Red. A color that I wouldn't have dared try to pull off several weeks ago was wrapped around me like a giant banner that drew attention. Unlike my own clothes, this 1930s red polka dot dress was cinched in at the waist with a pretty bow belt, the skirt flaring out with each step and turn. Every step I took made me want to twirl around and break into song.

It was another of Allie's picks, and it left me feeling utterly excited to get to work. I felt confident, my black heels loud on the marble floor as I stepped out of the elevator and made my way to my assistant desk. 

Once I was done training I would probably have to move to another floor, unless they restructured the current offices to give me my own. I pictured Allie and Laurence bickering over floor space and the idea made me smile. Until I had to play negotiator for those two, I was happy to keep using my old desk.

I was the first one in the office, and settled into my morning routine, enjoying the silence and warm morning sunshine that filtered in through the back glass wall, as I began to make myself a morning coffee. I had finished my cup, leaning against the coffee stand, soaking in the morning sun when someone burst out of the elevator.

"Oh good," Dash said out of breath.

"Boss Man will be here any minute and I clearly have no idea how to make his morning coffee. Please teach me your wise ways so I don't get fired on my second day."

I continued to lean against the small coffee counter and shrugged. "I don't know... I really enjoyed watching you completely tank yesterday."

"Oh come on!" he said in protest.

I tapped my chin, starting to daydream. "Maybe he'll let me pick his next assistant. Someone a little less loud maybe? Perhaps someone who isn't always proposing marriage."

"Please don't do this to me," he said shrugging off his coat onto the back of his office chair. 

"I literally don't have to do anything. Just watch you poorly attempt to make coffee," I said smiling sweetly.

"What do I have to do in exchange? Come on work wife. Help a hubby out."

"No to all of those words," I said, wrinkling my nose at his use of the word hubby for himself.

"I'll buy you lunch," Dash said, his eyes moving back to the elevator, nervous.

"Nah."

"Dinner! I'll buy you dinner."

"I have plans."

"When? I'll work around your schedule."

"I always have plans."

"This weekend?!?" He asked, hopefully. "Dinner." When I remained quiet, he added on more. "And a movie... and dessert... and a post dessert snack."

Dash looked like he was about to loose it as the elevator began to hum, indicating that someone had gotten inside.

"Okay. Fine. I'll do it so you don't die of a heart attack. No to dinner though." I spun and began to work the coffee machine.

Dash came up behind me, watching carefully, attempting to memorize each step. I turned back around, ready to hand him the coffee but misjudged his distance, smacking the mug into his chest, sending hot coffee down my hand.

The burst of pain startled me into dropping the cup and it hit the ground, shattering. I let out a yelp, jumping back from the glass, nearly slipping on the spilled coffee until Dash caught my wrists, keeping me steady. "Careful."

He quickly gathered up the broken pieces and mopped up the coffee before letting out a swear. He wrapped something in a napkin before pressing it against my hand, his own over it. "You burned yourself."

I fought a wave of tears from the pain. "You were standing too close."

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to learn," Dash answered, brow puckered in concern, hands pressing the makeshift ice pack against my skin. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know. I was just messing with you. He takes his coffee black. It takes basically no time to prep it."

Dash let out a relieved laugh. "Oh..."

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

I nodded.

"So dinner? Saturday?"

"You don't—"

"I want to."

The elevator doors closed and I turned my head to find Laurence walking into his office, having gone right past us without a word.

I back away from Dash, pulling my hand free. "Thank you... for the ice," I clarified.

"It's cold creamer packs," Dash said, rubbing the back of his neck. "There wasn't any ice."

I walked back to my desk, glancing towards Laurence Royal's office, finding him sitting at his desk, eyes already on his laptop. "You should probably get him his coffee."

Dash looked past me towards Laurence's office with an unreadable expression. "Okay."

...

Allie had been staring at the proposed budget for ten minutes with an unreadable expression. If I hadn't grown used to Allie's silence in the mornings, I would have taken it as a bad sign. Instead, I kept myself busy, looking around her office. I could always tell how deep into a project she was based on the amount of takeout containers scattered on her coffee table. There were currently twelve. Between prepping for several upcoming small shoots, finishing Laliana Summers' wedding dress, and finishing the designs for the large shoot that she was now looking at the budget for, Allie spent more hours here than at home. 

The only breaks she took were to sleep and go out with her boyfriend Tate, who I had never really seen at the office. I assumed it was because they didn't want to make Laurence uncomfortable. 

"Costa Rica?" she finally asked. 

"Yes. We get an extra location if we move the shoot there while saving on the price of airfare if we go a week earlier than we originally planned."

"Whose idea was Costa Rica?" Allie asked, eyes still on the pages.

"Mine. He wanted us to shoot it here. I think his exact words were. 'A beach is just a beach. Why do we need to fly thousands of miles away?'"

Allie finally dropped the pages with a sigh. "I knew Greece was a long shot. But his suggestion is ridiculous."

I suppressed a smile. I had laughed for a solid minute when Laurence had pitched that idea. 

'You can't be serious. The waters in Greece are crystal clear! Santa Monica... not so much,' I had said, laughing. 

'I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of the waters magical properties,' Laurence Royal had responded, a flash of amusement in his eyes, head resting against his fingers in a tilt as he looked back at me.

I rolled my eyes, trying not to get distracted by that relaxed look. A look that momentarily made me believe that we could be more. That I could be more to him than his ex assistant turned COO. 

"It's called GOOGLE. You should try using it. The waters are beautiful there."

"So you've been?" 

"Again. GOOGLE," I replied dryly. 

