2 | Office Christmas Party?

                                    

                                          
Roseanne worked furiously for the rest of her first week at YSMG. What she thought would be a typical nine to five job quickly turned into 12-hour workdays and eating lunch at her desk. Mr. Park's task list was relentless. Roseanne was constantly on the move answering calls from his clients, making copies and faxing them to the team at Incheon, and even travelling to Incheon multiple times to take measurements of the construction site to Mr. Park's specifications. 

                          
The only thing that kept her going was the fact that she knew she would have the next Monday off work for Christmas. Her parents lived in Australia, and she couldn't afford a ticket back home, so she and Lisa, who was still a university student whose parents lived in Thailand, would be spending the holiday together.
                          
Jaehyun also kept her spirits up. Mr. Kim kept him busy with menial tasks for his project, so he often had to stay at work late with Roseanne. When Roseanne seemed stressed or on the verge of tears, Jaehyun always had a joke or song recommendation ready to cheer her up. They became fast friends, and Roseanne didn't know how she could survive the internship without him. Jaehyun viewed their relationship... differently. 

                          
When Friday finally came around, Roseanne woke up on top of the world. She was almost done with the long list of tasks Mr. Park had given her, and she couldn't wait to shove it in his face. She walked to her closet to pick out her outfit but quickly realized all her work clothes were dirty. Shoot. She ran to her hamper and sniffed the pants and shirt she wore Monday. She scrunched her nose. There's gotta be something in here that will work, she thought. 

                          
Roseanne's off-duty style mainly consisted of crop tops and jeans -- definitely not work-appropriate attire. But she did have some of her old private school uniforms. She grabbed a dark gray plaid skirt from high school. It still fit but it exposed too much of her legs for her comfort. She searched her sock drawer for tights but only found stockings that went up to her thighs. We'll just have to make this work. She pulled the stockings up as far as they could so none of her bare skin could show under her skirt and threw on a light gray cashmere sweater that Lisa had given her for her birthday last year.
                          
She looked at herself in the mirror and cringed. I look 16 years old, she thought. It'll do.
                          
"Lovin' the fit, Chongah," Lisa said as Roseanne entered the kitchen, slipped on her loafers and threw on her trench coat. "You look like one of the girls from Clueless, in a good way."
                          
"I forgot to do laundry yesterday," Roseanne rolled her eyes. "Anyway, if there was anyone who treated me like a grown woman at work before, they'll definitely see me as just a little girl now."
                          
"No way," Lisa said. "This school-girl style is so in right now. Hmm, maybe if you just unbuttoned your shirt a little more..." Lisa reached toward Roseanne's blouse.
                          
"No!" Roseanne shouted. "I don't want people at work thinking of me as some object. It's already so hard being a woman in an office full of men with their little secretaries. I need to be taken seriously."
                          
Lisa raised her hands in the air in surrender. "OK, you do you. But is a little office sexy time really the worst thing in the world-"
                          
"I'm leaving now," Roseanne called out, exasperated, while walking out the door. 

                          
***********
                          
Roseanne walked through the large glass doors of the office building and into the grand hall. She smiled at Jennie, a new part of her going-to-work routine, and for once, Jennie smiled back with a nod of what looked like approval. Roseanne wondered why the sudden change in demeanor as she stepped into the elevator. 

                          
Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a large hand appeared through the crack, causing the doors to reopen. 

                          
"Good morning, Rosie."