April 12th 2016

Unedited!

~*~*~

"How was your day?"

"It was good. How was yours?"

"No, no. We're talking about your day."

"And it was good."

"Just good?"

"Uneventful."

"And?"

"And, what?"

"I basically spilled my guts out about my day yesterday and all you're going to say is that your day was good?"

"But it was good."

"I'm trying to be supportive, here. Give me a little helping hand."

"Well, let's see... right, I did have a blip today."

"A blip?! Perfect, tell me about it and then I can help you!"

"I lost my biro."

"Your biro?"

"Yeah, my favourite pen went missing."

"Do you need me to comfort you? Shall I break out some motivational quotes for you?"

"No, it's ok. Evelyn came in, moved a letter and my pen was underneath."

"Hm."

"Hm?"

"Well, I wasn't all that helpful, that's all."

"You don't think you were helpful to me today?"

"Like you said, Evelyn found your biro for you, so no. I was not helpful."

"Ah, Sophie, Sophie, Sophie... how wrong you are."

"I'm very rarely wrong."

"But in this instance, you are."

"Ok, I'm listening. How am I wrong?"

"Each day, do you want to know why I get out of bed?"

"Why?"

"So I can talk to you at the end of the day. I get up, go to work, come home and talk to you. You are what motivates me throughout my day. If I procrastinate, I know that I'll have to stick around longer at the office and I won't be able to enjoy it when you call. Oh, and the fact that you made me get a dog. That was also very helpful."

"You mean all that?"

"It wasn't well said, but I meant it all."

"In that case, I'm glad I could be of help."

"Now, how was your day?"

"I think I must have said 'Fuck it' about a million time in my head, but I've figured out how I'm going to handle Kennedy."

"Yeah, how so?"

"I'm going to back someone else. You told me that if Kennedy submits her work late that I should bin it-"

"Did I say those exact words?"

"I'm paraphrasing. Anyway, I decided last night that you were right. If she was going to submit late, I'd throw it in the trash. Today, she waltzed into my office and made a show of handing over her article that I asked for yesterday-"

"What did you do?"

"In my defence, she practically threw it down on my keyboard. So I picked it up- only to move it out of my way- and maybe it ended up finding it's way into the bin."

"You threw it in the bin in front of her?"

"Yes."

"I'm proud of you."

"Oh, I thought you were going to berate me."

"No, you did the right thing. What did she do? Did she kick off?"

"Not in front of me, but Jasmine said that she did colourfully tell others just how much she hates me. After that, I went out onto the floor and asked the newest junior writer to submit something to me."

"That could go either way- her article could have been terrible. Was it?"

"No, it was really good! Like, really, really good. I'm going to mentor her and make her into a great writer."

"Oh, God. Is that safe?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just, you mentoring someone. Sounds bad, that's all."

"I'm ignoring that comment. How's Alfie?"

"Good. We went out with the dog walking lot and he had fun. I've taught him to play fetch."

"I thought you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks."

"I thought you said that Alfie wasn't that old."

"Don't get smart. So, Alfie's ok?"

"He's great. I should have gotten a dog sooner."

"But then you wouldn't have gotten Alfie."

"True."

"What are you doing tonight?"

"The guys are coming over to the house."

"Are you all done with the move?"

"Almost. The last of the boxes arrive tomorrow, but they're just filled with stupid stuff like law books and what not. Otherwise, I think I'm all moved in."

"Are you having a house warming party?"

"That's the plan."

"Gutted I'm going to miss it."

"You're not."

"I'm not?"

"You're here for the London Marathon, yes?"

"Yes."

"That's on a Sunday, yes?"

"Yes."

"And you're here until the Monday, yes?"

"Yes."

"Great, so you'll be here for the house warming."

"Daniel, did you plan for the house warming to be on the one weekend when I'm home?"

"Did the sun rise and set today?"

"Well, it rose. Hasn't set quite yet."

"Not over there, maybe, but here it did."

"So, you did plan it for when I was going to be back!"

"That's what I said."

"Idiot."

"Maybe. Will you be at the party?"

"Does the sun rise and set everyday?"

"Yes."

"There we are then."

"Great. Hugo and Elias can't wait to see you."

"I can't believe you just said that."

"What's wrong with what I said?"

"It's like you've adopted Hugo and he's more your friend than mine."

"Are you kidding me?! Do you know what that guy does whenever he's over? He talks about you all the time. It's actually quite annoying."

"Hearing about me is annoying?"

"No, Hugo talking about you non stop like he's a stuck record is annoying. I like hearing the stories but how many times do I have to hear about the time you fell flat on your face in front of someone called Valentine? It gets boring after a while. No offence."

"Ok, first of all, it was in front of Valentino and secondly, why is Hugo telling you this stuff?! I have to kill him when I see him."

"Yeah, that's fine. I've got a week and a half of getting more stories out of him before it comes to that."

"You shouldn't believe anything Hugo tells you."

"So, this Valentine story is a lie?"

"Valentino. And, no... that happens to be a true story."

"What about you getting suspended for snogging your high school boyfriend in your form tutor's personal study, only to have him and his mistress walk in on it?"

"I'm pleading the fifth."

"That doesn't work in British court. So, fess up. Did that happen?"

"Um..."

"It did?!"

"I wasn't suspended. I was almost suspended. Mr. Roach was threatening to do it but I'm very observant and I noticed that the woman with him wasn't wearing a wedding ring. I deduced that she was not Mrs. Roach. Once I made that clear, Mr.Roach back tracked pretty swiftly."

"You blackmailed your form tutor?"

"It wasn't blackmail. It was more, you know, coming to a mutual understanding."

"In court, that's blackmail."

"I guess it's a good thing I'm not in court. I'd never hold up in front of a judge while under interrogation."

"Yeah, you'd be pretty shit in court."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You're welcome. Um, Soph, I don't mean to be a bore, but it's getting late."

"Is it really that late?"

"Yeah."

"You should have stopped me from yapping sooner."

"I like hearing you talk."

"Freak. Right, go to bed, Daniel."

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice."

"Sweet dreams, Daniel."

"You, too, Soph. I mean, for later. Yeah... love you, bye."

"Love you, bye."