"You need to get laid" I felt my jaw drop open as my other friends laughed uproariously,
"What the hell Angela?" I asked, that was the last thing you would expect my quiet, mild mannered workmate to say,
"I'm just saying, I'm the one that has had to put up with your moods for the last couple of months, a little bit of nookie wouldn't hurt"
"I haven't been that bad"
"I totally agree with Ang" my best friend Alice said in between laughs, "When was the last time you got some? Jacob?" I saw Rosalie roll her eyes,
"Yeah, and we all know how awesome that turned out" no one could do sarcasm quite like Rosalie, I pointed my finger at her,
"Hey! That wasn't my fault"
"Sorry Bella but even I know that you don't sleep with work colleagues" Angela looked apologetic, I had at least expected a little support from her, but she was probably right, drunk at a work function I had hooked up with one of my closest buddies, I hadn't realised that he had such strong feelings, I just wanted to relieve some frustration, he had wanted a whole lot more that I couldn't give, we hadn't spoken in months, awkward since we worked in the same department store, fortunately with our positions our paths didn't cross too often.
"Can we please get off the subject of my non existent sex life" I said exasperatedly.
Alice let out a huge snort, looking over at her I hadn't realised that our waiter was standing beside me waiting to hand me my meal, he was trying hard not to laugh himself, I felt my face flush bright red,
"Smooth" said Rosalie.
After he had served us all our meals and left, with a wink in my direction I might add, we all attacked our lunch, the four of us had a weekly standing lunch date at the small deli across from the store we all worked at, it wasn't the flashest place in the area, but it sure had the best food.
I was the administration manger, and at 28 years old I was one of the younger ones in that position throughout the company. I had been with Spaceys for eleven years and had worked hard to get where I was.
My best friend Alice was in charge of buying, she was five foot nothing with short almost spiky black hair and energy to burn, she had an uncanny knack of predicting what was going to be fashionable every season and always seemed to get the best deals from suppliers.
Rosalie was the managers personal assistant and gorgeous. Tall, leggy with a body that would make supermodels envious, with bright blue eyes and long blonde hair, it was originally her looks that got her the job , Old man Henderson, the manager, had been through a bevvy of young attractive assistants and had had his fair share of sexual harassment suits, he had tried it on with Rose not long after she started , she never told us the full story but Old man Henderson never laid a finger on her, leered at her or used badly disguised euphemisms around her again, and he kept her on, she is an incredible PA, she ran his office with military precision, one things for sure, I would never dare get on the wrong side of Rosalie Hale.
The last person at the table, Angela Webber was the complete opposite of my other two friends, calm, quiet, unassuming and caring, not that Alice and Rosalie didn't care, they just had a different way of showing it, she was my antidote to Alice and Rose, there wasn't much that got past Ang, she was extraordinarily intelligent, she was my second in charge and I often wondered whether she should be my boss instead, she only worked for me twenty hours a week, spending the rest of her time studying to be a psychologist.
Rosalie groaned,
"I swear their spanakopita is better than in Greece"she said as she put the last forkful in her mouth,
"You order that every time you come here, if you keep going you're going to turn into Popeye"
Alice laughed,
"God Bella you're so lame"
"I'm sorry did I miss the memo? Is it pick on Bella day today?"
"It's pick on Bella day everyday!" Rosalie pushed her empty plate away,
"Oh guys, I nearly forgot, the file came through for the new manager today" Alice was practically bouncing in her seat,
"And you're only telling us this now? Who is it? Where's he from? Is there a photo? Is he hot?" her questions came out rapid fire,
"Alice I have no idea why you're so excited, I'm nervous" Angela admitted,
"Why would you be nervous?" I asked,
"Well it's better the devil you know right? Old man Henderson just lets us be to get on with our jobs, I mean, we'd get along fine even if he wasn't there, what if the new manager comes in and gets more involved and starts making changes everywhere, what if we get a total douchebag?" Alice started giggling,
"Sorry, it just sounds funny when you say douchebag"
"I think Ang has a point, what's his file like Rose?" she leaned in,
"I'm not supposed to say anything, so you guys can't repeat anything okay?" we clustered in even closer,
"Well, he's young, only 28, and he's coming here from Alaska"
"Alaska?" we all ask at once,
"Yep, but he must be good, it says he's been a finalist in the Mitch Atkins young person of the year awards, and he's not some college hotshot, he's worked his way up through the company, he started when he was fifteen" Angela looked thoughtful,
"Sounds impressive"
"But coming from Alaska, it's only small up there right? how will he handle the size and volume of our store?"
