Chapter 1
Clarke slides the big wooden door open to her and her friends New York loft. It's above an old warehouse and though it's not exactly a penthouse, it's pretty roomy and it's also cheap. And sure, it's not in the best part of New York, but they've never had a problem so far. Except that one time her friend Jasper was mugged, but he turned out fine and really that can happen anywhere. But at least she's in a place of her own, surrounded by her friends. It could be worse. She could be homeless. Or still living with her parents. As much as she loves them, she had to get out of there.
She sees her two roommates, Bellamy and Lincoln sitting on the couch talking to a few of their friends Raven, Jasper and Monty. She smiles, seeing them all there, though it's not surprising. They all seem to hang out in their place almost everyday. Probably because it's the biggest, even if it isn't the nicest. Raven's apartment is pretty decent, but it's the size of a shoebox and it's hard for all of them to hang out. Honestly, it'd be weird if she were to get home and not see her friends there. And she'd probably be a little disappointed. She likes having them around.
"What up, guys?" She asks, walking behind the couch and messing up Bellamy and Jaspers hair, much to their dismay. She walks around and plops down on her chair sideways next to the couch with a big sigh.
"Griffin," Raven greets from her spot on the floor in front of the couch, the others just give her head nods or let out grunts as greetings.
Clarke spots the joint in Raven's hand and she smiles. "Gimme," she says, sitting up right in the chair and reaching out for Raven to hand it over. When Raven passes it over she takes a long hit of it, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of the drug going into her system.
"Clarke we were just trying to figure out how much we have for rent and everything else and how much we still need." Bellamy says from his spot on the couch, looking over at the blonde expectantly.
"It'd help it Griffin would get a real job." Raven says with a smirk.
Clarke is an artist and as anyone knows, it's very hard to make money from being an artist. Especially just starting out. It normally takes years to be able to make a living off of it and some people it takes a lifetime. Clarke's work is brilliant and she loves doing it, but it's not exactly getting her part of the bills paid. She's had to have her roommates help her out a couple of times. Mostly because she can't seem to keep the little part time jobs that she gets for one reason or another. She's not exactly the most responsible person on the planet. Or the best employee in general.
"Hey, as a matter of fact, Raven," she says, giving the girl a glare. "I did get a real job. I start today," she says with a smug look on her face, tilting her chin up in the air. She takes another hit of the joint before passing it off to Lincoln, who was reaching for it.
"What job did you get this time?" Jasper asks, rolling his head to the side to look at her. Not looking too impressed with her, because she has a new job every few weeks.
It was common knowledge that Clarke never seemed to keep jobs for very long without getting fired or she just got bored and quit. "It's a serving job at Polis," she says with a shrug. Polis is a chain restaurant that is pretty popular and actually pretty good as well. They have all kinds of food and actually have their own brewery where they make their own beers. She feels like she could probably make pretty decent money serving there. As long as she can keep the job.
"Wait? You got a job at the same place that I work at?" Raven asks, sitting up a bit straighter. She doesn't exactly look thrilled at the idea. "I didn't even know that you were applying there or that you interviewed." She says, confused. Though, it could be fun to have her friend at work with her. Even though, she's worried she's going to some how get her fired as well. Clarke has that effect.
"Yeah well, I did and I got the job." Clarke answers simply with a shrug. "It was random, really. I was in there one day to see you and was talking to one of your managers and he basically hired me on the spot.
Raven rolls her eyes. "Was it Finn? He's such a perv." She says with a sigh. "He probably just hired you so he could stare at your tits all day and try and get in your pants." She says, annoyed. "He did the same thing with me."
"And you let him." Bellamy reminds her.
"Yeah well, I didn't know how much of a jerk he was at the time." She says defensively, snatching the joint away from Bellamy and taking a hit for herself, and basically letting the others know the conversation of Finn was over. She'd been pretty into him for awhile and was hooking up with him regularly. But it didn't take too long for her to find out that he'd been sleeping with half the other wait staff as well. Needless to say she dumped him, but luckily was able to keep her job. As much as she hates working with him, she makes good money there.
