Chapter 4: What was I Thinking?
Brittany's POV
*Monday 4th November 2019*
I've just gotten back from having lunch with Quinn and I'm not in the most uplifting mood right now. Quinn told me that Ms Lopez is seeing someone at the moment and it's actually made me a bit sad. I know there was never anything between us but after Quinn hinted that she thought we should date, I actually started to have a little crush on my boss. I know it's probably not appropriate but I couldn't help it especially when I work so much so I see her all the time. I also think I liked her because she seemed to banter with me a little bit whenever I did things. I was highly unprofessional in the beginning but I think that's because I did everything I could for her to at least talk to me.
"Pierce, what's going on?" Ms Lopez asks, walking towards me as I take my jacket off at my desk.
"Uh…not much" I say confused.
"You were supposed to come to my office half an hour ago" she tells me.
"No, I wasn't" I state. I am trying to be more respectful these days but not once was that mentioned. If I knew I was due in a meeting with Ms Lopez I would have cut lunch short with Quinn.
"Yes, you were. I asked you last night on the phone" she states seriously.
"Ms Lopez, you and I were not on the phone last night" I point out.
"Yeah, I called you and…oh wait a minute" she says before laughing. "I didn't actually call you, did I?" she says and I nod. "I had every intention and I remember I was about to dial your number when Greg sort of turned up and surprised me. I guess it distracted me" she laughs again.
"Greg being your boyfriend, right?" I ask annoyed. I know it's childish but I'm jealous ok. What has this Greg got that I haven't? Also why is she dating a man?
"I don't know if I would say boyfriend but we're sort of dating" Ms Lopez shrugs. "Anyway, since I didn't ask last night, I'm asking now. Can you come for a quick meeting please?"
"Yeah" I nod. "I'll use the bathroom first and be right there" I add.
"Do you need a can of deodorant?" she teases.
"That was at least 3 months ago. I do not still have food poisoning" I tell her while playfully rolling my eyes.
"I'm just teasing" she smiles at me.
"I know but it's weird because you never do that" I state.
"Sue me, I'm happy" she smiles. "Anyway, my office when you're ready" she adds before walking away. For a split second, I'm happy because my boss is happy which I like but then I'm instantly sad again. I realise now that she's maybe happy because her boyfriend makes her happy but that doesn't make me happy. Ms Lopez said herself that we can't even be friends so I know there's zero chance of anything between us but it still doesn't make me feel any better.
"Ok, so what is the meeting about?" I ask as I walk into my boss's office and take a seat.
"Everything really" she tells me. "We're in November now so obviously Christmas is at the end of next month so I want to see where we are with everything" she says.
"Everything is looking good financially right now but like you say Christmas is coming so no doubt there will be an increase in sales. That is a good thing but it also means production will need to increase too so we need to make sure we account for that" I point out. No doubt with the Christmas rush coming up then we need to take into consideration overtime for our staff if the demand for products is high. We might also need to outsource a few areas and up our delivery scheme.
"Ok" Ms Lopez nods. "I'm going to need you to get me a list of items with the highest sales. I mean I know myself that all of my items are amazing but I'd like to know which are the most popular ones. Also, a list of the least popular would be good and I might put a discount on them to drive those sales" she tells me.
"No problem, I'll get right on it" I nod.
"I do have another few things to discuss but if you get me those sales figures just now and we'll talk again later" Ms Lopez replies.
"Ok" I say while standing up from my seat. "Oh, before I go, may I ask you something" I say.
"Uh…yeah" she replies, curious to see what I want to ask her right now.
"How old are you Ms Lopez?" I ask curiously.
"That's absolutely none of your concern" Ms Lopez glares at me. "Furthermore, you do not ask a lady her age, it's rude" she points out.
"No need to get so defensive" I say taken aback. Man, where did that happy mood go to. "I am asking because I saw this competition for young entrepreneurs but there's an age limit so I can't put you forward if you're too old" I state.
"Ok well if you must know I'm 25. I turn 26 in January" she replies embarrassingly.
"Wow, you're this successful at this young?" I say surprised. I never thought my boss was old at all but for the success of everything I assumed she might have been a little older than this.
"I might be successful now but this was no easy journey for me" she tells me. "I didn't get here today without tons of hard work, a little luck and a lot of bad experiences. I won't bore you with all that right now though. Now competition you say, what do I have to do?" she asks interested.
"Not a lot really and to be honest it's not so much a competition as it's more just a recommendation. Basically, you get recommended by someone, the board looks at all the nominees and decides on the winner who gets an award. There's also a very tidy sum of cash along with the award to put towards your business" I tell her.
"Sounds like exactly my thing so do it" Ms Lopez tells me. "Be generous with the compliments and make me look good" she adds.
"Actually, this might be a losing battle" I sigh teasingly.
"It shouldn't be that hard to make me look good considering all the success I've had" she states.
"All the sex you've had?" I say in mock surprise. "That's more than I need to know" I smirk.
"I said success not sex and you know that" Ms Lopez points out.
"I'm just messing. Anyway, I will do everything I can to make sure you win that award. Firstly though I will get back to work and get you those sales figures" I smile.
"Ok" Ms Lopez smiles back.
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*Thursday 5th December 2019*
It's the first week in December now so Christmas sales are really stacking up. I've just finished the accounts for November and things are looking not too bad. Ms Lopez is holding a meeting today with all the employees to update them about the business so far and brief them on what's to come next with Christmas fast approaching. She wants to have a meeting every week from now until Christmas with everyone to discuss how the business is doing.
I've just walked into the conference hall now and unfortunately, I'm the last one in. Ms Lopez looks at me disapprovingly before walking briskly passed me to close the door. I thought I had closed it behind me but obviously it wasn't closed enough for Ms Lopez.
