I can't believe I got nine reviews last chapter. That was craziness! And it's been craziness working in retail this time of year, so my writing got put on the back burner. But I'm glad to post another chapter for you guys! Thanks so much HersheyChoco101, Cotton Candy Mareep for three catch-up reviews, Icefeather, CAPJHMPAgirl, and MikariStar for three reviews, too! I love hearing who your favorite characters are, guys. It helps and makes me smile. :D

For a Friend

The young receptionist crossed her arms impatiently, staring down at the messy silver head of hair. Vaughn was concentrating hard over a mass of papers. His pen was scribbling so fast, it looked like he was writing an essay.

"Vaughn, what's wrong with you?" Molly asked, miffed that he was ignoring her. Luckily, she brought an arsenal.

Candace peered out from behind her shoulder. "N-Not with you, but… is there something the matter? You're working awful hard…"

Molly smirked victoriously when Vaughn looked up for Candace's voice. His eyes scanned them for a moment before he flushed slightly because she was worried about him. "I'm fine, Candace. Just… working."

"Working? On what?" Molly peeked over his desk light curiously.

"Something big," Allen hugged the corner of Vaughn's cubicle, peering in. "You know he got here before me this morning?"

"You mean he came in on time?!" Molly asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Yup!" Rod popped up behind Allen, propping his elbows up on the cubicle wall and forming a suffocating circle around poor Vaughn. "I'm always first here – well, except for Gill. Gill lives here. But Vaughn clocked in at eight this morning."

"Eight?!" Molly was looking around for the real Vaughn at this point.

"Th-that's good… Right? We shouldn't bother him…" Candace tugged on Molly's sleeve like a child pulling on her mother's skirt.

"Bother? Somebody ring for me?" Luke came waltzing out of his office.

"Sure, gather round! See the freak show of a man hard at work in this office," Allen spread his arms out to Vaughn like Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune.

"Ooo! A juicy story!" Tina ran up behind Luke with her camera lens already poised for a shot. Everyone knew she desperately needed to be a member of the paparazzi with her talent to annoy like a fly buzzing around the ear, but her attention span of a goldfish would easily get her lost taking pictures of clouds.

"Candace? Uh… what's going on out here?" Louis arrived late to the party, shoulders slumped insecurely and hands dug deep in his pockets.

Alice pushed her way through the wall of her co-workers and slid onto the edge of Vaughn's desk, seductively crossing her legs and playing with her shirt collar. "Maybe he'll tell me what he's so interested in…"

Molly rolled her eyes. Candace shielded hers in fear of seeing something unholy.

"So what's going on, Vaughn?"

"What are you writing?"

"Why are we all over here?!"

"Luke, get off my foot!"

"Sheesh, Alice, pull your skirt down!"

"Maybe it's a resignation letter?"

"He's quitting?"

"Who's quitting?"

"Is Allen quitting?"

"Woohoo!"

"Hey!"

"This…" Vaughn grumbled. Though his voice was dark and low, everyone shut up to hear what he had to say for curiosity's sake. "-is why I hate people. Except Dan."

Though everyone was sure he was asleep, curled in a ball with his face planted against his desk, Dan punched the air triumphantly before his arm flopped back down.

"Rude," Alice huffed, primping her hair.

"If you clowns are done gawking, I need to finish this. And if I don't get this done, I'll have to stay after hours, and that will not make me happy," Vaughn snapped. "Will you all just get away from my desk?!" Allen made a grab for one of the papers, but Vaughn shielded it away from him, smacking his hand away in the process.

Gill emerged from the break room where the copy machine was kept. A stack of neatly lined up fliers were in his arms as he looked around at all of the employees crowding around Vaughn, but what appeared to be his own desk. "What are you people doing? If I find a single sandwich near my desk, I'll—!"

"Ah!" Hamilton waddled out of the conference room. All heads turned to him in surprise. "Good. You're all here! We have a special guest all the way from corporate today. To the conference room – single file! Hottest first! Four-Eyes to the back of the line!"

