Annia Ch. 02

Thank you so so so very much for the kind comments. I honestly wanted to delete the first installment but after I read all your magnificent comments, my heart swelled and I had to continue. I hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter and just a heads up there will be many more coming. When? I have no idea but this is not the end. Please leave a comment below telling me what you think. Oh, I did try finding an editor but I haven't gotten a response so...if you people can help me out it would be greatly appreciated. Again, please enjoy and I hope to hear from you all soon.

MintMilkTea

*****

Annia rushed out of the station and across the street, her wild hair falling out of the hair band and flowing with the cool summers wind.

Moving her small hands over her face to push back the unruly strands, the youth ventured through the thick clutter of people, pushing and slipping through clashing bodies.

Her focus was on one thing, making it into the massive corporate building and getting to work before the buzzer goes off.

You might be wondering why there even is a buzzer and Annia truly would not have a clear answer for you. She herself didn't understand the plain meaning for this system.

Apparently it was installed by the higher members and the buzzer is meant to notify the company when employees arrive.

When questions are asked for why the stupid device was even put in place, the only response is that it was installed to maintain consistency(or that's what they claimed.)

But as interpreted by Annia, the buzzer is the shit bell that lets you know they're[her bosses] cutting her paycheck every minute she's late.

The brunette internally groaned at the whole standard posed by the corporation, to her it was and still is the most inconsiderate system made by the company to date.

How can she make it on time everyday when...

One-she wakes up around five,

two-gets up and preps herself while making sure Alison is cleaned and feed as well.

Three- She walks to the subway(sometimes in

pitch black, depending on the season)

four- Then goes on the train, jumps off it, and basically sprints to the building.

That just might be four points but the entire process is tiring...so very tiring.

For goodness sake she's not some Olympic player.

The whole 'not being late' thing is utter bullshit. Just formulated by the wealthy few who presume that everyone has a car and a house and time to waste, the youth thought as she continued her journey.

Annia, unlike the people they think work for them, doesn't even have time to enjoy her life, nevertheless her summer vacation.

For Christ-sake she's taking the day to night shift, six days out of seven, and the work load is massive. Her life revolves around working and taking care of her only family, Allison. Many would be surprised to find out how young she actually is since she does more than most adults.

A social life?

Well she has one or two close friends but that's it. Her living condition and work schedule doesn't really allow her to socialize very much.

It doesn't bother her however, "two friends is enough" is what she often tells herself whenever she finds her amber brown eyes envying others. Envying their ability to go out for lunch, to hang out with friends and family.

Frequently times she tries to find things that make her feel better, but how much fun can you have working at a desk from dusk to dawn.

Despite her desire for an active social life, the brunette often finds that most people and their personalities scare her, like send chills down her back scary. Some people even get her questioning the concept of humanity.

For instance, all the things that occur in her competitive work environment.

The youth often hears people talking about action movies but in reality the most action can be found in the cubicles of money hungry employees, almost all willing to step on everyone's back to reach success. From friendships splitting, to people sabotaging and cheating on one another to so much more. Of-course she's never gotten involved.

But viewing everything go on just reminds her why she doesn't mind being alone so much.

Allowing her broken in black sneakers to settle onto the hard pavement, Annia's rich eyes came in contact with the large modern building-and as soon as they did a grin shot up on her pale face.

"Made it!" She breathed out in exhaustion.

Her running cession to work every morning is always wearing, but being the motivated creature she is Annia always takes it on and makes it...for the most part. Plus, her legs are toned because of all the running, not that anyone would know with her baggy cardigans and pants(but then again she's never really trying to attract attention.)

Looking down at her old watch, the band too big for her slim wrist and resting against her hand. The pale girl bit the inside of her mouth in apprehension.

"Five minutes until the buzzer rings" she mumbled to herself, hands on her waist while deep curls cupped her rosy cheeks.

She looked nervous but prepared, like a track runner waiting at the start line, her feet steady on the ground and nose taking in cool air.

