Pretty Beggars - Chapter Two

Sitting at the bar, with my fourth or fifth apple martini in hand, I was beginning to feel a lot better.

"...So then, I ran out of his office, and that's when I puked in the plant pot." I finished my little story, slurring slightly but nevertheless had caught their attention.

"So...you're telling me that he actually put his slimy hands on your tit?" Rose asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. But over my top, though." I said. I realised I sounded like I was defending him, so quickly added, "That doesn't make it any better, though. He's still a little wormy slimeball."

"Hell yeah he is. Next time I see him..." Rose trailed off, making a very violent gesture with her hands.

We all clapped and cheered at this. "You get him, Rose!" Jake whooped. "Another round of martini's I think, ladies?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Alice laughed. We all laughed with her and set our glasses down on the bar.

"I think I need to piss. See you guys in 2." Jake told us as he staggered towards the guys' bathroom.

"Lightweight!" Rose said, and we all snickered in unison.

"Well well well, looks like you ladies had a harsh day at work." The guy behind the bar laughed, with a thick Southern accent. "Everythang alraht at the office?" I heard Ali's dreamy sigh from the right of me.

We all turned to look at her. She was staring dreamily at the guy, who stuck out his hand across the bar to her. "Name's Jasper, darlin.' What's yours?"

"A-Alice." She stammered, and gulped loudly. Me and Rose were silently killing ourselves laughing at their little exchange.

"What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. I think y'all can have these on the house." He said, winking at Ali.

"Oh no, you really don't have to-" Ali begun, when Rose cut in, "Thanks ever so much!" And glared at Ali.

"When offered free drinks, never turn them down." She whispered harshly to her. I smiled awkwardly at Jasper. "I'm Bella."

"Nice to meet you, Bella. Say, are y'all meetin' anyone here?"

"No. Why?"

"Just wonderin'. Say, pretty girl," He turned to face Ali. "You wanna go on a date with me sometime?" Ali's jaw fell so far down it nearly hit the floor. She snapped it shut with a quiet little click of her teeth.

"Um...but...we only j-just..met...and I-"

"She would love to!" I cut in.

Alice shot me daggers. "If looks could kill, my friend." I sang as I tapped her nose.

"If looks could kill, you'd have been dead a long time before now." She muttered, but loud enough for me to know she was joking. I laughed.

"Awesome." Jasper said, flashing Ali a wicked grin. "Say, here's my number. Don't hesitate to just give me a call, will ya now?" He said, while handing her a scrap of paper with a number scrawled in blotchy, blue ink.

"I won't." Ali promised, giving him an equally as devious smile.

-x-

"Ugh. I hate that little snake." Rose said, who still hadn't moved on from the incident with Mike earlier that day.

"So do I, my friend, so do I." I said, pouring us some more shots. We had somehow found our way to my apartment and had found the emergency vodka stash.

"You know what Bells? I think you should vent." Rose said, like it was the smartest thing since sliced bread.

"Vent? I have air-con. Are you trying to say my apartment smells? 'Cus if you are I'm gonna-"

"No, no." She laughed. "You should find a way to get rid of your hatred towards that man. Write it down. Make notes on your iPhone, yada yada." She waved her hand, to indicate that that part of the conversation was over. She leaned over and started to say something to Jake and Ali, but I had tuned out. I took out my iPhone and began to flip through my Facebook. Nothing interesting going on.

I might as well start 'venting' right now.

I clicked on the 'type here' section on my screen and wrote down a sentence or two about my day. I tucked my iPhone back in my pocket. Strangely enough, I felt better already.

-x-

As I walked into my office the next day, I noticed that everybody there was staring at me. I mentally ridiculed myself. Had I tucked my skirt into my panties again?

I was halfway to my cubicle when I realised Mike was standing outside his office in his stupid light pink suit, tapping his shoe on the floor.

"Care to explain what this is?" He said, pointing to the plantpot. I felt myself going red.

"I, um-"

"I don't want your silly explanations, Miss Swan. I want you in my office in 5 minutes. We need to have a very serious conversation. I would also like to discuss your recent Facebook status update." With that he flounced back into his 'office.'

What the fuck? What status update? I ignored my colleagues stares and went to sit in my cubicle and logged on to Facebook.

Oh. My. Fuck.

Bella Swan, 01:18 am: Bad day in the office to say the least...my boss is the King of creeps, and that's putting it nicely. He is such a perv! Ugh. Kill me now!

Shit.

Anyone out there?