"Ok, thank you all for coming to the staff meeting. First things first, before I address the real issues of today, I'd just like to point out that there were a number of empty food cartons and dirty dishes left in the staffroom last night, let's not have that happen again. This is a respectable organisation so let's keep it looking respectable" Ms Lopez tells us all.
"Noted" I say and everyone else nods in agreement.
"I'm going to hand over to Brittany for a moment to give you all a rundown of the profits last month and then I'll be discussing a few other things with you so take it away Brittany" she says while looking at me.
"Ok, thank you Ms Lopez" I say and then Ms Lopez sits down. "Ok, last month was very successful in terms of profits and if we can exceed these this month then Ms Lopez has agreed to give you a small bonus. We have to meet all our targets for this to happen, it can't just be cutting back on expenses so the income outweighs the expenses. We have to perform exceptionally in all areas of the business. Production must increase, expenses must be reduced as far as possible, reviews must be good etc. etc. Overall though; it was a good month so let's keep it up" I smile at everyone.
"Yes, and let's not get complacent please" Ms Lopez adds.
"Christmas is fast approaching so use that as a motivation to work hard" I suggest. We're all getting a nice break over the holiday period to spend time with our families so surely that'll give the staff some incentive to work hard now and get time off later in the month.
"Ok, a few other things to talk about. First production. As far as that goes, everything seems ok. However, we have had a few issues with shipping recently; that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. If you have any issues then come to me right away no matter what I am doing" she tells everyone and they all nod. "If you can't get a hold of me since I'm in the middle of another major design at the moment then let Brittany know and she'll report back to me or address the situation" she states.
XXX
After work was done, I went home and got ready before heading back out. Quinn set me up on a date tonight and honestly, I was bored out of my mind. The girl seemed lovely but I just had nothing in common with her. She didn't seem interested in the same things as me and wanted to talk about her ex a little more than I thought was necessary. After having dinner, we said goodbye and went our separate ways which leads me to why I'm here. I'm at a bar right now because I felt like I needed a drink before going home. I'm just walking over to get a drink when I see someone I know.
"Santana…I mean Ms Lopez…I mean Santana" I say nervously. We're outside of work so I'm not sure if I still go with Ms Lopez or not.
"Santana is fine, we're not working right now" she laughs at me.
"Sorry" I apologise while sitting down next to her.
"What are you having?" she asks me.
"Come on we're not at work, you don't need to pay for my drink. I'll get you another unless you've had enough" I say.
"I've definitely not had enough" she replies.
"That's settled then, I will buy you a drink" I tell her. I then order us both a drink. As soon as the bartender puts the drinks in front of us, Ms Lopez downs hers in one.
"Man, I needed that" she says as she slams her glass on the bar.
"You made light work of that" I laugh.
"Yeah" she shrugs.
"I didn't know you were a big drinker" I say surprised as I order her another drink.
"I'm not, I'm just having a crap day" she sighs loudly.
"The monthly bulletin was good though; sales were fantastic already this week too" I smile.
"It's not about work" she shrugs.
"Oh" I say surprised.
"My boyfriend is cheating on me" she tells me. "Well he's not technically my boyfriend but you get who I mean" she adds.
"You're kidding" I say shocked. I'm not only shocked he would do that but I'm also shocked that she feels she can open up to me like this which is rare.
"I wish I was but I'm not. I caught the bastard in bed with some blonde chick who looked about 18 or something" she says while shaking her head in disgust.
"That's horrible" I state. Why would someone do that to her?
"I've known for a couple of weeks but I pretended I didn't because I don't want that sort of drama getting out and causing problems for the business" she tells me. We are in the middle of a very important launch right now so it probably wouldn't look good for the brand if the owner had bad press or whatever at the moment.
"I see" I nod. I get it, I do.
"Tonight was the last straw though because I walked into the house after my meeting was cancelled and there she was butt naked in my bed with my boyfriend" she states while taking a drink of her cocktail.
"Oh goodness" I say surprised.
"I can hardly pretend they're still not cheating you know" she shrugs.
"Yeah" I nod.
"Greg said it means nothing but it clearly does otherwise he wouldn't do that to me" she states. "I was never going to stay with him anyway once I found out but like I say, I had to bide my time until the new launch is done."
"He must be one stupid bastard to cheat on someone like you" I say while shaking my head.
"Come on, I'm your boss, surely you can see I'm not the nicest of people" she states.
"You're strict at work but when you trust someone enough to open up to them then I don't know how they could betray you. You don't talk about personal things at work which is fine but surely on the outside when you have opened up to someone then you show a different side so why would Greg ruin that" I state. Ms Lopez is harsh at work but I can't imagine she's like that with a partner so if she trusted Greg enough to show that side of her then how could he turn around and destroy that?
"Sometimes I think I do take work home with me so maybe I am just too serious at home" she shrugs.
"It still doesn't mean it's ok to cheat on you. He should have the balls to tell you it's not working and then bang the blonde. Not be a coward and do it before even talking to you" I state.
"I'm usually a confident person and know what I want but when someone does this to you, it really makes you question who you are" she points out.
"I have no doubt that would happen" I nod. If someone cheated on me, I think I would end up blaming myself even if it wasn't my fault.
"The reason I have managed to get this new clothing line figured out so quickly was because all I've done the last few weeks is work. I didn't want to be anywhere near Greg so I just stayed late at work most nights and worked on new designs. Also, the anger and hurt I was feeling really helped me because I channelled that into working hard on the new design" Ms lopez tells me.
"Look I know you're my boss and everything but I've got a guest room with your name on it for tonight if you want" I suggest.
"I shouldn't" Ms Lopez declines.