Groaning, the youth basically jogged to the building entrance, wiping the cool sweat the ran down her forehead with the back of her cardigan sleeve when she finally reached the large doors.

Once she arrived, the young student slash employee, slipped her cardigan off, plastered on a smile and entered.

Slowly at first Annia moved into the building, her eyes viewing the large maple-wood desk and smooth marble floors(which stuck to the bottom of her cheap sneakers and made the worse noises.)

Waving at the elderly blonde woman that sat at the wide desk, her face filled with the same smile she usually greets the guest and workers of the corporation with.

The woman has become a 'sorta' friend in the company.

Despite their minimal communication, other than mornings and late hours, the woman and Annia seemed to take an enormous liking to one another from their first meeting.

One day the woman smiled at her while she sneaked in after being late by a few minutes. Unlike most that seemed to walk away whenever she elderly would politely greet them, Annia smiled back and that was where it all started, or when the 'friendship' blossomed.

Annia rose a questionable brow at her older friend, silently asking if the area was clear for her to run up the stairs and into her cubical.

Moving a few strands of gray and blonde behind her diamond dazzling ear, the elderly woman smiled at Annia, waving her hands that signaled the youth to go ahead.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the brunette sprinted up the numerous marble stairs, not bothering to wipe away the droplets of sweat that accumulated once again from her heavy clothes and activity.

"Maybe sweaters and heavy coats aren't the best choices in summer," the brunette thought, but she knew better than her rambling mind that ached along with her body.

Walking around in shorts and a t-shirt, even if it was one hundred degrees, makes you raw meat in her part of the city and that's the last thing she wanted.

Reaching the sixth floor, Annia lowered her head and sneaked in the direction of her office space, making sure to wipe her face of the small droplets that formed there.

The entire room seemed really quite, well quieter than normal.

There weren't any key boards being pressed, nor printers being used, or silent groans and flirting going on. It all was still, but that wasn't what she was focused on therefore she didn't take notice of it.

"Log in, Log in," she repeated to herself while her amber eyes clicked onto the black exterior of her cubical.

The small area marked 'Miss.Anzhelina' and shinning as if the gods were praising her for her accomplishment.

Hurrying to her area, Annia sat down on the thick leather seat, the wheels sliding back slightly with her movement.

The brunette clicked into her computer, checking the pop up box right before the last minute.

"Made it." She sighed with relief.

She slumped in her seat, relieved that she finally made it.

"If only papa could see me." She mumbled to herself, a weak smile forming on her lips.

The youth remembered how her father would always scurry around their home, the tote she sat on the ground next to her chair wrapped around her arm. His old brown coat moving back and his words clear as ever, "stay moving Ann, it's the only way you know you're alive."

Opening the list of files she needed to organize and correct for the day, the brunette brushed away the ping of pain the nearly brought tears to her eyes.

She needed to focus on work not her disastrous past.

* *

Time passed and still the hazel-brown eyed worker saw no one.

Opening her desk drawer to write down a few notes from her computer, Annia's big eyes caught onto the neon pink of some written sticky-note.

She opened the drawer wider and picked up the note that stuck to some papers she finished and stacked in a neat pile a few days back.

Taking it up and reading the words written in a clumsy messy Annia's eyes widened in surprise:

Meeting in the morning with the CEO. Get your ass there before it's too late.

Hannah <3

"Crap!" She cursed, jumping from her seat and not caring to close the open drawer.

The curly haired woman sprinted like she had up the stairs, her sneakers moving against the office tile as she the chilled air-conditioned air pressed against her skin.

She passed the empty hall, already knowing that all the staff was in the huge meeting centers, finding their seats and looking toward the podium that their CEO would be standing on any moment.

Again Annia was running, rushing like her father had almost everyday of his short life, no rest just work.

She definitely felt alive but she also felt like she would pass out from the lack of air.

Her thighs burned, her lungs begged her to take a seat that lasted more than a minute, and her feet were already incredibly sore from the daily run's.