"So does this mean we get free food from there now, since Raven will never hook us up??" Jasper asks with a grin, turning his attention to his blonde friend.
Clarke raises a brow at him and shakes her head. "You remember what happened last time I gave you guys free food at the restaurant I worked at?" She asks, already knowing that they know the answer to that.
"You got fired." Lincoln answers for them with a smirk.
"Exactly." Clarke nods. "Which is fine, but you can't bitch at me for rent when you're the reason for me getting fired." She says as she reaches for the joint one more time. She takes a hit from it and stands up from her chair. "Do we have beer? Tell me we have beer." She says passing it back to Raven and walking into the kitchen area before any of them can even answer her. She grins when she opens the fridge and sees a few bottles. "Anyone else want one?" She asks, glancing back at her friends. She hears a few 'yeah's' thrown out so she just grabs enough for everyone and walks back into the living room.
"Don't you have work today?" Bellamy asks from his place on the couch.
Clarke walks back into the room, and hands everyone a beer, keeping one for herself before sitting back down on the chair. "Yeah, but one beer won't hurt," she shrugs. "It's to help calm the nerves." She adds with a smirk, twisting it open.
"I don't think I've ever seen you nervous." Lincoln responds, raising a brow at the blonde. Clarke just shrugs her shoulders and takes a drink of the beer, not commenting. She's right, it takes a lot to make Clarke nervous, it's pretty much impossible really. "We should all go to Polis tonight and laugh at Clarke on her first day," Lincoln says, chuckling.
The others laugh as well and she just rolls her eyes and glares at them. "I won't even really be doing anything. I'll have to train so I'll just be following someone around all night. Pretty boring shit." She responds with a shrug. "I'll let you know when I'm actually taking tables and then you can come and be annoying and probably get me fired." She says with a giggle. "Or maybe we should wait until after this month's rent is paid before you do that." She adds and they all smirk and nod in agreement.
"Wait, you're training tonight? God, please tell me that I don't have to train you." Raven says with a dramatic sigh. "This has to be God playing a joke on me or something."
Clarke lets out a gasp, looking very offended, though they can all tell she's just being extra dramatic. "I am going to be the perfect trainee." She says and Raven just rolls her eyes. "Do you work tonight?" She asks, making Raven nod her head slowly. "Sweet! You have to train me! Come on, Raven!" She says with excitement.
Raven lets out a dramatic groan and lets her head fall back onto the couch. "Fine, I will if they'll let me, but you have to do everything I say and don't get in my way." She warns the blonde, knowing how she can be. "This is my money and if you fuck it up for me, I'll kill you." She say and Clarke just salutes her, not really making Raven feel any better about agreeing to train her, if her boss will let her.
---
"Alright, put these orders in." Raven says, handing Clarke the paper that she'd written down the tables order on. She lets the blonde stand in front of the posi to put the oder in the computer, watching from over her shoulder to make sure she does it correctly. So far she hadn't had too many problems with Clarke, just her getting distracted by talking to people a few times and not following her or listening to what she was saying. But it wasn't going as bad as she thought it would go.
"Wait, where is this?" Clarke questions, not being able to find one of the entrees. It only takes a second for Raven to point to it and Clarke continues putting in all of the other orders. She's a little slow, but she's doing well for her first day. It's something she will have to get the hang of.
"All right, Griff," Raven says, once the girl sends the order through. "Everyone has refills and everyone has food in. We're good until we get sat again or someone needs something." She says, letting out a breath. These down moments are the best, because most of the time as a server you're running around constantly.
"This job doesn't seem so bad," Clarke comments as they both lean against the end of the bar. She glances over at their tables to double check that they're okay and they all seem to be fine. "Whoa, wait, is that one of your managers?" Clarke suddenly asks, spotting a woman on the other side of the bar, standing near the kitchen doors, talking to another server. She's dressed in a very nice blue fitted suit with a white button up, the top two buttons undone. She pretty much looks like she stepped out of GQ and Clarke can't stop staring at her.
Raven follows Clarke's eyes to the woman and smirks. "That's Lexa Woods." She says matter of fact. "She owns this place basically." The girl says with a shrug. Her family started it up when she was a kid or something and then it got passed to her when she graduated high school. She's basically turned it into a multibillion dollar company since then." Raven says and Clarke's eyes widen.
