ambitchious

“You’d be surprised. If everyone thought it was important they wouldn’t throw plastic in the ocean,” he pointed out. “No need to apologize. Sometimes you just need to let things out. That’s what friends are for.”

“Yeah, well, people are garbage.” She smiled tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, well, I don’t have many friends - real friends, I mean - so thank you.”

Nemo shrugged. “Not really. It’s important to you. Marine life is important to me but I’m sure you don’t care much about that. It doesn’t matter what other people think as long as you’re doing something you love.” He mirrored her and took a sip of the water in front of him. “Those people are stupid. Even if it was handed to you that doesn’t mean you don’t work hard now.” He half smiled at her. “Alright. I won’t.”

“I mean, I’m pretty sure everyone thinks marine life is pretty important.” Atta laughed, shaking her head quickly. “Sorry, I don’t usually talk this much - about myself I mean, except to like Elizabeth. I’m not sure what that was.”

“That’s insanely late. You do have a pretty important job though. Can’t leave it to just anyone to put a magazine together I guess.” Nemo put his hands up defensively. “Note taken! It is a lot sometimes, I will admit. But I manage.”

“I’ve seen later nights. Yeah, yeah I mean it’s important to me. I guess to you it seems kinda frivolous, right?” She laughed, taking a sip of water. “You know how often I hear people say that I was handed this life? Like I didn’t work really hard to be who I am. Like I still don’t? Don’t ever doubt that you’re deserving of what you get, okay? For me at least.”

“It’s good to see you too!” he told her. It truly was. He couldn’t remember the last time they saw each other and he’d missed her. They came from two different worlds but somehow found a friendship together. “Sounds like a lot of work. I don’t know much about fashion magazines but I’m sure a lot of work goes into it.” Since meeting Atta he had grown a new admiration and respect for the fashion industry. “I’m alright. Just trying to finish school and working.”

“Yeah, quite a lot. I’ll probably be in the office until like 2am tonight but,” she sighed, smiling as she straightened  a small wrinkle in the tablecloth. “This is good.” She rolled her eyes, looking him in the eye. “Don’t ever put a just before that sentence again. You’re trying to finish school and working, that’s not a just thing. That’s hard, so give yourself credit.”

@queenatta​

When Nemo received an invitation to grab lunch with Atta he was happy to accept. Nervousness quickly set in though. She probably wanted to go somewhere upscale and expensive and he didn’t have that kind of money. He had very little savings and rent had just been paid so he didn’t have much. He had a jar for a rainy day so he dug into that. Surely fifty dollars would be enough? He would just have to order water and try and make his cigarettes last as long as possible so he didn’t have to buy more. When he arrived at the address she gave him he looked up at the place. It seemed normal from the outside. When he got inside his stomach dropped. This place was definitely upscale. He spotted her sitting at a table near the window and walked over and sat down. He suddenly felt under dressed. “Hi,” he said with a bright smile. No use worrying. “How are you?”

Atta smiled as Nemo sat down across from her. It had been a while since she’d been out of her office for anything not work related and, aside from Liz, she was dwindling on the friend department, so she’d made a resolution to make an effort to spend time with people she enjoyed being around. Nemo was one of the first people she’d thought of and she was glad when he accepted her invitation. “Hey! Good to see you. I’ve been alright. Working on touch ups for our March issue. Needed to get out of the office, kinda crazy over there. How about you?”

Atta groaned, pressing her palms to her temples before she even opened her eyes. She blinked her eyes open, taking in her surroundings, which she luckily recognized. Next step, see who was around her. The only person in the line of sight was Neal. At least it was someone she knew. “Hey. Morning, I think.”

Atta sighed, making her way over from the spot on the wall where she was leaning to look out the window. “Great, just great. Love winter. This is not great walking home weather, lemme tell you.” Suddenly, the room went dark and Atta let out a little groan. “Oh, seriously? Did you do that?” she asked, leaning on the desk to look at him. “Kidding, I know that you didn’t. I better go get some candles.” She made her way to the office door. “Hey, it’s gonna get cold quick in here, there are some blankets in the closet over there if you wanna grab some. And could you call the number in the front of my planner on the desk? Red highlighter. It’s the power company, maybe they can sort this.”

“Oh right I forgot who I’m talking to,” Flik said chuckling and running a hand through his hair messing it up a bit.  “I guess it does. I wouldn’t want to be caught between any of you and the coffee machine.  Maybe I’ll get you and Dot something coffee related for Christmas.”

