Alex left thinking Marissa didn't love her. Few years later they meet again, they have to work in the same place in LA. Marissa is now engaged to Ryan. Alex goes for the get some, get gone routine. Appearances from old friends and new ones.
Don't own anything.
Thoughts are in italic.
In this story Volchok never happened, Ryan and Marissa were happy together, or so they thought, and never broke up. And of course she didn't die.
AN: xelaassiram thanks for the review, it means a lot.
Chapter 2
Marissa opened the door and walked in on her new L.A. apartment.
It was quite stunning, enough to make Julie Cooper proud.
Certainly not an easy feat.
The apartment had not one, but two living rooms. One specifically for Ryan to hook up and play his endless list of video games.
He's spent way too much time with Seth over the years.
Marissa much preferred the balcony connected to the master bedroom. Said balcony had been the reason the brunette had picked this apartment in the first place.
She had put a bookcase there, a couple of mahogany chairs and a comfortable loveseat.
It was her safe spot, somewhere only for her.
The apartment was on the top floor of a 30-floor building, therefore had an amazing view of the neighborhood beach located in an overpriced part of L.A.
Sometimes, she would use the balcony to paint her surroundings, trying to capture what she was felling.
Not that her drawing was any good, and a 5-year-old would make a much better job of painting inside the lines, but the brunette felt better when she tried.
The apartment had been a present from the Cohens, an early wedding gift, they had said.
Ryan had proposed after they had both graduated.
He had an architect major, and Marissa had a management one, both from Berkley.
The couple had been high school and college sweethearts, never leaving each other's side.
It seemed the engagement was the next logical step.
The blonde had wanted to move back home, the brunette was the one that insisted they lived in LA. She had to, she just felt a strange pull towards this city.
Alex Kelly had said she would go back to LA.
But Marissa couldn't even be positive the blonde had indeed moved to this city, and even if the blonde had, Marissa could never be sure she had stayed this long. And in the tiny possibility that it had happened, there was no way to find Alex in a city like Los Angeles.
Did she even want to find Alex?
Did Alex want to be found?
There was no valid explanation to even be thinking about this.
The brunette was engaged, she couldn't cheat on Ryan.
And Marissa would never leave him. He was a great guy, worshiped the ground she walked on.
She couldn't hurt him again; she wanted to do the right thing.
And what if Alex had found someone else?
Had the blonde girl found a girlfriend?
Or maybe a boyfriend?
What if she was engaged?
Maybe she got married.
Alex wasn't the marring kind, was she?
Marissa remembered how many girls and boys had stared at Alex when they were together, she remembered how much jealousy she had felt; she wasn't that self aware back then, but she could recognize the feeling for what it was now.
I really shouldn't be thinking about this now.
Today was Marissa's first day on the job, she had been hired as a manager of one the hottest nightclubs in LA. A place called Joy Ride.
She had come home from a lunch with some college friends just to check to see if she was presentable and make sure she had everything she needed before her first day. That done, the brunette was out of the door.
In truth, she was early, but she didn't want give fate a chance to make her late.
She had to make a good first impression.
The club had yet to complete 6 months, and there had been already 3 other people in her job, and she had no experience whatsoever.
Therefore that was a great opportunity, in which she would have the freedom she needed to show she was capable of something.
To show she wasn't just a brat kid with rich parents from Orange County, with everything just handed to her.
She would show them that organizing bonfires wasn't her life.
As Marissa reached her destination, she felt amazed.
She had seen pictures, but she had never seen the building with her own eyes.
The entrance was at least twice her height and had those beautiful white Greek columns.
Still slightly dazed, she didn't find a doorbell, so she knocked on the door hoping someone would hear it.
When no one came, she decided to try the doorknob, and to her surprise, not only the door was unlocked, but the door was much lighter than it appeared.
There were a few people inside, none she recognized, and they seemed to be busy setting up for the night, she supposed.
The brunette approached the closest person to the door. A scrawny looking kid with sandy hair.
"Hi, my name is Marissa Cooper, I am supposed to start working here today. I was hoping you could show me where Mr. Hadler is." She told him, as he finished arranging some chairs.
"Yeah, they mentioned the new girl would come in today. But, he is not in yet, I guess you are a little early."
"I guess."
"I am Aaron, by the way." Aron told her, drying his hands on his shirt before offering his right hand for her to shake. Marissa never hesitated before she accepted his offer. "You seem a little nervous."
"A little, I've never met him before"
"Don't worry, he isn't as mean as people say and he is practically never here. Just make sure he gets his profit and he will love you." He joked, as he continued his job, and mentioned for Marissa to follow "How come he hired you without meeting you?"
