The door of the pause lounge opened, and Cassie walked in; the security men didn't say anything except Gregory checked the cleaning ladies were doing their job well and respected the companies policies. It made Cassie laugh; l'anglais was indeed a meticulous man.
"By the way, Gregory, there's an after-work tonight. I hope you'll join us."
After-works weren't Gregory's thing, but he knew it was an essential stage of integration.
"Of course."
"Great, I'll see you there," Cassie said as she stretched out her hands to make herself a cup of coffee.
Cassie was close, and another scent emanated from her. From the sweet Escada, she now smelt Very Irresistible, an excellent perfume Gregory thought, but its tones and accents weren't for her.
"See you later, Cassie," Gregory said as he chucked his cup in the trash can.
XY XX
The morning went on quietly. Gregory didn't ask for any tasks, and Xenia took care of the files put on hold because of his request.
Xenia didn't complain; she just worked while whispers of the business developers filled the room.
"Psst, what you think happened?" Priscilla asked.
"I don't know. I didn't dare ask."
"They seem to be getting along, though," Mariam added.
"Are you kidding me? You could slice the atmosphere with a butter knife. It's murder, I tell you, "Timothy replied.
XY XX
At lunchtime, everyone left the room except Xenia. Gregory lingered a few minutes before being picked up by Jaila.
Gregory wasn't even at the door when he heard a thump, startled; he turned to find Xenia's head on her desk.
"Wait a minute, please, Jaila," he said before going back to see what happened. Xenia slept, incredible, thought Gregory. How could she sleep with four cups of coffee in the circuit?
Her blazer slid to the floor. Gregory picked it up and placed it on her shoulders.
As Gregory posed her jacket, he realized why he didn't smile at her without reason; he acknowledged her. Gregory didn't know Xenia enough to use the word respect, but he recognized something in the woman that prevented him from feeding her fast-food charms.
"Gregory."
"Sorry, Jaila, I'm coming."
XY XX
Once in the elevator, Gregory faced Jalia, "what do you think of her?"
"Of who?"
"Xenia N'Diayé."
"Like what, an employee or a woman?" Jaila asked.
"Both."
"As an employee, I imagine Xenia does her job seeing her Astoria stats; as a woman, she is just fricking hot.
"How can you say that without a twitch or facial glitch?" Gregory asked, lifting the collar of his jacket.
"Hey, I learned from the best babe, I learned from you."
Gregory displayed one of his sly grins as the doors opened.
"Why do you ask?"
They walked fast Wendon was already waiting for them.
"I was just wondering if she was your type."
"We have the same taste in women; If you want to go there, I would say yes," Jaila replied.
An eyebrow of suspicion rose on Gregory's face, "what do you mean; we have the same taste?"
"Come on, Gregory, we were in the same plateau; we're like brothers," Jaila said as she made her way to their table.
"Hurry up, guys. I ordered for everyone since Mr. Carlton doesn't want to be late; it'll save us some time."
"Good initiative, Wendon."
Wendon didn't know if he should smile or cry. It was difficult to tell whether Gregory was playing up a joke or if he was cynical.
XY XX
The afternoon went on as smoothly as the morning.
"Honestly, I hope they don't keep this up. I got used to the soap opera," François said, swinging his gaze from Xenia to Gregory.
"I even noted the points."
"Who's winning?"
"3-1 for Gregory."
"How come?"
"The seat won by Xenia gave her 1pt, the tardiness note gave Gregory 1pt, and the report gave him 1pt plus the 1st seat," Mariam said.
"Wow, you followed everything."
"Going to the after work?" Timothy said, cutting in on the gossiping.
"Yeah, I hope we don't end up having a table close to managers. I hate having to watch what I say or having to drink with moderation because I'm scared of being seen as an alcoholic."
"You shouldn't haven't you ever noticed how wasted they are?"
"Nope, because when they reach their climax, I'm already a doormat."
Like a teacher, Gregory cleared his throat, and everyone dived their gazes on their screens.
XY XX
Priscilla approached Xenia's desk at the end of the day.
"Xenia, I know you replied you wouldn't come to the after-work, but I'm just checking to make sure."
"No worries, go ahead, guys. I'm going home."
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
"See, I told you, she never comes."
"Well, it wouldn't be polite not to ask, and maybe one day she'll accept," Gregory heard Priscilla say as she left.
Xenia slowly stuffed her files in her bag and got ready to leave, followed closely by Gregory, who stepped up to see what scent he would whiff.
It was something modern, perhaps Narciso Rodriguez HER. The scent wasn't a surprise; Xenia was a girl of her era. Gregory didn't imagine her wearing classic Eaux.
He liked perfumes; a French laboratory part of Astoria's assets produced many fragrances distributed worldwide. The scent of a woman always intrigued him.
They waited for the lift together.
"Coming to the after-work?" Gregory asked casually. Maybe it was time for a truce.
"No, I've already had enough of you for the day."
The answer was blunt, and the arriving elevator's little bell rang like the horn for war; a truce was not on the schedule.
They parted without a word, and Gregory went to the chosen address for the after work.
XY XX
The lounge was relatively very modern and somewhat well lit. It had nothing to do with an Irish pub. Did the French have refined taste, or were they trying to impress the newcomers? Whatever the reason, they went out of their way to show Astoria was one big family when it was a monster of capitalism that beheaded employees daily.
Gregory found himself sitting at the same table as Cassie and close to the developer's table. Drinks strutted back and forth on the trays, and it was at cassie's 4th round that Cassie blurted.
"Congratulations, Gregory! I don't know how you did, but you did it."
Gregory gave Cassie a quizzical stare, "did what?"
"Xenia, I've never seen the girl so early. You tamed our wild horse," Cassie said, head swaying from side to side.
Gregory thought it was the moment. Cassie and Xenia's relationship intrigued him; the man wanted to know more about the feud.
"Eh, Cassie, may I ask you why you have such animosity towards Xenia? If it's toㅡ."
"I hate the bwitch," Cassie replied, the word distort by her drunken state. "Xeni-iaa is one of those craa-ppy girls who eve-veryone likes for a reason they don't even know. The type who isn't better than anyone else but who gets eve-verything in the end.
"The good job, the handsome, smart, and sexy guy she'll get them all because she is niceeee. I'm saying, thank God, at least she won't get the guy since she a fucking lawnmower. There's no hose going up to her knickers," Cassie said, breaking down in the most prominent laughing fit ever.
Priscilla, who was just on the table behind, turned, "well, at least she'll have the sexiest and smartest woman."
Gregory swirled on his seat to look at Priscilla.
"Oh, sorry, Gregory, it isn't a secret. You know Xenia prefers women."
"And she hates men," François added.
Since no one heard or saw Xenia with a man, they assumed she was a lesbian, so the rumor became the word. It did not bother Xenia, who did not need to brush off who tried to hit on her.
Jaila leaned to whisper in Gregory's ear, "I'll have to check it out."
Gregory brought his beer to his mouth and gulped down his pint; fascinating, he thought.