Eli

“No… People have always told me that I would end up working as a stripper though. Mostly because I tend to dance like one when I drink too much.” He said with a small shrug, nodding his head as he kept walking down the street with the other, waiting to hear at least some gossip, but it didn’t seem like he was about to tell him much. “I guess that’s fair… Things have been pretty slow after everyone found about Adonis’ whole thing. That was crazy… But I get it, because he’s like… Still hot, you know?” He asked with a small nod, hoping that the other would understand.

“Dance well like a stripper or do you just attempt to?” Elliot asked for clarification. Elliot wasn’t surprised that was something Joey got up to when drinking. “Yeah that’s my guess too. I think everyone’s laying pretty low ever since. People must have skeletons in their closet or something they’re worried about,” he said shrugging it off. Obviously he didn’t have anything like that looming over him as far as Joey was concerned. “But yeah I’m sure nothing will come out of it with him. I mean it’s the past right and he’s practically a celebrity and they always wind up with a pass.”

𝐘𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐀  𝐏𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐃  𝐇𝐄𝐑  𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒,  "𝐍𝐎?  𝐈  𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓  𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊  𝐒𝐎.“  she  pouted  her  lips  again,  “don’t  know  why  anyone  would  go  by  boo,  either.”  she  giggled,  “that’s  probably  just  a  pet  name.  are  you  sure  the  name  isn’t  there,  somewhere?”  she  thought  of  someone  who  she  knew  might  like  red  velvet  cupcakes.  she  liked  them,  but  she  couldn’t  think  of  anyone  who  would  want  to  send  her  something.  cherry,  maybe?  “uhmmm—  i  like  red  velvet  cupcakes.  but  no  one  ever  calls  me,  boo.  and  well  —–  i  don’t  think  i  have  any  secret  admirers  either.”

Elliot could honestly only shrug. “I mean you can look at the envelope yourself if you want. All I’ve got is ‘Boo. -J’. I can’t like... open it. I think that’s legally against the law,” Elliot explained flashing the envelope to them. It wasn’t legal mail or anything but still. “Do you guys have your own personal breakroom up there you can sneak this into? If no one claims it by the time you’re heading home I say take it.”

"Fuck Joey because it's Joey, marry Sungkyu because they're hot and can cook and that definitely bumps him up and then kiss Auri but only in exchange for some style tips."

"I don't know if I've ever gotten any calls I'd consider pranks but I screen a lot of fake calls from fans. A lot of people try to get patched to people directly like Nat, or Santos, or Gwen even... and no. Anyone who actually needs to speak to them know the extension already."

"Since we're talking hypothetically speaking honestly Joey because he's close and that's pretty convenient or maybe Adam just because they remind me of one of my exes who didn't end up being an asshole."

@jojoswilson, @adamcohen

That day was busy for Adam; it wasn’t a bad one but it was definitely busy. It didn’t help that his mind was filled with stubbornness, in the past few hours. For some strange reason, he felt like he needed to finish the website he was working on that day before leaving to go home. Fortunately, he did; but, unfortunately, it was already way past his time when he did finish it. And, just when he was getting out of Masters, he felt like he needed to eat as soon as possible because he hadn’t done so since lunchtime. Luckily, he knew the bar near Masters served great hamburgers and he was dying to get one. When he entered said place, he quickly spotted a familiar face. Elliot was sitting at a near table, with ’boredom’ written all over his features. Adam let out a friendly smile and, when the other invited him to the table, he didn’t refuse to. As he sat down, he greeted the other and quickly made himself comfortable in that seat. “I know… For some reason, I just wanted to finish some work before going home. Don’t ask me why; normally, I am dying to get out of work”, he explained. “What about you? I never see you around Masters at this time as well.”

