“Hey,” Maisie mutters adjusting her phone closer to her ear. She looks at the entrance of the company to ensure no one is coming in then at her desk. 

“Hey,” A tiny voice reverberates through the line.

It’s Daisy, Maisie’s younger sister.

Maisie pulse skips, a smile playing on her lips. Usually, she can hardly reach her sister. Her calls go straight to voicemail and Daisy hardly returns her call.

“How are you? She asks cheerfully as she draws invisible circles on her table with her finger.

“Good, I am kind of busy right now,”  Daisy says.

Maisie heart drops and her smile slowly turns into a sad frown. She kind of hoping their conversation will last a little longer this time.

“I just wanted to confirm that you are still driving down here for the weekend,” Maisie mutters.

She hasn’t seen Daisy in two years. The only time she saw her sister after running away from home, was when she got a call from Daisy. Daisy was having a mental break down due to the stress of college. At that time, she was a freshman at the University of California, Berkley studying law. In the middle of it all, she picked up her phone and called Maisie. Maisie drove down there, comforted and stayed up with her throughout the night.

The next morning when Maisie woke up, her sister was gone. She wrote a note saying that she was going home. Maisie felt like someone that just had a one night stand.

“I don’t want to have to say this-”                                              

“Then don’t.” Maisie urges.

“I have to work on a project this weekend.”

 “You said that last month and the other month before that. Come on, I am really forward to spending time with you” Maisie pauses “I miss you.”

Daisy takes a sharp breath in. “Fine, I will see what I can do.”

Maisie chuckles, “Great, I will see you then.”

“Okay,”

“By the way, how are mum and da-“

“They are fine,” Daisy says sharply before hanging up.

Maisie takes the phone away from her ear and presses a button to lock it. She tilts her head to the side a little to look at the photo frames on her desk.

It’s the only photo she has of her family with her in it. They took it in their backyard on a Sunday afternoon after church. Her mum wanted it to be perfect but the rain had other plans. It ended up being a playful shoot and it captured the fun side of the Gibson family which is rare.

Now pictures she sees on Facebook of her family makes her question if she is still a Gibson. It looks like they have only one daughter and she can’t blame them. She did turn her back on them.

But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t miss them every day.

Maisie's eyes move to the picture of her and Tripp, It’s a Polaroid from four years back. They looked so happy. She often wonders where that happy girl went. And if she will ever come back?

~~~.

 
Lunchtime can go two ways for Maisie. She can eat her lunch peacefully without the table's discussion being about her or having to be a part of the discussion. Or the other way, where her relationship is tabled for discussion. 

They once created a poll of how many years it will take before Maisie walks down the aisle.

Today's lunch is the former, and she is thankful for that.

There are two break-rooms in the company. One for the executives and the other for administrative workers.  The executive break-room is like a coffee shop, it's quiet and aesthetically pleasing. Maisie will kill to have lunch there. While the admin's break room looks like a kitchen with a vending machine of unhealthy snacks.

Not everyone in the company takes a lunch break at the same time but somehow Maisie gets stuck having lunch with the office gossips. Mindy, Maggie, Josh and Lily. 

It feels like a mini high school. 

Halfway into lunch, everyone is having their own private conversations. Mindy, Josh and Lily are talking about Mindy's wedding preparation, while Maisie is having a conversation with Steve about his children and how cute they are. 

It's a boring conversation but Maisie would rather listen to Steve than join a wedding planning conversation.

Steve is a middle-aged man who works in the sales department of the company. He usually eats lunch at his desk, leaving Maisie with the wolves but today, Maisie is lucky. 

A tall lanky man, Gavin, walks into the break room and the noisy part of the room falls silent. This usually happens when they see someone they are going to gossip about, they are just waiting for him to leave.

"Good afternoon guys," He greets.

No one responds. Maisie just nods in acknowledgement of his greeting.

Gavin walks to the fridge, takes out his plastic plate of chicken salad and a bottle of water. He stands there for a minute before walking out of the break room.

Maisie tilts her head to her side waiting for the girls and Josh to start their discussion.

3, 2, 1...

"This is the second week since he has stopped eating lunch here." Mindy starts.

"Same pattern with her old assistant. She is totally sleeping with him.” Lily says.

Chloe Abrams, the Chief Financial Officer of Richardson textiles has had over three male assistants over the span of two years and she is rumoured to have slept with all of them.

Gavin is her latest conquest.

"Let’s admit, she’s hot. I’ll fuck her too.” Josh shrugs as he runs his finger through his brown hair.

"You are disgusting." Mindy rolls her eyes. 

"Her poor husband," Steve mutters.

"I heard her husband also fucks his secretary at his real estate firm. They are in some kind of open marriage." Lily responds to Steve.

"I heard that sometimes they do threesomes with their conquests."

"Nasty, can't imagine those old people doing it. She's over 50 rights?" Mindy shivers.

"Guys," Maggie yells as she enters the break room. She rushes to her friends’ side of the table. "I got an early birthday present from the universe." The brunette gushes.

"What?" Lily asks interested. 

"We have a new C.O.O.," She says drawing out an empty copper chair and taking a sit.

"What about Jesse?"  Steve asks.

"No one cares of old man Jesse." She waves Steve off. "We have a hot Chief Operating officer. And I am her secretary."  She fans herself dramatically.

"Did I hear you say hot? And her?” Josh sits up in excitement.

"Yeah, British, looks good in a bandage dress, smells like class and wealth."

Now, Maisie is interested in the conversation. She didn't expect Scarlett to be their new boss. She thought she was an administrative worker and she was kind of hoping to see her during lunch.

"Ugh, she is so mine. I call dibs." Josh says immediately.

"Wait a minute, how do you get to call dibs? You don't even know her name and you haven't even seen her. Plus I am the one working directly under her and I am hoping it's not only during office hours I get to do that." Maggie smirks.

"What if she’s straight, Maggs?” Josh interjects. 

"She is not. I know my people.” She says confidently. 

Maisie bits down on her lip as she processes the new piece of information.

“Your people? Bitch you decided you are bi last week. I think Josh should get dibs given the fact that you have slept with almost every guy in this company including Josh, in your failed attempt to find love." Mindy pauses. "You are never going to find it. So let Josh have this one."

"Not happening," Maggie stands up.

