The Christmas Crush

(Josie Sayz: I know that I haven't exactly written anything for a while, I’ve been busy. Anyway, here is a flash fiction piece that came to me whilst at my work’s Christmas party. I know it’s not brilliant and I hate writing in first person, but I gave it a shot. I have proof read it, but I know that I probably haven’t found all of the mistakes yet.)

The Christmas Crush

I took a deep breath. Lowering my head, I stepped inside. I looped my thumb around my bag and stuck close behind the girls. A blinding light shone at us as we hovered in the doorway. Eyes spun in our direction. They were watching us. They all were. Throwing a hand in front of my eyes, I ducked behind Chloe. She flicked her peroxide hair over her shoulder, wafting it in my face. I shuddered, as they began muttering to themselves. “That one’s too close to the boss,” hissed Alicia, jabbing her thumb at the table closest to us. She jabbed her elbow in in Chloe’s side and pointed at a table on the face side of the room.

“That’s too far from the hotty table,” Melissa whined. I rolled my eyes. It didn’t matter where we sat, so longs as we did it quickly. People were still staring at us.

Looking down at my outfit, I tugged at the hem of my dress. I’d only walked across the car park and it had already ridden up. I was so not used to dressing up. My stomach spiralled as I caught a girl nudge her friend before laughing. I threw a hand across my stomach and wandered over to Melissa’s side, while she chose our table. Both Richard and Andie from our department wolf-whistled as Alicia, Melissa and Chloe brushed past them. “Hi boys!” they sang out, waving as they walked by. Dave winked at Chloe as she smiled at him. I forced a smile at the table, dropping my eyes to the floor as I followed the girls.

Crossing the room, they chose a spot a little too close to the DJ for my liking, but we were far enough away from everyone else – and the bar, so that was fine by me. The tables were huge though. Sliding into a seat I stared that the empty spaces. There were only four of us. Vacant seats lined both sides of the table. That meant only one thing. Company. I held my breath and stared down at the tablecloth.

As the girls dove into their handbags searching for their mirrors and makeup, I shuffled lower into my seat, placing my bag on my lap. “Want a drink, Honey?” asked Alicia after pouting into her mirror. I shook my head.

“No thanks,” I told her. “I’m fine.”

“Awww, come on,” she huffed. “I’ll get the first round – my treat.” I shrugged at her.

“I’m fine,” I mumbled. “Really.” She turned to Chloe and Melissa. The three of them muttered something before bursting into giggles.

“Mind our bags, Love?” Melissa called over her shoulder as she, Alicia and Chloe skipped off to the bar.

My heart crashed against my ribcage as the music blasted around me. Folding my arms I sunk deeper into my seat as I stared out at the dance floor. No one was dancing yet. They were all too busy buying drinks and comparing dresses. I guess you’d have to be drunk to want to dance looking like that. A group of girls tottered past in their sky-high stilettoes and skimpy, skin-tight dresses, slopping their drinks everywhere. None of them could walk and that was before they had a drink.

I glanced back at the door. One of the older secretary ladies, Judith, was standing at the door gossiping with Beverly from the canteen. This sort of party really didn’t seem like their thing to me. Then again, it wasn’t mine either.

To the right of the doorway on the big central table sat the bosses. All the men dressed up in tuxes and the women in flashy sequin dresses, showing far too much flesh. You wouldn’t believe they were in charge of the company looking at them now.

Seeing Alicia, Chloe and Melissa returning with drinks I sat up, forcing a smile at them. “Lemonade, Honey,” Chloe smiled as she placed a glass in front of me.

“Don’t look so worried, Love,” laughed Melissa, sitting down opposite me. “It’s just lemonade. We didn’t spike it.” As they began to chuckle, a nervous laugh escaped me.

The room grew dark. Red, green and blue lights began to flash around the room. The DJ increased the volume of the music. I gave a groan. “Having fun, Hun’?” asked Chloe, nudging me. Squirming away, I forced a smile, managing no more than a, ‘um hmm,’ in reply. The girls threw back their drinks, downing them in an instant. I stared.

“Anyone for seconds?” asked Alicia as she slammed her glass back down on the table. Chloe told her to calm down.

