“Damn! We're straight, man!” Jack drawled through clenched teeth.
“Do we need to watch your shapely butt, man?” Simon asked, laughing. He was the complete opposite of his younger friend: about thirty centimeters shorter, stocky build, but he didn't care at all.
A long time ago, he had accepted the fact that he has no chance of becoming a model. However, that didn’t diminish his sense of great humor. Even in the most dramatic moments of the editorial office's life, he was able to summon a bit of optimism, reach for a piece of paper, a pencil and draw a caricature of one of his colleagues.
“Get out, Simon! I'm in no mood for jokes!” Alex said, offended. He didn’t tolerate discussions about his appearance. He considered taking care of his body and soul as a completely natural thing and conversations about it were unnecessary.
“Alex, please!” Adam was begging, terrified. “In a moment we will have all the ladies on our necks! Dress up! Immediately!”
“Not you, but me. That’s the difference. It is better for them to come here...” All his friends were amused by his honesty. “Than to come up with the idea of watching some stupid TV series in the newsroom. There sleeps Michael who was barely conscious. He overdid it again.”
“I know!” Adam replied. “He was barely on his feet and we wanted to send him home by taxi but he insisted on returning to the editorial office with us. I don’t have to explain that to you. You know him.”
“Damn, this guy's been bending lately!” Simon confirmed.
In his voice, they could hear sincere anxiety about a friend who had actually been exaggerating recently, and not only about drinking.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Alex shrugged helplessly. “He's bending! He has no moderation. I cannot help it.”
“Talk to him!” Simon said. He repeatedly tried to tell Michael that he had a problem, but he didn’t listen to him.
“I already talked to him. He's an adult! I can't explain to him by hand.”
“Why not?” Adam said as he was also worried about Michael. “Maybe this way he would understand!”
“Get the fuck off me! I'm not his nanny!”
“Wow!!! I don’t believe it! Do you see what I see?” Simon pointed to female editorial colleagues mixing some paint in the corner of the room. “That's an amazing phenomenon! They work!” He began to laugh mockingly. “The ladies are working! For the first time since I work here, I see these women doing something!”
“Wow! I hear disdain!” Thomas laughed. “Where was your contempt, brother, when you were dating Nicolas’ assistant or Rose?”
“Get out, Thomas! I don't ask who you sleep with!” He snapped back to him.
"I think something’s up..." Adam said. “Our beautiful boss has left her estate.”
Indeed, the chief editor had left her room and was approaching them.
"Gentleman, I need the help of one of you." She announced.
No one was eager to help the witch who forced them to make a superhuman effort.
“With pleasure. I wanted to offer my help.” Alex replied, quickly moving towards her room.
“And this is a shit!” Simon laughed. “Apparently, it is not only Michael who likes the witch. Have you seen him run like a dog on a leash like this, ever?”
“They look good together.” Adam said honestly. “Ken and Barbie in denim! They could have a dizzying career on the spread of some stripper magazine or in hard-core porn…” He began to laugh.
“Actually, you are right, man.” Simon agreed.
Then Nicolas Williams entered the editorial office, but he fled so quickly to his office that they didn’t even manage to assess his mood.
“And this is what? Time running has begun to be practiced?” Simon commented sneeringly.
"He is certainly proud of his witch! Finally, someone bent our necks to work.” Thomas said quietly, painting.
“Sure! Very proud!” Simon added.
"But where the hell did he get her from?" Thomas wondered aloud.
“You should ask him about it yourself!” Simon suggested.
They knew it was no joke. Painting their workplace won’t miss them. After their controversial greeting, they were aware that if they fell down, the chief editor would fire them out without any qualms.
She made no secret of the fact that she didn’t care about the team she was working with.
Recently, in several women's magazines, the entire editorial team has changed with the change of the boss. Seeing no other option, they had to work.
Their editorial witch had set a good example for them and was the first to finish painting her room.
They couldn't believe that around three o'clock she had come out to tell them that she had already finished painting her workplace.
At the same time, the girls in the advertising department finished their share of the work too. They all went to the kitchen afterwards where the chief editor had ordered Chinese food.
Even though the male part of the team was invited, they didn’t dare to join. There were noises from the kitchen that the women were enjoying themselves. Eventually, the chief editor came personally to tell the busy journalists that there was a hot meal waiting for them in the kitchen.
"We'll come in about 10 minutes." Simon said “We'll just finish this wall.” He pointed to the wall they were tormenting together with Thomas and Adam. As soon as Alice disappeared inside the kitchen door, he moaned:
“I am hungry. I am so hungry!”
“Shut up, please!” Thomas said pleadingly. “My bowels are playing the march. Let's go eat. Hot Chinese food is waiting for us in the kitchen. Can you smell all that heavenly aroma?”
“Do you want to sit there with women and that witch?” Jack interjected. “I am hungry, but I have my dignity!”
“Fuck your dignity! It is a pity that you forget about it in pubs when you report to the competition.” Alex attacked him as he heard their conversation approaching them.
“What do you mean? What are you talking about?” Jack gasped out surprised.
“About your dignity which you do not possess!”
“Get off you brat!” Jack said contemptuously.
“Get out yourself!” Alex stormed.
“End of discussion. Enough!!!” Adam interjected, standing between his colleagues. “A truce! You're both leaving, I can't see you anymore!”
He knew that given another moment and Jack would jump to Alex's throat, which will end tragically. It was no secret that they didn’t tolerate each other. More than once, there was a sharp exchange of views and even drastic tensions between them.
