Bellflower Part 14 (Patreon)

In this installment, Rachel's orientation day has arrived. But Holly's in something of a mood, given all the stuff on her mind as of late. Okay well, mostly food. But also how much it's only been that.

Wanted to have this up a little sooner, but thanks for bearing with me. I'll have 15 up very soon too. Part of what took me so long on this is figuring out just where I wanted to cut it. I feel bad because I keep saying we're going to jump ahead, but I keep coming up with things in the short term. Without giving too much away, I'm thinking the next part is the second Ladies Night & the next part will probably be Rachel's first day ON the job (which would be Monday, I think). After that, a little further in the week & then we might start skipping a week hear or there. Just feels strange because I kind of set up these landmarks & had ideas to go with them but don't want to skip them too quickly. I don't know. What I do know is there will certainly be some solid binging coming up so be ready! As for right now, I hope you enjoy!

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14

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“You look cute in that.” Rachel finally broke the silence. It was a comment that seemed innocuous enough. Complimentary even. Holly was in a coral colored blouse tucked into high waisted pants that tapered slightly before cutting off just a little shorter. Moreover, the ensemble seemed to actually fit properly. In fact, just right.But all she seemed to get for her troubles was a contemptful “Hmph” from a mostly disinterested Holly as she drove. Not quite satisfied with that response, Rachel continued.“Is it new?” The younger sister pressed. If only as a means to spite this weird icy cold shoulder she had been getting from Holly for the past day & a half for some reason. She didn’t know what she had done to deserve it. Holly went from practically bouncing off the walls, texting her every three seconds excited she took the job, to then having a bug crawl up her fat ass & this aloof, bitchy attitude towards her in the few moments they spent together the past day & a half.

“If you MUST know,” Holly huffed with an exaggerated head wobble, while not taking her eyes off the road. “It’s something Courtney outgrew.” She then rushed to rectify “From a while ago!” as if to put a bit more room between her & her friend’s current sizes. “She’s letting me... borrow a few things after visiting her for a bit last night.”

“Oh!” Rachel nodded, trying not to load her response with any further context. But it was all there, plain as day in the way she delivered her reaction. Almost overcompensating a little with the pleasantry. Especially because Rachel was hardly ever that pleasant to begin with. As if Holly wasn’t already annoyed at her. Quickly, before Holly could snip out anything further, Rachel tried switching topics.“I think she’s there giving me my orientation today.” She said, turning to look out her side of the SUV. This was their very first commute together. She didn’t care, but she suspected that Holly typically would’ve been over the moon, probably snapping tons of selfies to plaster on social media to mark the occasion. Instead, this Holly before her decided it was too hot to take the bus & seemed more begrudgingly obliged to offer her a lift “since she was going there anyway.” And despite it being a full hour & a half earlier than she needed to be there, Rachel said “sure,” both for Holly’s benefit AND the added value of not having to spend another second around psycho-ass Penny or the Bellflower.

“Actually,” Holly started. Rachel recognized the tone. It was one Holly used in one of those rare moments where she could speak to something better than most. Since they were a bit few & far between, she seemed to relish them a little too much whenever she took the honor. “Andrea’s probably the one taking lead. Courtney’s more there to supervise her & assist.”

“Ok.” Rachel bit back a snicker. As if that made a world of difference. “Pedant.” 

“I heard that!” Holly growled. But didn’t know exactly how mad to get. Because it was of those words Rachel used from time to time that she didn’t actually know the definition of & was too proud to ever ask.

“Okay, seriously. What’s your deal?” Rachel finally dropped all pretense.

“What do you mean “what’s my deal?” Holly, keeping her eyes on the road, seemed slightly bemused. As if she wasn’t even aware of what she was doing.

“I MEAN,” Rachel leaned in, “Every time I’ve talked to you yesterday & today, you’ve been a huge bitch.”

“Tck!” Holly clicked her tongue.

“I’m just trying to figure out what it is I even did!” Rachel said. She had started recognizing the landmarks well enough to know they were getting fairly close. As things suddenly fell into a tense quiet, she decided she was fine with there not being any more conversation. Of course, that was the exact moment Holly decided to break that silence, starting with a sigh.