Once her hazel-brown eyes caught onto another a set of large oak doors, the youth snuck around the back where a silver door stood.

She did not want to move through the main entrance knowing that all eyes would be on her, expecting to see their CEO not some small brunette panting from exhaustion.

As her hands pushed against the doors, a wind of chatter came into her ear drums, beating against them like drums at a music parade.

The woman grimaced a bit, she's been living off minimal sleep this entire summer and loud sounds did not help her one bit. As her feet transitioned from tile to wood, her lungs released the air she was holding, the distracted workers helping to hide away her tardiness.

"There you are!" Long arms pulled her into a corner, the tall friend smiling in her face.

"I thought you wouldn't make it."

Hannah released her light hold as she spoke to the small brunette who looked like she had just finished a marathon.

"Me too."

"I knew you wouldn't get the email, so you know I had a back-up plan." The blonde smiled, pushing the long strand behind her shoulder in a jokingly uppity way.

The brunette laughed at her friends display, puckering her lips in mock distaste as the giggling strained her already tired lungs.

"Oh don't start Hannah, I ran all day and I can't afford losing anymore air."

* *

They found their seats, Hannah making sure that they were somewhat close to the front.

Annia didn't like the idea of being front and center so she convinced her friend to get seated in the middle row of lined cotton covered chairs, despite the brunette's desire to find an area in the back.

"I heard that she's gorgeous." The blonde whispered to her, leaning over so that the message was heard clearly and also because of Annia's petite frame.

When they first met the only thing Hannah did was tease her co-worker about her 'adorable' height, but after sometime she realized that Annia did not like it at all.

"She?"

"Yeah, the CEO's a..."

At that moment the entrance door, which Annia had avoided earlier, opened and all nearly the voices in the room went mum.

It was Hannah's unfinished sentence and enlarged eyes that told the youth something or rather someone important was here.

Turning her head of wild curls in the direction of the podium, hazel-brown eyes caught onto the sound of heels moving against the wooden floor, and then she caught onto her boss Mike's voice and his puppy dog Chad, aka the guy that's so far up his ass that Annia is certain he has no social life, voice as they spoke to the tall figure.

The brunette traced her eyes up the strangers frame, her fingers unnaturally gripping onto the sides of her baggy pants for dear life.

And in that moment Annia felt a familiarity without even seeing the persons face- a spark, kind of like the one she sensed when her body pressed against that woman on the train, holding onto that gray coat.

It was the kind of spark that ran down the tips of her fingers and over her skin.

The type of feeling that was too different to be a 'simple' feeling.

"Isn't she drop-dead stunning." The blonde unknowingly disrupted Annia's thoughts, the large hazel-brown eyes not even reaching the persons face yet.

She turned her face to look at Hannah as she spoke, a habit formed by her father who of-course was a teacher and treasured eye contact so much.

Annia remembered how annoyed she used to get at his small antics, puffing her cheeks and unwillingly turning her face and eyes in her fathers direction. She remembered how his thick fingers would mess up her already unruly hair, and his laugh warm and deep when she would slap his hand away.

Turning her head in the direction of the figure that had stopped walking, which Annia knew since the clear sound of heels against the wooden floor stopped, the youth stopped.

Not just her movement but breathing as well.

Their eyes met, over the vast crowd of suite wearing professionals, ice grays and hazel-browns clicked together like magnets.

The woman's face didn't change much, if Annia was like anyone else in the crowd she would have thought the tall woman was thinking while gazing into the abyss.

But the brunette wasn't just anyone.

She was the woman who grabbed Gisele's attention, the woman who had the CEO staring and her lips tilting just slightly into a smirk.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

The blonde once again disrupted Annia's moment, but at this time the young student was grateful, she realized her hands were growing shaky and words seemed to slip from her head, never truly forming complete sentences.

She was mum, stunned to be more accurate, and with those light grays locked on her own so tightly the brunette felt her cheeks growing warm, and heart beat quickening.