"Aw…" Louis sunk his head lower, falling in line behind a sympathetic Rod.

Vaughn growled, throwing down his pen and gathering the papers in a disorganized pile.

"S-Sorry, Vaughn…" Candace said in barely a whisper. Her eyes avoided him as she made her way to the conference room. "I hope you don't have to stay after because of us…"

Vaughn watched pathetically as she left. In frustration, he rubbed his hands over his face. "Way to go – make her feel bad for no reason."

"Don't worry," Molly roughly patted his shoulder. She smiled brightly. "I'm sure you didn't ruin your chances by showing how big of a grumpy jerk you are. She'll come around!"

Vaughn scowled, closing the door to the conference room behind them with a bang.

The only open seats left were against the wall, so Vaughn found himself seated between Molly and Gill. He looked around at the gathering, seeing Dan still nodding off and looking grumpy after Luke and Tina dragged him away from his desk. Alice was filing her nails next to Allen front and center. Vaughn finally spotted Candace across the room seated beside Louis and Rod in the corner. Did he scare her? She looked upset. He barely even said anything! It wasn't aimed at her anyway…

Whap! "Ow!" Vaughn grabbed the back of his head from the slap it received.

"Quit staring!" Molly whispered beside him. "It's creepy…"

Vaughn folded his arms across his chest grumpily (and in slight embarrassment as his blush showed), his frown growing deeper as he slouched into his chair.

Hamilton clapped his hands, looking over the emotionless faces staring back up at him. He turned to Gill who was still holding the fliers. "Oh, good! You printed off the handouts!"

"Just as you asked, sir," Gill nodded proudly. "Hot off the copy machine. Heated like my dedication."

"Super!" Hamilton said, putting on his announcer voice. "Pass those around. Everyone, make sure you get one of the fliers, so you can follow along. Or make paper airplanes because YAWN! Am I right? Am I right?"

Vaughn finally noticed a well-dressed, pink haired young woman looking rather miffed at Hamilton's insult to her program at the front of the room. She was rather pretty… Until she opened her mouth, letting out an ear-splitting giggle. Vaughn winced.

Her frizzy, curly hair bounced with her movements even though she had a headband to tame it. She wore a very professional dark red business blazer and matching skirt. She sidestepped Hamilton to get to the front of attention. "Mr. Hamilton, if you would please take a seat, I'll begin!"

Hamilton winked at her, sitting down in a lone chair by the door. The girl pretended to not see it as she cleared her throat, looked over the tightly packed group before her, and let out another irritating giggle. "My name is Popuri! I was chosen from the Persuasive Papers corporate office in Flower Bud City to come here today to talk to your sector about a few complaints we've received."

Everyone looked around suspiciously, hoping this wasn't going to be some fire and brimstone lecture about keeping their act together. Especially since no one would be able to take it seriously when it was coming from a cupcake of a girl named Popuri.

Popuri giggled again, holding a hand over her mouth. "Not to worry! All such complaints are kept completely anonymous. Do you all have a flier now? Then you'll see by the title that I'm here to talk to you about company policy and diversity in the office!"

"Is this Comic Sans? How are we supposed to take this seriously?" Molly whispered.

Vaughn looked over the list as Popuri went over communication and workplace safety. "We were going to take this seriously?"

Molly shrugged in agreement, checking her cell phone. Vaughn watched the screen light up as she started to play Temple Run.

"Persuasive Papers highly prides itself on its acceptance policies," Popuri spouted word for word what they could have easily found in their employee handbooks if they bothered to open them. "No matter your age, race, gender, religion, or handicap, Persuasive Papers does not discriminate! Um… yes?"

Heads turned to Allen who had his hand in the air. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "What about preferences?"

"Um…" Popuri was confused, her perfect circuitry sparking at the unexpected question. "I'm sorry?"

"Preferences, you know. Like, what if I'm into BDSM?"

Popuri blinked her large, innocent eyes. "Excuse me?"

Allen licked his lips. Alice held a hand over her mouth to stop her from laughing outright.