“I… I just overheard some… office gossip.” Holly seemed to admit. It was hard to gauge her tone, but it at least felt lukewarm, unlike every icy sneer she’d gotten from her the past two days. “That’s all.” Rachel peered over at her for a beat before saying anything.

“O-kay.” She started slowly. “What’s that got to do with me though?”

“It…” Holly stumbled before clicking her tongue again. “It partially… involves you.”

“What?!” Rachel scoffed. “How is there any sort of office gossip about me?! I haven’t even started yet.”

“RIGHT?!” Holly asked with wide eyes, in agreement.

“I… I don’t…” Rachel stammered. “Look, I’m only here because of you. Like, everything you did.” And the guilt of knowing she did all that. In fact, it was mostly that, coupled with the pay. But Rachel wasn’t going to say that. At least out loud. “If me coming in is now suddenly going to upset you & cause office drama…?”

“No. NO!” Holly shook her head, intensifying as she realized Rachel was insinuating towards flaking on all this. “It’s not like that! It’s… It’s stupid. And… it’s mostly me, just overreacting to something I wasn’t expecting to hear.” She seemed slow to admit. Rachel, who still didn’t quite understand the context of all this just squinted & shook her head. 

“Well, what…?” Rachel threw out her hands, palms upward, fingers stretched, as if she was going to catch something.

“No I…” Holly started. “I don’t know how true any of it even is.” They were coming up to the last stoplight. “Like I said, it’s me. I’m just overreacting to something.”

“Tell me.” Rachel was intrigued. And Holly looked almost as if she was about to cave when the light turned green. 

“No. But you’re fine. I really didn’t mean to be a bitch to you. I just… I have got a lot on my mind right now.” She glanced over. “Sorry.”

“Okay,” Rachel seemed slightly dissatisfied not to get an answer before realizing they didn’t make their turn. “Wait, where are you going?”

“We’re like a few minutes early,” Holly kept driving. “And I’m starving!”

“You just had some toast. With jam.” Rachel was keen to point out, trying to not acknowledge her own rumbling tummy.

“And on what planet is THAT ever enough?” Holly scoffed.

In an attempt to try & smooth over her unintended bitchy vibes for the past few days, at least Holly bought for both of them. And on the condition Rachel took her out & treated her to a meal with her first paycheck, but still. Upon entering the bustling lobby of Hailington, Holly lead Rachel towards one of the small seating areas situated on the other side from the information desk. By the atrium’s windows.

“You going to be okay?” She asked, her hands kind of full between her typical Everything bagel in a brown bag, the leftovers she packed for lunch in a grocery store tote, her purse, & a coffee.

“It’s just an hour or so. And beats sitting at home. I can at least… people watch.” Rachel shrugged. She raised her own bagel & coffee back before setting down her purse on a table loaded with old but fairly current, faded magazines. “Thanks again.”

“Don’t mention it,” Holly waved off. “Sorry to be a huge bitch. I just…” She stumbled & took a breath. “It’s all going to work out. And don’t worry, orientation’s a breeze. They mostly just have you filling out paperwork. I mean, you remember your pertinents, like your social & stuff, right?” Rachel nodded, looking unconcerned. “It’s basically sort of like a half day. They’ll probably have you out of here just a little after lunch.”

“I’m not worried about it.” Rachel assured her plainly, with the corners of her mouth tilting upward the slightest bit. “But truly, thanks again. For everything.” She tried to say it but bitch Holly barely batted an eye. Now seemed like the proper time to attempt a do-over.

“AWWW!” The last of Holly’s icy demeanor finally seemed to melt away. With her loaded arms, she still decided to go in for a glomping hug, despite Rachel’s reticence. “I’m proud of you! Damn, I should’ve took pictures! Marked the occasion! Your first day!” This was the same Holly that wouldn’t stop texting her again.