"Come on, I don't want you going back to that asshole" I say. He's sort of been crashing at her place right now since he isn't from around here so he doesn't have his own place nearby.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asks me. "I'm an awful boss to you and I have also told you on many occasions we can't even be friends so why would you want to help me?"
"That's just who I am" I shrug. I would probably help my own enemy if I could.
"I thought you would want to see me miserable. It's the least I deserve for how I treat everyone at work" she states while shaking her head.
"Not at all" I say seriously. "You're a great boss at work and the way you handle things clearly works because you're extremely successful. Don't ever apologise for who you are" I say.
"I might take you up on that offer because I really don't want to see Greg tonight" Ms Lopez replies. I guess there is a chance Greg might not be there but why bother taking the risk when I have a perfectly good spare bed.
"I've got wine back at my place so why don't we just go there now?" I suggest. There's no point getting even more drunk here when we can do it in the comfort of my home.
"Ok" Ms Lopez nods. We finish the drinks we're drinking right now and then head outside to get a cab. The bar is reasonably close to my place so we're there in no time at all. When we get inside, I tell Ms Lopez to make herself comfortable and I pour us both some wine.
"Ok, here we are" I say while handing Ms Lopez a glass as she looks around my living room.
"Why are there boxes everywhere?" Ms Lopez asks me confused. She didn't bother to say thank you when I gave her the glass but I find that quite endearing because that's just who she is.
"Because I'm moving" I reply. "Quinn found me a great apartment that was not too bad a price so I just bit the bullet and bought it" I tell her. Once I do find someone and settle down then I'll move into a house and maybe rent out the apartment.
"How did you afford that, I wonder" she smirks at me.
"I do have a very beautiful salary these days since I started my new job" I smile. Ms Lopez's business does well so we're all fortunate to get paid really well. Obviously, I don't have the same kind of money she does but it's a decent amount for someone my age.
"I've been thinking about getting a new place myself" Ms Lopez tells me.
"It's not going to be an apartment though; it'll be a mansion likely" I tease.
"I do want to move into somewhere bigger because I can afford it and eventually, I want to settle down properly" she replies. "I know I seem a really serious person and I am but I also do have a nicer side so I do want to find someone and, in the future, have a family with them" she admits.
"I know what you mean because eventually I want that to happen to" I nod in agreement.
"You want me to find someone and have a family?" she smirks at me.
"I meant for me. I want the same for me" I clarify. I do know she was only messing though.
"You'll have it. I know you will" Ms Lopez smiles at me. I can tell by the tone of her voice that she is sincere. "You maybe haven't found it just yet because the date you were on doesn't sound the most optimistic but I know in the future you'll have a wife and a family" she adds.
"I hope so" I say honestly.
"So, when are you moving to your new place?" Ms Lopez wonders.
"There's no definite date yet because the people I am renting this to won't be moving in until the end of their current lease which is next month and I can move into my new place any time from now" I reply.
"Well just make sure you're not doing it when it's a busy day at work and I need you" she states.
"Trust you" I laugh. We're talking about things personal to us and then suddenly she manages to get back to boss mode.
"I'm just saying. I don't need you using up my time to move your little apartments around" she shrugs at me.
"I would never dare cut into your time Ms Lopez" I smile at my boss.
"Good to know" she smiles back at me.
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*Friday 6th December 2019*
I have one hell of a hangover this morning but I can't do anything about it because I need to work. I would much rather crawl back into bed and sleep the day away but I know for sure Ms Lopez won't have any sympathy so she won't allow me to have a sick day. I'm currently trying to drink a cup of coffee right now but the smell is honestly making me feel sick. I thought it would wake me up a bit and give me some energy but it really isn't.
"Are you a lightweight or something?" Ms Lopez asks amused as she walks into my kitchen.
"How aren't you as hungover as me. You drank more than I did" I say confused. I'm young so I should be able to handle this kind of thing but I can't.
"We need to get to work" she replies while stealing a bottle of water from my fridge. "If you get ready in 2 seconds we can swing by and get a coffee and something from the bakery for breakfast on our walk to work" she adds.
"Ok I'll…wait a minute. Did you say walk?" I ask. Fuck I'm not walking anywhere with this hangover. I'll be taking a cab since I can't drive with the amount of alcohol in my system.
"I'll leave with or without you so it's up to you" she tells me seriously.
"Don't you have to change or something first?" I ask curiously. She's in last night's clothes.
"I don't have any with me since I wasn't expecting to have a sleepover but I do have some spare clothes at work so if you're coming with me, let's move" Ms Lopez states.
"Ok" I say before running to my room to hurriedly get ready. As soon as I'm done, we leave and head out to work. As promised, Ms Lopez stopped by the bakery near work and got us breakfast before grabbing coffee from the coffee shop down the road. We then made our way into work. I'm currently just walking to my desk just now when Jack walks over to me.
"Oh, walking in with the boss?" Jack asks me with a smirk.
"If you must know. I saw her walking in when I arrived so I wanted to talk to her about something so I caught up with her and we talked as we walked inside" I state. It's not the truth because I thought it was better to lie. If I said our boss crashed at my place last night then everyone would ask why and then the cheating thing might slip out which honestly isn't anyone's business but Ms Lopez's.
"Ok" Jack shrugs. He seems satisfied with the answer so hopefully that buys another day before the nonsense with Greg gets out.
"Anyway, we should get to work now" I say. "Can you make sure the spreadsheet with last week's sales are updated because I need to talk to the sales team this afternoon?" I ask.
"No problem boss" Jack nods before getting right to work.
For the first few hours of my shift, I was really struggling with my hangover but I just knew I couldn't do anything about it. I already took something for my killer headache this morning so I couldn't really take anything else otherwise I'd be flying around my workplace. It was so hard to concentrate when I was feeling so shit but once I saw Ms Lopez running around like she normally does; I knew I had no excuse. If she can work this hard with a hangover then I must be able to as well so I just sucked it up and got on with work.
