Mal shrugged too. Office Hours, proper noun, felt too formal for something like this.
“What if we have Open Hours instead?” Mal asked, shifting on their chair to tuck their legs up beneath them. “Set timeswe know at least one of us will be here, and then anyone can just… come and go? I can’t really see any time that might be an issue.”
“Unless we have a super-secret editor meeting.” Emerson put on her best goblin face, waggling her eyebrows.
“Then y’all can do that on editor time,” Parker joked back, putting her laptop away. “But no, I think they’re right. Open hours sound cool to me. Super casual. I’m here for it.”
“Me too,” Nylan agreed, “but I’m bringing more snacks.”
“I vote popcorn,” Parker chimed in.
“Okay,” said Emerson, “but you get to clean it up when I inevitably drop it all over the floor.”
“Um, how is that fair?”
“Because it was your idea!”
“Emerson.” Nylan laughed. “You are a mess.”
But even as Emerson huffed, she was smiling, and Mal found themself smiling too. Whatever they had been expecting from this first, accidental Open Hour, it hadn’t been something that made them feel this… happy.
“I could bring some candy,” they offered to the group, who had now spiraled off on further snack suggestions, largely because of Emerson. “We have a good sale on it at work this week.”
“Sweets,andon sale?” Emerson shook her head appreciatively. “Be still, my beating heart. My dream enby.”
Mal blushed. “It’s just Tootsie Rolls, probably.”
“Oh hell yeah.” Parker held out her hand for a high five. The pleasant slap of it echoed once against the walls of the back room. “Now we’re talking.”
Subject:OPEN HOURS ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!
Thursday, September 19 | 11:28 PM
From:The MixxedMedia Editors
To:Parker , Nylan , Kodi , Stella , James
ATTN: STAFF:
A NEW FEATURE JUST DROPPED: OPEN HOURS!!!!
Think of Open Hours as an invitation to come hang out with your rad editors. Chat, work on zine stuff, have a Pop-Tart (the superior snack food no matter what our poetry feature writer will tell you), whatever!!!
You can always come hang out at the Haus whenever, duh, but here’s when one or both of us will probably be here:
Monday:4 PM to 5 PM
Tuesday:4 PM to 5 PM
Wednesday:Off
Thursday:4 PM to 9 PM
Friday:4 PM until ??? (Par-tay!)
Saturday:Afternoons-ish
Sunday:Afternoons-ish
