Penny arrived at work, late and pulling on her labcoat. Fellow engineer Marty caught her in the corridor.
          "Why Miss Gibson, you're only twenty minutes late today," he grinned.
          "I had an emergency," Penny huffed.
          "Don't tell me, you flooded the kitchen?" Marty jeered.
          "Cat got stuck in the linen cupboard, nasty pillow case incident," Penny rushed and then hurried into the lab. Another collogue Ken was mulling over a blueprint and looked over at Penny.
          "Do you understand this Gibbo?" He asked.
          Penny cringed at her nickname and looked over at the blueprint. "Um, no…Oh wait…No…Oh that says…recycled paper…shit"
          "Thanks, that was ever so helpful," Ken mused. "Have you met the new bloke?"
          "We have a new bloke?" Penny said bewildered as she looked over the half-finished rocket they'd been working on.
          "Yeah, Chris," Ken perked. "Speaking of the devil…"
          Penny looked up and nearly dropped her protective goggles; Chris was nothing short of devastatingly handsome. Tall, broad shouldered, dark hair and eyes and Penny was sure he had quite a nice body under his labcoat. This man was like no engineer Penny had ever seen in her life. Most of the ones she knew were gawky, pretentious, Lord of the Rings loving wankers. Chris was the exception to the rule, which posed a problem. Penny had enough trouble trying to concentrate without having an engineering sex god hovering around making her nervous.
          "Hi, you must be Penny," Chris smiled.
          Oh god, he smiled at her. "Yep," Penny peeped and gingerly held out her hand, she quickly cleared her throat. "Sorry, I've got a bit of a cold."
          "Since when?" Ken muttered as Penny shot him daggers.
          "I think there's one going around," Chris shrugged.
          "You know, I hate that term. It makes me think of a germ with a suitcase knocking on people's doors. Or some sort of bad 70s horror flick where a psycho germ goes around infecting the entire state of Texas and the only person who can save them is Dirk Benadict. Who as a mad scientist has created the only germ repellent strong enough to kill the psycho germ," Penny babbled.
          Chris looked at her strangely. "Right," he nodded.
          "Sorry, we should talk rockets," Penny smiled realising she hadn't rambled so much since she and Julia had taken to drinking vodka shots at Christmas.

          Julia bounced out of the elevator and through the partitioned cubicles, greeting her colleagues as she went.

          "Morning Jools."
          "Morning Suzie."
          "Hi Jools."
          "Whatever Dave."
          "Hey Jools."
          "Hey Louise."
          "Good morning Miss Dunn."
          "Ralf."

          Julia rolled her eyes as she wandered past the next cubicle, stopped and stepped back. The cubicle once occupied by Simone who had left to give birth to triplets, now contained a new face. Well, a great butt from where Jools was standing and observing the rather nice black slacks and what they contained.
          "Can I help you?" asked the owner of the black slacks.
          "Um…No…I was just having…quiet time," Julia mumbled.
          "Quiet time?" asked the man amused.
          "Yeah, a few seconds to reflect on how much I love life," Julia perked.
          The man narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "You know, it’s funny I could have sworn you were checking out my arse."
          "Who, me?" Julia gasped a hand splayed on her chest. "It's hardly my fault you were bent over and inspecting a filing cabinet when I passed."
          The man's face broke into a broad smile. "Liam," he announced and extended his hand.
          "Julia," Julia replied and shook his hand.
          "Nice to meet you Julia," Liam perked.
          "Please, call me Jools, everyone else does."
          "Jools then," Liam nodded. "My mates call me Donga, don't ask why."
          "I hope it doesn’t begin with a - dry as a dingo’s," Julia mused.
          Liam sniggered as his attention drifted over to Megan, a petite blonde who was chatting with Kathy in the cubicle across from them. "I guess you'll never know."
          Julia looked at Megan disgusted and at Liam's drooling equally disgusted. "I know when I'm not wanted," she mumbled and turned to head over to her cubicle, making sure to swipe Megan with her bag as she did so.