“Not too fast, Ali’,” she warned. “We promised her a quite night.” Quiet? They call sitting at a table in the middle of work’s Christmas party, in a room full of people, with a DJ blasting music that no one has heard for decades quiet. I rubbed a hand across the back of my neck.

I knew they were a loud lot. Alicia and Melissa would take it in turns sitting on the edge of the guys’ table, asking them how to work various parts of the computers whilst twiddling the ends of their hair around their fingers. Chloe would join in on occasions too, only to get wolf-whistled by the guys for her revealing blouse. So if I knew what they were like, why did I say, “Yes?”

I don’t know how I let them talk me into going. They’d been pestering me for weeks. “Come on, Hun’,” Chloe had sighed.

“You’ve gotta get out sometime, ya know,” Melissa added with a wink.

“It’ll be fun,” Alicia insisted. They had repeated this conversation every lunchtime since the end of November. Every single day the girls pestered me and my answer was always the same: “No.” So why I changed my mind at the last minute, I’ll never know.

There was a loud shout from the far corner. Glasses clanked against tables. Curling my hair from my face, I turned to watch. Dave, Andie, Richard and various guys from the office were all shouting at Adam. “No fair!” one bellowed.

“You cheat!” cried another. Smiling, Adam shrugged at them with a full pint glass in his hand. The others had all appeared to have finished their glass and with half of it down their fronts. Adam must have sensed me and the girls watching him, for he turned towards our table and smiled. I shot my eyes back down to the table, feeling my cheeks tingle. Chloe gasped.

“He was smiling at you,” she said nudging me.

“No he wasn’t,” I muttered.

“Yes he was,” the others agreed.

“He was totally checking you out,” Melissa added winking at me.

“Was not,” I protested. “He smiled at all of us.”

“You, Missy, need to learn to take a compliment,” Chloe said, poking me on the arm. “If a bloke thinks you’re gorgeous, Honey, you should go for it.”

Letting them go back to their girlish giggling, I groaned. Delving into my bag I pulled out my phone. I needed something to take my mind off the burning in my cheeks. Barely half an hour had passed by. I sighed. My phone had no signal – but they didn’t need to know that.

As the girls gossiped, I rolled my eyes. Frustrated with their constant giggling and squealing, I ventured my anger out in text messages that I would never send. Not one of them noticed me. I had made an effort. I really had. After deciding to go, I picked out a really nice outfit and spent longer than normal on my hair and even did my makeup. At the office they were always moaning at me for not taking much care in how I dressed, but when I actually tried, no one noticed. It’s not like I craved attention. I just wanted to be noticed for putting in a little effort is all. Not Alicia. Not Melissa. Not Chloe. But me! Was that so bad? Alicia, Chloe and Melissa always get noticed by everyone. All Melissa has to do is walk into the office with different coloured nail varnish and everyone acts as though they want to be her best friend. I wasn’t after claws of attention. Just a, “Have you done something different with your hair?” or, “Nice dress,” would have done. Okay, I’d have blushed, but at least someone would have noticed me.

Whilst I was on my phone, Alicia, Chloe and Melissa had already got and drank another round of drinks. “Would ya mind our stuff, Hun’?” asked Chloe as the three of them left for the toilet. Putting my phone back in my bag, I agreed. Watching them leave, I sat up straight and stared down at the drink in front of me. I hadn’t touched it. Not a drop. Now there was another beside it. Nudging them away from me, I gazed down at the confetti on the table. Trees and reindeer were scattered amongst the napkins and bowls of mints.

“Mind if we join you?” came a voice. I flinched, looking up. It was Adam with Andie.

I felt myself blushing, as I managed to squeak, “Sure.”

“So where is everyone?” he asked as he took a seat at the far end of the table.

“Toilet,” I replied.

“At the same time – that must have taken some skill,” he said. I giggled at him.

“Say, have you seen Richard? He said he’d meet us here.” I shook my head before taking my phone back out of my bag again.

As the girls returned, Chloe gave me a big grin before whispering in my ear, “I knew he’d show his face if we left you on your own.” I felt myself blushing again as I shook my head.

“He was looking for Richard,” I told her.

“Uh hum,” she replied with a grin. “He was with him when we left.”

