Alita had come to her office in the middle of the night for the sole purpose of putting some of her life away. Too many things had happened lately and she desperately needed to simplify things but, shortly after she had arrived, she was interrupted by NEs Diaz and Baker. She had known them almost as long as she had been on the Wolverine so, perhaps, they felt they had had a right to make assumptions regarding her life.

She sat at the desk as they barraged her with questions. Diaz was always more talkative and asked most of them.

“So we just came from your quarters. I guess we missed the memo. Wasn’t tonight cooking class or something?” Diaz asked calmly, which was a stretch for Diaz. He really enjoyed those classes.

Alita looked at both of them and sighed. “I’m afraid those are cancelled until further notice. I didn’t realize I was required to send out a memo, as you put it.”

Neither NE liked it when their boss, and friend, was upset and, in their opinion, she was. It was Baker that spoke up next.

“I carved three turkeys because you said we would be starting prep for the Christmas party. I was looking forward to it this year.”

Diaz broke in at that moment.

“Are we still doing that?” Diaz asked.

Alita rose quickly to her feet and glared down at them.

“Out. Just get out of my office. You’re going to find a lot of changes around here and I really don’t need to explain my personal life to you.” she said a bit more forcefully than she probably intended.

This new hard exterior she wanted to portray was still quite new to her.

• Alita, MO/COS