I'm just talking to a few people from the sales team right now when I notice someone walking briskly along the corridor. He looked weirdly familiar but I couldn't place him until it was too late. It's the guy who was dating Ms Lopez and by the looks of things, he's not here to give her flowers. As soon as I see him approaching Ms Lopez's office, I quickly walk over to him and step in front of him before he can knock on the door.
"What are you doing?" he asks me annoyed.
"Can I help you?" I ask Greg.
"No, I don't think so" he shakes his head at me before trying to get passed me.
"You're trying to get into Ms Lopez's office and she's very busy at the moment so if you need something you come to me. You don't bother her" I tell him.
"I'm her boyfriend so it's fine" Greg sighs.
"I know you cheated on her so it's not fine. Just go away and don't bother her at work" I say.
"She won't answer my calls and she's barely ever home so this is the only place to speak to her" he points out.
"Did you not just hear what I said?" I ask. "She is busy so she can't talk to you and I doubt she would even want to anyway" I point out.
"I need to explain myself" Greg replies.
"And you really think that coming here is the best place to do it?" I question. Ms Lopez is extremely professional at work so I don't think she would appreciate her ex coming here. In fact, I don't think she even liked it when he came here when they were together.
"I know it probably isn't but like I say, she is never at home. I mean she never even came home last night. I was so worried that something might have happened to her. The only reason I know she is here now is because someone sent out a tweet teasing some new things for the line and said they were with the boss" Greg tells me.
"I really don't think you should be here right now. I doubt she would admit it but I think Ms Lopez is probably still in a little shock so rehashing last night's reveal won't help" I state.
"Will you talk to her for me then and ask if she'll speak to me?" he asks me.
"Me?" I ask surprised.
"Well yeah" he replies like it's obvious. "Aren't you like best friends or something?" he adds with a shrug.
"Quinn is Ms Lopez's best friend" I reply.
"Ok technically that's true but I mean like at work" he shrugs again. "Santana never stops talking about you so I just assumed you were tight or something" he says.
"Uh…not really" I say. I'm still surprised that he would think that because I don't think Ms Lopez does want to be friends with me never mind best friends.
"She's always saying Brittany did this today and Brittany saved me money this morning and Brittany really pulled it out of the bag with this new line and Brittany had this great idea etc. etc. so I assumed you two worked well together" he says.
"Ms Lopez and I work together. Actually, I work for her not with her" I state.
"Ok, whatever" he replies rolling his eyes at me. I suppose I am going on about how we're not friends a little too much. "Look, what I mean is she seems to trust you at work which obviously means you're a trusting person because Santana's work means everything to her so I thought you would be the person to convince her to talk to me" he suggests.
"Fine, I'll see what I can do" I sigh. I'm not happy about this but we have wasted an awful amount of time talking today and I doubt he will leave until he sees Ms Lopez so perhaps the quicker, I do this the quicker I can get back to my own work.
"Thank you" he smiles.
"Why don't you get a coffee or something and wait in the staffroom until I've spoken to her?" I suggest. "I'll let you know when I'm finished" I add.
"Ok, thank you" Greg says before leaving to the staffroom. I take a deep breath to prepare myself before I knock on Ms Lopez's door.
"Whoever it is, go away. Talk to Brittany if it's desperately urgent" Ms Lopez replies harshly. For some reason, I seem to be the person everyone goes to when they can't get in touch with Ms Lopez. It's flattering but also stressful because I'm not the only manager around here.
"It is Brittany and it is urgent" I point out.
"Fine" Ms Lopez sighs loudly. "In you come Pierce" she adds so I walk in and close the door behind me. "I'm really busy so this better be fucking good or I won't be happy with you Pierce."
"Greg wants to talk to you" I blurt out.
"Yeah, ok. Send him in" she laughs not realising what I'm saying. She thinks I mean he wants to talk in general, not that he's here.
"I'm serious Ms Lopez. He is in the staffroom right now waiting to talk to you. He was going to walk right in here but I stopped him" I tell my boss.
"Fuck" she says annoyed.
"He just wasn't taking no for an answer so I've managed to convince him to wait just now" I say.
"Why would you do that?" she asks me.
"Did you want to speak to him right now?" I ask confused.
"No, I don't and especially not here" she tells me. "I meant why would you stop him from trying to talk to me. Why would you want to do that?" she asks.
"Because I didn't think you would want to talk to him right now. I thought it would be too fresh to talk about right now. Also, I didn't think you'd want to do it at your place of work either because you might get mad and you don't want everyone finding out what's going on" I say. I know she has known for weeks but last night was when it really became clear he was cheating on her so she might still be a little raw even if she doesn't admit it.
"I see" she nods in understanding.
"I know you keep saying we can never be friends and that's fine but it doesn't mean that I don't care about you a little bit. It's not nice when someone cheats on you so I don't want you to have to relive that today. I also didn't think you would want a scene at work" I point out.
"I appreciate that" she tells me.
"He isn't going to go away though so maybe you should talk to him. I did everything to get him to leave quietly but he wouldn't so I think the only way now is if in fact you do speak to him" I state.
"Fine, send him to me" Ms Lopez sighs. I can see she isn't happy about this but I also think she knows it's the only option.
"Ok" I nod. "If you need any help to kick his ass then don't hesitate to call me" I shrug.
"Ok" Ms Lopez laughs.