“Mostly glad you didn’t,” Rachel winced. It felt a little like the more Holly there was, the more restricting & claustrophobic her hugs seemed to get. And it seemed to be going on for a while. Rachel struggled. “Okay, we’re coworkers now. When does this become officially inappropriate touching?”

The fourth floor break room was shared by the different offices on this story of the massive building. Holly stopped off before going to her desk. It was relatively small, cramped even, just room enough for a small counter & sink space, some cabinets, & a small table. She suspected if Rachel saw it, she’d probably say something to the effect of it being unwelcoming by design. A subtle tactic geared toward keeping workers from really ever wanting to take breaks. And for the most part, that seemed to be working. Most employees seemed to take the hint & usually ate at their desks after all. Really, it was mostly just built around the giant, stainless steel refrigerator that kept everyone’s lunches. She laid her hand on the handle & began to pull, remembering all too late that it could be a little… whiffy from time to time. Unfortunately, this happened to be one of them.

“Ech!” She coughed, reacting to the must of ghost of forgotten lunches. She hoisted her tote, & put it on the emptiest bit of shelf space, wrapping the excess bag around the container twice in an attempt to try & insulate it from the stench. Given the way her & Courtney had went to town on them, she was shocked there were any ribs left. Not for lack of trying though. They had seriously overdid it. They just ordered so much! In fact, she was slightly worried it probably wasn’t going to be enough to be a substantial lunch. Then again, that was maybe... good? She let out a soft sigh. 

On the ride in, she had only given Rachel half the story. Sure, hearing that Rachel might already soon be promoted to department head so soon had bothered her. And maybe she had But it wasn’t the only thing weighing heavily on her mind. In fact, it wasn’t even the bigger issue for her this morning. What took that honor? Her appetite. The fact that she had been so impossibly hungry the past few days. How she consistently kept sitting down & making a complete pig of herself, meal after meal. Hell, even between meals in a few cases. Something… wasn’t right.

Last night, the BBQ she & Courtney got had been no exception. She ate & ate. She’d stuffed herself silly. What stood out to her was a look that Courtney shot her at one point. Like even she, of all people, seemed a bit shocked they were almost going toe to toe with how much she was putting it away. In fact, Courtney had to be the one to get her to stop. Remind her that the whole pretense of even hanging out was to let Holly borrow some clothes. Seeing as she’d seemingly outgrown her own.

What was worse was that as they started digging, the deeper they went into her much heavier friend’s closet, Holly started recognizing a few items her friend used to wear. As a matter of fact, she remembered the day she met Courtney. She had been wearing this same exact blouse! And Holly explicitly remember thinking “Oh, that looks pretty cute on her, even if she is a little on the heavy side.” To put it nicely. Flash forward to today. Where that same blouse seemed to fit her just right.

“I’ve got more too. All different sizes. If you ever need more. Bigger, or smaller. Oh!” She remembered Courtney catch herself & start to backpedal. Trying to rescind any subtext to that statement. “I’m definitely not saying you’ll need to! Just saying I have them is all. And it’s not like I’m going to be squeezing into any of that any time soon.” Her round cheeks blushed. Much like the situation with Rachel, Holly knew full well it wasn’t Courtney’s fault. In fact, she was going above & beyond to be the best possible friend she could be. But she didn’t seem to realize just… It was all something of a… “headfuck,” as Rachel would probably say. On top of the fact she was having such a problem simply… controlling herself. Rachel was right. She DID have toast this morning. She thought, she would try to keep it light. But she didn’t get a mile down the road before deciding “Nope!” And running to grab a bagel from the bagel shop too. A bagel that was figuratively burning a hole through its brown paper bag at the moment, practically begging her to just… devour it.

“See anything you like?” She heard. She realized she had been standing there, smelling the stall, fridge air, her butt in the air behind her for a moment. Which made her face wince, but not as much as who she could put that voice to. Dan? The office creeper? Fuck, how long had she been bent over? Had he been leering? Oh, of course he probably was. He was such a creep! She stood up & adjusted herself before turning to see him standing at the door way. He had come here specifically for the rancidly bad coffee.