The best part of being a receptionist was that he left his job behind the moment they clocked out. There were no emails he’d have to attend to off hours or a deadline looming over his head. Honestly Elliot couldn’t function in that sort of environment and it amazed him every day how many people at Masters worked literally constantly. It was probably one of those hidden clauses with having a salary Elliot was sure. “At least you won’t have to deal with it tomorrow,” Elliot shrugged. They wouldn’t sacrifice their evenings but to each their own. “You hear to celebrate or something?” Elliot asked before shrugging his shoulder to buy himself some more time. He wasn’t about to give an honest answer. “Something kept me in the neighborhood a little longer,” he said leaving it at that. That something or more accurately that someone just never showed up. “Been meaning to try this place too. I heard they’ve got a decent happy hour whenever that happens.”

“Well, it’s not like I can fly either… I’d be surprised if your mom could fly, that would be pretty cool. But I’ll just take a plane there, that always works.” He said with a small chuckle, before playfully nudging Eli on the shoulder as the two kept walking. “I love brunch, we should get it sometime! What about some gossip? You always seem to know everything that’s going on in the building, I certainly don’t… Do you know anything exciting?” He asked with a smile.

“Has anyone told you you should become a comedian before?” Elliot asked. Joey was dumb but it was part of his charm and he owned up to it. Eli was pretty sure ‘dumb’ was even a part of his name on Instagram. There was always gossip going on at Masters but nothing that juicy to bring up. “Nothing other than what’s already going around but it’s still early in the week. People get more loose-lipped near the weekend but we do have a lot more hires coming in soon now that it’s summer.”

“Oh, right… Well, I think that’s adorable and I’d love to meet your mom’s old dogs at some point.” He said with a small chuckle, shaking his head at the other. “Fine, I’ll be careful, but you know I can’t keep my mouth shut… Plus, I’m pretty sure that Griffin already knows, so it doesn’t matter.” He said with a smile, before raising an eyebrow. “That’s way too early to have lunch, but I’ll keep you company either way. As long as I’m not going through the stack of files that Griffin gave to me, I’ll do anything.” He said with a nod.

“I’m sure she’d love that. You’d just have to make it out to Reno. None of them fly, my mom included,” Elliot explained. It was why it’d been a while since he’d actually seen her. The last place Elliot wanted to  be was Reno. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Elliot said leaving it at that. “Well they’re still just donuts even though they’re savory. Just think of it as Brunch. I bet they’ll even serve you coffee.”

Eli was typically the flakey one when it came to dates so it was a surprise to be the one getting stood up for a change. He’d been draining his phone battery while sipping a cider for nearly a half and hour with no sign of his date. It didn’t help that they’d agreed on a bar close to Masters which inevitably meant someone from the building was sure to stroll in and it didn’t take long until someone did.  Adam. Elliot shot him a smile inviting him to the empty seat he’d been reserving for a ghost. “Hey,” Elliot greeted him. “You’re hanging around Masters pretty late tonight.”

Elliot had a mystery on his hands. He’d received a delivery from the bakery across the street though the recipient’s name was vague. It was addressed to a “Boo” intended for the journalism department from a “J”. Frankly Elliot shouldn’t have accepted it and yet he had and now had to figure out who to ring. It’d just so happened Yemaya walked by in the lobby and Elliot caught her attention. “Super odd question but do you know of anyone who might go by ‘Boo’? Or is a big fan of red velvet cupcakes? Someone in your department’s got a secret admirer.”

Letting out a small chuckle as the other mentioned what the word meant, Joey nodded his head. “Your grandma used to adopt old dogs? That’s so sweet! I wish my dads would have let me get pets growing up, but they really only allowed me to have a goldfish… But then it died before moving to New York, it was kind of sad. But I have a cat now, which is pretty cool.” He said with a smile, raising an eyebrow as Eli talked about not telling him that he thought Griffin was hot. “Oh c’mon, Griffin knows that I think he’s hot, it’s not like… a secret or anything. It’s just the truth.” He said with a small smile. “That sounds pretty good, we should get it together!”

