BPOV
It was hard to say goodbye to Edward Sunday night and even harder for me to return to work on Monday morning. On what seemed to be Irina's "recommendation," Victoria had chosen to take a two-week vacation and I would be handing in my assignment for Emily to review and edit. I had to say, I was pretty happy with the set up though I was nervous about my first day of work at my new desk. I knew very little about Kristie and Kim, the other two features writers I would working with. I had no idea if they would be friendly toward me or completely shun me for getting Victoria in trouble.
I moved cautiously to my desk, which I had set up Friday afternoon while the two of them were off on assignment. I had met them before, but we weren't more than acquaintances, smiling and waving when we passed each other in the halls and making awkward conversation when stuck in the elevators together. As I began turning on my computer and laying out my desk I mentally reviewed what I knew about my two fellow writers. I knew Kim was a fellow Washington state resident and her mother was from one of the native tribes that had led her to bond pretty quickly with Leah over their shared heritage. Kristie was a little more of a mystery. She was from white-bread Kansas, the typical blue-eyed, blonde-haired cheerleader type, and after getting out of her hick town had gone to college. Somewhere between earning her degree and now she had managed to catch Irina eye and land a job at Femme.
I had checked my email, answered a few messages and worked to organize some of the parts of my new desk I hadn't been able to get to Friday when Kim came over to my desk. She was a lot taller than I was, even without the addition of her four-inch heels, but also very spunky with a sweet, heart-shaped face. Her smile was wide and her hair pulled back into a messy but classically styled ponytail. I sucked in a deep breath, hoping that her smile was genuine.
"Hi, Bella," Kim grinned at me. "I'm glad to have you aboard."
"Thanks," I said, breathing out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to be here. This is what I've always wanted to do."
"I heard Victoria gave you an interesting assignment," Kim sighed. "I'm sorry about that… She gets threatened easily, I guess. Luckily, she and I were both writers under a different editor when I came in, but she did try to coax me into going undercover as a hooker once for some piece she thought up. Irina nixed that one pretty quickly."
"I can imagine," I nodded.
"Kristie should be in soon," Kim informed me. "She has an interview this morning with a story she's doing with the health section about the psychological after-effects of plastic surgery on women."
"What are you working on?" I asked curiously.
"I have a couple of stories," Kim replied. "One is about a local roller derby league and the other is interviewing this indie film actress about some animal preserve in Africa she's starting. I think she's a bit stuck up and full of herself, but she is our cover model this issue."
"Maybe you can do a follow up if she gets attacked by a lion or something," I laughed.
"I'm hoping she'll get an education," Kim shrugged, sliding into her own desk. "The woman actually told me her greatest inspiration for the venture was the movie Madagascar. Then she told me she was really concerned about getting eaten by a giraffe. I'm thinking about pitching a story to Irina for next issue about how the educational system is failing our celebrities."
"I think you'd get a good laugh," I offered.
The both of us returned back to work, though I felt more confident about my work knowing that I seemed to have an ally in Kim. I just hoped that Kristie proved to be just as nice when she came in as well. It was about ten in the morning when I got my now customary "have a good day at work" text from Edward. This one included a picture from the night before with Emmett wearing his superhero suit and posing with a couple of kids working the concessions counter who thought his costume was cool. Emmett was naturally hamming it up for the camera and the two nerdy looking teenage guys seemed to think he was pretty cool.
Emily came by to check on me and not soon after she had left, Kristie breezed in with a huge tote bag, the biggest sized coffee Starbucks had to offer and a very full blush on her face, obviously tired from running around. She slid into the desk behind mine with a very relieved sigh and then kicked off the nude-colored heels she had been wearing. Kim gave her a glance and then rolled her eyes, as if this were a rather common occurrence. Kristie proceeded to rifle through her bag, produce a notebook and then slap it down on her desk with a huff. I tried not to focus on her because I didn't want to be accused of being creepy or staring, but at the same time, it was hard to ignore the amount of noise she was making. While going back over my notes and the phone calls I still had to make, I heard Kristie get up from her desk and come over to me.
"Hey! Bella!" Kristie said in a voice that could only belong to a cheerleader from the Midwest. "It's so great to see you and be working with you! You settle in okay?"
"Yes, and thank you," I nodded, a little bit blinded by Kristie's megawatt grin. She had to do some weird tooth-whitening thing. Her smile was unnatural.
"Cool beans!" Kristie giggled. "Well, I gotta get to work, but it's great to have you with us! Maybe the three of us could do lunch?" Kim looked like the last things she wanted was lunch with Kristie, but she smiled and nodded her head. Suddenly, I wasn't so sure if I wanted to participate in lunch with Kristie either, but it seemed to be a part of the whole new office ritual I had to partake in.
"Uh… okay," I nodded.
"Great!" Kristie clapped before heading back to her desk to get to work. Putting her out of my mind, I turned around and got back to my own work.
Lunch rolled around too soon, and it was really the first time since high school I was worried about who I would be sitting with during lunch. I did want my new coworkers to think badly of me, but at the same time, I was a little nervous about getting to know them. Kim seemed alright but I still was on the fence about Kristie. I especially didn't know the nature of her relationship with Victoria, and I had more than a feeling if anyone was looking for someone to blame for Victoria's "sabbatical" it would be me. When the clock struck noon, I found myself following Kim and Kristie into the elevator and down to the bistro on the first floor for the go-to lunch of the working woman: salads and Diet Coke.
"So, Bella, excited about your first story coming out in the magazine at the end of the month?" Kristie asked me excitedly.
