Chapter Text
There were so many things Gloria had done wrong that she wasn't even sure where to start fixing it... Maybe kissing Barbie right now was the least of her marital problems. She originally considered talking about it with Richie, although she wasn't sure how to do it, she wasn't even sure if she could say that she regretted it, that she didn't enjoy it or that she had tried to avoid it, so right now maybe the best option was to hide that information and prevent it from happening again at all costs.
She just couldn't say that she forgot her anniversary and that she mistook the day that her husband would go camping with her daughter just for being a girl kisser. Gloria knew that she had a weekend ahead of her to solve her problems and this was not an issue that they would agree on or discuss in front of Sasha.
The next morning was strange, perhaps there was what he least expected to have and deep down what scared her the most... Silence. Gloria couldn't hear Sasha complaining like any other morning and she could hear someone in the kitchen, when she go in Richie was sitting waiting for her with a cup of coffee, although he didn't even look at her when she entered the kitchen.
"Where is Sasha?" Gloria asked to break the ice and make sure her daughter wouldn't hear the conversation they were going to have.
"Wow, you really forgot... She stayed overnight at a friend's house, you know, we were supposed to celebrate our anniversary just the two of us and you didn't even show up. God, am I doing something wrong Gloria?" Richie looked sad but wasn't sure what the final reason was. By now she was sure that they had both thought about it... Why were they still together? And although she did not like to admit it, there was only one answer... Sasha.
"Sorry... I don't have an excuse, I really forgot that our anniversary was yesterday, and I accidentally put an engagement on that date, I can make up for it if you want to." Gloria was nervous and knew that naming her job or someone from there wouldn't help her at all at the time, so she completely omitted that she had been with Barbie.
"I thought we had an agreement; you were supposed to have arranged the work thing so that you could spend more time with your family and more time together... But it doesn't matter, let's just ignore that this happened, I know you don't have a good excuse... in the afternoon I'll go look for Sasha and go out with her somewhere, I need to clear my head, and I feel like you need to think things through."
The conversation ended there, and Riche left leaving Gloria alone in the kitchen... Gloria felt bad, but it was definitely not for the right reasons, she thought about what happened and recognized that she was worried, but she knew that she did not intend to undo what she did and perhaps if she were in that situation again she would do it again. Forgetting things that way wasn't like her and somehow the mere image of Barbie in her head had made her forget that she had a family that she had to try to make her functional, she felt bad because she could have failed Sasha, she felt bad because she felt like a teenager when she thought about what happened to Barbie, and that scared her a little... She didn't feel guilty, she knew that now this was not going to be fixed, and she knew it was her fault, she had no excuses, and she had nothing to make her look good in that situation, maybe Riche was right, the best thing they could do was ignore it.
And so it happened, the subject was not talked about again and when Sasha asked, they only responded with a rather vague "good" and with a mood that did not correspond to what was said, something that generated distrust in her daughter, but she knew that she could not do anything.
When Monday arrived, Gloria got up at the usual time, got ready for her work, prepared her usual cup of coffee and left for her office, she would have to talk to Barbie about what happened... Or maybe not, that same night that had happened Barbie had sent her a text message asking if she was okay and Gloria had only responded with a "yes, don't worry", a conversation that had remained like this throughout the weekend.
When she arrived he greeted everyone as usual and locked herself in her office, although she tried not to notice it she ignored Barbie's raised hand when greeting her in the morning and unlike other days she decided not to leave her office so she could avoid it as much as possible, although she tried to be a functional adult she had to admit that she hoped that the problem would solve itself or that it was simply not a problem. After hours she decided to go to the bathroom and perhaps that was a somewhat naïve decision... Gloria was aware that although she did not have a private bathroom as such, the women's bathroom on that floor was used practically only by her and of course... Barbie.
As Gloria washed her hands and emitted a small moan to show her frustration, she heard the bathroom door open and then close behind her, including the characteristic sound of a latch... Now she was locked up there with Barbie.
"I don't need you to talk if you don't want to, but I do need you to listen to me... Sorry, I screwed up and assumed that you wanted it to happen too, I would have sworn that you had caught my advances... God, I felt like a man saying that and maybe if I overdid it... Anyway, that wasn't the point, what I mean is. Please don't make this matter at work, I really like you and I can take my distance if you want to, I just needed to apologize, that won't happen again," the Blonde said that from a distance, somewhat considerable but close enough that no one who wasn't in there heard it.
Gloria decided to look up and look into her eyes... maybe that was her big mistake, her blue eyes looked sad, like a wet puppy in the rain and Gloria didn't even know what to answer her, that Friday at Barbie's house she had felt like being 17 again and maybe it was the only memory of that weekend that didn't make her feel absolutely miserable.
When she had no answer Barbie sighed and began to walk away to leave, but Gloria's hand stopped her, she turned and they kissed again, Gloria felt like a teenager in love again and Barbie quickly reciprocated the kiss. They spent time there that Gloria couldn’t determine until she remembered where they were.
"Shit, we should go back to work" Gloria wiped her lips that now had a slight pink hue from Barbie's makeup and Barbie took a little longer to come out to fix her makeup.
She came out a couple of minutes later with a wide smile and was quickly interrupted by Alan who intercepted her on the way to her desk.
"What the hell happened in there? The boss arrived in the morning much more discouraged than usual, she
it took a long time in there and she looks better now, more happy"
"Oh nothing, just a girl talk"