Spectrum

12

"It's late." He tells me.

"I know." I say, with a slight nod in agreement.

"You're just now going home?" He asks.

"Yeah." I reply. "See you tomorrow." I mutter, not allowing my gaze to sit more than a few seconds on the girl still hanging on his arm.

"Wait, Natalia!" He calls behind me as I walk by quickly.

"Hmm?" I hum in reply, not fully turning around to face him.

"Do you...want me to walk you out?" He asks. I turn around and see the blonde smiling over at me. She's beautiful and it absolutely pisses me off.

"No." I reply, turning away quickly and walking to the elevator.

"Is she okay?" I hear the girl beside him ask in a whisper. It takes everything in me not to turn around and yell at her to mind her own damn business.

"I think so." I hear Grayson reply. When I step in the elevator, I see the two with their backs facing me as they continue walking down the hall.

This is bullshit. Absolute bullshit.

-

The next morning comes quickly as I set not one, but ten alarms in the morning. There is no way that I'm sleeping through another morning and run late once again. I walk to my closet and go through every single outfit that I own.

I'm sure the blonde model wannabe is going to be wearing something scandalous like she was yesterday. She was wearing something much better than my own attire. If it wasn't for my late awakening, I would have had time to do my makeup and hair yesterday. Today i'm taking my time and dressing to impress.

My eyes stumble upon a pair of leopard print bellbottom pants made up of the soft, stretchy material. The white top paired on the hanger matched perfectly.

This. This one.

This outfit is one of my favorites in my closet. It's something I could never wear while working with the other guys on the floor. It would get me laughed at and earn me more than a handful of sexist comments. One of my favorite parts of working for GRIP was knowing that I could wear almost anything with the lenient dress code given to the employees. Despite this, I always felt as though I made my own mental dress code to try and dodge most of the comments.

Not today, though. Today, i'm dressing up in my favorite outfit and showing that blonde bitch who's in charge.

I do my hair in makeup quickly, looking professional and glamorous to the best of my ability. I pray that it's not too over the top. Honestly, at this point it doesn't really matter. He might already be taken by someone else.

The car ride and quick as I hardly notice that I'm actually speeding to get to work faster. I feel stares as I walk into the office and straight to the coffee bar. Normally, this would irritate me. Not today, though. I know that I look good, and everyone is only confirming it.

"Good morning, Natalia." I hear next to me. "You look nice today." I turn my head and see Justin staring down at me with a small smile.

"Oh. Good morning, Justin. Thank you." I reply, looking back to the workers behind the counter prepare my drink.

"Hey, I'm actually really glad I saw you this morning. I want to apologize about what you heard after the meeting. It was rude and completely unprofessional of me." He says nervously. When I look back over, I see the guilty look covering his face. "I guess I'm just a really sore loser. Your app will be great, I know it. You're a very talented engineer, Natalia." He adds.