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*Wednesday 18th December 2019*
Ms Lopez is holding another meeting with all of the staff today to discuss the most recent weeks performance. It's getting really close to Christmas now so sales are really picking up so we've all been busy with that. Ms Lopez just wants to make sure we're all at the top of our game to make sure we're all handling the Christmas rush in the best way. I'm currently just rushing into the meeting just now as I'm running late because I was caught on a phone call trying to sort out an issue with delivery. It does have fuck all to do with accounting but apparently, I now handle people's delivery issues.
"Pierce, it's lovely you could join us today" Ms Lopez tells me sarcastically as I lunge into the room and throw myself towards the nearest available chair.
"I was…"
"Don't want to hear it. Sit down!" Ms Lopez instructs.
"Ok" I nod while sitting down next to Jack.
"I really don't want to take up a lot of your time this morning because we all are busy. Evidently Pierce is a little busier than the rest of us since she couldn't make it here on time but anyway, as I was saying I don't want to take too long. I just want to update you on a few key points and get some feedback on things" Ms Lopez says to everyone.
It takes about 15 minutes for Ms Lopez to go through everything with us. Like she said, it was just a few key areas to do with the Christmas period and how sales are increasing. A lot of people are buying their little ones cute little outfits for Christmas so there is quite a demand for some of the more popular items. Ms Lopez just wanted to make sure we were all handling things correctly and weren't using more money to deliver these results than we were taking in with sales. Obviously, an increase in sales is good but that demand requires a lot of work so we can't be spending more money on that than on making sales.
"Now I know I can be hard on you all but for the job you do you wouldn't get this pay anywhere else. As long as you all perform and do as I ask then I'll give you a Christmas bonus on top of any bonus you receive this month for exceeding targets. So basically, perform well then you'll ultimately live well" Ms Lopez tells everyone.
"Seems fair" I tell everyone.
"Any questions?" Ms Lopez asks. A few people raise their hands so Ms Lopez goes around the room and answers their questions.
"Sophie and I both have children in a nativity play, are we both allowed to go since we work in the same department or will one of us have to miss it?" Penny, a staff member from the sales team, asks.
"If you put in the time at another point then I see no reason why you both can't go" Ms Lopez shrugs. "You have to give me the dates and times though and tell me how much work you'll be missing and when you're going to make up the time" she adds.
"Really?" Penny asks surprised.
"Yes, but I am trusting you not to take advantage of my generosity right now so don't let me down. Also like I say, make sure you make up the time. Am I clear?" Ms Lopez replies.
"Yes, thank you so much" Penny smiles.
"Well that concludes the meeting for today so let's all get back to work" Ms Lopez states. Everyone then gets up and starts leaving the room. "Not you Pierce, my office" she tells me.
"I've already tried to apologise for being late so…"
"It's not about that" Ms Lopez shakes her head. "Anyway, come on" she says while motioning for me to follow her which I do.
"Uh…ok" I say confused. I have no idea what this could be about. The only thing I thought I did that could piss off my boss was turning up late today and she said it's not that so what is it?
"Take a seat" Ms Lopez tells me as I stand around nervously in her office.
"I'm not like getting fired or something, right?" I wonder.
"Of course not" she laughs at me. I've got to say; it's really refreshing when she laughs because she's always so serious at work. She also has a cute laugh too which I mean in the least creepiest way possible.
"So, what is going on?" I ask.
"I want to give you this" she tells me before leaning into her desk drawer and pulling out a small wrapped gift. She then hands me it.
"What is it?" I ask confused.
"It's a Christmas present" she replies with a shrug as though this is a normal thing to do.
"You're giving me a Christmas present?" I ask for clarification and she nods. "From you to me?" I question.
"Yes. Why is that so hard to believe?" she asks me.
"I'm just surprised that's all" I say.
"I wanted to give you a Christmas present because you really have made this business what it is today so thank you" Ms Lopez tells me. "I wouldn't have been able to cope with things recently if it hadn't had been for you so I really appreciate everything you have done for this company" she smiles.
"Once you give out compliments, you really can't stop can you" I joke.
"I'm being serious here Brittany" she tells me unamused. "I never give my staff gifts like at Christmas because they don't deserve it so when I do it means I'm very serious."
"Uh…thank you" I say. I don't know what else I'm supposed to say right now.
"Back to work then" she shrugs at me while pointing to the door.
"I'm the only one getting a Christmas present from you?" I ask. I am still so confused right now because we all work hard around here so why is it just me.
"Yes, but only because you're the only one who has worked hard enough to deserve it" she tells me. "Don't read too much into it though Pierce. I'm not a sentimental or a particularly caring person so it's not about you as it's more about the work you've done" she points outs.
"Ok" I smile. I don't care what way it's meant; I still got a present from Ms Lopez which is cute.
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*Friday 20th December 2019*
The Halloween party went really well a couple of months ago so Ms Lopez has decided to throw a Christmas party for everyone tonight. Once again, it's just held at the company and we're all allowed to bring one or two guests like before. Ms Lopez has also provided plenty of drinks and prepared a buffet for us to soak up some of the alcohol. I don't actually mean Ms Lopez made the buffet but she did get a company to provide it for her. She also had the place decorated festively and has plenty of Christmas tunes playing.
"Where are your guests Pierce?" Ms Lopez asks me as she walks over to me with Quinn.
"They're in the bathroom" Quinn replies.
"How do you know?" Ms Lopez asks turning to look at her best friend.
"I was speaking to them not too long ago" Quinn shrugs.
"So, you've met Pierce's friends but I haven't?" Ms Lopez questions.
"Yeah, lots of times" Quinn shrugs. "Plus, I am Brittany's friend so she introduced us all whereas you're just her boss so why would they need to be introduced to you" she smartly adds.
"Because it's my party" Ms Lopez replies smartly back. "Who have you brought anyway, Tanya and Miranda?" she asks.