"She's so….young," Clarke says, making Raven chuckle at her. Clarke is clearly impressed by the girl. She can't be older than late 20's if she's even that old and she's already a billionaire with a very successful company. And not to mention the fact that she's gorgeous. And her sense of style is completely on point. Basically Clarke is in love with the woman at first sight.
"Keep it in your pants, Griffin." Raven says, shoving the girl slightly to break her from her trance. She smirks at the blonde when she finally shakes her head and looks over at her, taking her attention off of Lexa. "Seriously, she's basically the Devil's spawn." Raven comments, confusing Clarke. "She's hella uptight about everything and pretty much everyone is terrified of her." Raven states. "She comes in pretty often even though she really doesn't have to, which already screams control freak. She's the CEO of this whole company, not the restaurant manager." Raven says, rolling her eyes. "But the place kind of goes chaotic when they hear that she's coming in, trying to make everything look perfect."
Clarke just lets out a humming noise in response, not really believing that this Goddess could be that terrible. Her eyes find the woman again and see her glancing down at her watch, which from here Clarke can tell is very expensive. She can see by the look on her face that she doesn't exactly look happy with the server that she's talking to so maybe Raven is right. Regardless, she wants to talk to her and she definitely wants to keep this job now.
And just like that, Clarke's dream is coming true, because her and Lexa lock eyes and then the brunette is excusing herself from the other server and walking towards her. She feels Raven stiffen a bit next to her, but she can't take her eyes off of the confident brunette that looks like she's almost gliding their way, instead of walking.
"I don't believe we've met," Lexa says, extending her hand out that's not in her pocket. She gives Clarke a smile and the blonde just about feels like her knees are going to buckle underneath her and make her fall on the floor.
"Um…Clarke… I'm Clarke," She stutters out and it's weird to her because she's normally never like this. She's always so confident, but this girl was just so perfect that it was intimidating. She clears her throat, trying to regain some confidence and puts her hand out, shaking the other woman's hand firmly. "I just started today," she clarifies.
Lexa nods her head, still staring at the blonde, almost like she's sizing her up. But before she has a chance to say anything else, she looks over to the side, seeing a server carrying drinks from the back. "Hey," she calls out, stopping them in their tracks. "What are you doing wrong?" She asks, making the girl just stare at her with wide eyes, not really sure what to say. But Clarke can see that she's terrified. "Tray," Lexa says simply. "What happens if you spill a drink and you don't have a tray?"
"It gets on the floor," the girl replies in a shaky voice.
"And then what happens?" Lexa asks calmly.
The girl looks around briefly and stutters for a second before coming up with the answer. "Someone could fall…" she says, not very confidently. It's almost like she's asking a question instead of answering Lexa's.
Lexa nods her head, letting her know she's correct. "And what happens when someone falls? They sue." She finishes, raising a brow at the young girl. "And we don't want that do we?" She asks, and the girl quickly shakes her head. "So you're going to turn around and go get a tray, right?" She asks with an expectant look.
The scared girl simply nods her head yes, and makes a U turn to go back into the kitchen to get a tray. And she'll probably never make that mistake again.
"Sorry about that." Lexa says, turning her attention back to Clarke who is looking at her with raised brows. "Reyes, make sure you train her well." She says, and Raven stands up a little straighter, being addressed. "The better you train her, the easier your job will be once she's your co-worker," Lexa states.
"You got it Commander," Raven answers and Clarke furrows her brows, confused by the name.
Lexa rolls her eyes a bit, but doesn't comment it. She seems like she's used to being called that, because she didn't look surprised of confused. But she still doesn't necessarily look like she enjoys it. "Clarke, come see me when you're done. I want to talk to you about how the first day went and how you think you did." Lexa tells the girl, and now it's Clarke's turn to stand up a little straighter, being addressed this time.
"Yes, ma'am." She says with a firm nod.
Lexa simply nods back at her, before turning to walk away, going to check up on some other things in the place.
Clarke turns around to Raven her brows up to her hairline and Raven just smirks at her. "Told ya," the brunette says simply. "I think she needs to get laid." She says with a shrug.