“We'll count next time!” Alex threatened Jack. “I'm going to eat!” He added calmly. "I won't sit here with this hypocrite."“And you? Are you holy?” Jack began to laugh. “Look, here we have a picture of a flawless narcissist!”“I have a clear conscience, unlike you... Show off to your friends, corrupt traitor, what photos you gave to Leo Walker.” Alex said calmly."You don't have the right to give a shit about who I'm meeting and what I'm doing!" He almost shouted, upset.“With who? Leo Walker? Jack, what’s going on?” Thomas asked, concerned about what he heard. “Alex, could you explain what you are talking about?”“What pictures?&
The next day, just before nine o’clock, the chief editor came to the office. She was surprised to see the editorial team sitting at the collegiate table on a Friday morning.Alex and Adam came right behind her.“Good morning, gentlemen!” She greeted them.“Not good morning, but bad morning…” Michael began to complain about sleeplessness. In addition, regardless of the presence of the editor, he stretched as if he was still in bed in his bedroom, not at work.“Shut up, Michael!” Thomas sitting next to him, also sleepy, tried to bring him to order. "Dude, you barely got up, you're already complaining. You were supposed to change! Shave! Brush up!”"Shh..." Michael put a finger to his lips. “I have a headache! Don't yell behind my ears!”“Gentlemen, I have a surprise!” The chief editor announced. "There's a package on my desk in my office. Can one of you bring it in,
At twenty to ten, in complete silence, they began to leave the editorial office. They were waiting at the main exit of the building. It soon turned out that not only the chief editor and all the females were going to the event, but also Nicolas Williams, who had just parked his car in front of the building.The bosses cunningly waited for the male half of the team to leave, then followed right behind them so that one wouldn’t have the opportunity to get missing and disappear somewhere around the corner unnoticed.Journalists really wanted to get lost, but assumed that the consequences could be severe.When they entered the sports hall belonging to the Academy of Physical Education, they lost the rest of their good humor for the day.“Damn it! What are we doing here? There are journalists of all local mass media, and maybe even national ones.” Simon commented. “And there are even those damn spectators!”The huge sports
Soon, the journalists of the ‘Man’ began to clap. Their witch in a turquoise suit looked great, standing next to the competitors warming up their muscles before the start. But instead of warming up, Alice stood almost motionless, looking at the opposite edge of the pool.The boys, looking at her, had no doubts that she spent her free time not like them, in the Tavern, but working hard on her physical condition. However, they were aware that having a beautifully built body does not mean that it can swim well.They began to argue that the competition was controversial, not very fair, as there were two women and four men taking part in it, and the distance was as long as two lengths of the pool.For a moment they forgot about the hatred, anger, the fragile male honor and the painting she forced them to do. They really hoped that their chief editor not only looked great, but she could swim, and that'd be good enough.“And racing on electric
Alex didn’t object when someone called over a doctor who was watching over the players. The diagnosis managed to bring everyone down. The medic decided to take the injured to the hospital for observation and X-ray. Adam standing next to him, the culprit of all the fuss, looked no better than the injured Alex. He didn't want to knock out his friend, he just wanted to distract him. Now, he felt remorse and had a moral hangover. Faced with the requests and pleas of his colleagues, Alex ended up sitting on the stand with an ice pack on his head. It was the only thing he could do for his colleagues. Stay on the sidelines until the end of the tournament. Observe and support them in spirit. The last discipline of the competition turned out to be extremely dramatic. It was attended by the entire ‘Man’ team except for the injured Alex and Alice, who sat worriedly next to him. The injured person didn’t feel well, but kept a cool head and didn’t move from his se
The boys, tired of the murderous rivalry at the event, the previous night’s all-night party and climbing the stairs, decided that before they went down to get new equipment, they would first rest for a while. They hoped a miracle would happen and the elevators would repair themselves, or it would turn out that there was no breakdown at all, and they wouldn't have to climb up to the seventh floor again. They sat in silence, happy in the depths of their souls; there was a weekend ahead of them, two long days that they absolutely wanted to devote to rest. Only Michael, burgundy with rage, complained about the bad luck that haunted him: all the evil, injustice, meanness of the world in the hard life of an honest, conscientiously working, and underappreciated outstanding journalist. He muttered under his breath about the terrible headache that didn’t allow him to think rationally, the terrible pain in his back and nagging muscle soreness that made it diffi
Michael planned to share his problems with his friend, the only person he could trust and who always had unnecessary cash. Just tonight, he was going to talk to Alex about a small loan so he could settle the bills. He knew that when Alex hears the amount he urgently needs, he will at least sit down, if he has something on. Besides, he will have to patiently listen to his friend's critical opinions about his recent excessive and unnecessary expenditures at work and in the inn. He will once again be forced to make promises to Alex that he won’t keep. However, an unexpected problem occurred. Immediately after the competition, Nicolas had taken the knocked out Alex to the hospital, where, after the tests, the doctors decided to leave him under observation. Michael hoped it was just a preventative procedure, and not anything serious. He found himself in a trap, it was not proper to talk about money even with his best friend in the hospital. The deadline fo
Meanwhile, Michael ran to open the door. That was her. He had no doubts whatsoever. Through the door, or rather its slits, he could smell her sensual perfume.“Good evening! I'm sorry for being late!” She said with a smile.She didn't look like the magazines’ witch at all. She looked different, quite ordinary in blue jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up almost to the elbows, and a sophisticated collar that covered her long neck.It was only now he noticed that she had a high, beautiful forehead, which she usually covered with bangs, beneath which lay her exquisite eyes and long eyelashes. He had never seen her like this before. Completely ordinary, but beautiful.“Please! A bottle of good French wine, vintage 1977!” She said as she handed over the elegantly wrapped bottle.Without waiting for an invitation, she stepped inside."Take a look around the house." Michael choked out. "And I'll take care