my mood, or make me forget, but it certainly did provide a sort of distraction. As soon as I entered through the doors of Gray's Consulting, it was business as usual; people all over the place moving every which way, and the soothing sound of small-talk.

Small-talk was such a funny thing. It was humanity's way of building rapport, without the added stress of vulnerability. We were all equally guilty of it, but it was certainly a strange concept when you took a step back and examined it from a different perspective.

"How was your weekend?" Bella called over to me from where she sat behind the main desk.

"It was good, thanks," I smiled back. "Yours?"

I was just as culpable of idle chat as anyone in this office, but it wasn't like I was going to pour out my heart and soul to the receptionist in such a public setting.

"Morning, Al," Nikki called from her desk as I headed for the hallway at the back of the room. "Have a good weekend?"

"I'll leave that for lunchtime," I replied, earning a reassuring smile from my office confidante. I sent a small one back, silently thanking her for the insight and support that I already knew she would give me when she found out what had happened.

Switching on my computer, I was met with the usual pile of mundane tasks, ranging from contacting important clients to organising my boss's disgraceful filing cabinet. This was perhaps my least favourite job, as it was unbelievably time consuming and required me to be in Mr Gray's intimidating presence for much longer than I liked. Leaving this until the end of my day, I got started on making some phone calls.

By the time twelve o'clock hit, I was just over half way through my day's list of jobs. I swivelled my chair around to take in the impressive Manhattan skyline, which was currently being attacked by rain. The downpour had started on Friday night, and hadn't let up since, which had only added to my gloom.

Given the current weather situation, we decided that today would be one of our cafeteria lunches for the week.

"So tell me about this weekend of yours," Nikki began as the three of us we took our seats around the table.

I started from the beginning, recounting in detail how I'd originally gotten the job, kept it a secret, and how it had ultimately come back to bite me a few nights ago.

"The bottom line is," I concluded, "you don't have to worry about meeting my boyfriend anymore."

"He sounds like a dick anyway," Conner was the first to respond.

"I wish he was," I chuckled. "It would make this whole thing much easier."

"He ended it like a dick though," Nikki commented. I had to agree with her on that one. "You deserve better than that."

"We were together for five years," I sighed. "I don't even remember how it feels to not have someone."

"But you have us," Conner smiled. "And if there's one thing the both of us are experts at, it's being single."

"We should give her a makeover!" Nikki practically slapped Conner out of excitement. "Just like I did to you when you last went through a breakup."

"You're messing with me," I laughed. "There's no way this man has ever been anything other than freaking gorgeous.

"Show her the pictures," Nikki hit him a couple more times, forcing him to take out his phone and find the evidence.

He turned the phone around so I could see what was on his screen. The photo was of a nerdy teen, with clunky braces and thick black glasses which failed to hide his acne-scarred face. If it weren't for the boy's piercing green eyes, I would have doubted that it was of the same guy who was now sitting beside me.