"Well, I sent him my résumé by email, and that's mostly how we kept in touch, but we talked a couple of times over the phone"
"Hum. So how about while you wait I introduce you to the rest of the staff?"
"Sure."
"OK, then" And then he said louder, so that every face in the room turned to him "Hey, people listen up, this is Marissa Cooper, she's our new manager, or she will be once Hadler gets here."
Marissa didn't know what else to say so she stuck to the obvious "Hi." Why does this feel like high school all over again? She saw that they were sizing her up, trying to figure out what she was capable of.
"Marissa?" She looked at Aaron, and he restarted "The blonde curly girl is Eve, the blond curly boy is Steve, the redheaded there is Maya, beside her, with strait blonde hair, that's Kate, tough guy over there, that's Mike. You will meet the rest later, when they decide to show up." Aaron had pointed each one as he described them, and they had acknowledged her presence with a nod or a wave, and went back to whatever they were doing.
"Not very friendly" She said that loud enough so that only Aaron that was beside her could hear.
"They'll warm up to you in no time."
"Hopefully"
They kept talking while he went back to what he was doing, now with her help. Every now and then, someone would arrive and Marissa's new friend would introduce her to the newcomer. After a while, the front door opened and Aaron told her Mr. Hadler had arrived.
She immediately straitened her clothes and walked over to him.
The man wasn't as old as one would expect, but that she already knew from his Wikipedia page.
The man was on his late 50's, but there was no white hair on his head. He wore a pair of Khakis pants and a green polo shirt, which made him look a little younger and more approachable.
It almost seemed she had already met him.
"Hello, Mr. Hadler, I am Marissa Cooper" She told him respectfully, but before she could offer her hand for him to shake, he had already walked past her, and she was left to follow. Direction unknown.
"Oh, hello. Morgan Hadler. Nice to meet you."
"You too."
"So I've seen you are here on time, that's impressive, considering your coworkers"
"Sir, I am fairly sure they are pretty much all here, inside somewhere"
"That's because they knew I was coming. You will have some problems making sure they are all here on time"
"I will do my best sir"
"Yes, yes. Of course. So, I'm guessing you have already met everyone in here"
"Yes"
"Good, then how about I show you around?" But he didn't wait for an answer. Morgan showed her everything, top to bottom and back again, and then took her to his office.
"Please, sit down." He said, as he pointed to the chair in front of his desk, and then sat on his, behind it.
"Thank you."
"I'm sure someone has already told you that I don't come here often." He said, as he filled a glass with some clear liquid. He never offered her anything.
"Yes, sir"
"So, to make sure my club is taken good care of, I have two main managers. And the two of you work together."
"Excuse me, sir. Main managers?"
"Yes, the two of you make decisions, run this place as you see fit. Work together, I don't care how."
"That's a little different than usual"
"Yes. Is it a problem?"
"No, not at all."
"Also, there are two other managers, or vice-managers if you will. Usually there is only one, but we had to take another one as we lacked a main manager. It will be up to the two of you if you want to keep both or not"
"Okay, but what do they do?"
"They take care of everything, when the main managers aren't here. Did I tell you the nightclub doesn't open on Monday?"
"No, sir."
"Well, it doesn't. So that's your day off. That's where the helping managers come in, they supervise the cleaning we do on Monday. It's meant to be different from everyday cleaning. There are some others chemical products, which I don't know anything about. That's what I hire you for. Also, we serve lunch everyday but Monday, that's also not your responsibility. The helping managers take care of it. And of course if there is some sort of emergency when neither one of the main managers can be here"
"I got it"
"Good, now on every first Tuesday of the month, my accountant will come here and check the books, make sure everything is alright."
"Certainly, sir"
"I think that's everything, if you have any doubts, you can ask your partner, she is used to it by now. I almost forgot, this first week, you don't have to do anything, just follow her around, and learn. You can start carrying your own weight next week."
"Alright. Thank you, sir."
"That's all then, let's get downstairs, and find her." He said as he got up and left the room. "She is always late. I swear if she wasn't so damn good and kept this thing running, I would have fired her long ago." He said the last part louder, so that everyone heard him, but Morgan had been looking to a specific point to where he was walking, where Marissa thought her coworker was.
But she couldn't see it, as her boss' huge body covered everything in her line of sight while she struggled to follow him.
"You're just mad that I get laid more times than you do" From that spot came a very familiar voice to Marissa.
"Yes, I'm the rich boy, the girls should want to put their hands on my fat pocket"
"Well, too bad they can't resist my perfect body"
"Please, no need to rub it in." And then turning to Marissa, who looked a little pale "Here I want you to meet Alexandra Beatrice Kelly" Then he stepped out of the way "But everyone just calls her –"
"Alex" Marissa said cutting him off when she came face to face with her ex- girlfriend.
