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Brittany Taylor was the last person Daria had expected to see at the Scarlet Magazine offices. Well, aside from Kevin. Even weirder was that she was dressed in an exquisitely tailored suit (somewhat at odds with her pink dip-dyed hair), and waiting outside the boss' room - while said boss was conducting job interviews. All the pieces were there, and none of them fit together.
"Daria!" Damn. She really needed to work on that stealth mode.
"Hey, Brittany. Are you in the right department...um, the right building?"
"I hope so!" Daria forced a smile. After all, it'd probably be quite some time before she saw Brittany again.
It was two days. Never underestimate stupidity. 'Ms. Taylor' was the new writer for the sex and relationship advice column, Red Letters. Unfortunately, Brittany's grammar hadn't improved much since their high school days and, even more unfortunately, Daria was the one with the burden of translating Ms. Taylor's responses into something that made sense. Her editing career at Scarlet Magazine was hardly the most thrilling, but now and then she'd read through a couple of articles worthy of the self-proclaimed "up-and-coming feminist publication". Now she spent her afternoons, red pen in hand, skimming through ramblings on romantic pursuits that sounded like something from a teen movie. Luckily, they didn't pay her to predict the consequences of actually following any of Brittany's advice.
After around a week, Daria came across a Red Letters submission from a woman in a long-term relationship, who felt her partner didn't take her, or her career, or her interests, seriously. Brittany's response was a single sentence: Find someone who does.
(At least, that's how it read after a quick edit.)
It was...oddly touching, considering this was from Brittany. Daria made a point of offering her a cup of coffee next time they were in the breakroom together.
"You know, Brittany, your hair reminds me of that time we ran into each other in the bathroom." Brittany twirled a cotton-candy tipped strand around her finger, as if examining it would trigger the memory.
"Oh, right! When your face was all red and gross?" As tactful as ever. Luckily embarrassing memories tended to lose their bite after a few years. She'd even laughed about it more than once with Jane and Trent.
"They're called hives." She smiled slightly. "But yes, when my face was all red and gross."
"That was actually pretty fun. Not the hives part, but the music." Daria raised an eyebrow.
"You liked Mystic Spiral? Huh. I bet I could get you tickets to another show-"
"Yes! Wait...Daria, are you a groupie?" Daria snorted, then covered her mouth. Her face felt warm, and for a terrifying moment she thought the hives had made their inevitable return. "Anyway...it's a date!" Brittany giggled, her cheeks matching the pink in her hair. "Thanks for the coffee, too."
As Brittany left the room, Daria stared at the Sick Sad World logo at the bottom of her mug, wondering how she'd given the impression that she wanted to go and see Mystic Spiral with Brittany, and why she was kind of looking forward to it.