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Back stage, inside a small dressing room, Alice starts to bite her fingers in front of the dressing mirror, because she thinks she recognized Joe in the audience. 'What the hell!!!.. Joe?? Here???.. My goodness! Did he watch my entire performance? Did he come in half-way? Shit!'
She is so nervous right now, but at the same time excited. She wonders what Joe would think of her now. She believes that he has only ever seen her as an employee, not as an equal. And she wanted the first time Joe saw her outside work as* * *Alice's blue sweatpants are visibly soggy as she runs up the stairs of her apartment building. It is Sunday. She just returned from her afternoon jog around the park. The truth is, she really needed to clear her head after last night's episode. Goodness! How on earth will she face Joe at work tomorrow? When she reaches the door to her apartment, she adjusts the almost falling arm of her blue sweat jacket. It is half unzipped and is exposing a black inner crop top. Her hair right now looks like an utter mess, but she doesn't care. She just places her hand on the door knob and sniffs in hard before opening it. She seems to have been weeping for quite a while. She hasn't exactly ascertained the full extent of the complicated set of emotions she is feeling right now. But she is certain that she does not want Miguel to see her with 'something in her eye'. He has had a lot to deal with personally due to their dad's shitty behaviour and the disdainful way he treats him. Miguel seeing A
* * * "Happy Birthday to you!!! Happy Birthday to you!!!..."Songs fill the air on the third floor long before work hours begin, as Porsha's colleagues sing her a surprise birthday song. She does not usually publicize her birthday and she isn't a fan of unexpected stunts like this. She prefers a more intimate celebration with those who are close to her or at least people of her choosing. 'Damn it!', she exclaims within. This reeks of Park, who right now is sta
* * *#SPRAY! #SPRAY! #SPRAY! With a few blasts of insecticide, Alice lays siege to the home of a tiny yet intrepid cockroach inside Joe's office. It ran in from her office and took refuge in a crevice at the bottom of the wall, toward the far end of the office. So she chased after it and has been trying to murder it ever since.
* * *Back at Alice's home, it's movie night. She and Miguel are watching an episode of 'Merlin' when they hear a knock on the door. Alice rises from the couch and goes to see who it is. Upon looking through the peephole, she sights someone very familiar. So she quickly adjusts her robe properly and opens the door. "Hola bonita!", a sonorous masculine voice greets her. It's Julian. They haven't spoken since Saturday night, when he walked in
* * *As Joe takes off his neck tie, he keeps staring at himself in the mirror, looking deep into his eyes as though peering into the very depths of his soul. He sees not just who his is, but the contrast between who he wanted to be and who he has become. He is unsure whether to feel satisfied. He is supposed to after all, he finally got what he always wanted— self-made success. But he wonders if this sense of completeness he has worked so hard to achieve has in itself created more room for emptiness; or maybe is just so filling that every sense of additional satisfaction has gone numb. He has got a job that at some point, he would have killed for. But for some reason, he does not seem to feel any different from when he was just a 'lawyer for hire', working fr
* * *"Good morning, Grace!", Alice greets one of the cleaners as she steps out of the elevator. "Mornin Alice! How're you doing?.. Looking pretty as ever today.", Grace responds, smiling warmly at her; her mild wrinkles now showing.
* * *It is Friday night, past closing hours. Alice is still sorting out some documents inside Joe's office. Joe walks in. He just returned from a long meeting with Wrestler and other members of the board. They had to re-evaluate the development of some cases, take stock of the year's profits and allocate funds to the planning of their grand end-of-year celebrations. The staff football game was postponed, but they still intend to host a gala two weeks from now, as well as their annual camping trip in Jan
* * *The curtains are wide open and the mild rays of the morning sun start to seep into the office. It is Saturday already. And it is almost as though the place is wearing a new look. The silvery drapes are perfectly complementing the plain white walls as well as the dark grey floor. And the green aesthetic palm leaves in the large brown vase are looking especially beautiful. They would have been pure perfection, were a pair of rolled up lace panties not caught up in a thicket of their stalks. The floor adjacent to them as well is visibly littered with some items of clothing