AU. For the sake of the story, Clayton's will be in Seattle.
Ana let the empty box of girl scout cookies fall from her hand in disgust. It was a typical Monday afternoon, and she was on her way home from her first job to get ready for her second job when she passed by the girl scout stand. Before she passed right by them, she saw them a few feet away and tried to prepare a soft rejection for the very addictive treats. But once one of the little girl scout's saw her, she practically ambushed Ana with her adorable salemanship with a, "Pretty please with cherry on top." Ana knew that she couldn't say no and promptly gave away her tips in return for a couple boxes of Do-si-dos.
After allowing herself to recover from her sugar intake, Ana forced herself upright when the apartment door opened and in came Kate, looking bright eyed without a care in the world. "Hey Steele! You leavin' for the Cafe?" Kate made her way towards the kitchen and opened up the fridge for a bottle of water and turned to Ana as she waited for an answer. "No, I just left from there actually. I'm headed towards Clayton's for the night."Kate nodded thoughtfully while taking a sip, still looking at Ana but with slight determination.
"Kate, I know that look stop that look." Ana walked around the couch and headed towards her bedroom with Kate walking closely behind her. "Aw, c'mon Steele you're totally delusional." Ana just answered with a toss of her shirt in Kate's face, making her laugh. "Okay, okay you got me. I was just wondering if you had plans tonight because if not, which you won't, I want you to come out to the bar with me and some people that I met at one of the functions I attended last week."
Ana stopped rummaging through her drawers and walked towards her closet and proceeded to push a few clothes from right to left in search for her work shirt. "Kate, you know I can't go out tonight. I have an early job interview. It would be stupid of me to show up looking totally disheveled while suffering a hangover. And besides, who even goes out to the bar on a Monday night?" Ana finally found what she was looking for and quickly placed it on.
"Annie, babe, you already have two jobs and you're back in school, don't you think you're balancing too much on your plate right now? And we're not going to the bar to get drunk, it's just a casual hang out, no biggie!" Ana looked at Kate and smiled, feeling slightly confused. The whole point in going to the bar is to get drunk, right?
"Keeping myself busy will keep me away from eating junk food. Besides, if I want to eat some good food and have a decent read while eating good food, I need money. Also, it's just a class online. I think I can handle working three jobs. I think." It wasn't necessarily the only reason that Ana worked hard, she just didn't want to share to her very rich roommate that she was lacking in funds because the cost of living was getting pretty damn expensive. She had to worry about student loans, bills, and everything in general.
Kate just rolled her eyes at her shit excuse and continued to try in persuading Ana to go out but Ana would not give in. She was adamant about staying in for the night so that she can mentally prepare herself for her interview as a part time receptionist at Esclava the next day.
"So are you absolutely sure that I can't change your mind about tonight?" Kate asked one more time, not wanting to admit defeat. "No promises," Kate clapped her hands in delight, "I might drop by for a couple of drinks but I don't plan on staying late, okay?" Kate just gave her a wide smile and Ana chose to ignore the playfulness behind it. It was so tiring keeping up with the Kavanagh gal. After smoothing out her work shirt and securing her hair in a high ponytail, Ana checked her watch and cursed under her breath. If she didn't leave the apartment in a few minutes, she'd be late for her shift; with a swiftness that she rarely possessed unless she was under pressure, she grabbed her bag, stuffed a water and an apple inside and ran outside with a goodbye. She blamed the girl scout cookies.
It was an hour and a half until closing time and there were hardly any customers. There was a couple looking at some wire at the aisle next to her register and that was about it. She glanced at her watch once more and forced herself to look up. Only a few minutes passed since she last saw it and she felt like she was going crazy
"Hey Ana, since it's not so busy tonight you can go on home." Ana turned from recounting the money from her register and faced Mr. Clayton in surprise. "Are you sure Mr. Clayton? It won't be a problem for me to stay." She was only being polite but she was already gathering her bag and logging off the register. She cleaned her area a good thirty minutes ago because business was that slow. "Nah it's alright Annie. You'll still get paid the same. Paul and I will close a bit early anyway."
