Mary Richman has always been more interested in other people than herself.
She always states her opinions unapologetically, and has become scarily good at reading people, despite the fact that she's in a typically socially awkward profession.
Before...
The next day was the day of the party, and Max, Zoey, and I were sitting on the risers with our laptops as the hexagon lights above us flashed different colors.
"Its kind of hard to finish coding in the middle of Disney's Electrical Parade." Zoey joked.
"Really?" Max asked. "I find I do my best programming in 'Da Club'." We both laughed.
"Kevin, can I see the uh-Oh gosh." Joan groaned from the top of the risers. "I said dramatic lighting, not an interrogation room. What am I, living in a flashlight? Can you bring that down please?"
"Well, looks like old Joan is back." Max pointed out.
"You know, I don't know if those balloons say 'Launch Party' or 'My nephew's bar mitzvah'. I'm not even Jewish." Zoey closed her laptop.
"We'll be right back." She said, leaning over Max to look at me. I shook my head.
"Nope, Joan hates me now, better if I don't get involved." She walked behind me, shutting my laptop. Max took it and she forced me to my feet, pulling me up the stairs. I turned to look at Max.
"Traitor!" I called. He wiggled his fingers at me.
"Joan." Zoey said.
"What?"
"Can we talk to you for a second?" Joan looked at me, and I sighed. "I know its not our place, but...you opened up to us the other night for a reason, and...if you ever wanna talk about it again, we're here."
"Ok." Joan said sarcastically. Zoey nodded and we began slowly walking back towards the stairs. "I had to beg him to come back." We stopped, turning to face her, "I had to apologize to him, even though he's the one who threatened to leave. And its not the first time he's bailed on me like that." Her voice wavered, and she had tears welling up in her eyes. "So, trust me when I say that he would've done what he did regardless of if you said anything. I don't blame you, Mary." I nodded. "And yet somehow, for some reason I keep working on it. 'Cause the idea of losing Charlie feels worse than...this. Whatever this is."
"Well, I can't tell you what to do, and I am definitely not one to judge, but...you deserve to be satisfied." Zoey told her.
"Can I tell you what to do?" I asked. She looked at me, raising her eyebrows. "When a toxic person tries to walk out of your life...let them. Because you're better off without them, because unfortunately, as much as it sucks, they are always going to care about themselves more than they care about you." She looked down at the floor. "Joan you are one of the strongest, fiercest women i have ever met, and when you allow Charlie to force you to beg him for forgiveness...you're letting him take away your power and nobody takes away Joan Bennett's power at risk of...losing a finger." She laughed. "So just to clarify, you don't hate me?"
"Well...my personal feelings towards my subordinates is completely irrelevant," She said, "But of all of the people in this office that I hate, you are not one of them." I smiled. "Now go, get back to work."
~~~
Later that night, Zoey went to get ready at her parents' house and I got ready at the apartment.
The Loubitans Joan had given me were covered in iridescent glitter, so I did a matching eye shadow look and wore an iridescent, spaghetti strap cocktail dress. I straightened my hair and put on bright red lipstick as well.
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