"I'd like to help with that," Clarke lets slip out, before she can stop herself.
Raven rolls her eyes, but chuckles at her blonde best friend. "Come on, we need to check on our tables." She says, pulling the blonde with her.
---
"Hey have you seen Miss Woods?" Clarke asks a random employee as she makes her way through the kitchen. The girl looks busy and just points behind her distractedly. Clarke looks behind her not seeing the woman but seeing a hallway with a few doors. She's assuming one of them is Lexa's office and that's where she will find the girl. So without another word, she heads that way. It's not hard to figure out which one it is because there is a plaque outside the door labeled, 'Lexa Woods'.
She reaches out a knocks a few times, feeling a bit nervous. Which again is kind of weird, because she's not used to feeling nervous. Though at the same time, she's excited to go and talk to Lexa again. Honestly, she kind of wants to spend all day around the gorgeous woman, but doing more than just talking.
"Enter," she hears the strong voice from the other side of the door.
Clarke opens the door and sees Lexa sitting behind her large desk, looking over some sort of paperwork. It looks like an office in some sort of corporate office, not an office that should be in the back of a restaurant. It definitely doesn't look like the office that the other managers share. She'd had to hang out in there during her interview and it was a little cramped with just a small desk an office chair and lots of clutter. This one is huge with big windows and even a couch. Guess that's the perks of being an owner.
"You have your own office here." Clarke states, looking at the girl with raised brows. "Shouldn't you be in the corporate building or something?" She asks, taking a seat in one of the chairs across from Lexa's desk.
Lexa puts her hands on the table with a sigh, seeming frustrated with whatever she'd been doing before Clarke came in. "I have an office in the corporate building." She informs her. "But I also wanted one here." She says with a shrug.
"Why?" She asks and Lexa looks up at her like she's confused as to why Clarke is asking so many questions. She obviously isn't used to being questioned. "I mean, why would you want to be here all the time when you don't have to be. Isn't that what you have managers for? And other people. I mean there's probably a lot of other people in corporate who are under you as well, yet you're here doing grunt work." She tries to explain, hoping she didn't piss the woman off or something. She's just curious why the President of a multi billion dollar company would be here every day doing the little things that she doesn't have to be doing.
"Well, I like to be hands on. This place is my baby and I just like to see that it's running smoothly, myself. Just because I'm the President of the company, doesn't mean I can't be here. Most people just choose not to be," she says with a shrug. "I still like running the restaurant like I used to when I just owned one or two, I just made some business choices to help it grow. Doesn't mean that I've changed." She says matter of fact.
"You're a bit of a control freak aren't you?" Clarke lets slip out before she can stop herself. And as soon as it comes out, her eyes widen and she wants to take it back.
"Excuse me?" Lexa asks, raising a stern brow at the girl, her jaw clenching.
Clarke shakes her head and back tracks quickly, trying to think of a way to get herself out of the situation at hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't-… Am I fired?" She asks, not knowing how to recover from that. There isn't really a way to put a good spin on calling someone a control freak. Especially when you say it to your boss on your first day.
"No, Clarke. You're not fired." Lexa says evenly, making Clarke let out a sigh of relief. Though she's a little surprised. "How about we talk about something else?" She asks with a small smile. Clarke isn't the first person to call her a control freak and though, she doesn't like to admit she is, she knows that there is a little bit of truth to it. "How do you feel your first day went?"
Clarke eyes the girl in front of her, taking in her demeanor. She's never seen someone so…professional. Especially not a girl that seems to be her age. She seems way too uptight and Clarke wonders if she ever got a chance to be a normal woman in her young twenties, or if she's always been this cooperate business person. She obviously has been working for awhile to get to this point at this age. Which makes Clarke feel bad for her. She should get to experience the fun college days. Or maybe she did.
But probably not.
She probably didn't even go to college. Raven did say that she was given the company by her parents. Why would she go to college if she didn't have to. She wishes she could have had an opportunity like that. All her mother gave her was a nice set of boobs thanks to genetics.
