7

CARLY

 

Monday morning, I get a text from Alice at Carmichael at 6:35 AM.

Ally and Carly, your taxi will meet you both out front at 8:05 sharp to bring you to work. We look forward to meeting you!

Cheers,

Alice Roberts, Exec. Asst, to Q. Carmichael, Carmichael Consulting Intl.

I’m already showered and dressed and coffee’d up. I’ve got no idea what the day will have in store for me, so I’ve packed a sandwich and stashed it in my bag. My nerves are too shot to eat breakfast, so I pack it with two apples and a granola bar.

I’m getting ready to reply to the message to start a dialogue about how I haven’t met Ally yet and don’t know if I’ve been sent to the wrong apartment when I hear the swish of a text reply.

Okay Thanks!

Different number. That must be Ally. Is she in this building?

I reply, too.

I’m looking forward to it. Thanks, Alice! I’m not sure if there’s a mix-up or not, but I’m not in the same apartment as Ally. I have a roommate named Aiden.  I guess we can discuss at the office today? I’m in apt 1710.

A minute later, I get a new message outside of the group chat.

Hi Carly. I’m Ally. Save my number! See you in the lobby. I’m in 1406. I have a diff roommate too. Apparently there was a last-minute change.

I wonder if she got matched with a guy. Maybe we can switch and send her guy up here and me down there.

Me: I’ll be in the lobby @ 8:00. See you then.

Ally: Will do. I’ll be the one with the pink hair and sparkly aura.

I click a smiley face in response and hit send.

She replies with a purple eggplant plus lips, plus raindrops symbol. It’s all together as if one emoji.

I tilt my head. Is this an emoji sentence for giving head?

She messages me again with an Oops and a blushing smiley face.

I reply with:

It’s okay. Really.

Then I put emojis for eye, heart, and an eggplant, and then a licking lips emoji, to show her I have a sense of humor, too.

She replies with:

LOL! Glad you’re not about to report me to HR on my first day. Eeeks!

I already know that Ally is a graphics and creative person and she and I will be collaborating a lot on the social marketing campaigns for the company. Hopefully my new coworker winds up being better than my new roommate.

Alice replies to the group chat.

Sorry, Carly. No mix-up. This was per Mr. C. I’ll catch you up when you get to the ofc. Cheers, Alice.

What the heck? Mr. Carmichael wanted me to have a male roommate (who is a jerk)? I’m confused.

I guess I’ll figure it out when I get to work.

 

***

 

There’s no security guard in the lobby when I get down there, but a pink-haired girl is there, sitting on top of the security desk, smiling at me.

“Ally?” I ask.

“Carly!” she exclaims and hops down and hugs me.  Like we’re long lost sisters. Yep. Sparkly aura, indeed.

She immediately starts talking fast, grasping my face with both hands.

“So, let’s be work besties, okay? We do lunch, share gossip, you tell me if I’ve got lipstick on my teeth or if someone puts donuts in the break room and I do the same for you. We got one another’s backs. Sound good?”

“Sounds great,” I reply.

“You’re not a backstabbing bitch-faced cunt, right? You don’t seem like it. I’m a bit psychic so I’m pretty sure you’re not, but I just came out of a mess of a relationship and he fucked with at least four of my chakras, so I might be wrong.”

I choke on a giggle. “No. Definitely not.”

“Yay!” She thrusts her fist up victoriously, then links arms with me and we head outside to wait for the cab. She’s around my age, and I like her instantly. Hopefully my judgement isn’t wrong.

I have to remember Rule #3, though.

Not everyone is pure of heart. Be suspicious of everyone.

 

***

 

Ally Kingston is right up my alley and it’s difficult to keep my guard up. She’s a hoot. She’s told me she’s twenty-seven. She’s got a baby-pink colored flippy longish (but above her collar) pixie haircut and giant blue eyes with a doll-like appearance. She’s dressed in pink and white striped tights and a blue shirt dress that does not match, but she still works it.

She has a great laugh. We laugh and joke all the way to the office in the cab driven by the guy who’d brought me here from the airport.

I got a huge smile from him when Ally and I stepped outside the apartment building. I smiled in return out of reflex, but then realized I might be encouraging him. Is he just being friendly or is he a creep?

She does most of the talking all the way to the office while I laugh because she is absolutely hilarious. She’d told me she was new, also on contract, also transferred due to a recent acquisition, though she told me she was one of only six staff members who’d survived her company being dissolved, the other five given various transfers between three offices, Ally the only one sent to San Diego, and they’d enticed her with the free apartment for three months.