WHO: Hugh Abbott & Sarah Daniels
WHAT: Hugh wants Sarah to go to the Ministry Gala
WHEN: Daytime
WHERE: Ministry
About a week on the job and it was miraculous how Sarah's perception of the job had already changed. Despite having to be around Hugh and Ally when they decided to be sickeningly sweet and coupley with each other, she was having a rather good time hanging out with Hugh when he was alone... and pranking Colin. The latter was probably the best of all--not only were Colin's reactions to everything they did absolutely hilarious, but it felt like they were back in Hogwarts again. Back in Hogwarts, like when they were dating and... well, and when they were dating, that was...
Yeah.
Sarah shook her head, forcing memories out of her mind, and busied herself filing some new regulations into a folder. With a small sigh, she stood up and walked the file away from her desk, going over and placing the file down on his. "The new propositions came in..." she began, glancing over to Colin surreptitiously before leaning down and lowering her voice. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a jar of glue and set it on top of the folder softly. "You know, I was in the storage cupboard earlier looking for some of those self-sticking notes and I came across this and I was thinking.. wouldn't it be tragic if someone accidently spilled it on Colin's desk...and it just happened to seep into the drawers and.. well, and someone forgot to tell him about it...?"
What Hugh liked best about his office was quite possibly his chair. It was leather, huge, comfortable, and squeaked whenever he leaned back. He had to squeak it just enough each day to annoy Colin. Now he leaned back again, bringing one hand up to hide the growing smirk on his face.
"It would be rather tragic," he agreed, his voice equally low, taking the glue bottle and placing it in his pocket. "It's nearly time for his annual hourly bathroom break, so we can do it then." Then, raising his voice, he took the file, "Thank you, Sarah. You've been a real help."
Sarah winked at him, her lips curling upwards mischievously as she leaned away so that she could go over to his side of the desk. She leaned against the edge, facing him and all the while thankful that there were blinds on the windows to this office.
"I know you're not going to even glance at those propositions for another few hours at least, so I hope you don't mind if I use you and your riveting conversation to alleviate my boredom," she said, her fingers flipping around a pencil beside her idly. Sarah looked down at it for a moment, somewhat hesitating, before deciding she was just going to say what she wanted to.
"So, yeah... did you get your invitation for the Ministry Ball?"
"Yeah," Hugh replied, glancing at her. "Ally and I are going, are you?"
For some reason, Hugh was quite glad that they were alone for this conversation. The Ministry Ball was an annual thing, and for the most part, although Hugh had attended nearly every one, he found the Ball boring. He wasn't a horrible dancer, but he honestly thought that there were better things to do.
Sarah shrugged. "I don't know, I don't think so--I mean, no one to really invite and I don't exactly know anyone around here..."
All that was true, yes, but the real reasoning behind her not wanting to go was exactly what he had given her in his answer. As much as she hated all this crush business (a crush she should have been rid of years ago, she told herself sternly for the thousandeth time), Sarah couldn't get rid of it. And if she couldn't get rid of it, the next best thing was to ignore anything having to do with Ally and Hugh being together--that included watching them laughing and dancing all night long.
"Whaaaaat? You should go, definitely," Hugh urged her. As much as he enjoyed his girlfriend's company, he knew she would spend a lot of time shmoozing to corporate higher-ups. Outside of work, Hugh preferred not to see them at all. "Who's going to make fun of Colin doing the jitterbug with me?"
She smiled, just a little and not really genuinely, at the floor under her feet. "Oh, I'm sure you'll be so preoccupied with your lovely girlfriend that you won't even have time to talk to me," she said. It almost surprised her that she was able to keep the annoyance completely out of her voice.
"Maybe I'll go next year, when I've made real friends around the office."
Hugh frowned. "Are you saying that I'm not a real friend, Sarah? I think I might take offense at that."
He leaned forward in his chair, propping his fists to his face. "C'mon," he coaxed. "I need someone to provide ample laughs for me in the midst of all the boredom."
All right, so maybe a part of Hugh knew that Ally definitely would not like - no, scratch that, hate - how much Hugh wanted Sarah to come to the Ministry Ball. However, he quickly brushed that unwanted thought out of his mind. Sarah was a friend, and he knew that if she came, it would be a blast.
He raised his eyebrows, making his eyes big and round. "Please, please, please? Pretty please? And please say yes, because I can't keep making this face for the rest of the day."
Sarah couldn't help but break out of her sad-sigh-not-really-interested mode with a nice laugh as a glance to the side showed her the completely ridiculous look on Hugh's face. She managed to roll her eyes affectionately and turned her head up to the ceiling.
"You know, I don't think Ally would like to hear about you calling her boring," she said, mock-sternly. "But... I don't know, I might. I guess I could get Gracie to go with me, if I really wanted to--you think she'd go for it?"
She had to admit, it was extremely encouraging that he wanted her to go to the ball, even if she knew it was just in a friendly manner.
"Sí, te gusta," Hugh replied in flawless Spanish, before breaking into a grin. "Yeah, I think she'll go for it. Definitely. It'll be more fun with you two around - the more the merrier, right?"
He revolved his chair around before he pointed at Sarah. "And for the record, I wasn't calling Ally boring." He plunged his hand to his pocket and shook the glue bottle before breaking into another impish grin. "Aaaaand I'm thinking that this glue can't wait."
Sarah giggled, glancing over to Colin, who was currently venturing away from his desk at a brisk pace, right on time for his hourly bathroom break. The moment the door to the office was shut behind him, she slipped off the edge of Hugh's desk, taking the bottle out of his hand and tiptoeing over to the empty workplace.
Carefully and quietly, she opened one of the drawers and took out the glue, glazing the backs of each of the drawers where they met the actual desk quite copiously.
Hugh grinned, imagining Colin's reaction perfectly. There were some that said that his (and now Sarah's) pranks were mean - but as far as Hugh was concerned, Colin deserved it. So much of Colin's habits and behaviour annoyed him to no end, and consequently, that led Hugh to think up of revenge plans (the majority of which were illegal).
"You've got a real knack for this, Daniels," he remarked appreciatively.
She sauntered back towards Hugh with her nose stuck playfully in the air, smirking triumphantly as she dropped the bottle into the trash can casually. "Call it.. pent-up evil tendencies from that point in my childhood when my parents said that I wasn't allowed to pull pranks on my brother anymore."
...which had happened because she had started displaying magical abilities and probably would have inadvertendly hurt him, but...