"Um, that is no business of the company, but… again, no matter the category – Persuasive Papers does not discriminate against its employees!" Popuri bravely finished, hiding her flustered face as Allen cracked his imaginary whip at her.

"Let's move on to diversity!" She quickly began. "Diversity is a very important aspect in the workplace. Persuasive Papers believes its varied employees are its greatest strength. The inclusion of our differences—"

Dan let out a loud snore from his spot in the corner, garnering Popuri's attention. "Excuse me! Sir?"

"Oh, no," Hamilton held a hand up to stop her. Popuri looked down in surprise. "Don't wake him. He does what he wants."

"What?" Popuri barely formed the word.

"He's our token black guy. He does what he wants," Hamilton repeated.

Popuri gaped in horror at his callousness. "That is not what diversity is about—!"

"Let's change the subject, shall we?" Hamilton stood, ignoring her protests. "Like… how well-endowed you are…"

"Excuse me?!" Popuri clutched her collar closed and away from Hamilton's prying eyes. Allen let out a whistle.

"Mr. Hamilton!" Alice whined, stuffing her bra with Gill's stolen handkerchief.

"Hush, Miss C-cup. There is a Queen D in our presence!" Hamilton was all but bowing in reverence.

Alice sighed in defeat, upset that her sexual attention crown had been stolen.

"I-I-I think we've gotten off topic!" Popuri desperately tried to win back the show. "D-Diversity—!

Poor girl… Vaughn shook his head. He watched as Popuri struggled with her briefcase and easel to the elevator door. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, waiting for the light. The doors slowly creaked open, revealing Terry and his mop. She entered and pressed the button panel. Popuri felt eyes on her and quickly squeezed herself as far as she could into the corner. Terry gave her a grin, making her squeak and hold the easel out in front of her like a weapon as the doors closed.

Vaughn shook his head again, plopping down in his uncomfortable swivel chair. His desk light became the brightest light in the room since Gill had left the building and insisted all of the fluorescents be shut down not a second after five. He sighed, waiting for the last of the workers to leave the office so he could finally finish his work in peace.

A slight shuffle passed his desk and waited. Vaughn looked up and foolishly jumped to straighten his posture and tie when he saw Candace's big blue eyes watching him.

"Is there anything I can help with… maybe? So… So you can get done faster?" She offered quietly.

Vaughn looked down, trying to keep his cool. "Uh, no, not really… just busy work."

"Okay…" Candace smiled sweetly. "Good night, Vaughn. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Thanks though!" He blurted, only catching her last sentence too late. He shook his head, scolding himself. "Uh, tomorrow?"

"The f-fall picnic?" She reminded, tilting her head slightly to the side. Why was she so cute?! "You'll be there, right?"

"Oh," Vaughn nodded. The company had two annual picnics, one in spring and one in the fall. He was surprised it had come so soon. It wasn't exactly something he ever looked forward to, but at least they always had free food. Even if he had to see his coworkers on a Saturday to get it. "Yeah. Of course."

"Oh, good!" Candace sighed in relief. "I w-wouldn't know what to do if… Well, Molly will be there, b-but I'd like it if… um… Good night!"

Vaughn wanted to reach out, drag her back, make her say… What was she gonna say?! But Candace had quickly waved and hurried for the stairs, the door to the stair well swinging closed behind her as he dumbly watched, not even registering a good-bye for her in return.

He face planted, harshly ruffling his hair in all directions. When he finally emerged from his aggravations, there was a pile of work to be done before him. Propping his forehead in his hand, Vaughn picked up his pen and started again where he left off with a sigh.

Soon, clipped footsteps that were quite different from Candace's approached and stopped before his desk. Vaughn was too engrossed in his writing to care, so the person cleared their throat. Still to no avail, they took more drastic measures to get his attention and leaned over the lamp to blow in his hair.

"Working," Vaughn answered shortly.

Alice pouted, hopping up on his desk as she did earlier. Her mini skirt was too short for such a feat, but she hardly cared – neither did Vaughn. He was very used to ignoring her, something that drove her up the wall. "You're no fun~! Hm. You're awful quiet, too."