~~~

Maisie is packing her things in her bag, getting ready to go home. This is usually the happiest part of her day. 

"Hey," Scarlett mutters as she stops in front of the counter. 

 Startled, she turns to the sound of the voice. Maisie's heart skips a beat which seems to happen often when she set her eyes on Scarlett. Her lips shape into a smile as she tucks the strands of hairs covering her view behind her ear. 

"Hey," She mutters, her fingers playing with the zip of her handbag. "How was your day?" 

Scarlett puts a finger gun to her head, presses her thumb down and imitates the sound of a gun. She drops her head to the side feigning death. 

 Maisie titters, putting her hand on her mouth in failed attempt to control her laughter. Little does she know, Scarlett thinks that's the most beautiful sound she has ever heard.

"What about you, how was your day?"

 Maisie puts her index and middle finger under her chin and she too imitates the sound of a gun, putting her face up on cue. 

Scarlett lets out a low laugh. 

"So, I heard you are the big boss. I should probably apologize for calling you a stalker." 

Scarlett nods with a smirk playing on her lips. "Yeah, you probably shoul-"

Scarlett barely finishes her sentence when they hear the elevator ding and a bunch of employees come out of it. 

Maisie tilts her head a little to that direction then back at Scarlett. 

“Good God," she mutters to herself. 

"Are they your friends?" Scarlet asks with a mischievous smile playing on her lips. 

"God no," Maisie shakes her head. "By the way, you should know that you are the new office hottie, so get ready for a lot of attention." She warns. 

A confident grin plays on Scarlett’s lips, "You think I am hot?" She asks as she leans on the counter. 

Scarlett doesn’t care much about the public’s opinion, to her, it’s irrelevant. 

Maisie lets out a nervous chuckle. “I d-don’t know. Y-yeah?”

Of course, Maisie does think she is hot, she is not blind. But she doesn't feel like she is allowed to dwell on it, she is engaged. 

Scarlett smiles as watches the stuttering mess. She’s about to say something when Josh interrupts. 

"Hey,” He says with a boyish grin.

“Hey,” Scarlett says flatly looking down at the short man. 

“It's Maggie's birthday," He points at Maggie who's pretending to be on a call. 

Scarlett looks over her shoulder to identify the woman called Maggie. Apparently, it's her secretary who entered her office a dozen times today to ask her if she needs anything. 

"We are going to a bar to celebrate. Some of the bosses are coming, you should come as well. Get to know some of the employees?" Josh says with a flirty smile playing on his lips. 

Scarlett looks over at Maisie. "Are you going?" She asks. 

"Uh, n-"

Josh interrupts her, "Maisie, you should totally come as well."  He says immediately. 

She has never been invited to go out with the squad before. Even though she knows they don't really want her there, she still wants to go. It will be nice to be a part of their stupid conversation about their wild nights, or at least not be lost when they talk about it during lunch. 

"Okay, I will," Maisie says.

"See you guys there then,” Josh says as he walks away. 

Maisie and Scarlett lock eyes like they already have a silent means of communication. They both chuckle. 

It weirdly yet comfortably feel like they have been friends for years and it's barely a day. 

"Who knows it might be fun."