No Noël | ✓

6 » zero christmas joy

6 » zero christmas joy

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Another day, another dollar. Or in my case, it was another day, another motherfucking headache.

The office was a mess, as everyone received new assignments from John earlier than expected. Violet ranted and raved to everyone about how shitty his management skills were. It was obvious she had wanted to stage an uproar and hopefully ousted him from the job.

But once it was announced that our Christmas bonuses were increased because of more business coming in, everyone all but praised John and his bullshitting skills.

I certainly would've thrown myself to the ground and kissed his feet if he didn't have me locked away in his office all goddamn day.

I never thought I'd feel it, but I had missed Peter, Kimberly, Donny, and even Mike and all the others.

I had grown used to the companionship, and the annoying comments made, and the stupid arguments over nothing. They were what made work, well, work. Without it, it felt like I had gotten another job somewhere else. And I hated it.

Avery was—as Violet one day called her—a mouse. She was so quiet and soft spoken it had driven me crazy. If we weren't talking about the project, we didn't talk at all. I preferred to work on my assignments alone, but after five hours of staring at a screen and confirming that I had zero Christmas joy within me, I needed a break.

John had told us we could have our lunch breaks in there, and use his private bathroom whenever we wanted. Basically, he caged us in that room. I swore I was going to have a mental breakdown if I didn't get some fucking fresh air.

"Wanna get out of here?" I finally asked, breaking the overwhelming silence that had engulfed the room for far too long.

Avery's head quickly rose at the question, eyes squinted as she seemed to think it over. She remained quiet, mouth opening and closing twice, and that annoyed me.

How hard was it to answer that easy ass question?

Then it dawned on me what I said, and how I said it. Oh shit.

"I didn't mean it like that," I told her, letting out a laugh after. "I'm a lot smoother than that, trust me."

I smirked after, glancing her way. She didn't respond at all, continuing to stare at me as if I was from another planet.

Oh, come on. Jokes like that were what my side of the office thrived on. It was what helped us get through the long day.

Sighing heavily, I tossed my hands in the air in surrender. "I can't do this. I gotta get out of here."

I stood from my seat and snatched my wallet and keys from my bookbag, deciding that was all I'd be needing. Avery watched as I walked around the desk and made it to the door. Just as my hand reached for the knob, I felt a tidal wave hit my chest.

Fuck, I knew that feeling. Guilt.

With another loud sigh, I turned Avery's way once more, finding her eyes back on the laptop in front of her.

"I'm gonna go out to eat. Shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes," I told her, feeling like I owed her the explanation. I didn't want her thinking I was skipping out on work.