“I was just dropping off my lunch.” She said, shutting it with a bit of a slam. She locked her eyes on where his were focused. After the briefest eye contact, he looked away, but not anywhere near her person. It was better than being gawked at but still read guiltily. She almost thought about taking it to Deidre, but she hadn’t seen him checking her out for sure. She clenched her coffee & bagel tightly to herself, & marched out. “Bye Dan.” She said icily. 

After her bagel, Rachel had another brief encounter with Carol. But this time? Rachel was more than ready. She had all the proper documentation, including a passport to wave in her face. The older woman begrudgingly directed her to another front desk person that lead her down a side corridor. After a few twists & turns, she was ushered into a small conference room, set up almost like a college class room. There were a few rows of large desks that each sat two, with one at the front near a large possibly touch screen flat panel… thing. A few folks had already found their way there before her. She got the vibe that every employee had to come through this as some gave off custodial vibes while others seemed more interested in research or lab work. Others seemed like frustrated c-suite types. But all seemed bored, frustrated at the idea of having to be here. 

Rachel nodded to the person from the front before finding a seat towards the back, sitting at an empty table. The chair squeaked against the waxed floor as she pulled it out. It was definitely reminding her of a class room. She set her purse down & took a seat. Looking at the digital clock on the wall (oh god, it was the same exact kind they had at her high school), she realized it was still going to be a few minutes. After a second of rooting through her purse, she found her red notebook.

After meeting with Fran & the others, she had adopted a more daily journal format, jotting down certain things she noticed in bullet points as she noticed them. This was day two, & so far she had “Holly borrowing clothes from Courtney, & needing two breakfasts (toast & a bagel).” Oh! And her over all “irritability,” as if maybe that was also some sort of side effect? From the infrasound? It could just be her being a bitch, but she wasn’t going to take chances. She wanted to keep a record of EVERYTHING. Like, she also had a separate sidebar column, set up to monitor everything she had consumed in the same period. Just to keep herself honest. She filled in “bagel, strawberry cream cheese & coffee.” She started thinking she should maybe start something similar for Holly. Or at least the stuff she could witness her eat. But that might be tough. She remembered seeing her walk in last night, carrying the same leftover she was bringing in for lunch. But she also had apparently stuffed herself to the gills with… whatever that was. She couldn’t be sure what, she just figured it safe to assume it probably wasn’t the most healthy of options.

“This seat taken?” She heard a young woman ask. Rachel looked up to see a fairly skinny beanpole of a girl. She was roughly her age, maybe just the slightest bit younger. She was tall & dressed fairly casually. As if she didn’t need to impress anyone, sporting just a t-shirt & jeans. Her ginger hair was pulled back into a ponytail & she wore thick framed glasses.

“All yours,” Rachel smiled, trying to be accomodating. The girl started pulling her chair out, not expecting it to squeak so loudly.

“Ooh boy.” She noted. She seemed to wince slightly. “No rest.” She started, seemingly to Rachel, who hadn’t really expected much of a conversation. “Don’t do that much for months & then yesterday, I had to unpack after moving. Really feeling it today.”

“Oh I’ll bet.” Rachel tried to nod politely. “I hear this is just filling out paperwork mostly. Nothing too strenuous.” It was meant as a joke but came out more matter of fact. Not funny at all. The girl seemed sweet enough. It was just that the room was so quiet. And she herself was too much of an introvert. As the girl eased her chair in, squeaking along the waxed floor further, she turned to look in Rachel’s direction.

“Daphne.” She nodded before sighing. “Yes, like Scooby-Doo.” As if she got that often. 

“Or you know, like the greek myth character.” Rachel said, still writing about Holly in her notebook.

“It’s also a type of shrub.” Daphne smirked. “Look at you, smartypants.”

“Nah,” Rachel smirked. “I just didn’t get out much as a kid. Was more a heavy reader. It mostly just stops & ends there. And Rachel.”

“Whatchu writing there, Rachel?” Daphne nodded at the notebook. Her affect seemed vaguely Southern. Or maybe Texan?

