Chapter 2: Another Day of Saving the Planet

Monday was finally here, and Beth was soaking up every minute of her first day of work as Stephen's business partner. She was automatically hired because of their past history together as friends and colleagues when Beth was in grad school at Columbia. Stephen had always favored her, almost a little too much, even though he's been married to his wife Cathy for almost eight years now. Beth didn't think anything of Stephen's moves toward her, whether they were romantic or not, and assumed he was just being nice.

Beth's bright green eyes stared into a detailed drawing of a map of New York that Stephen had created. Her head began to throb out of frustration, and while Stephen was very talented in his work, she knew there was something she had to fix. I need to make sure there is low-income housing included for Lucas, I promised him, she muttered to herself. I can't fucking do this. I don't want to disappoint Lucas, but I don't want to completely ruin Stephen's drawing either. He'd KILL me, or even worse fire me! Or maybe not.

"Dr. Vaughan!" her assistant Elena called.

"Oh shit, you scared the crap out of me Elena!" Beth jumped out of her seat and her eyes widened. "And please, call me Beth," She turned around to look at her young protégé standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry to bother you Beth, I didn't realize you were so into your work," Elena looked down, feeling a hint of embarrassment.

"It's okay, no need to apologize. What's going on?" Beth asked.

"Your friend Lucas is here to see you, is this a bad time? What should I tell him?"

"No, it's not a bad time. I need a break anyway. Send him in," Beth replied. She was actually excited to see Lucas and was longing for an excuse to take a breather from her work since it had been a tough first day.

Lucas walked into Beth's office with a smile on his face. He seemed just as excited to see his best friend, as she was to see him. He was holding two cups of coffee in his hands, which Beth assumed was for the two of them.

"Hey Lucas! Ooh TWO cups of coffee just for me? You shouldn't have! I only needed one, but it's been a long day and it's not even over yet!" Beth sarcastically greeted Lucas.

"Hi to you too?" Lucas laughed, "Actually, I only got you ONE cup of coffee, my employee discount at Starbucks isn't that great, unfortunately. There's a decaf soy latte for you and a green tea for me, here ya go!" Lucas handed Beth her long-awaited cup of coffee she so desperately needed. It was made just the way she liked it, by her favorite barista, her very own friend Lucas. He was working at Starbucks as a side job to pay his rent, and being both an activist and blogger didn't make him enough money to get by.

"Gosh Lucas, I'm so stressed out. I'm so used to teaching urban planning in Phoenix I forgot how exhausting it is to actually be DOING something!" Beth put her head down on her wooden desk and let out a deep sigh.

"I know, but isn't it going to be worth it?" Lucas reminded her, "Especially when you add some low-income housing to your awesome map of New York!" He wasn't going to let that go, and to his advantage, he was fortunate to have a friend who could possibly be in control of his future.

Beth quickly picked her tired and worn head up from her desk with a shot of adrenaline. "OH MY GOD, your street action! I completely forgot that was tonight!"

"How could you forget? I've been reminding you for the past two days!" Lucas yelled, shocked that his loyal friend would forget about something that was so important to him.

"I'm sorry, it's just... this job. I've been working so hard. It means so much to finally do something I love again."

"It's only your first day!"

"I did this before I went to Phoenix, ya know!"

"I'm aware, I was there for you that entire time, incase you haven't noticed." Lucas rolled his eyes and stared at the ground, not knowing what to do or say.

Suddenly, the cracked door to Beth's office swung wide open. It was Stephen. "Beth! We have an office meeting in five minutes, remember?" he grinned, staring into Beth's eyes. "Oh hi Lucas, it's nice to see you again."

He's fucking lying, that fake little… Lucas thought to himself. His head slowly lifted and he looked at Stephen. "Hi Stephen, it's nice to see you too. Any more lives to ruin today?"

"Wow, you're just as aggressive as I remember," Stephen joked.

"Don't start with me…" Lucas' fist clenched and he began to lift it until…

Beth stood up and put her hand on Lucas' chest. "LUCAS, stop! Everyone just, please. Stephen, I'll be there in a minute, sorry. I just got a little sidetracked." Stephen nodded and left the room.

"But what about my street action?" Lucas cried.

Once again Beth was forced to make a tough decision, but she knew that work had to come first. "Hopefully the meeting won't be that long. We just have to go over the plans for tomorrow. I'll make it, I promise. I won't let you down!"

Lucas calmed himself down and took a deep breath. "Whatever you say, Beth. See you later."

"Bye Lucas, don't cause any trouble before I show up!" Beth laughed.

Lucas cracked a smile and made his way out of the office.