15: A Braw Time

It was month end at work, and it was absolutely crazy. Month end for the finance team was the busiest time of the month. We would end up staying late or working through our lunches to make sure all figures from the past month matched up and balanced correctly. It was the finance teams most dreaded time, but it had to be done. All week, I hadn't been going down to lunch in the breakroom, which luckily meant I avoided Jason all week too.

I had been talking to Liz on the phone all week, too exhausted to go over to her house after work. She hadn't mentioned anything about Jason and Aliya, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know. Besides, I hadn't been thinking too much about Jason when Max took up most of my thinking space. We had been texting and calling all week and it was great. It was slowly beginning to feel like old times between us.

The good thing about month end was that Madeline provided pizzas for us while we worked late into the evening. I smiled as I almost finished inputting my final figures for the month.

"What's got you smiling miss smiles a lot" Yasmeen asked.

"Nothing. Pizza is what's making me happy" I laughed, taking a bite of the chewy cheesy goodness.

"Don't think we haven't noticed you smiling a lot more lately" Jakub commented.

"What's not to smile about? We have free pizza and all my figures are balancing"

"It's month end. There is no smiling when it comes to month end" Yasmeen joked "So tell me, what's really got you smiling?"

"Nothing" I reiterated "Honestly, you're making a big deal out of nothing" I laughed.

"That's not what I've heard" Daniel spoke up, looking up from his computer "There's a little rumour going around that there is a new boy in your life"

Yasmeen perked up at this and stood up from her desk "Rosie! How could you not tell me this?"

I laughed "I'm still testing the waters. it's an ex actually. We decided to get back together"

"Oh, an ex?" Yasmeen raised an eyebrow "Getting back with an ex never ends well"

"What would you know about that?" Jakub laughed "Isn't it prohibited in your religion to date?"

"Hey, I watch enough movies to know that it's never a good idea"

"Plus, the goddess that is Taylor Swift says it beautifully in her song 'We are never ever getting back together'" Daniel said. We all turned to face Daniel; all mirroring confused expressions on our faces. "What?" He shrugged "My sister listens to a lot of Taylor Swift okay". We all laughed as we got back to work.

"How did you hear about that anyway?" I asked Daniel.

"I overheard Jason talking about it the other day"

I raised my eyebrows "Jason was talking about me?". I was surprised. I thought after the night in the club that he would have been too busy with Aliya to even think about me. A small smile played on my lips at that thought.

"Wow, this new boy must have some effect on you. You've been smiling all week" Daniel pointed out.

I shook my head and concentrated on my work. Was it bad that the boy that was making me smile right now wasn't the boy he was talking about?

The next morning the office was buzzing with delight. I could only hear snippets of people's conversations but didn't understand what was going on. I approached my desk seeing my team all huddled together, excited smiles on their faces.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" I asked placing my bag down.

"We've just received emails this morning about the new offices first birthday party" Daniel grinned.

"The new office in Scotland?"

"Yeah, their celebrating their first birthday and are inviting employees to go over to celebrate"

"Wow, that's amazing. No wonder everyone's excited. Who's going?"

"I won't be able to go" Yasmeen sighed. "I've got my kids and can't leave them behind"

"Same here" Jakub said. "The wife is busy at work, so we don't have anyone to look after our little Isabel. I so wished I could go though"

"It's on a first come first serve basis, so you better hurry if you're thinking about it. I've already put my name down" Daniel said.

"Cherish your freedom before you settle down and have kids" Yasmeen mumbled.

"You guys are so lucky you have no major responsibilities. I agree with Yasmeen, enjoy your youth" Jakub laughed.

"I'll keep that in mind" I chuckled.

"So, are you going to put your name down Rosie?" Daniel asked.

I shrugged "Sure, why not. It sounds like a great opportunity"

"Well, you better get a move on. I've heard so many people are going to put their names down"

"Work has just started, not that many people could have put their name down already, have they?" I said, sitting at my desk and logging onto my computer.

