Her room was bright as the morning sunshine peeked through the light satin curtains. Those shiny rays were the only thing that made her feel lively, everything else was just anarchic, and that's what Charlie says. But the sun always made her wonder what the day had for her.
Ciara woke up from her 4 hour catnap and stepped into her slippers that were beside her bed. Just like any other 24 year old in LA, her apartment was just a huge room with the bed in one corner and kitchen on the other. She made sure her work area was always perfect; it was in front of the window facing the sunset and the tall buildings of Los Angeles. Everywhere other than her work area was just a huge mess, clothes were scattered all over, pizza boxes were on the night table and for sure there was something rotting in there somewhere.
She went into her bathroom and splashed a handful of water on her face, her hands searched the face wash on the counter but it was empty, well she wasn't surprised. The oil on her rosy-pale face made it look like it was sparkling, she grabbed the soap from the top counter and washed it all off. She brushed her teeth and was in dispute with herself if she should wash her hair, even though it was dry her luscious brown hair looked perfect. She decided not to wash her hair as she was already late. She grabbed the deodorant and rushed to her wardrobe, as she was diving into her pile of clothes she heard a faint noise, it was her ringtone. She picked her phone up; there he was Charlie a photo of them popped up on the screen, a photo of them from better times. They both knew there was something wrong and both wanted to fix it but neither came forward with a solution.
She picked up the call and heard him say "hello" but her voice cracked as she responded.
"Hell...o"
"Hey can you hear me" he asked
"Yah... Good morning"
"Good morning, C" he always called her C, she thought it was sweet.
"Shouldn't you be at the office right now" he asked
"Yahh... I'm already late. Umm how bout I call you later"
"Yahh sure. I'll be free by lunch time; you wanna grab a bite together?"
"Umm I have a bit of work for the next few days, I'll tell you when I'm free...seyya"
"Ohh um...."
She hung up, that's what they do nowadays. They hung up.
She sat at the corner of her bed and thought about a time when they talked for hours until one of them dozed off. Suddenly a shiver went through her as she realized how late she was. She grabbed a not-so smelly outfit and rushed out of her apartment.
She worked at a fashion firm, THE GERY APPAREL LTD. It was just 4 blocks from her apartment, she basically ran to work with her shoulder bag on the side. She'd usually stops to get coffee but today was not one of those days. The building she worked in had 43 floors and the 34th floor was where she worked.
It was her lucky day; the elevator was right on time. But when she entered the office, there stood today's horror. Her boss, Mrs. Rosewood she was the branch manager but she acts as she owns the company. Her husband died 2 years ago and since then she's trying to impress Mr. Gery, the company founder. Her last husband was pretty rich and when he died he didn't leave much for her and now she's looking for another millionaire to dig her claws into and Mr. Gery fits perfectly to the profile. But to be honest Mrs. Rosewood looked pretty hot for her age, she has a very lean body with long legs, her skin is ivory and she doesn't wear much make up like the other gold diggers. Her eyes were Amber and her best feature was her beautiful naturally red hair. Everyone at work hated her for being perfect but that isn't all she's pretty harsh on everyone since the only way to impress Mr. Gery is to bring the branch on top, so in order to make that happen she wants everyone to do twice their part.
As she got into her cabin as quietly as possible and set her laptop in place. She scattered the files and sketches on the table to make it look like she's been here for a while, but she was caught during the act.
"Hello Ms. Sullivan, I didn't see you in this cabin a few minutes ago"
"Ohh I was just out to get coffee" shiver went down her as she said those words. She was this scared because only a few days ago Chad, he joined right around when she did was fired for coming in late; but he was late for a few days.
"But I don't see any coffee"
Shit...why did I say that "Umm the coffee was for Lily"
"Okay... Did you finish the pattern for the Sugar Collection?"
"Yah I did, I sent it to Kaleb for printing. I'll make sure they get too you by noon"
"Good. And try to get here a little early"
"Umm...."
"Now get to work" She said and left the cabin to haunt a new intern.
Ciara went back to completing the report on the patters.
(2hours later)
Ciara stretched out on her chair. All she could feel was how sore her neck and back were. She looked around to see if Mrs. Rosewood was still there. As she trailed her eyes around the office suddenly strange face caught her. He had brown eyes and beautiful brown hair. He had a sharp nose and a pretty smile, he was wearing a tight light blue shirt with an indigo tie, his biceps were about to break out of the shirt. From the looks of it he was pretty masculine. Something about him made Ciara feel optimistic and cheery, she liked that feeling. Suddenly they locked eyes, unlike other guys he kept looking into her eyes, she felt like he was looking into her soul at that point. Even though he seemed sweet, the way he looked at her made her feel weak, it made her feel like they were the only ones in the entire world and for a second she forgot about all her problems. She waved the white flag first as she felt that she was about to fall to the ground.
She went back into her cabin and sat down. She took a file in her hand to make herself believe that she has work to do instead of thinking about the mystery guy. But however much she tried she couldn't get his comforting eyes from her head. She drowned in her own thoughts. She kept asking herself who he could be the whole time.
She checked the time and it was already noon and felt her stomach rumbling. She didn't eat breakfast and she felt as if she stays empty stomach for another minute shed die of starvation, of course she was exaggerating. She looked outside hoping to find the stranger somewhere around but he was nowhere to be found. She stepped out of her cabin and made cautious steps. She walked towards Lily's cabin and when she saw who was sitting on her chair she was stunned. For a second she felt paralyzed and her entire body went cold. It was him... the mystery stranger. He had his leg up on the table facing her and she could see an ankle tattoo peaking through the seams. He seemed relaxed on the chair.
"My eyes are up here you know" he said as he caught me trying to inspect his tattoo.
"Ohh um I'm sorry, I thought this was Lily's cabin"
"It is her cabin" he said as she turned to leave. His voice was gravely calm and pleasing.
She stopped and turned around to find him standing right in front of her. He was way taller than her and it made her feel like a dwarf in front of him. She was facing his broad chest and she looked up and gazed into his eyes, those brown eyes seems lighter when near.
"You have really beautiful eyes, Ciara"
"How do you know my name?"
"Lily told me, you're her best friend"
"You know lily?"
"I'm her cousin, Payton"
"Oh umm where is lily?" she said as she stepped a few steps back from him.
"She went to see the boss. You must be wondering why I'm here"
"Heh..."
"I'm your new technical support guy"
Lily walked into the cabin and threw a file across the table. From the looks of it Mrs. Rosewood was probably in a bad mood.
"That bi**h thinks she's some kind of god, if she keeps this up I'm going to beat that skunk up!!!"
It took Lily a minute to acknowledge the awkwardness in the air." Oh Ciara, this is Peyton. I assume you both already met"
"yahh we did" He said while stealing a glance at Ciara.