A bet that changed their lives

Part 15 - Plans For an Evening Out (Contd...)

"No way! I am not coming to some club with you both! Let's watch a movie, come over to my place and we will celebrate," Arya was opposed to Mason and Lana's idea of celebrating at a club and was trying her best to reason with the former, as the three were in the cafeteria for their lunch. While the two girls were seated, Mason was waiting for his order to be prepared.

"It's on us, and you deserve it okay. You got such an amazing review from that hunk of your boss! And it's Friday! Come on!" Lana whined as she tried to persuade her, purposely emphasizing the word "hunk".

"Excuse me, did you just call him 'hunk'? Girl! I can't believe you, get a grip over yourself!" Arya mock admonished her

"What's up, guys? Why should Lana get a grip over herself?" Mason curiously asked as he finally joined them for lunch.

"This crazy woman over here just called my boss a hunk."

Mason's eyebrow shot up as he looked at them both. He was particularly interested in seeing Arya's reaction, to know if she was one of those 'fangirls'. Yes, a few days in this place and he had come to know that the two bosses were quite popular among the ladies. While Mark was known to acknowledge the attention, Derek didn't pay much heed to it. Mark was also known to indulge in harmless flirting with a few, but never crossing the line to even remotely be slapped with a workplace harrassment lawsuit. Derek, on the other hand, maintained a strictly professional tone and was cordial with the female staff, even if they would be visibly swooning over him, no exceptions. Thus, it mattered to Mason if their charms had managed to have any effect on Arya. However, her tone and expression were enough to bring peace to his mind. "

Shush, Lana. And you, Arya, are coming with us. Before you object, let's make a deal. Come with us today, if you don't like it out there, we will never, ever force you to come clubbing again. We both promise. In fact, we will help you out of that place if it become unbearable for you."

Lana immediately crossed her heart with a solemn expression. "Just be open to our ideas for once? Please? Pretty please?" She requested, ready to bring her best puppy eyes expression to the table if need be.

"Alright, stop it now you two. Tell me the time and place, and you, Lana, help me out with an outfit. What is an appropriate dress to wear at a club?" Arya whispered the last part. It had been years since she had gone clubbing, let herself lose, acted her age, had fun... so many years since... No, she was not planning to go down that road, not here, not now, not again.

Arya expectantly looked at Lana, hoping that Mason didn't hear what she had just asked. But he did hear it, although he pretended otherwise, just to make her feel comfortable. He could sense that it was an awkward topic for her, and he honestly didn't want to add on to that. The important thing as that Arya had agreed, and he was looking forward to seeing her outside of the usual office environment.

Lana and Mason rejoiced and raised their hands for a group high-five. Just as she was about to high-five them, her office mobile vibrated, indicating a notification, making her friends groan. Not a second after she read the message, their groans soon turned into astonished wows as her boss' message sent a fresh wave of excitement through the trio.

***

"I am planning to let the staff go a bit early today, say a couple of hours early. What say?" Mark asked Derek as soon as the latter entered his office.

"I was thinking along the same lines. Let's appreciate the hard work they put in. Let them enjoy an early weekend."

Mark pinged his secretary, asking him to inform everyone in the premises that the office will be closing two hours prior and that every employee should focus on getting done with all their tasks for the day, no exceptions for overtime. He added that this work should be assigned to his brother, who was his assistant - not because he had a lot of work to do but because he wanted his brother to start showing some interest in the business and also to instill some discipline in him. However, he had to admit that there was a change in his brother. He seemed a bit less bitter towards everything related to the office. His brother had started arriving on time to the office, he was slowly getting better at his work, had also started gaining interest in the work. Maybe there was hope for this to work, for them to reconcile.

Derek pinged Arya, asking her to drop an official email to their clients that the office will be closing two hours earlier than usual.

"I guess we can go to McLaren's a bit early, right?" Mark asked.

"No, mom has given me some work so I need to go home, get done with that and then we can go. By the way, she wanted to meet you, too. So you can just freshen up at my place and then we can leave."

"Ah! Okay then. It's been quite some days since I met Debbie Aunty."

***

"You girls better be on time, okay? I will pick you up at 7," Mason informed the girls as they all left the office premises.

"Yeah, cool. Pick us up from Arya's place. I will be going over to her house in a while."

"Yeah, works fine. See you soon, girls! And once again, do not be late!"

"Yes, boss!" Lana mock saluted him, making Arya chuckle as Mason simply shook his head.

And the trio parted ways to go home and get ready for their first ever evening out as a group.