The music boomed louder. The piles of empty glasses grew greater. Alicia, Chloe and Melissa seemed to find any excuse to flutter their eyelashes at the guys as they joined our table. The group broke into constant laughter, regardless of whether what was said was funny or not. Slouching down in my chair I folded my arms. People were actually drunk enough to dance now. Beth and Derick from the third floor office were circling each other, whilst two of the managers decided to tango down the dance floor. I got my phone back out to check the time. Over an hour had passed since Adam and the guys had joined our table. The girls’ giggles and squeals had grown even louder and Adam wasn’t even among them anymore.

I gazed across the table at the empty seat between Andie and Richard and sighed. Hooking my bag over my arm, I stood up. “You okay?” asked Chloe.

“I’m going home,” I said as she pouted at me. “I’ve got a headache,” I told her. “Sorry.”

“D’you want me t’ walk you out?” she asked. Smiling, I shook my head.

“It’s okay,” I told her. “I’ll be fine.”

Pushing the door open, I closed my eyes. Taking in a breath I smiled as the noise from the party grew distant. “You leaving already?” asked a voice. Opening my eyes I spun my head around. My stomach fluttered. It was Adam.

“Err, I…” I stuttered.

“No worries,” he said with a smile, as he shoved his phone in his pocket. “It’s not my sort of thing either. I only showed my face, ‘cause the guys asked me to.”

“Same,” I smiled with a shrug.

“You need a lift home?”

I shook my head. “I’m okay. Really, I’m fine.”

“You look nice by the way,” he added as I turned to leave. Arching my head over my shoulder I smiled at him as I felt myself blush.

- Josie -

Outta Time

(Josie Sayz: This is a flash-fiction piece that I wrote about my favourite film ‘Back to the Future’. I chose to post it today (November, 5^th) to honour Doctor Emmett Brown’s vision of the flux capacitor. Disclaimer: I do not own ‘Back to the Future’, its characters or the film events that are mentioned in my creative piece. My fan-fiction piece is also available on: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10804922/1/Outta-Time.)

Outta Time

5^th November 2013

Dear Doc Brown,

Jeez Doc, it’s been so long since I last saw you. Yet, I feel like I can still remember it as though it happened only last week. I can’t possibly tell you how much I miss you, Doc. It’s been nearly thirty years. Gosh, when I actually put pen to paper it makes me feel so old. I bet you noticed the significance in the date of me writing this. I thought today would be the perfect date to write to you. Today always brings back the memories. Believe me, Doc, I wanted to sit and write to you more times than you could ever imagine, but one thing’s always stopped me: how can you write to a guy who’s been dead over eighty years? I know that you managed to get that letter to me in the fifties from 1885 (that I can just about cope with), but how do you go about sending a letter back in time? Why did I have to get that DeLorean totalled by that train? That way I could have used it to go back and visit you. Heck Doc, you have a flying steam train! Why the hell didn’t you come back and visit me? It’s not like I’d have meddled in another of your adventures or anything – I’m way through with time travel… but that doesn’t mean you had to push me out of your life forever, does it? I guess you probably were better off without me, I mean over the time we spent together I managed to nearly screw up nearly a hundred and thirty years of history. It doesn’t surprise me that you never wanted to come back and see me… or forward to see me… oh, you get what I mean. Maybe something happened to the time machine. Maybe you destroyed it, like you asked me to destroy the DeLorean. You could have at least warned me first.

Where do I start, Doc, you’ve missed so much. Me and Jennifer got married, we’ve got two great kids, Marlene and Marty Junior. And let me tell you, Marty Junior’s nothing like the wimpy kid that I met back in the old 2015. And my job, well, Doc, you should see me. For a start, I’m not pushover like my old man and I don’t go to an office everyday either and I don’t have Needles hanging over my head. On the day I arrived back (for the last time) in 1985, I never challenge Needles in that drag race and I never broke my arm. You were right, my future wasn’t already written and I could change it – heck, I did. And you’ll never guess what, Doc, ‘The Pinheads’ made it big. We were rock stars, jamming on stages all over the world. We were huge. There were sell out concerts, screaming fans, flights to LA, Hollywood, a European tour, loads of cash, did I mention the millions of screaming fans? It was heavy, Doc, you should have seen it. But just like everything… it never lasted. After five good years, the band broke up. We all went our separate ways. I went solo, had a few number one hits, a couple of number one albums – one went platinum. Doc it was amazing. I could never have imagined that just changing the outcome of that drag race with Needles could have changed the future, my future, so much. I’ve retired from the limelight a little now to spend as much time as possible with the kids, but I still go out and play a few shows here and there and do a few charity gigs.