“Oh, nothing.” Rachel blushed. “I’m um… going to be in the copywriting department. Just… jotting down some ideas.” She closed it quickly, placing a hand on it after she finished the last thought she needed to get down.

“Oh cool. Cool.” Daphne nodded. Her head bobbed as she offered her future department. “Robotics.” She said, waving to herself.

“Oh, I know someone over there. Mikayla? She’s… really nice. I mean, once you get to know her anyway.” Rachel nodded, turning to look forward.

“Yeah, sounds like someone into robots alright.” Daphne chortled. “I’ll be sure to say hi if I run into her.” 

It was at that moment that both Andrea & Courtney came in, each carrying what looked like danishes. Another thing to jot down in the red notebook, it seemed. Rachel then noticed the other people in this “class” take note of them. Between Courtney’s size & Andrea’s slightly unusually bottom heavy shape, they were greeted with a few stairs. Rachel thought she heard something of a chuckle, but couldn’t discern from where exactly. Fuckin’ rude though, she thought, even if she hadn’t already been introduced to them. 

“Mmmm, Good morning!” Andrea greeted the room, not seeming to take much notice. Tinges of her accent creeping in around the edges to make her “good” sound more like “goed” or “gud.” Courtney gave a mousier wave behind her before immediately b-lining to take a seat at the desk in front to take a load off. “My name is Andrea. This is my associate Courtney. We are both from the Human Resources Department.”

“Hello.” Courtney’s wave was pleasant, but subdued. Until she seemed to notice Rachel in the back. Her face lit up as she gave a bit of a nod. Rachel nodded back.

“No fair,” Daphne leaned in & complained softly. “Why do THEY get to eat? Couldn’t bring enough for the whole class? I’m freaking starving.” Rachel chuckled but then had a thought. She leaned in towards the center of her desk & softly asked a question.

“Daphne, when you said you just moved here to start here... you didn’t happen to move into a building called “The Bellflower” by chance, did you?” Daphne’s brow flattened, her neck rearing back.

“How… how did you guess?” She asked.

“No…” Rachel smirked. “No reason. We can… we’ll talk. After.”

The bagel, even fully loaded, hadn’t been nearly as substantial as Holly had hoped. It & Holly’s coffee were both polished off in about five minutes flat. And that was almost over an hour ago. Right now? It wasn’t even 10:30. Downstairs somewhere, Rachel probably wasn’t even through the first opening spiel just yet even. And yet here Holly sat, fighting the temptation to run back to the break room & heat up her ribs. 

It wasn’t helping that to her right, just a few feet away from her Camille seemed to be indulging on one of her ludicrously expensive cheese-things. With crackers. Deidre had laid down a decree that the girl couldn’t bring anything smelly, & Holly tried to assure herself that whatever the girl was eating, it probably tasted completely heinous. But then again, she could see her enjoying herself. Taking a bite, closing her eyes & chomping on the loaded cracker or biscuit or whatever in a state of sheer ecstasy. And THAT certainly wasn’t helping.

No! She couldn’t! After all, she did have work to focus on! But then again too, it was mostly responding to emails. Nothing urgent. And definitely nothing important enough to demand her entire attention. Which made staving off her urges so… difficult. Maybe…? No! She couldn’t do that! Not now! It was too early! Much too early! And they probably weren’t even going to be enough to satisfy her for a full lunch anyhow, even when she did. If she tucked into them now, she’d be dead by mid afternoon. She had to be stronger about this! She needed to put her foot down, dammit! 

Then again… 

They probably weren’t even going to be enough to count as a full lunch after all. Even if she did wait & have them around a much more… acceptable time to eat “lunch,” she’d still probably be starving by late afternoon anyway. And she was starving now. So much so, she wasn’t actually getting any work done! Knowing they were sitting in there, not being eaten by her right this instant? It almost made her want to break out into a cold sweat. She was practically jonesing for them. Maybe… maybe she could have them. Treat them like… a snack? She put her hands against the side of her desk & gave herself a push backwards.

“Where’re you going?” Camille looked up with a swallow from her adjacent desk in the pod.