"It could be photoshopped," he said with an easy shrug. "We could use photoshop and just shoot it here—"

 Are you serious!?! You are!" I started laughing again, but stopped when Laurence got a strange look on his face."What?"

He looked away, for a beat, a muscle working in his jaw. "Your laugh."

My hand flew to my mouth. Did I laugh weird?

"It's not a very common thing to see from you," he replied, looking back at me. 

I pressed my fingers into my dress, looking down. "I know. It's not the most professional thing to do—"

"It's nice."

I froze. 

"It's nice to see you laugh."

Allie cleared her throat, pulling me back to the present. "I take it you enjoyed negotiations yesterday?"

My face turned red. "I..." 

Allie looked from me, toward Laurence Royal's office."Have you changed your mind? About Laurence?"

"No." I had just started to feel confident over the last few weeks. Had started to become the person I wanted to be. Myself. And I didn't want to fall into old patterns. I would eventually get over my crush on Laurence Royal. I just needed more time.

"It's not too late to add him to the list," Allie said.

"No," I said more firmly. "I don't think persuing someone who doesn't view me the same way is the smart thing to do. Not when I want to work on feeling more confident." I swallowed, looking down. 

"He's not oblivious to your presence, Lily," Allie said bluntly. "I'm sure—"

"He doesn't date long term, Allie," I replied, frustration making my voice crack. "I am a long term girl and he isn't." I let out a slow, even breath. "Over the last three years I've watched him date more women than I can count. You were the first one that he considered dating for more than a few weeks and it blew up in his face. So unless commitment suddenly doesn't terrify him, he's not a good idea for me. All that will do is make me feel crappy when he breaks it off after a few dates, and leave a bad taste in my mouth the next time a girl comes to the office looking for him."

Allie paused, clearly wanting to argue, but eventually let it go. "Okay. I'll drop it." 

"Thank you. Now can we talk about work?" I asked, eager to change the subject. "Because you haven't complained about anything in the budget proposal yet, and that's just weird coming from you."

A smile spread across Allie's face. "I am impressed," she said holding up the budget proposal. "You thought several steps ahead and had several other locations in mind for the shoot. Costa Rica works well. I don't tend to compromise, so having you involved in negotiations was a smart move on my part."

"Go you?" I said with a mock cheer. 

"Congratulating yourself on a good idea is never a bad thing. Keeps that self esteem nice and high," Allie replied. "You clearly have a knack for this. Laurence isn't dead and the suggestions are good. I wasn't sure what would happen when I put you in a room with him. I figured either you'd end up killing him or kissing him. So bravo on the professionalism."

I swelled with pride. I had done it. I had made her proud and hadn't alienated Laurence Royal as an ally in the process. I chose to completely ignore the kissing comment. It wasn't relevant and I didn't want to give it room in my subconscious or it would come back to bite me in my dreams later. 

Allie flipped to the last page of the proposed budget and dates. "I can't do those dates though."

My moment of victory fell flat like a pancake flipping off a skillet. I hadn't thought to check on Allie's availability. She was always in the office. 

"You'll have to go instead," Allie said, stacking the budget papers, clearly ending the conversation.

I stared back at her, slack jawed. "What?!?"

Allie raised a brow. "You do realize that shoots will be one of your jobs as COO right? I can't be everywhere. I prefer to make the clothes without having to talk to all the people involved anyway."

"I just thought I'd start small. That is a big shoot!"

"And I'll walk you through it. You'll shadow me on smaller ones before hand. You'll do fine," she said with a wave of her hand.

I was going to Costa Rica... I was going to run a fashion shoot... I was going to be in charge of one of the biggest fashion shoots at Royal Winters this year. I... I was dizzy. 

"I think I need to lie down."

"I think you need to repeat your truth words to yourself. Speaking of which, how is your self improvement list coming?"

"Pretty good," I said proudly. "I have plans tonight."

"A date?" Allie asked, clearly surprised. "Already?"

"No." I had ignored Dash's attempt to ask me out as a thank you for helping him make a simple cup of coffee. A work date was a terrible idea, even a 'thank you for saving me' date We worked two feet from each other and I didn't want things to get weird.  

"Tonight I'm working on the 'surrounding yourself with healthy friends one.'"

Allie leaned back in her chair, looking genuinely curious. "Girls night with the roommate? I like her. She's the right kind of weird."

"What's the wrong kind of weird?" 

"If your office mate Dash wasn't pissing off his new boss so much I'd say him."

I bit back a laugh. I had a feeling Allie would like Dash simply because Laurence was finding him to be a challenge. 

"So what are you doing for your girl's night?"

"I'm going to play paintball. Never done it."

At Allie's eyebrow raise I sighed. "I know. And according to my 'right kind of weird' roommate, its the next event for her bi weekly girl's night. I'm trying to work on broadening my friend list." 

Allie snorted. "Try not to die."

"Thanks. No promises though. Apparently her friend, Em, plays weekly." 

Allie's smile widened, looking almost threatening. "Oh... I've met her. Good luck with that one. She's vicious. Don't let her corner you." 

Then she stood up. "If you survive the night, we can talk potential dating plans while you shadow me on a small shoot tomorrow." 

---

Thank you for reading chapter nine! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes! Add this story to your reading list to know when the next chapter drops!

UPDATE DAYS - A NEW CHAPTER EVERY FRIDAY!

Does Dash like Lily or is he just friendly? 

What does Allie have in mind for "dating plans?"

Will Lily do well running the Costa Rica shoot?

How will girls night go? Will anyone else from the past 'Season Girls' books make an appearance at girls night?

Will Dash eventually convince Lily to go on a "thank you" date with him?

What will happen next?

CHAPTER QUESTION - Have you ever had a "girls night"/ "boys night"? If so, what did you do?