Status: Pilot
Until the Streetlights Come On...
All Work and No Play....
"Michelle, please. You have got to come" Emma pleaded, the desperation in her voice was almost comical.
I spun around in my swivel chair to face my friend. She was really pretty but completely oblivious to the fact. With a platinum blonde bob and her honest green eyes she turned the heads of many guys in the office. She loved to flirt but was never interested in anything more than a seductive look or cheeky innuendo. Emma never had a boyfriend in the all the time I had known her but she seemed to be happy in her own company. She was a few years older than me, but you would never of known it.
"I can't" I whined immaturely "I have a deadline to meet, an editors meeting to prepare for and not to mention the fact that I have nothing to wear" I spun back around to my desk and began to shuffle some papers around to make my excuse seem more plausible.
Emma leaned against the back of her desk with a dramatic sigh.
"We go through this every week Michelle. Deadlines and planning are what Sunday's were invented for. You know you will come, so let's stop wasting this time arguing and go raid my wardrobe...it's Friday baby!"
I groaned, defeated, there was absolutely no chance I was going to get out of this. Emma clapped her hands together triumphantly.
Looking around the newspaper's office, it was already thinning out. Rows and rows of computers sat upon desks, dressed with masses of papers and post it notes.Normally packed to the rafters and buzzing with activity, the overcrowded room looked tiny. You couldn't possibly fit a cat in, let alone swing it by its tail. There was talk of moving to new premises but since the 'economy crisis' cuts had to be made. The management offices were at the far end of the room, our supervisor was often in and out of them, dishing out orders from the organ grinders.
I landed this job straight after college after deciding against University. I started out as an assistant researcher but had worked my way up the ladder and had recently been promoted to an actual feature journalist. It was only a local newspaper and the money wasn't fantastic but the experience was worth its weight in gold. It was a new style of writing then what I was used to but I saw it as a challenge and had really got stuck in with the cutting edge stories of our locals.
Emma was responsible for classifieds and loved to hate her job. Constantly whinging about creepy men on the phone and obnoxious old ladies wanting to sell their chintz sofas. But everyone week, right on cue there was Emma's section all ready to be rolled out.
After shutting down our computers and saying goodbye to the cleaners who had just come in, me and Emma left the office and headed over to her place so she could work her magic on me.
Bar 21 was pretty packed by the time we arrived. Having decided on a little black dress, Emma was half drunk and already eyeing up the talent in the room. She took less than 20 minutes to get ready but still looked incredible. I looked down at myself self consciously. I went for the 'safe' choice, black trousers with an electric blue butterfly winged top. I straightened my long, normal wavy, chestnut brown hair and Emma had done my make up. It was a bit more than what I was used to wearing but somehow my blue eyes looked bigger and my cheeks had more colour in than they usually did so I was pretty impressed.
We found an empty space at the bar and squeezed in.
"What's your poison?" Emma asked, taking more notice of the guy behind me, she flicked her eyes back to mine quickly
"I'll just have a coke, got lots to do this weekend and I need a clear head" I replied.
Emma rolled her eyes as the bar man stopped in front of her
"Two double vodkas and coke please, no ice"
It was my turn to roll my eyes now.
I spun around in my swivel chair to face my friend. She was really pretty but completely oblivious to the fact. With a platinum blonde bob and her honest green eyes she turned the heads of many guys in the office. She loved to flirt but was never interested in anything more than a seductive look or cheeky innuendo. Emma never had a boyfriend in the all the time I had known her but she seemed to be happy in her own company. She was a few years older than me, but you would never of known it.
"I can't" I whined immaturely "I have a deadline to meet, an editors meeting to prepare for and not to mention the fact that I have nothing to wear" I spun back around to my desk and began to shuffle some papers around to make my excuse seem more plausible.
Emma leaned against the back of her desk with a dramatic sigh.
"We go through this every week Michelle. Deadlines and planning are what Sunday's were invented for. You know you will come, so let's stop wasting this time arguing and go raid my wardrobe...it's Friday baby!"
I groaned, defeated, there was absolutely no chance I was going to get out of this. Emma clapped her hands together triumphantly.
Looking around the newspaper's office, it was already thinning out. Rows and rows of computers sat upon desks, dressed with masses of papers and post it notes.Normally packed to the rafters and buzzing with activity, the overcrowded room looked tiny. You couldn't possibly fit a cat in, let alone swing it by its tail. There was talk of moving to new premises but since the 'economy crisis' cuts had to be made. The management offices were at the far end of the room, our supervisor was often in and out of them, dishing out orders from the organ grinders.
I landed this job straight after college after deciding against University. I started out as an assistant researcher but had worked my way up the ladder and had recently been promoted to an actual feature journalist. It was only a local newspaper and the money wasn't fantastic but the experience was worth its weight in gold. It was a new style of writing then what I was used to but I saw it as a challenge and had really got stuck in with the cutting edge stories of our locals.
Emma was responsible for classifieds and loved to hate her job. Constantly whinging about creepy men on the phone and obnoxious old ladies wanting to sell their chintz sofas. But everyone week, right on cue there was Emma's section all ready to be rolled out.
After shutting down our computers and saying goodbye to the cleaners who had just come in, me and Emma left the office and headed over to her place so she could work her magic on me.
Bar 21 was pretty packed by the time we arrived. Having decided on a little black dress, Emma was half drunk and already eyeing up the talent in the room. She took less than 20 minutes to get ready but still looked incredible. I looked down at myself self consciously. I went for the 'safe' choice, black trousers with an electric blue butterfly winged top. I straightened my long, normal wavy, chestnut brown hair and Emma had done my make up. It was a bit more than what I was used to wearing but somehow my blue eyes looked bigger and my cheeks had more colour in than they usually did so I was pretty impressed.
We found an empty space at the bar and squeezed in.
"What's your poison?" Emma asked, taking more notice of the guy behind me, she flicked her eyes back to mine quickly
"I'll just have a coke, got lots to do this weekend and I need a clear head" I replied.
Emma rolled her eyes as the bar man stopped in front of her
"Two double vodkas and coke please, no ice"
It was my turn to roll my eyes now.