"It's Tina and Mercedes actually" Quinn tells her while giving her a slight glare.
"I know that Quinn" Ms Lopez glares back. "Brittany and I have an inside joke about that" she shrugs.
"You do?" Quinn asks.
"No, not really" I say with a laugh. "She wrongly assumed they were called Tanya and Miranda so I corrected her that one time and it's never been brought up since" I state. It's not so much an inside joke when we've only mentioned it one whole time. It would be different if it was a bit of a recurring theme but it's not.
"Whatever" Ms Lopez says while rolling her eyes at me. "So, what are you drinking Brittany?" she asks me.
"Uh…nothing" I laugh as I look at my empty hands. I haven't gotten a drink yet.
"No. What do you want to drink?" Ms Lopez asks me.
"Oh, you meant you were going to get me one?" I ask surprised.
"Don't get too flattered, she made me ask" Ms Lopez replies while pointing at Quinn.
"Actually, I didn't say…" Quinn can't finish talking from Ms Lopez shushing her. Now I'm thinking Ms Lopez is asking me on her own accord and Quinn didn't make her ask but she just doesn't want to admit that.
"Red wine please" I reply.
"Quinn, go and get Brittany red wine" Ms Lopez states.
"No" Quinn says with a laugh. "You don't say jump and I most certainly don't say how high" she points out.
"That's just rude not getting Brittany a drink" Ms Lopez says while shaking her head at Quinn.
"I will get you a drink Brittany but that's because you're my friend. I'm not doing it because Lopez instructed me to" Quinn tells me.
"It's ok. I can get my own drink" I tell them both.
"No, Quinn is doing it" Ms Lopez shrugs.
After Quinn got me a drink, we chatted for a while before my friends joined us. I introduced them to Ms Lopez and we continued talking for a while. Mercedes and Tina both had to leave early though as they have work tomorrow. I was a little sad about that but I was grateful that they came and saw where I worked and met some of the people I worked with. It's one of those parties again where mostly everyone has brought a partner so it has made me feel a little lonely so I've decided to move myself from the situation. I'm now just hanging out in my department where it's quiet since everyone else is at the party elsewhere in the building.
"Hey my favourite employee" Ms Lopez slurs her words as she stumbles towards me. I can only assume with no one in her path that she must be talking to me.
"Hi Ms Lopez" I smile.
"What are you doing sitting here on your own when there's a party going on?" she questions as she pets me on the head like some dog.
"I just needed a minute to myself that's all" I explain.
"We can't have that" she shakes her head at me. "It's a party and you can't be alone at a party" she adds.
"You're alone" I point out as I smirk at her.
"Just momentarily but that's because I was looking for you" she tells me. "Quinn has left now but that's not why I came here anyway. I was always coming to find you so I'm not here because I was alone and needed someone for company."
"What did you need me for?" I ask curiously as she tries to sit down on the desk next to me but slips a little without managing to.
"I wanted to make sure you were ok because you were sad earlier when your friends said they were going home to their boyfriends" Ms Lopez replies as she holds onto my shoulder to steady herself.
"Really?" I ask with a laugh. I'm not being rude but why would Ms Lopez care about how I feel. She's not that type of person and she said it herself.
"Yes, really" she says enthusiastically as she nods her head vigorously at me. "You seemed sad and I didn't like that" she adds as she reaches out to stroke my face gently. I've got to say, I kinda love a drunk Ms Lopez. She's way more fun than regularly Ms Lopez. Drunk Ms Lopez would stroke my cheek, normal Ms Lopez wouldn't even be able to have eye contact with me during a conversation.
"Ok" I shrug.
"Are you still single Pierce?" she asks me as she slumps down on my desk chair, obviously realising that sitting on the desk next to me won't work.
"I am actually" I nod. "Not that it's any of your business" I say as an afterthought.
"Thank god" she states before sitting up and grabbing my neck to pull me closer to her. Before I even get a chance to register what she's doing she kisses me. I stupidly kiss back because of course I'm going to when Santana Lopez kisses you but once I realise what's going on, I pull away.
"This can't…"
"Your lips are amazing" Ms Lopez tells me with a smile before getting up and walking away.
"Was that your way of making me feel better?" I ask amusingly after her.
"Maybe" she turns and shrugs at me with a smirk before continuing to walk away and into the closet. Two seconds later, I see her leave the closet while shaking her head mumbling something before walking back to the party. I can only imagine she forgot where she was going and then got mad at herself for going in the wrong direction.
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*Saturday 21st December 2019*
As soon as I got into work this morning, Jack told me that Ms Lopez wanted to see me in her office. I can only assume this would be about last night and not a formal meeting about work. I dare say she has work matters to discuss with me but surely an explanation from last night is needed. As soon as I knock on her office door, I hear a faint 'come in' so I walk straight into the office and close the door behind me. Ms Lopez is sitting behind her desk with sunglasses rested on her face and a large bottle of water beside her and some headache pills. There is no sign of a cup of coffee next to her so clearly last night was worse on her than previous drunken nights.
"Is this round 2 of last night?" I tease as I take a seat across from her at the desk.
"I have to apologise profusely to you about last night. Quinn let me have far too much to drink and I had no idea what I was doing at the time" Ms Lopez apologises. "You have every right to go to human resources or even the police for workplace harassment because it wasn't appropriate what I did."
"I'm not going to anyone about this" I assure her.
"I should have never done what I did. I really don't blame you so please don't pretend this is ok because it's not. It wasn't just unprofessional what I did but also extremely wrong and inappropriate on many levels" she tells me. I can honestly see she really means what she's saying.
"I'm not going to take this any further. You were drunk and made a mistake so don't be so hard on yourself" I smile.
"How on earth are you so calm right now?" she asks me confused.
