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Charlie snorted in derision and walked back to her desk, allowing Noah to get back to his work.
Allee went to make herself another cup of coffee. She had heard the snickers and laughter whenever she'd walked out of her office, particularly from one section of the office. Allee guessed that was where Charlie and the rest of the QA Team sat, so she kept her back straight and tried her very best to ignore them. As she quietly moved around in the kitchen, she heard a noise behind her. She turned and saw Noah turning away, coffee mug in his hand.
“Did you want me to make you one as well?” she offered, realising that apart from Craig and Darryl, Noah had been the only other person who had tried to make conversation with her. Allee felt terrible that she had been so rude and wanted to apologise.
“Um, it's okay, if you're busy, I can come back later.”
“It's no trouble. I just need to add more milk to the jug. How do you have it?” Allee extended her hand, gesturing for the empty mug.
“Um, white and one thanks, two if you're using white sugar.”
“You have your coffee the same as I do,” Allee smiled as she added the sugar to his mug. “Do you want some marshmallows as well?”
“Marshmallows? We have marshmallows?”
Allee laughed softly as she reached for the tin. She did not see the arresting look Noah gave her when she laughed or the admiration in his eyes as her smile softened her face. She turned back, and he composed his face into a neutral expression, raising his eyebrows when she showed him the contents of the tin.
“Yes, we have marshmallows. We also have biscuits that aren't stale, or at least we did, unless they've all been eaten.”
Noah grinned, “Something tells me that you know that a happily caffeinated and biscuit-filled office is a productive one. I'd love some marshmallows, and I'll grab a couple of bikkies if you're having one as well.” Allee finished making the coffees and offered Noah one of the biscuit tins. He took a couple and then reached for his coffee mug, “Thanks, much appreciated.” Noah turned to leave again but was halted by a soft touch on his arm.
“Wait a moment. I, uh, I just wanted to apologise for last week.”
“Last week? What was last week?”
“I was rude to you. You were trying to be nice and make conversation, and I was inexcusably rude. I'm sorry.”
“It's okay, don't sweat it.”
“No, there is never an excuse to be rude, not even if it's your first day in a new environment and you're nervous. I appreciate your effort, and I wanted to apologise,” Allee said.
“Okay, well, apology accepted. Now, I'm not meaning to be rude myself, but I have to get back to work.”
“No problem, enjoy the coffee.”
Allee and Noah both walked away to their respective desks, both satisfied with the outcome of their conversation. Allee felt relief that she hadn't made Noah into an enemy with her fear-filled reactions, and Noah was even more intrigued with Allee, and decided he wanted to get to know her better.
When Allee made it back to her apartment that night, she was tired but happy. Buoyed by Darryl’s support, she had been able to go about her day with confidence in her abilities. Her greatest accomplishment that day had been the conversation with Noah. Allee paused in the middle of feeding Piddle, thinking about him. Today he'd been wearing a t-shirt with Bert and Ernie as Leonard and Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. It had fitted him well, and until that very moment, Allee hadn't realised she had noticed the breadth of his shoulders or how muscular his arms were. She was rudely disrupted from her thoughts by Piddle stretching up to bat at her, claws partially extended. Allee resumed feeding the impatient feline, stroking her fur and soothing her in apology for getting distracted.
She continued her evening routine on autopilot, not even conscious that she was still thinking about Noah. Looking back at the evening later on that night, Allee barely remembered what she'd had for dinner. She felt confused; she found Noah kind and interesting, but she didn’t realise she found him attractive, as she thought she was still emotionally stunted and vulnerable after Stuart.
That night, Allee's dreams were fractured and disjointed. One minute, she was filled with terror, the next, she was pierced with fierce joy. The muffled gasps and cries disturbed Piddle's slumber, and she moved away and watched as her human flailed and thrashed in a tangle of sheets one moment, convulsively hugging a pillow to her chest the next. It wasn't until she eventually quieted that the cat moved back into the warmth of her body, her rumbling purr helping her human to relax and fall into an even deeper sleep.
The following day, Allee awoke feeling groggy, aware that she had had a restless night but not remembering any dreams. Her nose wrinkled at the stale sweat sticking her pyjamas to her body, so she stripped off, tossed her sweat-stained clothes into the washing basket, and walked into the bathroom to shower.
Turning the taps on to full, Allee raised her face up into the spray and let the water flow over her for several minutes before turning to scrub her body, lathering the soap over her skin, and then rinsing it off. Turning off the water, Allee vigorously rubbed her dripping hair before pulling it into a loose bun at the nape of her neck, dried her body, and then walked naked back into the bedroom.
A pick-me-up was needed that morning, so she was dressing to feel good. A matching lacy set of underwear in a peacock blue beneath a knee-length dress; it had a beautiful midnight blue silk slip underneath, with a delicate peacock blue lace sheath draped over the slip. Matching kitten heels and a belt finished the ensemble, and Allee put a pair of silver ball-hoop earrings in her ears and a coordinated filigree silver bracelet and chain on her wrist and around her neck. She carefully outlined her eyes with midnight blue eyeliner, then added some mascara and cherry-red lip gloss. Her look complete, Allee felt a boost of energy and confidence.
Allee arrived at work feeling much better. She knew she looked a bit overdressed for a workday, but she felt as though she sorely needed the morale boost that the dress gave her. She switched on her laptop, and went to make another coffee while she waited for it to boot. Allee still had a little while before she was due to start, so she decided to make the most of it and kick-start herself with some music. She made the coffee then entered her office, closing the door behind her. She loaded a music programme on her laptop, plugged it into the speakers she'd brought along with her, and queued up her Chill Out playlist to be played at random. She hit play and grinned as Gods and Punks by Monster Magnet blared out into the room, shattering the quiet.
For the next few minutes, Allee sat curled up on the couch, enjoying her coffee, and letting the music wash over her, clearing her mind of her troubles. By the time she'd finished her coffee, she'd listened to Bismarck, Hail to the King, That Ain’t Bad, and Raise Your Glass, and felt sufficiently energised and mentally prepared to face the day. She turned the speakers down, allowing the music to continue at a lower volume, and opened her door. She pottered around in her office, making herself busy before the weekly meeting, half-listening to the other staff arriving and going about their morning routines.
Allee looked at her watch; 8.55am. She had five minutes before the meeting started, so she needed to get a move on if she wanted to have a drink in there. She picked up her notepad, pen and copy of the agenda for the meeting, went into the kitchenette, empty now that everyone was at work, and made herself a coffee. She grabbed a plate, arranged several different biscuits on top, and headed to the conference room. Craig was already there, quietly talking to Sammy, and he looked up as she entered.
“Allee, there you are. Ready for a new day?”
“I sure am, Craig. Good morning Sammy, how are you?”