It takes a second of being caught up in her head, but then she realizes she still hasn't answered Lexa's question. "Um, I think that it went really well." She says with a firm nod.
"What do you feel your strong points were and something that you need to work on?" Lexa asks her, leaning on her forearms, focusing her attention on the blonde in front of her.
"Well, I'm a pretty outgoing and a personable person so I feel like I did really well with guests." She says with a nod. She tries to think of other things she did well with, but it's kind of hard, especially when the intimidating Lexa Woods is staring at you with those intense green eyes. "They all seemed to like me." She adds with a small shrug. "Um, as far as what I need to work on….I still need to get the menu down better," she admits, thinking over her shift. "So that I can answer questions better. And just prioritize things a little better. But I think I'll get the hang of it after a couple of more shifts." She says confidently.
Lexa nods, seemingly pleased with the response and leans back in her chair. She spins a pin around in her hand as she stares at the blonde in front of her, making Clarke sweat a little bit. "Guest relations is very important to me, so I'm happy that you're good with them." She finally says, making Clarke let out a sigh of relief. "You seem like you'd be very personable." Lexa comments and Clarke smiles at her, pleased with the compliment. "Just don't get too personal." She adds, making the smile turn into a frown. "I was watching you and with some people you were a little…too personable." She explains.
Clarke's brows furrow at that. She stares at the woman for a minute, not really sure what she means, but then she understands. "I admit that I flirted a bit, but I was just trying to get them to like me." She says with a shrug. "I don't think it was inappropriate or anything." She defends herself. Sure she'd flirted with a few people, but it was all part of the job right?
"I'm not saying you were being inappropriate either." Lexa nods. "I'm just saying be careful. This isn't that kind of place." She says and then takes in a breath, looking back down at the papers on her desk, giving a signal that the conversation was over. Clarke is a little offended by what Lexa was saying, but she decides it's best not to speak it aloud. Not if she wants to keep this job. "Alright, Clarke, I have to get back to these invoices. They're a mess." She says, also letting Clarke know that the meeting is wrapped up. "You did well," she says, standing up from the desk. "I'm happy to have you on the team." She adds, extending her arm to shake Clarke's hand.
Clarke quickly stands up as well and takes the woman's hand, shaking it. "Thank you, Miss Woods." She says, nodding at the woman appreciatively. She lets go and turns to grab her things. But before she walks out, she turns back to Lexa who has already sat back down and is scanning over the papers once again. "Could I ask you one more question?" Clarke asks curiously.
"Of course," Lexa answers, looking up.
"How old are you?" Clarke asks, and Lexa just raises a perfectly manicured brow at her. Again with the questions. "Sorry, is that inappropriate? It's just you don't look very old and you're already this successful. I'm just curious." Clarke says, hoping that she didn't just get herself fired. At the rate she's going right now, it won't take too long.
Lexa cracks a small smile at the girl, but it doesn't last long, before her normal stoic face is back. "I'm 26." She answers simply.
"Wow, that's impressive." Clarke comments.
"Thank you, Clarke." Lexa responds sincerely. "Is that all?"
Clarke just gives her a smile and nods her head. "Yeah, sorry. I'll let you get back to work." She says, before grabbing all of things and heading out the door. She runs into Raven in the kitchen and stops to talk to her. "Hey."
"Hey, how did the meeting go?" Raven asks as she scoops ice into a few glasses on her tray. She starts to fill them up with different soda's as she glances back at Clarke.
"It went well." Clarke says with a nod. "I mean, my mouth almost got me fired a couple of times." She admits and Raven just smirks, not really surprised by that. Clarke always seems to get herself into trouble. She pretty much just says whatever she wants to everyone. Sometimes it's a good thing, but a lot of the times it's bad as well. "But, I didn't so, it's all good."
"For now." Raven says with a chuckle. She picks the tray up off the counter and turns to look at her blonde friend. "I'm closing tonight so I'll be out late. You guys doing anything tonight?" She asks curiously.
Clarke just shrugs her shoulders. "Probably either going to the bar down the street or just hanging out in the apartment." She responds. "Just text me when you get done." She says and Raven nods at her. "Have fun," Clarke tells her teasingly, since she gets to go home and have fun and Raven has to stay at work for a couple more hours.