"I'm looking forward to it," I nodded.
"Gosh, when I first started working here, I must have sent copies of my first article to everyone back home," Kristie giggled.
"So… what did you ladies do this weekend?" Kristie asked before digging in to her cobb salad. I stuffed some of my BLT salad into my mouth because I definitely didn't want to go first. Kim shot me a look, obviously understanding what I was trying to do.
"Oh, big weekend for yours truly," Kim nodded. "I went home, made a tuna loaf and watched Friends reruns Friday night. Then Saturday, I slept in, gave the cat a bath and then ate some more tuna loaf for dinner. And then Sunday I painted my nails and watched a made-for-TV movie on Lifetime with some homemade popcorn."
"Another big weekend, Kim," Kristie rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you don't want me to set you up with that guy in my spin class? He's got a cute butt…I should know. I spent most of the class watching it jiggle. And he's all hot and Latin!"
"I met that guy, Kris," Kim shook her head. "I think he's more interested in sucking on chili peppers than munching tacos if you know what I mean…"
"What do you mean?" Kristie asked, confused.
"She's sheltered," Kim informed me.
"What did you do this weekend?" I asked Kristie. Her face lit up and I hoped she wasn't one of those girls who just wanted to talk about herself constantly.
"Well, I went out to the club with my roommate Friday night and she wouldn't believe me when I told her this guy was totally trying to drug her drink. I mean, I did that article on date rape last year and the way the guy was acting as well as how her water tasted salty just didn't add up to me," Kristie sighed. "She got all huffy because she thought he was hot. At least the bartender backed me up and told her the guy seemed like bad news. Anyway, I got my hair and nails done on Friday and then I called my Gramma because it was her birthday. She's all freaked out because I'm 28 and not married and she wanted to tell me that my babymaker is going to shrivel up and die if I don't get married by the time I'm thirty."
"Your grandmother told you that?" Kim huffed.
"Yeah, I know, right?" Kristie rolled her eyes. "I mean, I love the woman, but when she was sixteen she was trying to tell me I would get AIDs from kissing a boy and now she just wants me to get knocked up. So frustrating. And what's even worse is she keeps sending me photos and contact information for these guys from back home. I worked my ass off to get out of Kansas so why would I want to go back there and get knocked up, you know?"
"It's a mom thing," Kim shrugged. "Moms are always wanting to know when you're going to give them grandbabies…"
"And Dads always think that you're five years old," I snorted.
"And how was your weekend, Bella?" Kim smirked at me.
"I took my boyfriend home to meet my Dad," I blushed.
"I guess it's getting serious, then?" Kristie giggled. "How did it go?"
"Well, my dad is a small town police chief… and his first dealing with Edward may have been when Edward picked up my phone at six in the morning after spending the night at my place…" I grimaced.
"Oh God," Kim laughed.
"I'm still mortified," I admitted.
"That's nothing," Kristie snorted. "My parents came up for a surprise visit when I was in college and found me in my dorm room with my boyfriend. Naked. My dad's a minister. I still have a hard time looking him in the eye, and I'm terrified about bringing guys home now."
"How'd the visit go?" Kim asked.
"I think well. They at least seem to be getting along," I said. "Which is good."
"This one sticking around?" Kristie nodded.
"I hope so," I nodded.
"Anyone we know?" Kim asked.
"Uh… Edward Cullen? He's the consultant helping out with the web site redesign…" I began.
"Oh my God, you lucky duck!" Kim teased me.
"He's super cute," Kristie nodded. "Vickie tried to chat him up in the elevator a few times, but he ignored her completely."
"You know she hates it when people call her Vickie," Kim rolled her eyes.
"She was…uh… hitting on him?" I said. Kristie and Kim shared glances before turning back to me.
"Just when he started coming around," Kim explained. "After he was polite but told her he wasn't interested she gave up. Victoria doesn't think men should be a challenge. She expects them to just fall into her lap."
"That's why she has such a tough time with James," Kristie nodded.
"James?" I asked.
"Vickie's on-again, off-again whatever," Kristie said. "Or at least that's what she calls him."
"They date, get into a fight and break up in three month cycles just about," Kim nodded. "They're back together now. They got engaged three months ago and she started flirting with your boy when things were getting rough. Then they broke up and just before her… sabbatical… they had gotten back together. They've been together for like five years and for whatever reason won't do whatever they need to do to step up and make it work. She needs to make up her mind: go back to him permanently or end things permanently."
"It's always drama," Kristie sighed. "They rile each other up like no one else and unfortunately she sometimes takes her anger on him out on other people. They get into shouting matches over the phone at work. And I'm pretty sure I walked in to her office once when they were having phone sex too. It's weird. She'll do nothing but bitch about him for a week and then on Friday he'll show up with a huge thing of roses, take her out to a fancy lunch and suddenly she's back at work, talking about how she needs to go buy some sexy lingerie for him. They are so weird."
"Kinky, Kris," Kim rolled her eyes. "In this day in age, the word you are looking for is kinky."
"There is no kink in Kansas," Kristie snorted.
"I bet there are tons of people who get their freak on in Kansas," Kim said. "Kinky in Kansas… now there's a story you should pitch to Irina."
"Yeah. That's what my parents need," Kristie snorted. "Me in full dominatrix gear in a wheat field accompanied with a story about my foray into the world of whips and chains."
"You could go undercover… literally," I teased her.
"Oh, Bella," Kim laughed. "You're going to fit in very well here."