"I don't know but you better get in there as soon as possible"

And there it was, in my inbox sat the email from Mr Baker.

From: Alan Baker (CEO)

To: All Employees

Subject: Happy Birthday!

Hello all,

As many of you will know, it has been a year since we expanded into the wonderful country that is Scotland. And what a year it has been. We are lucky to have our new office in the beautiful city of Edinburgh where it sits with a glorious view of Edinburgh Castle and all its beauty Edinburgh has to offer.

To celebrate its first birthday, the Edinburgh team are planning a party and have kindly invited employees from HQ to go over and celebrate.

More info will be provided in the coming weeks, so dust of those kilts and get ready for a right old blether and have a braw time across the pond.

There are a limited number of places so put your name down if interested so we can have an idea for numbers.

Bye for nooo

Alan

I smiled as I read the email. How awesome would it be to go to Scotland? It was too good an opportunity to pass up. I didn't have to think twice. I put my name down and clicked send.

The Edinburgh office party was all that everyone was talking about all day. The staff room was buzzing at lunch time with talk of Edinburgh and what it would be like.

"Do they wear kilts there all the time?" Daniel asked.

I laughed "I don't think they do"

"Plus, I heard the men don't wear underwear underneath their kilts" Andrew raised an eyebrow, shuddering at the thought.

"Isn't it always cold over there? So, they can't be wearing kilts all the time. I can't imagine that would be very comfortable" I chuckled.

"And they eat haggis all the time" Daniel exclaimed.

"Where are you getting all this information from? You're like a walking encyclopaedia today"

"I may or may not have been looking up facts about Scotland today"

I rolled my eyes "You're really excited about this, aren't you?"

"And you're not? Scotland seems like such a great place. I'm so going to try a deep-fried mars bar"

"A deep fried mars bar?" I shuddered "I don't think I want to know"

"Hey Jason" Daniel waved as Jason walked into the room.

I froze, my back ridged as I tried to look anywhere else but at Jason. I concentrated on my lunch as Jason took the seat next to Daniel and made light conversation.

"Have you signed up for the Scotland office party?" Daniel asked.

"That's all he's been talking about all day" Andrew laughed.

"Yeah, that's all our team have talked about too" Jason chuckled.

"I, unfortunately won't be able to go" Andrew said "It clashes with some important meetings I have here. But Jason here will be representing the marketing team"

"Yaasss" Daniel high fived Jason.

"So, I take it you're going too?" Jason asked Daniel.

"Yeah, Rosie and I are going. Got to represent the best team at the company, right?"

Jason gave a small smile as he took a bite of his lunch, avoiding my glance. Did I want him to look my way? I missed our lunchtime conversations. And I even missed our little conversations we would have whenever I would go over to his house to see Liz. I missed his smiles whenever we would pass each other in the office. Just like Liz was a huge part of my life, Jason was always there. If felt weird not speaking to him.

I wanted to say something to him, I really did, but wasn't sure what to say. So, I remained silent instead, listening to Daniel and Jason talk about Scotland.

"I'm so going to make you eat haggis when we're there" Daniel laughed.

"I'll eat it if you do" Jason challenged.

"Do you know what haggis even is?" Andrew raised an eyebrow.

Daniel shook his head "I never got around to looking it up"

"I suggest you don't" Andrew said, his eyes widening.

A giggle escaped my mouth which I couldn't help. This caught Jason's attention as he looked up from his lunch and gave me a small smile in return. Maybe we could get back on track with our friendship after .

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Okay, I feel like I should explain some of those Scottish words in the email. I don't want to leave you all confused after reading this chapter.

Ready for a right old blether = to chat/babble away

Have a braw time = have a great time. Braw can also mean beautiful depending on how you use it.

Bye for nooo = bye for now.

Did any of you manage to guess any of those or were you just left completely confused and wonder if I decided to make up my own new language,lol.