"Get out of here," Raven responds, waving the girl away from her, before turning and walking out the kitchen door herself to deliver her drinks.
---
Clarke walks into her apartment that night and sees Bellamy standing on the coffee table filming as Lincoln, Jasper and Monty all dance and sing around the apartment. She just rolls her eyes and smiles at them. "Are you guys high?" She asks playfully. Although they probably are, considering they all smoke fairly often. But even so this isn't an odd site for her to see. Her and her friends are pretty out there and do weird things most of the time. It's why they all get along. They're all those weird artsy kids that you stayed away from in high school. That or the ones that hung out under the bleachers smoking instead of being in class.
"Clarke! Join us!" Monty yells, waving her over.
Clarke rolls her eyes, but doesn't protest and runs over, following them as they dance around the coffee table. She looks up at Bellamy who has the camera in her face and just flips him off, but giggles as she continues dancing around. She used to hate that he would film pretty much everything that they do, but now she's gotten used to it being in her face most of the time. Or at least for the most part, sometimes if she's in a bad mood, she'll tell him where he can shove that camera. But mostly she doesn't mind. Especially since he's a filmmaker or at least it's what he wants to do. She wouldn't get in the way of his dream. He claims he's going to make a documentary of their lives and it's going to be famous one day. She doesn't think they're interesting enough for that, but he claims otherwise. And maybe he has a point. They are all pretty awesome.
After a few minutes, they all fall onto the couches, worn out from their little impromptu dance party, laughing and out of breathe.
"You guys are weird." Clarke says with an affectionate smile.
"You joined us." Lincoln argues and she just chuckles. "Plus, you love us." He says, sliding over on the couch and putting his arms around her, forcing her into a bear hug.
She yelps and tries to push him away, acting like she's disgusted by the fact that he's touching her, but they all know she doesn't mind it. "So how was the first day?" Bellamy asks, as he points the camera in her face. "Did you already get fired?" He asks teasingly.
"Almost," she admits, and even they're impressed by that. Sure, she's known for not keeping her jobs very long but getting fired on day one would be a record for even Clarke. "I put my foot in my mouth a few times while talking to the owner, Lexa." She says with a small giggle, obviously not too worried about it.
"Lexa Woods? You better be careful. She's ruthless." Lincoln informs her.
Clarke looks at him confused. "Do you know her?"
"I worked for the company a couple of years ago, but she fired me." He tells her, the look on his face letting her know he's still not over it. "A buddy of mine worked for one of their competitors. He was actually one of the managers and she knew I was hanging out with him. She claimed I was feeding him information and called me a traitor," he says, rolling his eyes. "I guess they ended up having a lot of the same recipes and things as Polis."
Clarke furrows her brows as well as everyone else. "It's just a restaurant." Jasper says, confused as to why she'd act that way. "That's a little insane that she'd call you a traitor and fire you. Especially if she didn't have proof."
"Yeah well, she's…intense." He informs them. "That restaurant is her life. Like literally. I don't think she does anything, but work. And if she thinks anyone is going to jeopardize the place, she won't hesitate to fire you, no matter what." He informs them. "I saw her fire a man that had worked there for years. I don't really know what he did, but still. He was her best employee and she just fired him, no questions asked." He says and the others shake their head, not believing she'd be so intense.
"She's definitely very uptight." Clarke agrees. "Challenge accepted." She suddenly says, making them all look at her confused. "I'm going to get her to loosen up," she shrugs, saying it like it should have been obvious what she meant by saying that. She always comes up with challenges for herself and most of the time it has something to do with getting laid. She claims just walking up to a girl or a guy is too boring.
"And how are you going to do that?" Bellamy asks, obviously not getting what she means at first.
She just smirks at him, and they all get what she's talking about without her even having to say that, and it finally clicks for Bellamy as well. He just rolls his eyes at the girl, but decides to keep his mouth shut. He knows how she is and he also knows that she's going to do what she wants. It's how she is. He learned that awhile ago.
