(Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers; just Anwen and any other OC's I've thrown into the mixture :))

(Authors Note: Hello again dearest readers! First of all, thank you so, so much for taking the time out of your schedules to read my story. It means a lot to me knowing that you all have been enjoying it so much and have been anticipating each new chapter as much as I've been enjoying writing new chapters for all of you (and myself of course). Second, I absolutely love the comments you guys leave me and I take so much inspiration from your positive feedback. It's because of you guys that I've been so inspired to keep on writing and adding more content for you all to enjoy. So if you'd like to leave a comment, feel free to do so and if not, that's perfectly fine as well. Just enjoy yourselves and keep being awesome because you all are so amazing and supportive of this story. Many thanks to all of you, and until I post again, stay safe and stay awesome!)

"English/French"

'Mental thoughts'

"Flashbacks" (and sometimes sarcasm)

{Cybertronian}

::Sparkbonds::

:Speaker talk:

::Comm. Link::

*:Phone calls*:

Chapter 14

-Friday-

Entering the office with a smile on her face, Anwen couldn't wait to start her workday because that meant she'd be hanging out with the twins later. She was absolutely giddy with glee and felt like she was on top of the world. Of course, she kept her overall excitement to herself as she strive'd to be focused and professional while inside the office.

Seeing as how she was the first one inside, she flipped on the overhead light switch and rolled over to her cubicle; however, upon approaching, she found an unexpected surprise waiting for her: Atop her desk sat a strange assortment of items. Said items included a twelve pack of Canada Dry ginger ale, a bottle of bleu cheese salad dressing, a box of Ginger Snaps cookies, a French to English pocket dictionary, and a box of tampons; all of which were surrounded and topped with blue confetti glitter. Of course, she immediately knew the person responsible for these seemingly harmless, yet mockingly offensive items was none other than Marcus Delaine.

That fucking asshat!

Even though she filed a complaint against him and he was (thankfully) relocated across the office, he still managed to find time to piss her off. And she was just beginning to enjoy his quiet streak. Of course (as she predicted) it was only a matter of time before he'd return to his usual antics and annoy her once more.

With an irritated frown, Anwen took out her cellphone and snapped a photo of this offensive display before taking the ginger ales over to the break room and placing them in the fridge with a sticky note that read: Please Help Yourselves. She then returned to her cubicle and placed the rest of the items on the floor beside her backpack before tackling the annoying task of sweeping/gathering up all the damn confetti glitter and tossing it into her small trash can. Afterwards, she sat down and removed her shades, helmet and rollerblades before donning her shoes for the day.

Glancing at herself in the small mirror on her wall, she checked her appearance to make sure she looked professional: her teeth were clean, her lipstick was flawless, her hair was bouncy and soft, and her outfit was appropriate for the work environment, yet casual since it was Friday. Instead of a dress, she wore a pair of denim shorts, her black and red maple leaf tank top that read There's No Can't In Canada, and her oversize blue flannel. Good thing she opted for the denim shorts as opposed to her original plan to wear her yoga capris: those things made her butt look like a freakin' peach, which in hindsight, would not have been very professional to wear in the workplace unless she wore a skirt over them. Sure, she had no shame in her appearance, but she certainly didn't want to attract that kind of attention to herself: she already unintentionally attracted enough attention with her large breasts, freckled skin, red hair and jagged scars. She certainly didn't need to give people another reason to stare at her.

With a sigh, Anwen looked down at her watch and noticed that it was currently 0748, which meant that her coworkers would be filing in any minute now. Poking her head out of her cubicle, she spotted Maggie enter the office with a thermos of coffee in her hand and a small stack of folders tucked under her arm.

"G'day, Anwen. How are you," she asked with a smile as she approached and stepped into the adjacent cubicle. Yes, Maggie was now her office neighbor for she and Marcus had switched locations following the complaint that had been filed against him. Honestly, it was for the best: This location was much more convenient for work productivity as it was closer to the printers and copy machines; so it was naturally better in that aspect. Plus, it was also closer to the exit which was a bonus in case they needed to evacuate the facility again.

In response to her question, the young ginger emitted a sigh as she glanced over at the Aussie woman, "Je vais bien (I'm fine)...except I came across an annoying surprise on my desk a few minutes ago."

"Flamin' Hell (Oh no), what was it time?"

She gestured towards the small pile of items on the floor beside her backpack, "All of these were arranged on my desk along with a pack of ginger ale, which I placed in the employee fridge for everyone. Also, there was blue confetti glitter everywhere on my desk and I spent the last few minutes cleaning it up."

"Let me guess: Marcus?"

*sigh* "Oui. I'm so tired of his antics! But the joke's on him because he ultimately saved me a trip to the store to buy more tampons, so I see that as an absolute win for me."