“Well, how’s work treating you anyway? Are you enjoying it?” Atta set her coffee down, leaning back in her chair. “Oh, you really don’t have to get me anything.”

He honestly didn’t know what he was doing anymore. Nothing right. He had visited Eloise in the hospital after whatever the fuck happened on Halloween, but only while she was sleeping because he wasn’t sure if she was still mad at him or not. And he wasn’t sure if he should get her something or not; what do you get someone who had been poisoned? Not to mention one of his guys saying they heard someone talking about something he did to a girl and as far as he knew, he hadn’t done anything. He wondered if it was Crystal, it probably was. But he didn’t know how to check on that either. And he’d been stressed about people finding out about his arrangement with Marissa and to deal with all of that stress he got high. And even though the stress had lessened, he was still just getting high. It felt easier than dealing with all these problems. So honestly, when Atta walked up to him in the store, he truly didn’t remember why he’d first walked in here. Maybe it was to buy some sort of ‘I’m sorry for whatever it was that I did that made you hate me’ present for Eloise or something completely different, Hopper didn’t know. But of course Atta was here too, so that was something else entirely. Neal chuckled a bit, playing everything way more casual than he actually felt. His high was down to just a slight buzz, but he didn’t really want Atta knowing anything was off with him at all. “Yeah, guess you could say I’m treating myself,” he shrugged. “I needed a new watch. Busted mine up a little while ago. What about you? What’s the occasion?”

Atta smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “The holiday season is upon us, and I’ve got some gifts that are going to have to go out soon. I’ve been up and down Fifth all afternoon, actually.” She turned so that she was facing him slightly. “Well, have you got your eye on anything? I don’t know if you’ve heard but I’m rather well known for having good taste.” 

“No of course not.  I love your- I mean I enjoy your company thoroughly,” Flik answered shaking his head.  He started blushing at his slip of the phrase love.  “I’m sorry, I’ve been busy.  I haven’t really been leaving work a lot, practically sleeping in my tiny closet size office.  You know I ran into your mother other day, she was getting a coffee at the time too.  If I run into Dot getting coffee next I’ll be a bit frightened.”

Atta smiled, eyes flitting downward at his slip of the tongue before she looked back up at him. “Don’t ever be sorry for being committed to work. Lord knows I’m always at work, this is one of the few moments I’ve been out of the office in weeks.” She laughed, taking a sip of her coffee. “Well, it takes a lot of coffee to keep up with the craziness of being a Reed.”

Marissa gave a look of mock disapproval. “Well, lucky for you, that’s not what I’m here for,” she informs her daughter. “I’ve actually come with some proofs from downstairs. They’re trying to decide the layout of the Winter Essentials article. Which is a bit amusing as there is glitter on the board table downstairs.” She slides the proofs to her daughter, still kept all neat and nice in their folios and laminations.

Atta took the stack from her mother, taking a seat as she did. “Well, thank you for bringing those up.” She started looking at them as she gestured toward the chair in front of her. “If you’re not too busy, feel free to stay for a minute or two.”

Atta broke into a wide smile as she slid into the seat across from him. She rarely was out of her office during the day, but she’d decided to take a break from the hustle and bustle to grab a coffee, and it seemed Flik had the same idea. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said, referring to her spot at the table. “I just feel as though I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Atta sighed, looking up from her computer as she heard the door open. She smiled gently, standing up from her desk, she’d been raised to be respectful. “Mother, as much as I love seeing you, I don’t need you to keep watch over me.”

Honestly, the last place she expected to find Neal was in Cartier on Fifth Avenue. He didn’t exactly strike her as a Cartier kinda guy, but maybe she’d been misjudging him. Truly, she didn’t know anything about him, which she considered as she made her way next to him, pressing her shoulder lightly against his to alert him of her presence. “Shopping for a special someone? Or treating yourself tonight?”

“Quite a dress you’ve got there. I almost wasn’t sure if you were dressed up in a costume or just dressed up to turn heads.” He said in a bit of a teasing way. “You look good regardless.” There was a part of him that knew talking with her and blatantly complimenting her might not be the best way to spend his night, and there were probably plenty of people that would get mad about that. But he couldn’t care less. Because enough people were already pissed at him, so what’s a few more, anyway. “It’s been a while since we’ve chatted. You want something to drink?”

@queenatta​

She smiled at him, smoothing out the skirt of her dress. “Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco. Although, I do think one should always be dressed in a manner which turns heads.” She turned her head slightly, pursing her lips. “It has been a while. I’d love a drink. Rum and coke?”