"Good luck with that." Lincoln says seriously. "You know how many people have tried hooking up with her or dating her? It's impossible. She doesn't have a life outside of that place and I don't think she wants one. Polis is her lover." He says with a smirk, making the others chuckle.
"Do you forget who I am?" Clarke asks with a cocky smirk.
With that, Bellamy lets out a sigh and suddenly stands up from the couch and walks out. Clarke looks at him confused and then looks around at the rest of the group, wondering what she did wrong or why he suddenly stormed out. They all just give her looks, letting her know she should know exactly what she'd done.
"What?" She asks confused.
"Come on, Clarke." Lincoln says with a sigh. "You can't say stuff like that." He says, annoyed. She should know better than that and she does. She just doesn't care, or she just doesn't think before she speaks.
Clarke shakes her head and laughs unbelievingly. "Come on, we've been broken up for like 6 months." She says, like she didn't do anything wrong and he shouldn't take it personally. They boys just shake their head at her and she rolls her eyes with a scoff. "Whatever." She gets up off the couch and heads into the kitchen, looking in the fridge for something to eat. "What are we doing tonight guys?" She asks, still staring into the fridge, even though they really don't have any food.
Lincoln looks up from his guitar that he'd been idly playing with. He's almost as bad as Bellamy when it comes to that thing. Neither can be found without the items. "I don't care. But, we probably shouldn't go out and spend too much money," he suggests, knowing that rent is coming up and they are still pretty short.
Clarke frowns, but doesn't disagree. She likes going out, but that's probably why they're in the financial state that they are in. They go out way too much and spend too much money on it. "Well, I'm fine with staying in. But we're going to have to go buy some more liquor." She states. pulling a beer out of the fridge. They may not have food, but at least they have beer.
Jasper gets off the couch, nodding in agreement. All of them splitting a couple of bottles is way cheaper than going to a bar and each buying multiple drinks and shots. "I agree. Let's go." He says, grabbing his wallet off the table and putting it in his back pocket. "Come on," he says, nudging Monty who is still sitting on the couch. The boy scrunches up his face in annoyance, but gets up anyway.
"I'm coming too." Clarke says, before chugging the beer in her hand. She throws the bottle in the trash can and then grabs her keys. "Lincoln, order a pizza!" She shouts at him as she opens up the door, letting the boys walk out ahead of her. He just lets out a grunt, still strumming on his guitar and Clarke takes that as an okay, so she walks out behind her friends.
---
"Hello, Raven," Lexa greets as the brunette walks into her office.
Raven just gives her an awkward smile, not really sure as to why she got called into Lexa's office. It's not usually a good thing if Lexa wants to speak with you privately so she's a little nervous. Though, she hasn't done anything. Not that she can think of.
"So, Clarke," Lexa starts, and then it all makes sense for Raven.
"Look, I don't know what she said or did, but-…" Raven immediately tries to say, defending herself. Of course Clarke would be the reason she's here. Clarke had to make it obvious that they are friends and now Raven is probably going to be responsible for the loose canon.
Lexa cracks a small smile, looking down at her desk and it confuses Raven. She doesn't think she's ever seen the woman smile. Even just a small, barely there smile like that. "Raven, calm down." Lexa says, looking up at Raven, her face morphing back to business. "Clarke didn't do anything wrong and you aren't in trouble." She tells the girl, making her relax a bit. "Have a seat," she says, pointing to the chairs in front of her desk.
Raven hesitantly sits down in the seat, still feeling a little nervous in front of the intimidating woman.
"I just wanted to talk to you about how she did today. You did train her." Lexa says, as though it should have been obvious. Which maybe it should have been, because it makes sense to Raven. She probably shouldn't have been thinking the worst. "How do you think she's going to do?"
Raven lets out a humming noise thinking it over. Honestly, she's a little afraid of how Clarke will do, especially with her reputation. And she doesn't want Clarke dragging her down with her. And if she gives her a good word now, it'll just look bad on Raven when she inevitably does something to get herself fired. "I think she'll do great." Raven says anyway, rolling her eyes at herself. She's such a good friend.