"Well, when you put it like that, I suppose it is a small victory," she then noticed the pocket dictionary and asked, "Was that part of the display as well?"

Anwen frowned and nodded, "Oui. He always picks on me for speaking French whenever I'm upset or choose not to speak English around him."

"What an arse," she scoffed.

"Parle-moi de ça (Tell me about it)," she agreed. "It's not my fault that French was my first language and English was second. My parents and my brother only spoke French around me until I was about three years old, which is when they decided to teach me English in order to prepare me for primary school. But Marcus thinks I should only be speaking English whenever he's present because he gets annoyed when he can't understand me."

"Well, he shouldn't make you feel like you have to choose. I know you can speak, write and understand English perfectly well. You're just proud of your heritage and that's a good thing. Don't ever let anyone make you feel like it's wrong."

At that, she shook her head, "I don't. I just wish he'd understand that I choose to cling to my heritage because it's all I have left of my family."

"Does he know that?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I've told him that I'm proud of my heritage, but I doubt he knows why I'm so determined to keep it alive. However, I'm not about to spill out my life story to that connard (asshole) because he's not worth it. He's just an annoying douleur à l'arrière (pain in the aft) and any opportunity I have to not speak to him, I take. I'd just rather go about my day without having to interact with him. Is that too much to ask?"

Maggie shook her head and smiled, "Not at all." Deciding to change the topic, she asked, "SooOoo, are you excited about this weekend?"

Anwen gave a nod as a smile crossed her cherry red lips, "Oh oui, I've been looking forward to it all week. I'm not entirely sure what Sunstreaker and Sideswipe have in mind because it's supposed to be a surprise."

"Hmm, knowing them it should be something amazing. They're not the type to just half-ass something. Of course, I feel like that's a common trait of of all the Autobots."

"True," she agreed with a smile. Hearing chatter from nearby, Anwen glanced down at her watch and noticed that it was now 0755 which meant her shift would be starting shortly. A frown suddenly crossed her face as a familiar figure stopped by her cubicle:

"Good morning, Bleu cheese. Did you like the peace offerings I left you?"

"You call those peace offerings," she angrily asked as she stood up and gestured to the pile of items on the floor beside her bag. "I have never been so offended in all my life! You deliberately selected and assembled those items together to poke fun at my heritage, my appearance, my name, and my monthly cycle! So no, I did not 'like them'. In fact, you obviously have more need of this than I do," she then picked up the pocket dictionary and shoved it into his chest. "Peut-être que vous pouvez l'utiliser pour vous éduquer et essayer de comprendre un peu ma langue, au lieu de vous attendre à ce que je parle toujours votre langue(Perhaps you can use it to educate yourself and actually try to understand a bit of my language instead of expecting me to always speak your language)!"

As this exchange took place, Maggie had to keep herself from laughing as she sipped her coffee. Sure, she only understood a few words from Anwen's rant as she was still learning French, but she could tell by her tone and her body language that she was pissed. And rightfully so. Yes, she thought about stepping in, but she knew Anwen had this under control, so there was no need to get involved.

After her statement, Anwen emitted a sigh and sat back down in her chair, "Now, if you would please go away, I would like to start my shift and focus on my job rather than waste my time and energy on someone as ignorant as you." She then fired up her computer and clocked in while he headed off to his cubicle without so much as a reply to her statement. Good; that's how she liked it.

Following his retreat, Anwen received a round of applause from over a dozen of her coworkers (including Maggie, of course), which brought a smile to her freckled face. It felt good to have a confidence boost every now and then.

XXXXX

-1200-

Upon clocking out and rolling into the main hangar, Anwen headed outside and was about to make her way over to the chow hall when she spotted Sideswipe participating in a servo to servo (hand to hand) combat demonstration with Mirage and Bumblebee while Ironhide supervised and a group of soldiers observed with fascination.

She wanted to say hi, but knew better than to interrupt a class or any sort of demonstration; especially when Ironhide was the instructor. Nope. She liked being on his good side and had too much respect for the Autobots in general to be so inconsiderate and disruptive. Instead, she opted to head over to the chow hall. Yes, she wanted to stay and observe, but she feared Sideswipe would see her and get distracted, so it was probably best that she not risk that scenario from happening. Besides, while this demonstration was just a training exercise, they were delivering some pretty hard punches to one another. She certainly didn't want him to end up getting hurt because he took his optics off his opponents for a few seconds. No. If this was a real fight, that could cost him his life.