"I guess they have faith in him" Rose answered, Alice's high voice piped in,
"But is there a photo? is he hot or not?" I looked at her,
"Alice! being a little superficial aren't we? and besides, why are you thinking like that? shouldn't you be daydreaming about your boyfriend, not your new boss?"
"I always daydream about Jasper, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a little eye candy at work" she winked at me, sometimes I wondered what goes through that girl's mind,
"Speaking of Jasper, we heading to the bar tonight? I'm in the mood to get my groove on!" Rosalie threw her hands in the air and starting grinding on her seat, I reached over and pulled her hands down,
"Rose, everyone's looking" I said, as I felt my cheeks heat up again, she rolled her eyes at me,
"Who cares, I bet they were enjoying the show" everyone else laughed again,
"Well Ben and I are having dinner with his parents tonight, so I'm out, sorry guys" it seemed she was directing her apology to me, mostly because I knew once we got there Alice would be off fawning over Jasper, who happened to own the bar and Rosalie would be practically dry humping her boyfriend Emmett, who also worked there as a bouncer, Ang always kept me company while they cavorted around, she'd been wth her boyfriend Ben since high school, they were a cute couple, sometimes he tagged along with us and tut-tutted at the other girls behaviour. I was a lot more confident that I was as a teenager but still not anywhere near as brash as my friends, well, two of them at least. Alice grabbed my hand,
"C'mon Bells, it's TGI Friday! Half price cocktails" she said wiggling her eyebrows, it was hard to say no to that, Jasper's bar had the best margaritas outside of Mexico, she kept tugging on my arm,
"And last week he said he was getting new songs for the karaoke"
I loved karaoke, get a couple of drinks in me and I'd sing all night if they'd let me, and they usually did, I was pretty good, even if I did say so myself.
"Okay, I'm in" Alice squealed,
"Yay! okay everyone at my place at seven to get ready"
No one was ever allowed to head out until they had Alice's approval, although I think this rule was mostly meant for me. I had to hand it to her though, we always looked smokin' hot when we went out, I saw Angela look down at her wrist,
"Crap, look at the time, we better head back"
We paid for our lunch and headed out into the sunshine, it was a typically warm day in Phoenix and the short walk back to the store was nice, being copped up inside all day made you really appreciate the great outdoors so much more. I lifted my face to feel the suns warm rays beat down, I'd spent a couple of years as a teenager living with my Dad in Forks, Washington, I swear it took a whole year for my bones to warm up again, I love my Dad to bits but I have no idea how he stays in that frozen little town.
"I don't know why you guys are hurrying, Old Man Henderson will be asleep anyway, and even if he's not, he isn't going to notice whether we're late or not" Rosalie stated. He was sixty five and had a habit of falling asleep in the armchair in his office after lunch, Rosalie usually left him to it, it's not like he did much anyway, she only woke him if he had a meeting or phone conference to deal with,
"Well, if y'all are late I;m obligated to dock you, so no more picking on the person who pays you" I poked ot my tongue at my friends as we walked up to the staff entry door, Alice slapped me up the side of the head,
"Don't pull ran on us missy" Angela pressed the button for the elevator, it opened straight up, all our offices were on the same level, I hit the number six and looked over at Rose,
"You didn't say what the new managers name was"
"Oh, it's something Masen, the fax was a really bad copy, I couldn't make out the first name, I think it started with a F or D or something" Alice pouted,
"Well, that's not very helpful"
So the story begins =D Hope you all stick with me, and since I'm a complete review whore, leave me some nice words,or even some not so nice words ;), I'll take anything! all suggestions are helpful, as they'll help me write a story that you want to read.