TWO
If there was one thing that Imogen was 100% sure about- it was that Leonardo DiCaprio was the best thing that best happened to the universe, in all of time as well, obviously. When she was only just turned five when she came downstairs after a bad dream to find her parents sat watching one of his oldest pieces of work Marvin's Room and for weeks it's all she could think about, her room later a tribute to him as his face featured several times on each one of her four bedroom walls.
And she reminisced on these thoughts the very next morning after the whole microwave fiasco, to which neither Eddie nor Jessie had returned to tell the tale of what had happened. She was in her own thoughts, starring at her background whilst sitting behind the reception desk.
Young Leo was her favourite, especially in Romeo and Juliet or The Beach. She stared at his face on her screen and sighed in content, resting her chin on her folded hands. If only she could just meet him and tell her how much he meant to her, she could feel herself get emotional at the very thought of him hugging her. Oh god, she thought, dabbing at her eyes and looking upwards.
"Immy!" Max yelled, grabbing her attention as she snapped back into her very much Leo- lacking world. She glanced up at him, shoulders tight and tense at being caught day dreaming (and also in a bit of a state), but she soon slowly started to relax when she saw him.
"Oh Max it's just you" Imogen smiled, hoping her eyes weren't red, she tried to make as little eye contact as possible. Max wasn't one to judge anyway, he knew how she could get in a state over her number one idol, who had no idea that she existed.
"Just me? You should be honoured" he laughed as she rolled her eyes at him. "Leo fantasy?" He asked, referring to her reasoning of being spaced out.
"Leo fantasy" she confirmed then smiled, face heating as she giggled innocently, besides, didn't he have a massive thing for Jessica Alba? "I guess I've been slacking, I haven't seen the revenant yet"
"What?!" Max's eyes went wide with shock and his mouth fell slack. Imogen felt ashamed to say it, she just hadn't had the time. Work had really been catching up on her.
"I know, I know. I, along with the whole damn population waited for years for him to get an Oscar, and the one time he does I haven't even seen it. I bet it will make me cry, god Max, I'm so soft for him I think I have a problem" she pushed a hand through her hair and shook her head at her own pathetic habits.
"Tell you what, next Friday, we should rent it out, me and you. And no, don't worry, everyone has their own celebrity crush. Remember Peter's thing with Keira Knightley?" she nodded, a knowing grin on her face at the memory. "So, Leo, you know everything there is to know about him, huh?"
"Yes, don't have so little faith in me Max" she grinned and Max laughed and shook his head. This girl.
"Was he into biology?"
"Um I don't think so...not that he's ever mentioned it, why?"
"Sure? Cause I read he was a Leo-biologist"
"Max" she groaned at the awful pun, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as she shook her head. Her lips quivered and she tried her very best not to laugh as she knew that would encourage him "that was awful" he grinned wide, showing the brightest teeth ever, face full of glee at her response as she too began to laugh as he continued to chuckle at his own joke.
"I aim to please, now scoot over, there's a whole que of calls coming in unanswered and obviously someone was too distracted to answer them" he smirked at her as she bowed her head and shifted over.
He jabbed a few buttons then gestured to a waiting customer who stood patiently in front of the glossy wooden desk as he lifted up the phone.
"Surrey Tennis Centre, home of the Eager Evergreens, you're speaking to Max, how may I help you?" Max said idly, smiling at the customer as Imogen addressed her. "Court accessibility? I'll double check, what day were you..."
At that moment, Jay walked past the front of the desk and found the side of it. Unnoticed by Imogen, as she handed the customer her wristband so she could start her session at one of the back courts. "Enjoy your serving time, please let me know if there are any issues".
"Hey Immy, Max!" Jay greeted, putting his fitness bag behind the desk momentarily as he leaned on the beech wood of it. The black Adidas fitness shirt that he wore stretched over his toned muscles as he beamed from ear to ear, he was clearly trying to contain the excitement in his voice but was failing miserably as his eyes stayed bright and the way he was fidgeting gave him the look of an overly happy puppy.
Imogen turned in the purple fabric office chair as she raised an eyebrow at him. She looked him up and down for any tell tell signs. She was used to Max being fairly happy and optimistic whenever the company was faced with bad times, like yesterday for example, he was one of the first to go and visit Eddie. Apparently, Jessie was given a day off today by Marie as she was in a state of shock.
"Hey Jay...you're here surprisingly early, your PT shift doesn't start for like..." she took a moment to look up at the almost obnoxiously large clock that was hung above the double doors. "Another thirty minutes?"
"Brenda is normally early anyway" he laughed, throwing his head back. God, he felt sick with the giddiness of the whole situation.
Max also looked confused as an irritable man made some stupid complaint about a stain on the mirror in the bathroom in his current phone call. He glided his ball point biro across his notepad, only half making notes as he too watched Jay. He smiled in acknowledgment as Jay waved at him then continued his call and returned his attention to the bright fake light of his computer screen as he began to type an email to Marie.
"Yes Sir I'm very sorry..."
"Jay what the hell is going on? It's a Tuesday, you hate Tuesdays and Brenda for that matter" Imogen continued as Max went on with his call.
"I don't hate Brenda, I don't like her much I'll give you that, but I stop working with her in a month so life's fucking fantastic!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air as Imogen watched him carefully.
"Language Jay" she hissed as an angry 'Tennis Mum' shot them a very angry look, Imogen raised a hand in apology and gave a weak smile.