"Working," his testy answer came again.

"What are you doing?" Alice situated herself more comfortably. She swung her legs back and forth, picking up his stapler to examine it. "You never come in early. Or stay late…"

Vaughn swiped the stapler out of her grasp, setting it back down on his desk away from her. "Give me that before you hurt yourself."

Though he was good at making anyone feel like an idiot, Alice still wasn't deterred. She cleared a bigger spot by pushing away his things and swung her legs around so she was facing him. "Vaughn~ What's the big deal?"

Before he could get it away from her, Alice had snatched a paper and skimmed it. Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "A brochure? Are you making a brochure? By yourself?"

Vaughn succeeded in taking the paper from her, putting it safely with the others. "I wasn't about to let Luke and Tina screw this up."

"Why?" Alice wondered.

"It's… for an old friend," he said.

Alice looked past him to see an order form. "Taro?"

"…Yeah."

Things grew quiet as Alice watched him work. She prodded him with her foot, but he wasn't responding. With a sigh and a shrug, she started to unbutton her shirt.

Vaughn finally looked up. "What are you doing?"

"Well, Allen's busy…" she stated matter-of-factly.

"You're kidding me."

Alice looked him over, avoiding his glare. "Well, why not? Nobody's here. Just us…"

"No," he flatly rejected her, going back to his work.

She laughed, not wanting to believe him. "Now you're kidding me, right?"

"Working," Vaughn went back to his one liner, jotting down Sunshine Island's most notable products.

Alice was dumbfounded, her shirt hanging open. "What? You can't be serious. Look at me!"

Vaughn sighed and put down his pen. Alice happily straightened her posture, expecting she finally won. He did as she asked and looked at her. "Sorry, Alice. Not my type."

"And what's that?" She grumbled under her breath, quickly buttoning her shirt. "Candace?"

"Yeah," he admitted simply.

Alice frowned, once again presentable. She shook her head. "I don't get it, but… whatever."

Grateful to be left alone, Vaughn went to finish the last few sections of the advertisement. Alice still didn't move, a small smile on her lips as she watched him. "Go home," he grunted.

The smile only grew wider but not as genuine. She purred, combing her fingers through her straightened silver hair. "Well, if you were staying after… You're always too busy to get a few drinks with me, so this was the closest I was going to get."

Vaughn rolled his eyes.

"You know… it's pretty sweet. What you're doing. For a friend," Alice commented, the genuine smile returning for a moment. The harsh light from the desk lamp didn't reach her enough, basking her in a yellow glow like a campfire. She sighed in defeat. "I'm an editor, after all. Let me help you."

"No," Vaughn's quipped answers continued.

Alice hopped off his desk and wriggled her way under his arm, sitting herself on his lap.

"Get off," his demand came quicker than the previous ones.

"Oh, come on," Alice crossed her arms. "You have to stay after, and I'm not going anywhere if you aren't. Just let me look over your work, so you don't make a bigger fool of yourself."

Vaughn sat back, swiveling his chair so Alice could get off of him easier. "Fine. Only if you get off of me before I throw you."

Alice giggled, biting her lip. "I knew you'd say yes!"

She snatched a handful of papers off of his desk and stood, ruffling his hair. Vaughn swatted her hand away and smoothed his hair down like it had a place to be. Alice looked around for a comfortable place to sit, finally deciding on the floor next to his file cabinet. She leaned against the cubicle, riffling through the stack for a beginning.

There were a few moments of tense silence as Vaughn's heart raced, actually concerned with what she would think. Alice twisted her lips as she read, her expression not giving away her thoughts. A few paragraphs down, her face softened. "You're a good writer."

For the first time, Vaughn felt like Alice wasn't the terrible, selfish person she always flaunted about the office. But before he could say 'thank you,' she scoffed.

"You used the wrong 'there,'" she smirked, looking over the papers at him. "How old are you?"

"Shut up!" Vaughn's defensiveness bit back.

Alice laughed, holding the papers away from him. She insisted she stay until she had read everything that Vaughn had written so far. And she did.