~Name Your Price~

Erin sat across from her laptop at the kitchen table and pushed neon pink hair out of her eyes. She let out an exasperated sigh as she scrolled through a spreadsheet, her cheek resting on her hand. Working from home did have it's perks, like your own hours and never having to worry about appearances, but doing this every single day can be taxing in it's own harsh way. She didn't always work from home, but given the recent sex scandal that her competitor let out, she wasn't able to show her face in public often. None of it was true. She never even thought about a mere relationship with Flo. In her heart, Erin knew it was Flo who started the rumors between them, and she resented the upbeat woman for it.

The neon girl couldn't help but let her mind wander as her work became exceedingly tedious as time went on. She let the tip of her middle finger drag her mouse to the corner of her screen and she minimized the document she'd been working on, leaning back in her chair. Erin couldn't stop thinking about the current problems she had with Flo. She wanted to confront Flo in person about what she did and why she would ever do something like this. Maybe it was to try and put her out of business or make her work more difficult. But the scandal must have affected her too. Why would she even let a scenario like that cross her mind? Flo obviously had a very graphic description of what had allegedly happened. Erin blushed at the notion and shook her head as if shaking away the thought. Without realizing it, she took out her phone and had opened Flo's contact. Her thumb hovered over the "call" button and she hesitated.

After a few moments Erin pressed the button and quickly brought the phone up to her ear before she could change her mind. Two rings. Maybe this is a bad idea. She isn't going to answer. This is a bad idea. I should just hang up now. As soon as she dropped the phone away from her face to end the call, she heard a distant, sweet "hello" emanating from the top speaker of her phone. She shut her eyes tight and screwed up her face, instantly regretting her decision. She couldn't hang up now, that would be ridiculous. Erin cringed slightly when she heard the voice in her ear and she gently replied with a choked out, "H-hey."

She shook her head slightly as if to rid herself of any more reservations and spoke with determination before the woman on the other end of the line had a chance to speak, "Hi Flo. It's Erin. Erin Esurance..."

"Oh," Flo sounded slightly taken aback. "Hello, Erin. How have you been?"

Erin's mind was racing. This was the first time she had spoken to Flo since the incident and she didn't even know where to start. She was beginning to regret not thinking this through before placing the call. I want this to be over. I suppose I should just be direct. "To tell you the truth, Flo, I haven't been a hundred percent great. I wanted to talk to you about.." She trailed off.

Nothing but silence rang in her ears. Erin took this as a cue to complete her thought. She took a deep breath and continued, stumbling over every sentence. "About what happened. I want to know why you started all of those rumors. What prompted you to say those things? They weren't true at all. I can't even show my face in public anymore. I have to work at home now. Do you have any idea what you-"

"Erin," Flo cut her off. "I had nothing to do with that." Her voice was so stern, even for her. It was almost off putting to hear the cheery woman speak with a serious tone.

The neon girl's mind was racing even faster now. New thoughts and ideas and feelings coursed through her. She was reeling. Is she telling the truth? Should I believe her? Have I just called a poor innocent woman and accused her of something so horrible she hadn't even been a part of? More and more questions kept running through her mind at the speed of light and no words came to her. The silence was so loud and it lasted for what felt like a century. After a long moment, Flo finally broke the nothingness. "Erin?" She asked.

Erin was staring out of a window in her kitchen that was facing the back yard, there was nothing outside except a fence and the concrete path that lead to the fence in the front of the house and a tree looming over the edge of the fence, beginning in her neighbor's yard. Yet it felt like she was staring at all of the things that plagued her, like every thought and problem were dancing shadows in her direct line of vision and she continued to say nothing.

After another long moment Erin collected herself and snapped out of her state, took her gaze away from the window, and started pacing. "What do you mean you didn't do this?" She finally spoke, her voice unsteady with anger she was attempting to contain. "Who else would do something like this? I don't see any reason for someone else to, it had to be you."

"Erin I am really glad you called me. I think you're right. I think it's time we finally talked about this." Flo responded, unphased by her rivals uncouth tone. "But I don't want to discuss something of this nature over the phone. Would you be okay with meeting in person to talk about this? Because I have a lot to say to you, just as I'm sure you have a lot, or more, to say to me."

As Flo spoke, Erin had a chance to catch up to her thoughts and process things at a normal rate. She thought about Flo's proposition for a moment and her confident attitude started to dissipate as she realized that Flo probably meant for them to meet in public. "Okay." She started, "Is it okay if we talk about this at my house? I'm not comfortable with being around a lot of people right now."

Flo's tone of voice seemed to change back to it's normal state of happiness. She was content that the conversation had taken a lighter turn. "Yes of course! I'm off work in a couple of hours. Is it okay if I come by your house, say, around 6-ish?" She asked.

"Yes that's fine," Erin responded, a little more collected with each passing moment. "I will see you at six then."

"Okay. See you then"

Three low pitched beeps resonated in Erin's ear and she took the phone away from her face and sat down on the chair that was facing her computer on the kitchen table. She looked at her phone for a long time, processing what had happened, until her screen turned dark and the phone locked itself from lack of interaction. It felt to her like nothing was solved but she was still more relaxed. She was happy that she had gotten somewhere and took such a big step. Though not completely satisfied, she still felt better than she had before the call.

Erin thought it would be best to tidy up her house and her appearance a little, before Flo showed up at their predetermined time. She slid the phone into her back pocket and started collecting her laptop, her laptop charger from the wall, and walked toward the staircase to the upper floor.

She had a long night ahead of her.