My parents, Dave and Linda are doing great too. Dave’s a deputy-manager of a big up-town company – who’d have known. And Linda owns her own hair salon down town. Mom’s happily retired, enjoying the quiet life and Dad, well Doc, you should see him. Not only is he the boarding director of a massive marketing company – still even though he’s in his seventies, but he’s a famous sci-fi novelist. I know you said not to meddle, but getting George to stand up to Biff was probably the best thing I’ve ever done for the man. I bet you’re wondering about Biff too, huh? Well he’s not exactly the wimp that I met when we went back to 1985 the first time, but he’s not as aggressive as he used to be either. He was Dad’s PA until about a decade ago when he retired. He’s in some local retirement home now and his kids… well let’s just say his grandson isn’t a cyborg. But they are the local bullies – just like Biff and his gang back in 1955 I dare say. I mean, I don’t see much of them but Marlene and Junior mention him and his lot from time to time. They’re yet to get mixed up with him and his gang, which hopefully means that the Hill Valley bank heist of 2015 will never happen – fingers crossed. Junior’s nothing like the loser he was when I met him before, so let’s just hope things say that way. Besides, I wouldn’t have you to come help me – I mean him, out this time if things go bad.

How are you, Doc? You’ve got to be pushing ninety now – well you would if you were still here, with me in 2013. How are Clara, Jules and Verne? And how’s about Einie, Doc? I mean I’ve looked you guys up in the history books, but that’s nothing compared to actually hearing from you myself. Don’t worry, I won’t dwell too much – I know how you say no one should know too much about their own destiny.

There’s something else you should know, being as you stayed back in 1885, when I came back to 1985, your house, The Brown’s Mansion, hadn’t been destroyed by fire in the sixties. It was all still there, except it was empty and all boarded off. By staying in 1885, Doc, you must have created some sort of time paradox (or something or other that you were always warning me about), because it’s like you never existed, only in history. There’s no record of you alive and living in 1985… or 1955. It’s like the mansion was just left, abandoned. I tried racking my brain for years over this: just because you went back in time to 1885, doesn’t mean that you weren’t born in 1920 to your parents, right? So does that mean that somehow you managed to meet your parents and convince them not to meet, or not to have you? Or did they have you and you managed to stop the fire that destroyed your house? I haven’t got a clue what happened, Doc. For years I tried to find out what had happened to you, to the house, but there just isn’t any record of you existing anymore in 1985, 1955 or anywhere after the you who I left for 1885 dies. However, after becoming a rock ‘n’ roll star and earning enough money, I actually bought The Brown Mansion and restored it to its former 1950s glory. I even kept its name to remind me of you. I even taught my kids all about you. I’m not entirely sure that they believe me about the time travel thing, but they do respect your house and we, well I, visit your grave regularly. That probably sounds kind of creepy, I know, and don’t worry, I know that you don‘t want to know how, why or when it happened, so I’ll spare you the details.

But out of everything that’s happened, Doc, there’s one thing that’s been bugging me: the future isn’t what it was. I know I changed my life and everything, but I’m not talking about that, I mean the world’s changed. There are no flying cars, no fast drying clothes, no hydrated pizza, no one-size-adjusts-to-all jackets, no DNA readers for front door locks. Doc, these screwballs haven’t even invented the hoverboard yet. And there’s no sign of cyborgs anywhere! There had been times when I could talk to Jennifer about this stuff, about the future, about what we’d seen, but now she refuses to admit that the whole time travel thing ever happened – she’s just wrote it off as a bad dream. I’m so alone here, Doc. There’s no one to turn to who wouldn’t think that I’m a nut. That’s one of the reasons why I’m writing to you, Doc: Have you ever been surrounded by people, but still felt so lonely.