Her look of shock was mirrored in Alex's face.
They just stared at each other. Barely taking a second to breath.
It was the first time any of them had seen the other ever since their break up.
They knew that there were people talking around them but they couldn't hear. All they could hear was the sound of each other's breaths, felling the heart about to give out.
Felling the throat closing, making it impossible to say a word.
At the same time, there were millions of butterflies trying to escape Marissa's belly.
For that one moment, there was only the two of them. No one else.
The room had faded out.
That was, until Morgan decided to make a joke, lost for both of them, and touch Alex's arm, effectively ending the moment.
"So, should I take it that you two know each other?" He asked.
"Yeah. We met a few years back" Alex responded, trying not to give anything away. "Marissa." She said extending her hand "Cooper?"
Both girls knew that Alex remembered Marissa's surname.
Marissa wondered if this was the blonde's away to ask her if she was married, or maybe if the blonde was trying to diminish what they had.
"Yes, Cooper." The brunette said extending her hand and shaking the blonde's, after she finally found her voice. Marissa, stop it. Don't get lost in her eyes. Just don't. Remember breath in, breath out. And stay clear of Alex's eyes.
"That's good, it will make it easier for the two of you work as a team. Now, I am afraid I must leave." Morgan said looking at his watch. "I have a meeting in half an hour, for which I'm already late. Marissa, if you have any doubts, I'm sure Alex will be happy to answer them. Alex, show her around, teach her what she needs to learn. And, be nice! Now, bye for those of you who stay, I'm leaving." And then he left, leaving the two girls there to talk.
"So…."
"Yeah, so…" This won't be award at all, Alex thought. "You are the new girl."
"Guess so." Marissa answered, finding a real nice place behind Alex's shoulder to stare at.
"So have you seen our office?" Alex asked, trying not to make a big deal out of this. Whatever they had was in the past.
Still, she found it weird that the brunette wouldn't look directly at her.
"Yes, actually, I didn't know what to say, I mean two desks, you know…."
"Yeah, so did you bring your things?"
"They are over there." Marissa said pointing to the place she and Aaron had been talking.
"Good, let's take them upstairs, ok?"
"Ok."
Their office was right across Morgan's. As Alex opened the door, she turned to Marissa and started talking faster than usual.
"Well, as you can see, my desk is on the right, so yours is the left one. Staff is supposed to arrive at 4 PM, no one does, but we always make it on time, they know what to do, so no worries. Be here by 6PM. People start to arrive around 7 PM. Usually we close around 6 AM, and one of us needs to be here to close, we could split, you know 3 days each." Marissa nodded, so Alex continued "Ok, hum, we can set the dates later. Also, this office is soundproof, so if need to do paperwork, there won't be a problem. Guess that's all, I will leave you to arrange you desk."
"Okay" Marissa responded, but before she could finish, the door had already been closed.
On the other side, Alex was leaning against the door breathing heavily. Alex, calm down. It's just Marissa, you can do it.
"Hey, Alex"
"Hey, Mike"
"Your ex, right?"
"What? NO! Yes. How do you know?"
"Besides the fact that I've never seen you this quiet?" That earned him a slap on the shoulder, but he continued as if nothing had happened "I've never seen you look at someone like that"
She didn't say anything, just went straight to the restroom. Her pupils were totally dilated, showing her excitement. And if she was truthful with herself, she could she her eyes were glowing.
"FUCK!" Alex, get a fucking grip!
After she washed her face hundreds of times to make sure her eyes were back to normal, the blonde came out of the restroom to find Marissa talking with some of the staff and the band setting up on the stage.
Oh, no! This is not good.
Quickly, Alex made her way to the lead singer.
"Hey, Alex. We are almost ready. You are gonna watch it tonight right? I made you a new song." Jodie told her.
"Yeah, 'course I will. So listen, remember I told you Hadler had hired a new manager?" Alex asked, carefully.
"Yeah, another one to get in your way?" Her friend joked.
"Yeah, well, she's kinda…, she's you know, hum, Marissa."
"What?"
"You heard me"
"What Marissa?"
"You know."
"Oh, excuse me, I think I'm gonna go over there and introduce my fist to her face" The black haired girl, then, started walking in Marissa's direction, with an angry expression on her face.
But before she could take 3 steps in that direction, Alex held her arm, stopping her. "Jo, please don't, alright? Don't make a scene"
"Alex, that bitch broke your heart to pieces, you looked like you had been hit by a train" Jodie argued.