Ana shouldered her bag and glanced at Paul when she noticed that he was walking towards them. "Hey Ana Banana, how about that dinner you promised me the other night?" Ana felt herself blush at his forwardness, especially in front of his father. Mr. Clayton just chuckled and walked back to his office to give them some privacy.
"Oh, Paul I actually have plans tonight with Kate and a few of our friends. You can come join us if you'd like?" Every time Paul Clayton asked her out, she'd either let him down or ask him to join her and Kate out for the night. He was a pretty good looking guy. In fact, he was quite handsome but Ana just couldn't get into him no matter how hard she tried. Kate thinks she's ridiculous for turning him down.
"Anastasia, when are you going to say yes to me?" Paul reached over and gently tugged on a loose hair that escaped from her ponytail. Ana laughed nervously and brushed his hand away in a playful manner, while trying not to feel awkward at his obvious flirtation. "Maybe some other time." Paul gave her a charming smile and walked Ana to the door, "Alright Steele, have a good night."
Does this mean that I have to go out now? She was let out early and she did tell Paul that she had plans. There is that chance that he'll change his mind and meet up with her and Kate and whoever the hell she invited. Geeze, that female is always making friends. Ana wished her social skills were as good as Kate's. She couldn't help but get flustered whenever someone approached her and tried starting a conversation, whether it was genuine or not.
A little socializing won't hurt me, I guess. She called Kate before she chickened out in the last minute, slightly hoping that she wouldn't answer her phone so that she could go home and sleep but the ever so diligent Katherine Kavanagh answered her call after two rings. "Hey hot mama, you coming by?" Ana mentally rolled her eyes at her friend's greeting. "Yeah, yeah I'm coming through. You owe me some food!" Kate laughed and proceeded to tell her where the bar was located. After assuring Kate that she wouldn't bail, she finally hung up the phone and turned her car on and backed out of the parking area, dreading on meeting new people.
"Kate, I hate you. I super hate you that was so terrible! Why would you put me in that awkward position?" When Ana arrived at the bar to meet up with Kate and her new friends, she noticed that her new friends were male and Kate was already well acquainted with one of them. It was a total bitch move on Kate's part and this wasn't the first time Ana was subjected to surprise blind dates.
The guy that Kate tried setting Ana up with was cute. His name was Henry and he was an accountant. He was pleasant enough and had a nice smile but then he started to talk about his ex and it all went down hill from there. He had a few drinks before Ana arrived and it started to hit him pretty hard because he started to cry over Sarah, is ex girlfriend. So while Kate was acquainting herself with William, the normal one, Ana was stuck with an emotional Henry.
"I'll make it up to you Steele I promise." Kate tried giving Ana a hug but she wasn't having any of it. It had been a long and terrible Monday and all she wanted to do was climb into bed and sleep. But of course she couldn't go straight to bed because she had to prepare her resume and throw in some clothes in the washer. "Just let me borrow a nice outfit for my interview tomorrow and don't ever do this to me again or I'll do something drastic to your face. Like shave your eyebrows or something." Kate just raised her arms in mock fright, eyes wide open in fear. "Look at you representing your last name and all!"
Ana sat cross legged on her bed and looked up Esclava for additional information; from what she observed, Esclava seemed like the type of salon that only accepted the elite. She grabbed the bottom half of her hair and peered at the ends closely. If she wanted to be considered for hire, she'd really have to take care of her appearance and the thought of having to spend time on putting face and actually brushing her hair almost discouraged her from showing up for the interview. But she really needed this job. The starting pay was more than what she made at Clayton's and at the Cafe combined which was so crazy because the position that she was applying for was only part time. Just until I finish school.
Ana tried not to feel bothered by how many jobs she had to work just to get by while Kate focused on her one job that her father secured for her at his company. Do not compare your success Anastasia Steele! She graduated alongside Kate but with her degree, it was kind of hard to find work. She desperately wanted to work at some sort of Publishing House but all the one's that she applied for were looking for someone with more experience. So Ana juggled a couple of jobs and went back to school to learn about business, her self-confidence a little wounded. But maybe Esclava would be her salvation. She just needed to remain optimistic, even if she had split ends.