"Good," Lexa says, though she's not exactly thrilled with such a simple answer. "She has 2 more days of training and I was just curious if we should keep her with you or put her with someone else? Someone who isn't a friend." Lexa says, making the hispanic girl furrow her brows, looking a little offended. "I mean, sometimes it's harder to learn or teach a close friend and I want to make sure she gets the best out of her training." Lexa clarifies, hoping Raven isn't offended. She's just doing what is best for the company.
"Well, if you'd like to put her with someone else you can. But, I can assure you that I can be professional and do my job." Raven says, getting a bit defensive.
Lexa just nods her head, letting the girl know that she's listening. She can tell the girl is getting a little worked up, but Lexa keeps calm. "Well, Raven, I can say that you are probably our most skilled server here." She says honestly, which shocks Raven. She doesn't think she's ever heard Lexa compliment anyone. Not to that degree anyway.
"Thank you," she says, still a little shell shocked. Sure, she's not planning on being a server for the rest of her life so it's not that big of a deal, but she does like to be the best at everything she does.
"That being said, I think it'll be best if she does stay with you." Lexa confirms. "I just needed to make sure we're on the same page and you won't get distracted or treat her differently since she's a friend." Lexa says, just wanting to clarify.
"I assure you, I'll train her to be just as good as me." Raven assures her.
"Good," Lexa says, satisfied with the response and the conversation as a whole. "One tip you should give her," Lexa says, pausing briefly for a second. "Is to watch her mouth," Lexa finishes, raising a brow at Raven.
Raven almost wants to laugh, but she knows that Lexa is serious and she knows that Clarke can sort of be a handful. "I know, we're working on it." She tells the girl with a small smile. "Believe me, I know she's a handful but she's harmless." Raven says, trying to defend her friend.
"I like her," Lexa nods, that small smile coming back to her face, but once again, it's quickly covered up and Raven had almost missed it. But she didn't. "But, I also fear what could happen here with that personality of hers." Lexa says, and she knows she's probably saying too much. She doesn't normally make a habit of talking to her employee's for too long and especially not about things outside of their work. She shouldn't be talking about another employee to Raven like this. It just sort of came out. "But anyway, you're free to go." She says, trying to get back to her professional mode.
"Thank you," Raven says, standing from her chair. "I'll talk to Clarke," she also adds, wanting Lexa to know that she'll try and prevent her friend from doing anything or saying anything stupid. Even though she knows that's almost impossible. Or actually, it is impossible. Definitely impossible.
---
Raven walks into Clarke, Bellamy and Lincoln's apartment without knocking. They never lock the door, which probably isn't the smartest thing to do in this neighborhood, but everyone has already gotten on to them about that. Besides, she knows they could all handle themselves. Plus, that would mean she'd actually have to knock and wait for someone to answer the door, which she doesn't want to have to do.
She sees all of her friends hanging out and she can automatically tell that they've all been drinking. Even before she noticed Bellamy and Jasper in the kitchen playing beer pong on the kitchen table.
She walks into the living room where Lincoln, Clarke and Monty are playing quarters on the coffee table, nobody even noticing her presence yet. "There better still be liquor left for me," Raven says, plopping down on the sofa that Monty is sitting against.
They all look up at her and shout their greetings, making her laugh at her overly enthusiastic friends. And she doesn't hesitate to grab the bottle of tequila out of Clarke's hand when it's offered to her. "How did the rest of the shift go?" Clarke asks curiously.
"It was fine. Made decent money," Raven shrugs, before taking a swig of the harsh liquor. She grimaces a bit and then passes it back to her blonde friend. "I had to go tall to Lexa as well. She asked me about you." Raven informs her, making Clarke stop playing and look up at her, as well as the other boys.
"What did she say? Does she completely hate me?" Clarke asks, a bit fearfully.
Raven laughs and shakes her head, taking the bottle back. "She actually likes you," She informs her, taking another drink. "For some reason." She adds, making Clarke shove her. "She just told me to give you some advice and to tell you to watch what you say." She says, making Monty and Lincoln laugh, knowing that was impossible.
"She said she likes me?" Clarke asks, obviously that part being the only part that she heard. When Raven nods in response, Clarke just smirks. "Oh, it's so on." She says confidently, already feeling like this challenge was going to be too easy.