"Gee, thanks."
"You know what I mean. My point is, it's about time she gets what she deserves"
"No, Jodie, it's not. I was a long time ago, and I'm over it"
"You are that was true, you wouldn't still be defending her."
"I am not. I will just have to work side by side with her, and I don't want it to be awkward."
"Alex, come on"
"Promise me you won't do anything"
"Alex."
"Promise me."
"Fine, I promise."Jodie relented "Doesn't mean I'm gonna be nice though"
"I can live with that. Now go back to setting up. People should start arriving anytime now."
" 'K, see you later."
Alex made her way back to where the other employees were setting up, and started helping. They finished not a minute too soon, and as people walked in, the DJ put a beat on, while the band waited for the place fill up a little more before they started playing.
Marissa, true to her word, followed the blonde around anywhere she went. But what the brunette couldn't figure out was if she was following Alex because she had been told to, or because she couldn't stay away.
As they were washing glasses, Jodie's voice came through the speakers.
"Hey, guys. Good to see you again in here. For those who don't know us, we are the Evil Heroes, and we will be playing for you tonight. We will start with a new song I wrote based on a good friend of mine. I'm sure most of you know her. Alex, this one is for you"
You can see me the way you want
I will not make an effort to counter you
So many thousand ways
I can be I'm sure one of them will please you
"Jodie works here?" Marissa asked, with surprise, noticing the girl for the first time that night. She tried to appear nonchalant, but not even her was sure she had succeed.
"Not, exactly" Alex responded, staring at the band "Her band plays here every now and then"
"They are good" As much as it killed Marissa to admit, Jodie had a really beautiful voice.
You can see me the way you want
I will not make an effort to counter you
So many thousand ways
I can be I'm sure one of them will please you
"Yeah, they are a really big hit here."
"I didn't know you guys were friends"
"We were, even before we started dating."
'Cause I'm made for love from head to toe
And I do not do anything other than donate myself
If I caused any pain was not intentional
I never meant to hurt you
"So, are you two dating again?"
"Nah, just friends. Best friends" Alex hadn't taken her eyes off of the stage every since the music started and for some reason it bothered Marissa.
"So, Hadler mentioned this is a restaurant during day time." Anything to get the blonde's attention off of the woman on stage. Why was she watching the band so fiercely?
'Cause I like roses and roses and roses
Accompanied by a note make me nervous
Every woman loves roses and roses and roses
They are often red but are always roses
"Yeah, lunch is served from 11 AM to 3 PM. It's actually pretty good"
"Yeah, then I will have to try it sometime"
"Do you have tomorrow lunch planned?" Alex asked, not really paying attention to her words.
If by any chance, we don't hit it off
I resume my way and nothing to declare
Half blame, it's each man for himself
If only a scratch I will not even blow
"No, not really. Why?"
"I don't know, we could you know, come here tomorrow. Just to catch up." Alex what are you doing? Shut up. Just shut up. The blonde thought.
"Sure, why not?" On the outside Marissa tried to look cool, but in truth she was having a hard time making sure her body didn't start jumping up and down.
'Cause I'm made for love from head to toe
And I do not do anything other than donate myself
If I caused any pain was not intentional
I never meant to hurt you
"Okay, so how about 12:30?"
"Alright" Marissa confirmed.
"OK, I promise it's on the house"
'Cause I like roses and roses and roses
Accompanied by a note make me nervous
Every woman loves roses and roses and roses
They are often red but are always roses
"Meet you here?"
"Yeah, that would be easier"
You can see me the way you want
I will not make an effort to counter you
So many thousand ways I can be
I'm sure one of them will please you
After the song ended, the band continued playing, but Alex went back to washing the glasses, not giving the band her full attention anymore. After some time, Marissa told Alex she had to go somewhere and she would be right back.
Alex didn't think too much about it, but unconsciously followed the brunette with her eyes. The blonde knew Marissa was trying to reach someone, but there were too many people inside, making it difficult for the brunette to reach her destination, and impossible for Alex to see who it was.
Then, Marissa disappeared in the crowd. The blonde was about to give up on following the brunette with her eyes, when the crowd opened, allowing Alex to see Marissa had found who she had been looking for, and was currently making out with him in the middle of the dance floor.
Ryan.
And, suddenly, Alex found that a skinny blonde that had been trying to flirt with her all night much more interesting.
The song actually exists, I didn't make it up. I just did a very poor job of translating it. The song is called ROSAS by ANA CAROLINA. In Portuguese (its original language) the song is better because in Portuguese ROSA means at the same time PINK and ROSE, so it's kinda fun with the red comment.
Please review.