Count On Me - Sequel (Laughing into Love)

Chapter 34: New Assistant

When Melanie gets back into the city 2 weeks later more exhausted and run down she texts Sal.

Melanie: "sorry again about being gone. I think I'm good to start tomorrow."

Sal responds: "Great. I have a temp assistant that we're sort of training to become joe's assistant. She can shadow you before starting next week officially.

Melanie: "cool."

Although she said cool, she really rolled her eyes. Sal told her it was cool that she could take some time off but went off and got a temp. And now this temp is so good she manages to get a job that wasn't even available. She cusses under her breath and takes a hit of a bong she got off of Bennie the drug dealer she met in Maryland.

The next morning she heads in early, getting Sal his usual Coffee and breast fast. However, when she gets there and goes to hand it over he says "oh, thanks Mel but Viv already got me breakfast."

"Oh, did she?" She turns to look for this Viv girl.

Sal adds "but I'll take the coffee, she is still learning just how to get my order right." He smiles and opens his hand to grab it.

Melanie blows out a little air, relieved Viv isn't as perfect as she was afraid she'd be. She hands him the coffee and Viv appears from the bathroom. She smiles wide, a young 20 something year old with perfectly curled black hair laying against her beautiful dark skin. Damn, she was pretty. Melanie thinks to herself. She shakes her head and smiles as Viv says, "you must be Melanie! I'm so excited to be shadowing you the rest of the week! I've heard so many great things and how amazing you are. I'm Viviana but everyone calls me Viv."

"Hi, Viv. It's nice to meet you. I hope everything the guys said were nice. I know how they can be sometimes." Melanie squints her eyes towards Sal with a smirk.

Viv corrects, "all three were nothing but complimentary. I haven't had a chance to meet Q, though. He's still recovering."

"Oh, right. Yea, I hope he's well enough to come back next week." Melanie quickly tries to change the subject, "so, why don't we start over at my desk and I can give you a run down of how most mornings in the office look."

"Perfect!" Viv smiles and follows her. Sal smirks but continues to look at his phone.

Lenny and Shelly come in on time and go straight to Viv, "girl, how are you here so early and all put together and perfect after last night!" Lenny comments, sun glasses on.

Shelly adds, "I could barely roll out of bed."

Viv just shrugs, "I don't get hangovers. It's like a blessing."

"I'd say." Melanie sneakily reply but with a smile as she looks up to her two friends, "hey guys, rough night?"

"Oh em geee, Melanie! You're back! Tell us everything about your trip?" Lenny squeals, totally not even realizing she was sitting there.

Shelly adds, "glad you're back, things with Brian are a.."

But Lenny nudges her with his hip and she looks at him while stopping mid sentence. Lenny reminds her with what he thought was a whisper, "they aren't together anymore, remember."

"Oh, right." Shelly looks back up to Melanie, "things have just not been the same without ya."

"Well, at least you had Viv to help around here." Melanie continues to keep the subject off of her and Brian, "I hear she managed to snag the job of assisting joe. How'd that end up happening?"

Melanie fakes a big grin while turning to look at Viv. She explains, "it's just temporary, with the movie moving forward, they felt joe really needed someone to help keep things organized since he'll be away from home for so long.

Melanie realizes she missed the update on the movie and swiftly changes the subject, "shit, the movie! What's going on with that?"

Lenny explains. He wraps up what she missed with a quick "so they start shooting pretty much the day after Q gets back."

"So next week." Melanie says more to herself then anyone else. They all either nod or agree and she says out, "well, I better get caught up." She turns to Viv, "why don't you catch me up on what I've missed scheduling wise and then I'll look over some of the emails." Melanie spends the entire day catching up on everything she missed but feels pretty confident about being back and in control. She opens a bottle of wine and relaxes while watching TV. She lets the two things drown out her thoughts before going to bed.