Emily
It had been a couple of days since Emily had seen Alison in the bathroom. She didn't mean to be so harsh but her emotions got the best of her. She was sending an email when she heard the familiar sound of heels clicking. The dark-haired woman appeared with the same emotionless face. "Hannah's office. Go". Mona walked off and Emily made her way to Hannah's office. Before she entered, a blonde-haired woman was already in a seat across from Hannah.
"Hello", Emily said to the both of them. The blonde turned around, revealing Alison's face. They made eye contact but quickly averted their eyes to make it less awkward.
"Have a seat", Hannah said motioning to a chair on the right of Alison. While Emily was taking a seat Hannah took a gulp of coffee.
"Wow. You said you got these beans from Columbia?"
"Yeah. My brother went there and taught me how to make it".
"Amazing!", Hannah said lowering her eyes in delight. Emily took a deep breath to release any feeling of jealousy that might form.
"Alright. Let's get to business. In two days, there be a tour for ten kids ages fourteen to seventeen who want to work here when their older. Since we're now a sponsor of the Dream Job Foundation, kids from all over the country apply and write essays to have a chance to to tour and get a feel of what it's like to work at their dream job. You two will lead the group together, share your experiences, let them ask questions, all that jazz". Both women nodded their head in response.
"Also...Emily remember the trip to Morocco?"
"Yes", Emily almost whispered worried about what she was going to say next.
"Say hello to your competition".
Emily slowly turned her head in Alison's direction. Why me? was all Emily could think about and Alison's confused expression was wasn't helping. Hannah explained everything to her while Emily stared at the clock waiting to leave.
"So in order for me to pick between the two of you… I want two photos based on the theme of happiness. They'll be due sometime in July. I'll email the date soon".
There was an awkward silence until Alison spoke, "Thank you for this opportunity Mrs. Marin".
"Please call me Hannah", she lightly chuckled. "Alright. That's all", putting on her glasses and glaring at her computer. The two woman got up and made their way to the door until they heard Hannah say something to herself, "Ugh. I need more coffee". While exiting the room Emily saw Alison speeding up toward the coffee machine which made her go faster. The sound of feet thumping on the floor echoed in the hallway. They both focused on the three coffee machines that were about fifteen feet away. Emily reach the machine with Alison slightly ahead of her. She grabbed a cup and quickly mentally measured the amount of grounds she needed. She snatched a plastic spoon and added sugar. Glancing to her right she saw Alison going the same pace as her. Add a crowd and you'd think it was a cooking show she thought. Emily impatiently waited for the hot water to fill the cup. As soon as it almost reached the top she let go of the button, grabbed the French vanilla cream, poured it to the top, and placed it back in the fridge. She debated on getting a top but decided not to, seeing Alison was almost finished. She picked up the cup and carefully spun around to start rushing down the hall. She smiled slightly knowing victory would be hers. She turned her head to see Alison now leaving with her cup of coffee. Emily was four doors away from Hannah's office ready to hand the coffee to her. Thinking it was smooth sailing from there, Greg appeared from an office two doors from Hannah's. Emily was caught off guard and was too close to stop herself from bumping into him. She slammed into him, resulting in the both of them falling and Emily being drenched and hot coffee. Emily couldn't even scream from the pain, but was thankfully that the cream had made it a little warmer.
"I'm so sorry!" Greg said helping Emily up. While he was helping her, she locked eyes with Alison and could have sworn she saw a light smirk. Alison passed them and went into Hannah's office.
"It's fine", Emily said now passing Hannah's office without looking inside. All she could focus on was getting to her office to retrieve her extra clothes and stop feeling sticky in places she shouldn't.