“I’m… I’m just feeling a little… peckish.”

“Biscuit?” Camille offered daintily. She knew better than to apply any of the cheese. Probably because she knew Holly wouldn’t truly appreciate it, but also because it meant just that bit more for her. Instead of saying anything, Holly smiled politely & stuck a hand up.

“I’m… I’ll be right back. Just going to make a quick… run to the break room.”

And within minutes, Holly hovered over the microwave impatiently. She remembered her grandparents used to tell her to step back. That it kicked off radiation. But she didn’t care right now. She was too fuckin’ hungry! And to make it worse, the flavorful, smoky aroma had started to waft out of the microwave & replace the stagnant, bad leftover smell of the breakroom with something that was decent, & right with the world! 15 Seconds! Yes! Just a snack. It would be fine! She would make sure whatever she ACTUALLY counted as her lunch was something light! It’d all work out! Once she satisfied this hunger, she would certainly be able to control herself later, right? 3. 2. 1. DING!

“Mmmmmph!” She cried out, wrestling the first bite into her mouth. Dear god, they were almost as good as when the delivery guy dropped them off last night. So juicy, & tender! Yes. The perfect snack.

Orientation in fact, had consisted of mostly filling out paperwork. There were brief instructional videos. Nothing too long. But stuff they seemed required to show. Basically how not to be a scummy person to work with be it by harassment or intolerance . After that, Andrea started walking the group of recent hirees through the ins & outs of their new employee handbook. And the litany of corporate policies. There were certain things Rachel signed that she felt like she kind of wanted to show to  a lawyer first. Almost like… NDAs or something. She didn’t think she’d ever be questioned by members of the press for writing simple blurbs, but that didn’t exclude her from initial legal looking documents saying she couldn’t. The problem was everyone else was filling out everything so fast, she felt as though she sort of had to match pace. She decided to take a snapshot on her phone. She could parse it later at least. Make sure there was nothing too ominous or evil. Daphne noticed her do it around the third or fourth time & smirked.

“That’s probably a good idea.” She whispered. “But if you already signed the dang thing…?”

“Yeah yeah,” Rachel muttered. She looked up, noticing Courtney’s fat fingers wrestling kind of loudly with a wrapper of ANOTHER health bar. The danish had long been gone & Rachel had lost track of how many bars she’d already gone through. But there were a few other things too. Like a little packet of crackers, a candy, possibly a breath mint. It was almost as if she was able to pull them out of like… hammerspace. She seemed to have this infinite supply of tiny things to munch on in her admittedly larger purse. Rachel could only make a mental note of it though. Between Daphne’s curiosity & all of the information about herself & signatures, now didn’t seem like the best time to hit up the notebook. Besides, it seemed a little like they were getting close to wrapping up. Just a few more things to sign & passing up their folders.

She did start thinking though, if Daphne was new to the Bellflower, maybe… maybe she should say something. Try to get her to band with Fran, Mikayla, & Marissa. At the same time, looking back, Mikayla had made something of an excellent point. How DO you even broach a subject like that? “Watch out! Some unknown entity that runs the building you just moved into is bent on making you consuming a ton of food, gaining lots & lots of weight, for… Something? Oh & don’t trust the robot that runs your unit for you, because she is at best, in league with that entity but for all we know might actually BE that entity?” Despite only sitting next to her & saying a few things to each other, she got the feeling Daphne didn’t tolerate any bullshit. But also, she did seem like she might have a decent head on her shoulders. Maybe… maybe just a cryptic “be mindful” would suffice?

“Once again, if you’ve filled out the entire folder, pass it in, & you’re free to leave. We won’t need you back until your designated start day.” Andrea announced from the front, accepting a folder from an executive looking guy ready to get on with his day. “For many of you, that will probably be Monday. Start of the new pay period. And once again, welcome to Hailington!” she finally concluded, waving with both hands.

“Welcome!” Courtney waved a stack of already received folders from the desk. To her left, Rachel saw Daphne beginning to finish up. Apparently, trying to parse through some of the papers she signed had seriously slowed Rachel down some. She just wanted to be thorough.