          Kirsty arrived in town just before eleven much to her own surprise, the fact she'd received a cheque for $800 for her latest article encouraging her to go and splash some cash. The problem was she couldn't actually find anything she wanted to buy, sure the half-priced flared jeans were tempting and a gorgeous pair of black boots would have been nice. She ended up however, buying a stuffed frog for her nephew and a new tablecloth. Kirsty nipped into a quiet looking alley and grabbed her phone with the intention of calling Julia, she changed her mind when she realised that would involve traipsing across the other side of town and shoved the phone back in her bag. She decided to pop into Woolworths and grab some lunch, most probably a chocolate bar and an iced coffee. By the time she'd pushed through the throngs of shoppers Kirsty was disappointed to find only one Violet Crumble left and reached to get it. As she did another hand appeared and they both grabbed an end of the chocolate bar.
          "Hey, I saw it first," Kirsty hissed and looked at the potential Violet Crumble thief. She could have been knocked over with a feather, right there in the lolly aisle as she looked straight into the eyes of the man she's had a screaming match with the night before in Hindley Street.
          "Told you we were out to get you," he said with a small smirk. In the shadows and in her furious state, she'd not taken in much of the man's physical attributes. In the bright neon lights of Woolworths she realised Penny had been right, he was good looking. Not just that but there was something about his hazel eyes that was making her think things she shouldn't. Especially not in front of the two five year olds who were arguing over Smarties beside them.
          "Well, if you let go of the Violet Crumble I'll be off," Kirsty chirped.
          "What? I think I deserve it after you made me late last night," the man chided.
          "It’s fashionable to be late." "Not when you're getting paid it’s not."
          "My heart bleeds, really."
          The man narrowed his eyes and quickly swiped the chocolate bar out of Kirsty's hand.
          "Hey," Kirsty huffed.
          "Sorry, I Twix-ed you," The man smiled impishly. "It was Bounty happen."
          Kirsty tried to stifle a giggle.
          "Nevermind, have some Time Out, It'll all be Cherry Ripe," he continued forcing her too finally let out a giggle.
          "Oh you're such a Smartie," Kirsty chided.
          "And you're an Aero head," the man cackled.
          Kirsty's mouth fell agape. "Don't your Snickers at me."
          "Would you rather listen to something of M&M's?"
          "God no, I prefer Picnics in the sun."
          "What a load of Pollywaffle," the man teased as they approached the checkout, he paid for the Violet Crumble as Kirsty shrugged and headed back into the Mall. She stopped when she heard him cry, "WAIT!"
          "I've run out of chocolate references," she mused as he trotted over.
          "Oh me too," he perked. "You forgot this," he added and held out the Violet Crumble.
          "But you bought it."
          "Only to piss you off, have it."
          Kirsty gave him a wry smile. "Well if you insist," she mused as she reached for the bar.
          "One more thing, before I hand over the chocolate," the man smiled.
          "If it involves another pun I'll slap you," Kirsty chided.
          The man laughed. "No, you have to come to my show tomorrow night at Laughing Gas."
          "Why?"
          "Why not?"
          Kirsty crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she studied him a moment. "Ok, by the way what's your name, I don't want to look like a total dick turning up to see some guy I don't even know."
          "Ross," perked the man with a smile. "and you might be."
          "Kirsty," she replied returning the smile.

          Julia sat crumbling a chocolate donut into crumbs as she sat at her desk. She was supposed to have gone to lunch with the girls but they'd insisted Liam go with them and she had no desire to watch him slobber all over Megan like every other man in the office. Megan you see was the office stunner, the one all the men lusted after even though she was as flat as two aspirin on an ironing board and was terrible at her job. The girl was obviously employed for her looks alone because she couldn't even do a tax return right and who was left to repair her damage, Julia that's who.
          "What did that donut ever do to you?" Kirsty announced sauntering into Julia's cubicle.
          "Do you not pass the reception desk?" Julia breathed.
          "Of course I do."
          "Then how come the boss needs to show ID to get in but you just appear?"
          Kirsty shrugged. "What's eating you?"
          "Nothing, why you here?" Julia grumbled.
          "I got a nice check, thought I'd treat myself," Kirsty perked. "Unfortunately all I bought was a stuffed frog."
          "Don't suppose some of that is going on bills?" Julia asked.
          "Sure, why not," Kirsty smiled. "You will never guess who I ran into in Woolies."
          "Not my mother I hope."
          "No, that guy I abused last night. The one who knocked me over."
          "Did he slap you?"
          "No," Kirsty said slightly taken aback.
          "Damn," Julia cussed.
          "We fought over a Violet Crumble."
          "Who won."
          "He did, but he gave it to me and he wants me to go to his gig tomorrow."
          Julia finally looked from her crumbled donut to Kirsty. "That's almost a date."
          "I know and Pen was right, he's gorgeous, what was I thinking last night? Must have been the lack of food."
          "Or the lack of brain cells."
          "Get fucked."
          "I wish," Julia said sardonically as Liam appeared at the entrance to her cubicle.
          "Jools do you have any idea why my computer wont do anything but show me a picture of two Asian hookers going for it with a Labrador?" he asked somewhat horrified.
          "Fucking hell, that'll be Ralf being a dickhead as usual," Julia groaned. "I'll show you what to do in a minute."
          "Thanks," Liam smiled and disappeared.
          "Who was that?" Kirsty asked.
          "Liam, the new guy," Julia replied as she dumped the remains of her donut in the bin.
          "I was going to say, that's some serious eye candy hon."
          "Yes, well he likes Megan," Julia huffed.
          "Megan, she's the blonde right?"
          "Yeah."
          "Want me to attack her with stationary?"
          Julia giggled. "You idiot."
          "Just say the word and I will."
          "Go home, go on…I have some bestiality porn to remove," Julia laughed as she shoved Kirsty out of her cubicle.