"Ms Lopez…"
"Call me Santana, honestly it's the least I can do right now" she tells me.
"Ok, Santana. You and I know each other already and I've been working for you for at least 6 months and never once has something like this happened so I know you didn't mean it" I say.
"I still did it though so please do what you need to do" she says. "I'd be grateful if you didn't completely ruin my business but you certainly should do something about this because it's what I deserve" she states.
"I'm not going to do anything Santana, I promise you" I assure her. "You have nothing to worry about at all because we've all done silly things when we were drunk."
"It was bordering on sexual harassment which I never take lightly" she replies.
"Santana, it was a stupid drunken kiss which might I remind you, I kissed back" I shrug. "You and I have a weird relationship so don't be bothered by this. If you do it to someone else then by all means be worried but not when it's me" I say. I don't know if I would say we flirt with each other but we certainly act differently around one another compared to anyone else here so this is really no big deal to me.
"At least tell me what I can do to put things right" she states.
"You don't have to do anything. Just act as we usually act around one another" I shrug.
"Are you sure because I would totally get it if you had to do something about this?" she asks.
"I'm sure" I nod. "Now I'm going back to work now" I say while standing up and heading towards the door.
"Ok" Ms Lopez nods.
"You're a good kisser by the way" I say with a wink before leaving. I actually think I saw a little smirk on her face as I turned around to look back at her as I was leaving.
For most of the morning, I don't see Ms Lopez again which is really strange. Usually I would see her from time to time going around all the departments making sure everyone is working hard. Today is so different though because not once has she come to my department or even been anywhere else that I've been. I'm wondering if she's avoiding me rather than actually being busy. Don't get me wrong she will be busy working but it really isn't like her to stay in her office all day. I'm just walking to her office now when I see her going into the bathroom next door. Before she gets a chance to close the door, I slip in behind her.
"Brittany, I am in here" she tells me while glaring at me. I don't say anything in reply, instead I pull her close and kiss her passionately. "Pierce what the hell?" she asks surprised.
"We're equal" I shrug. "You can't fire me for that the same way I can't go to HR about how you kissed me" I smile.
"No, I don't…"
"I can see you still feel bad for last night so now I've made things even between us. Everything can now go back to normal" I smile again.
"Uh…ok" she laughs slightly. I've got to say, it's nice to see her at ease again.
Santana's POV
What the hell have I done. I kissed one of my employees last night for no reason at all. Well I say no reason but I must have done it because of something. What I really mean is no real reason. It wasn't because of a dare; it wasn't because I was upset; it wasn't because she kissed me first; it wasn't because I have feelings for her. Honestly, I think I just did it because I wanted to. I mean why would I want to? No offence to Brittany but I mean from a boss standpoint, why would I want to kiss an employee.
Quinn is on her way over here to see me since she isn't working today and I needed to talk to her. I know Brittany said she doesn't mind or whatever but I still shouldn't have done what I did. It wasn't appropriate and I know that because I wouldn't like someone to do something like that to me when I thought they weren't interested in me.
"Hey, what's going on?" Quinn asks me as she walks into my office with coffee that I asked her to bring. "You sounded really worried and upset on the phone and don't take this the wrong way but a little desperate too" she adds.
"Quinn, I've messed up" I sigh.
"In what way?" she asks concerned as she sits the coffee down in front of me before sitting down across the desk from me.
"I kissed Brittany at the Christmas party last night after you left" I admit.
"Oh, get you" she smirks at me.
"This isn't a good thing Quinn. I shouldn't have done it" I state.
"Did you like it?" she quizzes me.
"That's not the point" I say while rolling my eyes at my best friend.
"Did. You. Like. It." She asks again but slower this time.
"It was just a kiss so it wasn't like a total out of this world experience but it certainly wasn't unpleasant" I admit. I mean it certainly wasn't awkward either in terms of technique. It was our first kiss with each other but not ever so it was an ok kiss.
"Stop downplaying it and just tell me how you really feel" she states.
"I wanted to kiss her Quinn and I don't know why" I sigh. "Obviously being drunk made it easier for me to do what I wanted but she's my employee so it's wrong" I add.
"Did Brittany think it was wrong?" Quinn asks me.
"I don't know but she didn't seem to care that I did it. I told her she can go to whoever she feels necessary and report me but she said she didn't want to" I reply.
"It sounds like everything is ok then. Brittany didn't care and won't take matters further so why are you getting so worked up about this?" she asks.
"Because it's wrong Quinn, why aren't you listening to me?" I say annoyed. "I made a move on my employee last night and that is never ok. If I was a guy and did this, I'd be arrested by now" I point out.
"You are not some creep or a guy Santana so it's ok. I know you wouldn't have done this if you thought Brittany has zero interest in you. You know what Brittany is like so you obviously did it because you knew she wouldn't be offended. Don't get me wrong she might not have expected it but I doubt she was in distress about it" Quinn tells me.
"I still feel awful about it because it's not like I want to date her or something because I'm off relationships right now" I state.
"You had a drunken kiss. I really don't think Brittany is expecting dates and flowers and all that stuff. To me it sounds like she isn't bothered by it" Quinn shrugs.
"Brittany has told you I kissed her, hasn't she?" I ask.
"Why would you say that?" Quinn pretends to be confused.
"You seem to know for sure that Brittany doesn't care and you wouldn't know that for sure if you hadn't talked to her. Yes, you're friends with her but you don't know her as well as you know me so for you to be so sure she's ok means she must have told you" I state. I don't think they know each other well enough to know completely that Brittany would have been fine with it if she hadn't spoken to Quinn first.
"Ok, she did tell me" Quinn laughs. "Honestly, it's no big deal so stop stressing about this. Brittany did seem more than ok with it and she admitted she was drunk and kissed you back to so why don't you let things just blow over?"