Now I know we went back in time to 1885, but I didn’t think I’d screwed it up that badly that I could have changed what 2015 will be like. Okay so maybe a beat Buford, saved Hill Valley from living in fear, stopped you from being shot but hey, you’re the one who stopped Miss Clara Clayton from falling down the ravine. Now it’s called the Eastwood Ravine, Doc, not the Clayton Ravine – as in me, ‘Clint Eastwood’, I still can’t get used to it.

But I’ve been thinking about it. Why’s everything different? Well not too different, I mean ‘Nike’ have just invented self-tying shoes (about time) and they actually have 1980s vintage diners – although a virtual image of Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk doesn’t actually serve you, but the colours, music and food are all there. They’re just lacking so far behind in technology. But then it hit me: you. You, Doc, are the reason that technology hasn’t progressed. You were the one who should have invented cyborgs, and hydrated pizza and flying cars and DNA front door locks and hoverboards. Doc we need you. I need you. The future needs you. We’re running out of time. October 21^st 2015 isn’t that far away, Doc, and the world’s nothing like it was when we visited it almost thirty years ago – it’s taken a serious downgrade.

You know Doc, not a day goes by when I don’t think about you or the adventures that we had. I have no idea if you’ll ever get this – I’ve never had to send a letter back in time before. I’m not even sure what to do with it really. All I know is I miss you, and I mean really miss you, Doc. If there is any way that you can send me a sign, hop by in your stream train (the rail line is still where it always has been), a letter to the Post Office from 1885… 1880-anything – even 1909, anything Doc, seriously. It’s driving me crazy. There’s no way that I’ll ever forget you, Doc. I just hope that you haven’t forgotten me.

Your friend always,

Marty McFly

- Josie -

Introduction...

Hello to everyone out there in cyberspace. My name’s Josie and I say things. Simple.

Okay, so this is my attempt at maybe making a blog. I’m using this in attempts to force myself to concentrate on my writing more. Writing what exactly, I’m not sure… stories, flash-fictions, poems, lyrics… who knows what. I guarantee I’ll come up with something.

I’m not really one for introductions, so I guess I’m going for a sort of bullet-point list type thing.

My motto: Life is a game, a board game. Play it well enough and you just might be one of its finest players, but neglect your chances and who knows where you’ll end up!

Education: Wiverton Green High & Kuttle Town Technology College.
Studied: Photography, Media, English, Art, Creative and Professional Writing.

Published works: A flash-fiction piece (when I was 13) and 2 poems.

Ex-Lead singer for: R², R2Penguins, Intergalactical Frisbee & The Promises.
Ex-Lead singer/backing-singer/tambourinest for: My Forgotten Weekend.

Musical influences: The Dollyrots, Eyeshine, Bowling For Soup, Simple Plan, Blink 182, Beachboys, Greenday, McFly, James Bourne/FutureBoy, Bon Jovi, Paramore, Avril Lavigne, My Chemical Romance, Michelle Branch, Taylor Swift and Underground Nouveau Retro Fusion Music (I’ll be impressed if anybody gets that).

TV/Film influences: Disney’s Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, Scooby-Doo, All Grown Up, Lizzie McGuire, pretty much anything Golden-era Hanna-Barbera, Pixar, Back to the Future and Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.

Literature influences: JM Barrie, Lewis Carroll, Christopher Paolini, Rose Melikan, HP Lovecraft, Catherine Fisher, Scarlett Thomas, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Shakespeare and MJ Edwards.

Game influences: Kingdom Hearts, Falling Stars, Sonic the Hedgehog, Final Fantasy games, anything with dragons or Medieval-based.

Inspirational food: Never drink coffee, it makes you a grown up! I can’t live without toast. Pink-lady apples, custard creams, chocolate, banana milkshake, just sweets in general, oow and ice cream and cream soda.

Wishes: To one day be a writer, that's a successful writer, learn to play piano and maybe the guitar... and visit Paris.

I like that I can just pretend that no one will ever read this… because they probably never will. I guess that's kind of a comfort blanket. I can post things without a worry in the world, believing that it’s just me here, alone, and nobody cares.

And here’s my social media, just in case you’re that bored.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/josiesayz
Deviantart: http://josiesayz.deviantart.com/
Fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/~josiesayz
I march to the beat of a different drummer is all. (I’ll be impressed if anybody gets this too).

Until next time…

- Josie -