Who: Mia, Thalia, and the Writers (NPCs) What: The first day back at work When: Monday, January 4th Where:The Office Warnings: Just silliness!
"Mia, do we have a go on on Kenyan prince banking thing?"
"He was Nigerian, not Kenyan, and yes you have a go."
"And what about the thing with that guy on FOX?"
"There're a lot of things with 'that' guy on FOX."
"The guy who said we should be airport strip searching all Muslim men from eighteen to twenty-eight."
"Oh my God, he did not!"
"He did! Never mind, I found it. Can we use it?"
"I guess, if you can make it funny."
"Okay, and what about--"
"Kevin, I'm on the phone and I'm not a writer!"
Kevin was the youngest member of the staff, but he'd been there long enough to know not to bother her when she was on the phone. It wasn't like she ever made personal calls at the office. It always had something to do with Mark or the show, or CNN and it never looked good when she was saying, "excuse me" and screaming back over her shoulder at the Room. And then, she could hardly be blamed when she ended up interested in whatever they were trying to write about, could she? While the mayor's office put her on hold, she headed over to the Huffington Post and started searching for whatever guy on FOX Kevin had been screaming about, and eventually turned it on for a laugh. So, of course, she was gasping and laughing in abject horror when she finally got Mayor Bloomberg himself on the line.
Blushing furiously, Mia hung up the phone a few minutes later, having secured the lunch date for Mark and his mother and the show booking she'd been trying to get. She glared at the phone and closed her laptop screen before pushing away from her desk. She yanked at her hair a bit, trying to pull it out of her face as she made for the Room. Not for the first time, she wished Mark were around. It was an odd experience, him taking a vacation. He was always around, meaning he was always there to answer whatever weird questions came up.
She grabbed some Oreos, Tostios, and Doritos from the break room and took a deep breath before entering into the sea of marijuana and BO that was the Room.
"Mia! Can we have coffee?"
"Everyone else can have coffee. Ryan, you can have chai," she said. The Starbucks in the Time Warner Building delivered meaning she didn't have to run out and fetch it. "You're hyper enough as it is."
"Chai's for bitches and girls," Ryan replied easily. "Hey, did you know that converting to Christianity will cure Tiger Woods, according to Brit Hume?"
"Thalia, is chai for bitches and girls?" Mia looked to the only other female in the room for support (not to mention, maybe the only writer she got along with 100% of the time). "Or is it for writers who're too hyperactive for their own good?"
There was a plus to this job: she was going to be an excellent mother of toddler boys.