Mentally shaking her head of that disturbing thought, Anwen rolled over to the chow hall where upon entering, she stepped in line and grabbed a tray. Seeing as how it was the lunch rush, Mama Rosita was in the back preparing another pan to bring out to the front, so Anwen didn't get a chance to speak to her. 'Oh well, I'll see her again later,' she mentally told herself. Was she a tad disappointed? Sure. But she knew Mama Rosita was a busy woman and didn't always have time to stop and chat. And that was perfectly understandable. Besides, if she didn't run into her sometime during the weekend, she'd see her again on Monday morning.

With that, Anwen made her way down the lunch line and after receiving her plate, she grabbed a fork and a glass of cranberry juice before finding herself a seat among the crowd of people.

XXXXX

After lunch, Anwen rolled over to the bathroom to use the facilities and brush her teeth. As she was washing her hands, she thought about what this weekend might be like: maybe the twins would take her out on another lovely drive around the island. Or maybe they would activate their holoforms and walk along the beach with her. 'The seashells!' She reminded herself that she still hadn't given them the seashells she found on the shore last week. Reaching into her backpack, she breathed out a sigh of relief when she found that they were still in there and undamaged. "Oh good, they're still intact. I just hope Sunstreaker and Sideswipe will like them."

With a smile, she gently tucked the shells away before retrieving her toiletry/cosmetic bag and removing her toothbrush and toothpaste so she could brush her pearly whites. Once finished, she applied a fresh coat of lipstick and placed everything back inside her backpack, to which she then rolled out of the bathroom and exited the chow hall. As she skated, Anwen glanced down at her watch and noticed that it was now 1240. Granted, she could have stayed in the cafeteria for a bit longer, but she didn't want to push it.

Turning into the main hangar, she headed back into the office and entered her cubicle with a smile. "Only a few more hours until the weekend," she told herself. Removing her helmet and shades, Anwen then changed into her shoes before glancing down at the pile of items on the floor with a frown. Opening the box of tampons, she placed a few of them in her desk drawer for emergencies before dumping the rest into her backpack and breaking down the box.

After making a quick stop over to the recycle bin, she then took the salad dressing and box of ginger snaps into the break room and set them on the counter for someone else to take home. In truth, she was too offended to keep them. At least the tampons were useful to her...or at least they would be when she needed them again next month. Shaking her head of that thought, Anwen returned to her cubicle and fired up her computer just as her fellow coworkers were starting to file back into the office.

XXXXX

-1500-

Upon clocking out for the weekend, Anwen donned her rollerblades, helmet and shades, slung her backpack across her shoulders and headed out of the office with a cheerful smile across her face. As she entered the hangar, she spotted a familiar pair of Lamborghini's parked along the far wall, to which she happily approached. "Bonjour, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe. Are you two ready for the weekend?"

:We sure are, sweetspark. Sunny and I just finished getting everything ready for your visit. But before we bring you over to our humble abode, we figured you'd like to join us for an afternoon swim.:

"Really?! Sunstreaker, you'll actually join us?" She asked the golden lambo who emitted a slight rumble of his engine.

:If anyone else had asked me that question I would have vehemently declined, but because it's you, I will consider it.:

At his answer, Anwen couldn't help but smile, "Merci."

He merely flicked his headlights in reply before Sideswipe asked her, :Would you like one of us to drive you over to the fitness center? Or would you rather roll alongside us this time?:

"If it's alright, I'd like to stretch my legs and roll. I've been sitting at my desk all day and need to move around a little bit."

:Understandable. We'll follow you then.:

She gave them a curt not before rolling through the hangar and out the exit with the twins following behind her. Feeling spontaneous and overly happy to be spending time with them, she started dancing while she was skating. Her movements were fluid and flawless, beautiful and graceful. She surprised them with each glide, slalom, turn and twirl, and when they finally reached the fitness center, she turned around and was met with their bipedal forms.

A blush suddenly appeared across her cheeks as she looked up at them, "Pardon (Sorry), I sometimes dance when I'm really happy and happen to be skating at the same time."

Sideswipe knelt beside her and gently placed his servo along her shoulder, "Sweetspark, you don't need to apologize. That dance you did was beautiful. Sunny and I really enjoyed it."

Ignoring the Pit forsaken nickname, Sunstreaker glanced down at the young ginger and gave her a nod while a fond look appeared across his face, "Indeed. Your movements were vibrant and graceful, and demonstrated a level of skill that few can measure. But the fact that you danced from your heart rather than your head made the overall experience much more enjoyable to watch. So, for that, I thank you for inspiring me."

At his sincere words, both Anwen and Sideswipe looked at him in shock before his brother spoke up, "...In all these vorns, I've never heard you say something so sparkfelt to another being."

He rolled his optics and crossed his arms, "That's because I never saw the need to. There are few whose skills I would compliment and even fewer whom I would draw inspiration from."

"Well, I appreciated your compliment, Sunstreaker. Merci," Anwen stated as his optics softened at her:

"Of course."