Alison

It was the day of the tour and Alison was more excited than she thought she would be. Being able to tell teenagers what it's actually to work there, especially from a newbies point of view. It would also be a chance to apologize to Emily for not helping her when she bumped into Greg. Because of her competitiveness she could not back down from the challenge. After handing Hannah the coffee she felt a little bit guilty (which was definitely rare for her). Hopefully she could stay on Emily's good side today.

Emily

Emily was on the elevator headed to the lobby to meet the kids. When the doors opened she could see Alison standing, waiting for the kids to come. Emily slowly walked toward her, dreading the awkwardness that was bound to come. Once she reached the side of her, she didn't say anything. After a couple of seconds, Alison realized she was next to her and gave her a tight-lipped smile.

"Good morning", she said.

"Morning", Emily mumbled.

Emily could tell Alison saw the seriousness in her face and she started to speak again, "Emily I'm s-". Swooosh. A group of kids appeared exiting a school bus, walking onto the sidewalk. After filing into the building, a woman in her early forties came up to the both of them.

"Hello. I'm Jada. I'll be picking them up after the tour."

"Nice meeting you.", Emily said shaking her hand and Alison shaking it after.

"It's 12:30 now so I'll be back around… 3 o'clock."

"Sounds good. Thank you", Alison responded.

The woman left and the kids crowded around them. "Good morning everyone. I'm Emily and this is Alison and we will be your tour guides."

Emily glanced at them and saw that some of them looked excited and some looked like they were doing an inspection. Please let this go well Emily thought.

A hour and a half passed and the kids were ready to have lunch. They went to the corner of the cafe and and the kids took out their food. Emily and Alison sat a couple feet away to give them some space. Minutes later, a girl about 16 years old saw the tension between the two young woman and decided to ask a question.

"What is one of your favorite things about working here?"

Emily glanced at Alison to figure out who should go first. Alison gestured for her to go so Emily gathered her thoughts.

"Well...I'd say the say family events. Sometimes we get free tickets to amusement parks, movies, baseball, basketball, and football games. So the chance to hang out with your family and friends is really cool. Plus watching a game that has the team you like.

"What's your favorite football team!?", a boy called out. Emily saw the other boys focused on her, as if the answer would make or break the way they'd feel about her.

"Giants of course", she responded. The boys nodded in agreement and continued eating.

"What about you?" the girl said wanting to hear Alison's answer. Emily was curious…what could possibly be her favorite thing about being here. Blackmailing people? Playing with people's emotions?

"I'd say the people I work with. Everyone here is so nice and the moment I came here I felt more comfortable than I thought I would. So if you decide to work here one day, you won't have to worry about feeling left out because everyone is so friendly and you really are a part of a team". Emily made a subtle movement, putting her hand under her chin to stop her jaw from dropping. Oh she's good Emily thought.

Alison

"Bye guys", Emily said, while the both of them waved. The kids were exiting the building, smiling and waving back. When the bus pulled off the two young women stood beside each other in silence. Alison knew this was her chance. This would be one of the few times they were alone, so she had to make the best of it.

"Emily. This morning I was trying to say that I'm-"

"Emily!" a loud voice from behind them screeched.

Really? Alison thought, rolling her eyes and then turning her head to see who called her. It was Aria, speed walking toward them. She made a sudden stop in front of Emily, "How was the tour?"

"It went well...they enjoyed themselves".

"That's good. Well, since I know you haven't got the chance to check your phone… Hannah sent out an email saying to meet up at the circle at 3:15 today". Alison remembered the circle was the biggest space in the building. It was where celebrations and important discussions or announcements were held.

"I wonder why?" Emily questioned."Who knows...lets go", she said while pulling Emily's arm in the the direction of the elevator.

"And hi Alison!" she yelled out while speeding away, Alison waved, slowly making her way to the elevator. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Emily

Emily knew that Alison was trying to apologize to her since morning. She somewhat enjoyed the struggle Alison had when it came to talking to her. But she wasn't focused on that right now. Her and Aria were down the hall from the circle and she was interested in what Hannah was going to say.

"How's your tour guide partner?" Aria asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"She's fine" Emily responded. She didn't tell her friends about the coffee situation to prevent any type of conflict that could occur. She still had mixed emotions when it came to Alison and the tour made it worse. During the tour, Alison made the kids laugh and kept them engaged the whole time. Even Emily couldn't help herself from laughing sometimes or looking at her while she was speaking (without Alison noticing of course). It was like working with kids was her calling.

"Here we are", Aria said as they met up with Spencer in the room.

Five minutes later, Hannah arrived and stood in front everyone. After a couple of shh's it was completely silent.

"Good Afternoon everyone. To speed this up, I'll get straight to the point. Some of you know that in two weeks it will be Gems magazine's 10th anniversary. So there will be a celebration two saturdays from now. I'll email all the details today. Also, I want to say thank you to everyone for being a part of this team. Each and everyone of you are the reason why this company is so successful and how we can grow together and hopefully see a 20th anniversary".

Hannah continued for about three minutes and dismissed everyone. Emily was excited, knowing it would be her first time at a celebration for Gems. Who knew what was in store?

Authors note: I'm sorry it's been forever! Once school started I was given so much work but since the year is almost over they're giving less. Most likely I'll be updating regularly again. Reviews are appreciated.