“Pleasure meetin’ you!” Daphne nodded. Thoroughly as bored as everybody else, she looked to make something of a quick exit.

“Oh, nice meeting you too.” Rachel waved. “See you around I guess. Just be sure to um…” She could already tell that in her rushed, unprepared manner, this was going to come off sounding incredibly awkward & weird. “S-stay... Mindful.” Daphne stood there a second. Blinking.

“Will… do.” She said slowly. Letting the awkwardness hang there a moment before continuing on with her day & walking out the door. Rachel felt sort of embarrassed, but also slightly disappointed in that maybe she wasn’t able to get through to her well enough. It was terribly vague, after all. Fuck. The way her brain worked, she was bound to dwell on that for the rest of the day. It made it hard to finish up the last bits of things she needed to sign for her folder. Of course she ended up being one of the last, but when she finished, she pushed in her squeaky chair & marched towards the front. 

“Hey there, Rachel!” She heard call out. It came from Courtney, who seemed positively bubbly. “How’d we do?” Andrea seemed to perk up, but seemed a little more aloof about the whole thing.

“Oh, very… engaging.” Rachel said with a wide eyed, exaggerated nod, while passing her folder to her.

“Pssh, yeah right!” Courtney chortled as she strained to reach without removing her very large rear too far from the chair. “I know these things are as boring as… crap.” She saved herself. It was a work environment after all. “You don’t have to lie.” She rolled her eyes. 

“You coming with Holly to Ladies’ Night tomorrow?” Andrea asked. Rachel realized. Oh, right. Tomorrow was Friday after all. And hell, she hadn’t even realized it but that meant today meant she’d been at the Bellflower for one full week. Holly hadn’t made any mention of her joining her again this week. Then again, she had had that chip on her shoulder that whole time. Why would she? But at the same time, Rachel now knowing the things that she knew? About Penny? Their phones? After witnessing the girls’... feeding frenzy last week?

“I… Holly um… you know, she didn’t mention it to me.” Rachel said with a sort of aw shucks” gesture.

“What?!” Courtney disgustedly ticked. Her lips pursed for the briefest second. “Well you’re part of the team now, so you’re definitely invited for sure.” Andrea’s head bobbed in agreement. Until she looked over to see Courtney kind of freeze, her lip curling up into a bit of a sneer. “Although it is at Veronica’s…” she grumbled, seeming not too pleased by that idea herself. And while that did sound very annoying, it was slightly more annoying how obligated she felt, not getting an official, third party invite. On top of how nice & accommodating they had all been. And after she sort of flaked on them last time.

“Right,” Andrea clapped, as she accepted the folder of another hiree on their way out the door. “And let’s not forget that this time, it’s Holly’s turn to provide the munchies!”

“Oh boy, is it?” Rachel fought her left eye from twitching.

“Yeah, we were talking about it when she came over last night.” Courtney seemed pleased with herself, rearing back in her chair a little with a sharp creak. “We were thinking she should get all eclairs!”

“What?! Don’t be ridiculous,” Andrea scoffed.

“Why not?! They’re the best though!” A thoroughly disappointed Courtney argued. “They’re everybody’s favorite.” Rachel could tell this might turn into a thing. She took a step backward, towards the door.

“That may be,” Andrea continued. “But if it’s all eclairs all the time, it makes the eclairs less special!”

“They’re not any less special if there’s more OF them!” Courtney argued. “And it makes the whole night speci…” Just then she noticed Rachel halfway to the door. “OH! Will we see you there, Rachel? I really hope you can make it!”

“Oh uh,” She tried to not let them see her wince. “Maybe. Thanks! See you… around.”

“I like her. She’s sweet.” Courtney cooed to Andrea.

“Eh, she strikes me as a bit flaky.” Andrea leveled. “Speaking of which, why not talk Holly into maybe getting some nice puff pastries?”

“WHAT?!” Rachel could hear bellow from down the corridor. “You’re fuh… Reeking INSANE! Eclairs all the way! Sorry! Team Eclair has spoken!”