"Sorry! I'm just so...ah! Guess what?!"
Imogen gave him a flat look, god could he drag things out. Just last week it took him at least twenty minutes to tell her that Marie had hinted he might be getting a promotional, key word being might.
"What?"
"I asked Sophia to move in with me!" Imogen gasped and Max nearly dropped the phone into his tea but caught it in time as his mouth dropped for the second time this morning with shock. "And she said yes!"
"Bro!" Max jumped to his feet as Imogen clasped her hands to her mouth and squealed with delight. "That's bloody epic!" He hugged Jay tight, phone still cradled to his chin as Jay laughed with joy.
"Sorry-what? Oh no, not you Sir, I'm sorry..." Max grimaced, but still overjoyed for his friend as he leant against the cabinet unit behind him which contained a whole load of awards that the 'Eager Evergreens' and solo champions had won for the Surrey Tennis Centre.
Imogen shot up and embraced Jay so tight that he momentarily struggled for air. It was worth it thought, he felt like he was on cloud nine and nothing could stop his happiness.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! I'm so happy for you Jay!"
Marie poked her head round the side of the door from the office looking baffled as all three of her employees started jumping up and down happily. It was Tuesday and it wasn't even pay day yet, what the hell was going on?
Her blue eyes darted to long-time member, Brenda Timble standing in front of the reception desk, folding her arms and tapping her foot. Marie smiled awkwardly and straightened herself out.
"Um guys?" she cleared her throat, gaining their attention.
They all turned, grinning. Jay ran over and with his muscular fitness trainer strength, lifted Marie of the floor, Marie yelped, staring helplessly at all the weirded out customers, members and most importantly the angry Brenda.
"Sophia said yes to moving in with me boss! Isn't this great?!"
A smile graced Marie's face and she tapped his shoulder so that he would put her down. She coughed and flattened out her cotton blouse. She pushed her blonde bob past her ears and folded her arms.
"That's brilliant Jay, congratulations. But um..."
She gestured with her head to where Brenda was red in the face with fury, yet Jay's radiant smile did not falter. He grinned and matched over to her with wide arms. Nothing could ruin his happiness, not even Brenda.
"Brenda!" He laughed, scooping her up into an awkward hug which she protested against. Squirming her way out of it. "How lovely to see you!"
"Jay" she said uncomfortably, with a disgusted and pissed off look as she stared at him with narrowed eyes. Sometimes she thought that the Bingo Wings were not worth the thought of getting rid of when it came to her nutcase of a Personal Trainer.
"Are you ready to get fit? Feel the burn?"
"With you? Never, but let's get this over with, I'm not paying hundreds for a stupid boy with floppy hair and a useless smile" she stormed off and Jay practically skipped after her. Still smiling. Everyone in the reception area looked after him.
"Um Imogen?" Marie said, walking over to where she was watching Jay walk off to the gym. "How much work have you gotten done?"
Imogen's face paled. "I um...a lot?"
"Hmm" she said suspiciously, looking over her blank screen. Imogen seemed quieter that morning and she was always extremely hard working. She had been employee of the month several times in a row before, Peter beat her too it this month. "Are you okay, you seem distracted?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, I just haven't been sleeping that great lately"
"Do you want me to change shifts around?" Marie asked, looking concerned as she sat in the chair that Max had left unoccupied. "I can try and sort something out with Adam if you want, since he starts later?"
"No, no, it's okay" Imogen smiled, then stifled a yawn with the sleeve of her black sweatshirt that she wore over a simple polka dot blouse. "I'll survive, I've been meaning to book an appointment about it"
"Do you need someone to come with you?" She put her hand on Imogen's shoulder, suddenly turning a bit therapist-like, searching her face carefully as Imogen thought about it.
"Would you really? I don't want to-"
"No it's okay; really it is, book one after closing time and I'll come with you one day. Now go take a break, get Gloria to cook you up something nice, the new microwave delivery will be here at twelve so try to be ready to help with that"
"Oh okay thank you!" She got up and made for the flap in the desk, but she hesitated and looked back at Marie. Her stomach felt slightly nervous at the thought of talking to a doctor about it and how carefully Marie was watching her.
"Are you sure Marie? I really appreciate it"
"Yes, I don't mind filling in for a bit" she smiled, pushing her blonde hair away from her face and behind her ear once more, a small habit she has pretty much always possessed. She shooed her away with small hand movements and a gentle smile and Imogen was gone.
She flopped down in Imogen's vacant chair and swirled herself round to face Max who had finished his last phone call.
"That was a really nice thing to do you know" Max commented, settling down in his own chair "I've noticed her slacking recently myself, but was a bit apprehensive to say anything"
"Oh shh don't flatter me Max, and yes it was the least I could do, bless her. I wanted to talk to you actually, did you get the files I need for the interview tomorrow?"
"Yep, I put them in your pigeon hole"
"Great. Hopefully she'll be up for scratch, we need another pair of hands" Marie thought aloud, looking back through the doorway to the office behind her, numbers were okay but one more person would make it great.
"Oh I'm sure, if not we'll keep looking"
"Yeah. I haven't even phoned and told them a time yet. I should get round to that" She said, but her actions said different as she leant back in the chair and tried to ignore the constant vibrations from notifications of rapid texts from her husband. She fished her phone into her pocket and turned it off, the multiple texts on her screen turning black, she then shoved it into the top draw of the desk and closed it shut.
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