“No my mom fostered them. She still does she just takes in more than just chihuahuas now,” Elliot explained. Anytime Elliot shot the woman a text she updated him on the menagerie roaming in her backyard.  “See that just makes that worse. Just be careful who you let know about this little crush of yours,” Elliot joked. “Yeah? I’m going to take my lunch at 11:00 today so hopefully there’s still something there by the time I get there,” Elliot explained. They’d been burned by too many pop ups to risk going later in the day. 

             ▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ 𝕱𝖎𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖌𝖗𝖆𝖒 █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁

“Chihuahuas are kind of scary if you think about it… I mean, they’re tiny but they’re kind of mean, I’m sorry that you had to go through that. I don’t know what geriatric means, but it sounds terrible.” Joey said with a small nod, as he thought about his cat acting different, but decided to leave that subject behind - it was probably for the best either way. “Oh… I thought those just happened every day. Don’t get me wrong, I love working with Griffin because he’s hot and most of the time we don’t really work, we just hang out, but it would be nice if I actually got some promotion to show that I’m doing real work… Even though I’m really not.” He said with a chuckle, raising his eyebrow at the other. “At least you’re excited about something! What’s the pop up you’re talking about?”

“Geriatric is just the clinical term for old. Some of them were definitely mean but I don’t blame them for it,” Elliot shrugged. He definitely learned compassion at an early age from it even if it meant getting bit at all the time. “They’re a cute evil though. You got to admit.” Elliot shrugged his head as he listened to Joey talk about his boss. “I’ll tell you right now you definitely shouldn’t be telling your coworker you think your boss is hot.”  They were no snitch but he heard a lot of gossip around Masters and knew that info could spread like wildfire. “I don’t know for sure. Apparently it’s a savory donut thing? That’s about all I know for certain.” If it was a bust he usually kept snacks in his drawer. 

As the two started walking, Joey raised an eyebrow as the other suggested a Snickers bar. Letting out a small chuckle, Joey shook his head slowly as he walked side by side with the other. “I’m pretty sure that cats aren’t supposed to eat chocolate… Isn’t it like dangerous to them? It’s probably not safe.” Joey said with a small chuckle, although he wasn’t sure what he was saying, but he was pretty sure that he had heard his dads talk about how dangerous it could be if he ended up feeding chocolate to his cat. “Are you excited for work today? I know that’s not a good question, but maybe today will be a good day, you know? Maybe today something good will happen… Maybe I’ll get a promotion! That would be awesome, I’ve been getting better at not getting lost in the building and I haven’t lost a file in more than a week. It was a lot of work.” He said with a chuckle.

“I don’t know. I don’t know much about cats. My mom used to foster geriatric chihuahuas growing up and none of them could eat like anything but I don’t think that’s normal.” Elliot added though their antidote added no value to the conversation. It would be nice to possess even a fraction Joey’s optimism surrounding the day. “I think most raises are done quarterly but I’m sure you’re on your way to one. The only thing I’m looking forward to is lunch today. There’s a pop up I’m trying before it goes away. We've got directories by the way if you need one.” 

katherine wasn’t one to actually sit down and enjoy her lunch. in fact, she hated the break - it was much easier being on the go and staying busy than experiencing the after lunch hump. she couldn’t find herself being hangry, though; she was already bitchy enough at work. she scrolled through her phone as she sat in the break room, stabbing her salad with her fork as her eyes stared at the screen. “i swear i feel like i learn something new about myself every time i take one of those buzzfeed quizzes.” she thought out loud, luckily there being a person in the room so she didn’t sound absolutely crazy. looking up, she gave them a small smile. “wanna know what flavor donut you are?” @masterspost·

Elliot was surprised people still took Buzzfeed quizzes. They were one of the many short lived trends Elliot had neglected to get caught up in. Elliot’s friends had moved passed sending him quizzes he wouldn’t take and now sent him predominantly astrology memes he’d glance at. Still Elliot wasn’t doing anything so it wouldn’t hurt to find out what arbitrary donut he was. “My guess is creme filled but sure, let’s find out.” Maybe he’d learn something about himself too.