Some women valued their careers more than others. To Lori, her career was her life. Ever since the ninth grade, she knew she wanted to be a marketing specialist. She'd had a hard time making friends, but she went through Highschool and college just fine, by keeping a small social circle of two friends who didn't bore her with their party stories and their dreams of meeting the knight in the shining armor or wanting to become a famous model like Blah-blah-who gives a shit.
Her passion and hard work had carried her through college, out to the market, and into one of the best fashion companies in the country. She got an alright GPA, of 3.2; that was only because she couldn't bring herself to put any real effort into any of the unrelated trivial courses--it wasn't her fault that the educational system was stupid, and as far as she was concerned, she had more Marketing knowledge in her pinky than all of those A+ wits combined. She bet none of them made it to a company as nice as the one she was driving her car to now.
She parked her car in the company's garage. She looked into the rear-view mirror and adjusted her long brown bang to the side, before putting her thin delicate glasses on. She didn't really need them unless she was reading, but she liked to put them at all times; it made her look sophisticated, smart.
She got out of the car and walked in through the company's big glass doors, swinging her 2000$-suitcase by her side and amusing herself with the click that her equally expensive black heels made against the floor. She wasn't much of a spender, but when it came to her work clothes and accessories, she didn't think twice about investing half of her salary in any item that would make her look sharp. At 25 of age, already promoted once only after four years in the company, she was confident that she was going to be the boss one day, and she should look the part starting now.
She took a deep breath as the elevator took her to the nineteenth floor. She straightened her poster and rose her chin slightly as the elevator parted its doors upon reaching her floor. She strode to her cubicle, making sure to walk fast so that no one would pin her down for a useless 10-minute chat. Luckily, today, she managed to do that. She sighed with relief as she reached her cubicle.
"Hey Suzan," she said to her cubicle mate.
"Morning Lori," Suzan turned on her wheel office chair to face Lori. "How are you?"
The cubicle included two desks with each one facing its cubicle wall.
"Good," Lori thudded her suitcase on her desk. "Did you finish the spring collection slides?"
"For heaven's sake bitch I just woke up..." Suzan whined.
"So. You were supposed to be done with them yesterday."
"Well yeah but...I had a dozen of episodes of AOT to binge, so I made a judgment call." She smiled, trying to be funny.
Lori didn't find it funny. "...Suzan, you were supposed to finish them," she said, trying to sound firm, but not mean.
"Just relax...only some final touches are left, it'll take half an hour, I'll do it right now...after my coffee." She shook her coffee cup beside her face with a girly smile then took a sip, before she offered Lori hers.
"Thanks." Lori frowned jokingly as she took it, then turned back to her desk and turned on the computer. She shouldn't give her a hard time. Suzan was her only friend here. She wasn't that different from the rest of the girls, but she was different enough. Like most of them, she didn't work as half as hard as Lori, and she liked to run her mouth for a little bit too long every now and then, but she understood her limits. Lori liked to think that Suzan admired her work ethic and she appreciated her for that. She knew that she was the only woman in here that was genuine when being nice to her, as she'd been so from day one, and hadn't changed since.
The first couple of months Lori had spent at this company, with her personality cold, and with no tolerance to hear anything unrelated to work, she wasn't surprised that people found her a bit repulsive to be around. And she didn't care. She wasn't there to make friends she was there to work, and whether the rest of the girls admitted it or not, they were all in a competition.
She was surprised, however, when the girls started acting nice to her, even though her general dismissive attitude hadn't changed. They just...started making visits to her cubicle and starting conversations, and only left when she intently showed on her face that she'd like them to piss off so she could go back to work. She just dismissed them and they left with a smile on their face. All of that was a huge difference from how they usually treated her; they usually ignored her, which had been understandable, given that she'd made it very clear that she had no interest to know any of them; people tended to not like that very much.
Her confusion hadn't lasted that long, as she realized that the change had occurred at the same time that she had gotten her first promotion. She had only been there for four years and had already been promoted, rising above some of the girls who'd been there a decade or more. It had become evidently clear to her, that they had realized, that it wouldn't take that much time until she was the boss. They just chose to practice their ass-kissing skills while Lori was still their level.
She got to work, and so did Suzan after she finished her precious coffee. They spent some time working in silence, or at least the kind of silence that one would get working among a hundred cubicles. If there was one thing Lori was excited about when getting her next promotion, it would be the new office she'd have with it. She'd be out of this dame beehive. At her office, she'd enjoy true silence.
She was focused on her computer when her head abruptly snapped to the cubicle's opening upon hearing an aggressive knock. A grimace showed on her face for a second before she hid it, as her eyes landed on Miss Santana standing two feet away from her desk the way she always stood: like she had a broom shoved up her ass.
"How's the presentation going girls," Miss Santana said, in her usual confident, enthusiastic tone, that never failed to make Lori feel sick in the stomach.
"Great boss." Suzan turned on her seat then rose to her feet eagerly, making Lori grimace inside. "Just putting the final touches."
"Good girl, excellent," Miss Santana's eyes darted between Suzan and Lori, as Lori stayed on her chair like a self-respecting woman should, and crossed her stockinged legs.
"You look great today by the way," Suzan said with a sly smile.
"Oh stoooop," Agatha threw a slap in the air as she faked shyness. She stood there in her white knee skirt and her Paige suit and white shirt blending smoothly with her pale white skin and blue eyes. She did look great, with her long red hair falling on her shoulders. She was in her mid-thirties, but she looked at least 10 years younger.
"No you really do, doesn't she Lori," Suzan said and looked at Lori, inviting her to join her ass-kissing session with their perfect boss.
Agatha looked at Lori with her faint smile and cold eyes, waiting for an answer.
"Yeah...you look good...I guess," Lori said, relying on her tone alone to show her slight sarcasm.
