Losing Cinderella (Completed but on hold)

CHAPTER 3

"You look tired," Megan greeted Ashtyn when she walked into the staff kitchen.

Ashtyn's lips curved into a smile. "Good morning, Megan," she greeted back.  She was indeed tired. She didn't get home until after midnight, which was always the case during the weekends.  She took a cup from the cupboard and started making her tea.

"You should have come with us last Friday," Megan told her. "The party was smashing!"

"Was it a Hart party?" she asked.

Megan stuck her tongue out and made raspberry noises. "Nah! A Hart party is no party. If you're in one, you don't realise it but you're still working." She started twirling around. "We went clubbin' and dancin', uh-huh!"

"And we went boozin'," Ken's voice boomed from behind them. "And we're doin' it again this Friday! Uh-huh! Really, you should come with us next time."

She watched both of them dancing to the beat of some imaginary music. Megan and Ken were both Event Coordinators who handled the smaller accounts from bachelor and bachelorette parties, twenty-first birthdays, bridal and baby showers. They worked as a team and she was hoping that one day they would ask her to join them. Well, she will have to improve her schedule first. How am I supposed to plan a party with them if I can't even join them for one!  "Would love to, but—"

"Here we go! There's the but!" She rolled her eyes. "Really, Ken? Is there a point in asking Ashtyn when the answer will always be 'no'?"

"Sorry, girls!" She always wanted to join them for a night out but with rehearsals every night and a performance on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, a social life was impossible. "Maybe one day, perhaps?" She gave out a heavy sigh. No one at Hart Enterprises knew that she had a weekend job as a singer. She had no intentions of letting them know either. When she was offered her job, it was under the condition that her availability was flexible. She had to be available to commit to projects. If they knew she had another job, it might ruin her chances to move forward. Or worse, she might end up being the mere entertainer for the events and not be part of the coordinating team. However, she knew that they would soon find out. Hart Enterprises had more than three hundred employees. For sure there should be at least a handful of them who have gone to The Andromeda and may have watched her performance. If that was the case, no one has recognised her so far. On this occasion, all she asked for...Prayed for was to give her a bit more time to keep her secret safe until she finally gets a permanent offer from the company—and then she can say goodbye to the stage.

Ken pouted and mouthed, "Maybe one day, perhaps?" He opened the refrigerator to take out the milk for Ashtyn's tea. "If I got paid a dollar every time you said that, I'd be a millionaire!"

She gave out a soft chuckle. "Actually, you'd probably have about thirty-four dollars or maybe less. I haven't been here that long!"

 He waved a hand at her. "Oh you know what I mean!" 

With a frown on her face, Megan tilted her head to the side in wonder. "How did you get thirty-four?"

"Assuming that I say 'maybe one day' once a week." She noticed that Megan replaced the red company shirt with a magenta blouse and ditched the black slacks and wore a skirt and a new pair of heels to show off her shapely legs. She touched up on her make up, adding more colour on her lips and eye shadow that brought out her blue eyes. She has also pulled her peroxide blonde hair into a bun. Megan wasn't much of a pretty girl; she wasn't ugly either, but she knew how to fix herself up. She turned to Ken. Like Megan, he has also changed from the casual company getup, which comprised of jeans and the company polo shirt, into a white long-sleeved shirt and tie. He has also added more gel into his spiky blonde hair. "Are you guys attending a power meeting or something?" she queried. "Who are you trying to impress?" Megan suddenly squealed loud enough to wake her up even more.