"Annie what did you do to that woman?" Shirley asked with a concerned look slowly spreading across her face.
Defensively, Annie replied "I didn't do anything to that woman."
Britta stopped texting to look Annie straight in the eye "She left the party crying. Not to mention I saw you two fighting. The question isn't what did you do to that woman, the question is why did you guys start fighting."
The study group members, with the exception of Jeff, were sitting at their usual table. They were all silent as they waited for Annie to answer Britta's question. She was going to crack. They all could tell. Annie was about four seconds away from telling them why she felt the desire to beat the shit out of Jeff's boss. "Fine I'll tell you." Annie snapped.
"Good," was the response of 4/5 of the group.
*Flash Back*
"It is Annie right?" Jeff's boss, Kyla said as she approached Annie outside on the deck.
"Yeah it's Annie." She responded "And I am sorry, but I don't think I remember you."
"It's alright," Kyla smiled "I'm your friend Jeff's boss."
"Oh my gosh!" Annie replied "I totally forgot. Being as I haven't seen Jeff as much recently, now that he's got a job…"
Kyla was quick to respond "Well you won't have to worry about much longer."
Annie became worried "What do you mean?" she asked.
Kyla took a quick look around to make sure nobody was standing by "Okay. Well don't tell anyone this, but the only reason that we even hired him is because we are up against his old firm. He knows how they think. Once we are no longer up against them we won't need him, so we'll let him go. Isn't that great!"
Annie was horrified "Jeff's my friend. Why would I find you firing him great?"
Kyla wasted no time with her comeback "Friend? You're not his friend you're his pimp, no you aren't even pimp level. You follow him around like a puppy in hopes that one day he'll love you. He's only friends with you because you do everything for him. He's taking advantage of you sister, and we both know it."
At this point she was right next to Annie. Annie slapped her. She hadn't even thought about what she was doing. Bitch-slapping her was just an instinct. Of course that slap had a major effect. It caused Kyla to kick Annie, which caused Annie to punch her. Before they knew it, they were in a full-on fight.
*Present Time*
"So that's what happened." Annie said looking guilty. It was at that point that Jeff walked in the room. Annie could tell by his expression that he knew what she did.
Annie's worst fears came to the surface when Jeff said "Everyone, would you mind if I talked to Annie for a minute. The rest of the study group was quick to exit, leaving Annie and Jeff alone. "Annie, would you mind explaining to me why you were in a fight with my boss."
"She was going to fire you." Annie said quietly, without making eye contact.
Jeff replied "Annie, as upset as you may have been over that, you would not have smacked her over it. Would you mind telling me the truth?"
Annie finally looked up. "She said that you only stay friends with me because you can easily take advantage of me."
Jeff sighed deeply and asked "Do you believe that?" Annie looked at the ground and shrugged. Jeff continued to speak "Annie you are my best friend. I mean I love you. Don't listen to her."
Annie looked at him and said "I'm sorry," in a very straightforward tone. Jeff put his arm around her.
"I forgive you." Jeff said and then he pulled her in for a kiss. It wasn't like the rest of their kisses. This kiss showed Annie how much Jeff genuinely cared about her.