"It's more the principle of what I did Quinn. I kissed an employee" I state.
"I know that but what I'm saying is that you wouldn't have kissed Jack last night or Penny so in the back of your mind, I think you knew Brittany was different and not just your employee" Quinn reassures me. She has got a bit of a point because even in my drunk state I wouldn't go near any other employee.
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*Thursday 2nd January 2020*
Christmas was interesting this year and perhaps not necessarily bad but I am glad it's over now. I didn't necessarily want to be in a relationship and I don't miss Greg but it does feel a little isolating when your whole family is with a partner and you're on your own. I spent Christmas with my parents, my little brother and my little sister. My brother's girlfriend had Christmas with us and my sister's boyfriend spent some time with his family before joining us. All of my grandparents joined us for Christmas too which was nice but at the end of the night, I was on my own. I have close friends and we did wish each other a happy Christmas but they have their own families so they didn't come over or anything. I'm not someone that needs to be with people all the time because I am very independent but on a holiday like Christmas, it does suck being alone.
I'm currently at work right now. Most of my employees had the holiday period off but I came back a little earlier because I get bored easily at home so more often than not, I don't actually use vacation time that I probably should get. Now that the holiday is over, everyone is back to work now so I'm getting everyone caught up on everything.
"Hey, how was your Christmas?" Brittany asks with a smile as she walks into my office.
"You knock and see if you get a response before you waltz in" I point out seriously to my employee.
"That bad, huh?" she asks.
"Christmas was fine. Now are you listening to me?" I ask Brittany.
"Sorry, I'll knock next time" Brittany replies. "So…can we talk?" she asks nervously.
"I have exactly one minute before I need to go along to your department and brief everyone on my next steps so if you can get it out in that time then go ahead" I tell her.
"It doesn't matter" Brittany says sadly while shaking her head. "I'll see you in a minute" she says before walking away. Ok something is wrong with me today because now I feel bad.
After I had my talk with the accounting department and got up to speed on how we performed at the end of the calendar year, I got back to work in my office. I'm just working on a few things when suddenly a notification pops up on my laptop telling me about a deadline I have soon. With the Christmas period and everything, I totally forgot about a presentation I had to do so now I'm getting stressed out that I won't get it done on time. It was put to the back of my mind because I knew it hadn't to be done until after Christmas so I was focusing on Christmas first and now I've forgotten about it. I quickly get up and walk to the accounting department to talk to the one person that I think could sort this crisis out.
"Brittany, can I see you please. It's urgent" I tell Brittany
"No problem" Brittany nods while quickly following me to my office.
"Take a seat" I instruct and she does just that as do I. "Ok I need your help with something tonight so you're going to have to stay late" I tell her.
"Ok" she shrugs at me.
"You're willing to stay late tonight?" I ask surprised. I thought she would put up a bit more a fight.
"Yes" Brittany nods. "You're the boss and I'm the employee so you tell me what to do" she shrugs.
"Obviously Christmas was great for the business and sales were fantastic as you know but I had another project lined up that I totally forgotten about until today because Christmas was so busy. I've left it too long and now I don't know if I can finish it on time so I need you to help me" I state.
"No problem" Brittany smiles.
"I need to put together a presentation of how well the company does which is probably going to include your area of expertise in regards I need profits, sales and all that data collected and presented" I start. "Then once I have all of that we need to put together a presentation and present it to a dancing school."
"Ok but why would you need to do a presentation for a dancing school?" she looks at me confused.
"They have a children's ballroom competition coming up and reached out to companies to make the outfits for them. They want us all to give a presentation and the successful company gets to make all the dresses for the girls and perhaps the outfits for the boys. They are just as much a serious company as I am so they want to do things professionally and choose the right company to work with them. Therefore, I need to show them some of my designs and how successful I am" I reply. They're not going to want someone who barely makes a dollar otherwise they'll know the designs won't be to the standard they need.
"Ok so what do you need me to do. Is it just data collection and present the figures or do you need help putting together the actual presentation?" Brittany asks.
"Both actually so are you up for it?" I ask.
"Of course" she nods. "Let me go back to the accounts department and tell everyone what they need to do today since I won't be there much longer. Then I'll get my laptop and come back here with all the data and we'll start" she adds.
"Sounds good. See you in 5" I say. Brittany then does what she needs to do and I start typing up some ideas for the presentation.
XXX
Brittany and I have been hard at work for quite some time now so we're taking 10 minutes out to eat. Everyone else has went home as far as I'm aware but I doubt we'll be going home any time soon because there's still a lot to do. We are making progress but it's still nowhere near completion yet so we'll probably work for a bit longer tonight and mostly all day tomorrow and the next.
"So, you're in the middle of another new design, you've got this presentation to do as well so is that it or are you working on something else as well?" Brittany asks me.
"I'm supposed to be going to an event out of town this weekend actually but I'll probably need to cancel now because my assistant has childcare issues and I can't find a replacement this last-minute" I sigh. I might be hard on my staff but when it comes to children, I can appreciate how difficult things can be. It also doesn't help when you're a single mother either so I'm not about to get mad at my assistant that she can't come with me especially when it's for an overnight.
"I could be an assistant for a night" Brittany shrugs.
"It's on Saturday so I'll be staying on the Saturday night" I say. "Quinn told me you have a date Saturday so you can't do it plus why would you want to when I'm already overworking you at the moment" I say confused.
"I thought it might be fun to get out of the office to work for a change" she shrugs.
"What about your date though?" I point out.
"I'll blow her off because I wasn't really looking forward to it anyway. No offence to Quinn but she set me up again and I just don't like that" she replies.
"She's tried setting me up before and it didn't end well either" I chuckle.
