Grey
"Hey, Hippo!" Jenner squealed and toppled over her table; Tara shuddered and tried to put away her food.
"Are those meatballs? Holy Mother of unicorns!" She yanked the plate off from her hand and wolfed it down. Tara knew better than to get agitated; she only gave Neil, who had followed Jenner back in, a knowing look.
"I tried to stop her," He mouthed, and she shrugged in reply. They were startled when they heard Jenner give a loud, offensive burp.
"Jenner! Eew," They chorused
"Sorry, I was hungry. That's how my guts say, 'Thanks, Mama, for feeding us' Ha!" Jenner was a handful. She had velvety dark skin and jet-black hair (matching her skin color) with large curly bangs. A protruding forehead with gay almond brown eyes and, controversially, a tiny mouth, nothing like how talkative she was.
"I thought you took the day off?" Tara moved to sit, and so did the others.
"I was bored, and I missed my monkeys!" By this time, she had finished eating and had put down the plate while cleaning her mouth with a napkin.
"Well, we have work to do, dear friend." Tara had been stern now; her brows furrowed mildly as she punched the keys of her computer.
"What have you got for the presentation?" Tara felt a pang of fear shoot across her heart, but she had always dared to seem calm in turbulence. She chose courage instead.
"Yeah, this sudden bankruptcy makes my stomach churn," Jenner added
"You'll see," Tara smirked cockily. She had thought so hard about this until it flitted into her mind the most appropriate solution that could defy the gravity of the company's bankruptcy. Raw materials for modeling and sculpting had
become scarce, and the few left were either too meager or expensive. If they doubled the prices of the crafts and paintings they made, the customers would fail terribly to afford them. Tara couldn't ever have pondered right if Mia hadn't lamented the woefulness of disposing of food wrappers. They were everywhere, and the trashmen complained weekly about how frequently their trash bins filled up. She thought those food wrappers could be very competent raw materials for their models, saving costs and meeting demand.
Tara's presentation was successful; she had been eloquent, and her beauty radiated also from her charming mannerisms and manner of speaking. Even upon the CEO's arrival, she maintained her stance. Even though she hated the cockiness he portrayed, she had deliberately avoided him. She went on speaking until she sat in her seat. She couldn't shoot those Piercy glares well enough.
Jim Gunner had been the estranged successor of Mr. Reeds Gunner - if he had not passed on, Jim wouldn't have been on the seat. He was domineering, arrogant, and stupid (Tara would add). Tara's presentation was approved as expected and awarded an accolade.
Tara's cell phone beeped as she walked back to her office, shoveling past tons of Congratulations and Go-girl. Shutting the door quietly, she clicked her phone open and blushed upon seeing a message from Grey, her overtly gorgeous fiance. Nothing else mattered; her heart fluttered a million times as she excitedly opened the message.
Hey Berry, I'm sorry I've been busy and may not call you tonight. I'm entangled with work! I miss you and love you... I'll see you tomorrow morning and fly you to work on our magic carpet. Xoxo
Bye, my Princess!
She
typed in a message with so much enthusiasm,
in reply, grinning from ear to ear and hurting her cheeks afterward
Okay, Prince Charming, see ya!
Jenner barged in again, almost collapsing with a stack of frames, papers, and a large box of paints. You would wonder how she carried all at once. She dropped everything loudly on her table by the other side of Tara's office.
"Ugghh! Why do you always barge in Jenner?" She yelled in frustration.
"I'm supposed to slide in? Wait, why do you look like a red tomato?" She lunged ahead to grab Tara's phone and succeeded after Tara's futile attempts to stop it.
"Yeah, right, as expected." Jenner gave a straight face at Tara's sudden cheekiness.
"Hippo! We have work to do." She eyed Tara, but she had zoned into a wonderland - daydreaming.
"Tara!"
"What! I love him!"
"Eew!"
Tara was always pleased; she had good friends, a good job, and a benevolent fiance. She didn't need anything more; her life was perfect. Everyone knew this; while some envied her, others grew a penchant for her. She'd shared blossomy moments with her fiance, Grey. They had been so apropos for each other as they shared many things in common.
Grey was also an aesthete with stellar finesse in crafting and painting, but he was a professional architect. He also loved animated films helplessly. So they fell in love and eventually, unregrettably, stuck in love with each other. Even the world wasn't between them.
"Tara! Come out already! Grey is waiting," Mia hollered, but Tara had been doing her hair; she didn't want to wear any makeup, as she had no reason to. Besides that, Grey didn't like it so much. Now Grey lay on the sofa, with his boots on it. Mia grimaced.
"Hey! Get your legs off my whites!" He shrugged and pretended not to hear her. Agitated, she lunged forward and smacked off his legs.
"Oww! Snowhite! "Grey always called her Snowhite, given to her pale skin and coyish physique. Tara also started to call her Snowhite too.
"I'm sorry. I'm here, I'm here, let's go." Tara emerged from her bedroom, dressed in a pencil skirt and t-shirt with a crop blazer jacket. Grey stood, dramatically showing his overwhelm.
"You look stunning," He whispered to her. Mia smiled at how lovely they looked together and couldn't do anything but remind herself of her fiance.
"Tara! Don't forget to tell Neil to come get me at 12. Tell him I'd be waiting!" She yelled at Tara, who had intertwined her heart with Grey's as they held each other closely.
"Okay, I will," She replied absentmindedly as Grey had just planted a kiss on her lips. He selected the moment and couldn't feel any less euphoric. He loved Tara dearly, and so did she.
Work was smooth. More paintings were done as the day grew older. Tara had had to meet with Jim for approval of some paintings. She sucked in her breath, adjuring the moment. She got past it anyway.
"Yeeeeeee!"
"Ugh," Jenner had flown in noisily as usual, squealing and rocking with excitement; Tara rolled her eyes, trying hard to pay attention to her work.