Moving her head and eyes in the direction of the floor, Annia thought that by ending the connection their eyes made she would be able to slow down her heart beat but it didn't work, especially since she could still feel the ebony beauty looking at her, gazing, and not caring for the awkward silence in the room.

"Ma-am..." Mike whispered as the silence seemed to lengthen.

The tall woman didn't respond with words, rather she turned her eyes and head to him, vaguely asking him what it is he wanted silently. "The conference."

The big man appearing almost weak in her presence but trying hard to keep his head.

Of-course this was a challenge since the CEO carries herself with such strength that even the most honorable feel the need to bow. A presence that is usually gained over years came naturally to Gisele, and with a simple tilt of the head she replied to his comment.

"Good morning everyone."

Her husky voice boomed throughout the wood carved area, taking up every space of the massive area.

At the sound of that voice Annia looked up, her eyes running over the beauties rich skin that was illuminated by the mornings sun, the orange hue creeping through the window and over rich wood.

Annia was mesmerized by her, even more take by the ease of her words, the movement of her lips and richness of her words.

The brunette never thought she could be so taken by a stranger but here she was, nearly falling if not already fallen, for the tall woman's exquisite form and...everything. She was taken by the way that crisp black pant suite held her slim figure elegantly, the crisp white shirt contrasting with her rich mocha skin.

As these thoughts continued to move through her mind, and those hazel-brown eyes roamed over the CEO's body, Annia found herself growing embarrassed.

She couldn't believe how she was acting, how she was daydreaming and thinking of her...her CEO of all people.

Biting the inside of her mouth nervously, the brunette shifted her eyes elsewhere and tried to hide the rosiness she knew was apparent in her cheeks.

Speaking about the plans she had for this branch of her company, Gisele couldn't help but smile at the young worker in the middle of the crowd.

Her curly chestnut hair stood out among the straight, pulled back hairstyles she viewed when she looked about the seated workers. It's unruly but adorable shape framed her pale face and brought out her beautiful hazel-brown eyes that looked back at her.

Gisele continued to speak after the manager brought to her attention the need for an introduction and description, and despite her desire to know more about the girl she saw on the train she knew business came first.

Throughout her descriptive speech about what she planned to do to the company in order to help it make more progress, the woman couldn't help looking back at the brunette that avoided her eye contact, the youth who's cheeks bloomed pink and bit the bottom of her lips in an anxious action.

"It will be a very smooth process under my control. But for today I want you all to..."

Gisele's striking grays met Annia's eyes again and the girl's awkward smile brought about her own even more.

"Enjoy yourselves. There is food and games in the cafeteria and outside. You can leave whenever you want and if anyone would like to talk with me, please feel welcome."

The tall woman moved from the podium in a suave movement, pushing her dark locks behind her shoulder as the two other men followed her.

When Gisele made her way out the entire room erupted, workers talking among one another, most angry about their "bad" reputation which Annia wasn't surprise about, and others(like Hannah) focusing on Gisele's appearance.

Remaining quite and listening as Hannah and her other co-worker talk on and on, sometimes drinking something or taking a bite out of their burger, Annia found herself getting bored.

She wanted to go home and see Alison. This would probably one of the only days she has to be with her younger sister.

It's true that they see each other everyday but time spent together is very minimal.

The youth excused herself politely, assuring Hannah that she was fine and just needed something to eat.

Taking a plate that resembled the ones from the Chinese restaurant take-out line, the brunette packed a set of food into it, bagged some drinks since their fridge was dry, and slipped her way back to the main office.

She hoped to make it to her desk, get her cardigan, her fathers old bag and get the heck out of there.

As she moved through the halls, the youth kept her eyes forward, her small feet moving quickly- like one of those speed walking ladies in the mall who have too much money and not enough time.

She turned a few corners and just as she was preparing to move up the endless staircase to the third floor, the elevator buzzed open.

Ignoring the sound Annia moved passed it.

"Do you need to go up?"