          Penny picked her goggles up off the counter and put them on, making sure to tuck a stray curl behind her ear before looking towards her colleagues.
          "Okay guys are we ready to give this thing a trial run?" she asked to everyone in general. They'd spent the last three hours putting the final touches on the rocket and it was time to give it a test run. They'd opted to trial it in the lab first rather than out in the open because if it went haywire at least it could be contained in one room rather than be let loose out in the open. That was the plan anyway. Only the test would prove that theory.
          "I'm not very comfortable with testing this rocket in the lab…I think it would be better if we tested this thing outside, that way there's less chance of anyone being injured," Chris piped up. The remainder of the group nodded in agreement and started collecting everything they needed before making their way out to the testing range, which happened to be a paddock full of sheep.

          Penny painstakingly set up the rocket in the middle of the testing range and everyone stood back about a hundred metres from the rocket before they pressed the remote ignition. There was a brief plume of smoke as the rocket ignited and started to levitate off the ground.
          "It's working, it's working!" Marty yelped as it ascended into the air.
          "Oh, oh it's not supposed to be doing that is it?" Penny asked as they watched the rocket arc and turn towards their viewing point.
          "I believe it's coming straight towards us," Chris announced.
          "State the bloody obvious don't you," Penny hissed.
          "Uh guys…Shouldn't we all be hitting the floor about…NOW!" Marty yelled as the rocket approached them and they hit the ground. They heard it whiz over their heads and Penny looked up just in time to see it hit a sheep and explode. The sheep fell to the ground, smoking and with a gaping hole in it's side. The smell of burnt flesh wafted over to them.
          "Shit it should have been a decimal not a fraction!" Penny spat as she thumped the ground with her fist.
          "C'mon let's get back to the lab," Ken sighed. "Marty you bury the sheep."
          "Why do I always have to bury the sheep?" Marty grumbled as he picked up the shovel and made his way towards the smoldering sheep. Penny got up from the ground, dusting herself off and cursing her own stupidity. She glanced up at Chris and noticed that he was extremely pale.
          "Chris are you okay? You look so good," Penny inquired
          "That poor sheep," he gasped. "Do you have any idea how much it must have suffered?"
          "I thought its death was quite quick and with an injury like that it would have been dead before it felt the pain," Penny shrugged.
          "You Miss Gibson are a sick, uncaring, twisted individual," Chris spat
          "Don't blame me it was the decimal. If it hadn't disguised itself as a fraction we wouldn't be in this mess and that poor sheep would still be alive," Penny retorted as Chris stormed off towards the lab
          "Um Pen, Chris is a vegetarian," Ken piped up.
          "FUCK!" Penny hissed, grabbing her head as she sank back onto the grass.

          Julia spent two hours trying to get the porn off Liam's computer. She'd spent most of the time screaming obscenities at the jumped up abacus. Finally threatening to wipe it's hard drive before she finally managed to sort the problem out.
          "So how do I stop him from sending that shit to me again?" Liam asked
          "Well, I've found what usually works is to send the sick fuck an email telling him that if he sends you anymore porn you'll rip his testicles off using nothing but a staple remover," Julia scorned as she started to write said email. Just as she hit the send button Megan walked into the cubicle. Liam instantly turned his attention to her and started preening himself, straightening his tie and running his hands through his hair. He turned to face her and his groin hit the corner of the table. He gave a silent whistle and took a few moments to regain his composure before he spoke to her.
          "Megan what can I do you…For you?" he asked.
          "Nice save," Julia giggled, he shot her daggers.
          "I was wondering if you could help me with the Turner's BAS? There's just a few things I'm not too sure of," she chirped as she batted her eyelashes at him.
          "Sure no problem," he smiled, following her to her desk and completely ignoring Julia who was still finishing up on his computer.
          "Thanks Jools for removing the bestiality porn from my computer. I really appreciate it…No problem Liam, Glad to help you. Oh don't get up I can make my own way back to my cubicle. But not until after I put the porn back onto your computer you prick," Julia muttered as she hit a few buttons and the familiar picture of the two young Japanese girls with the cow reappeared on the screen. She wandered back to her desk and continued with the tax return, she had been working on before she helped Liam.

          Kirsty had decided that since she was in the city she'd go and drop an advert she'd been assigned to do into McKenna's, one of the larger advertising firms in the city. She walked through the automatic doors and wandered into the posh looking reception area. She sauntered over to the unoccupied desk and rang the tiny bell before tapping the front desk waiting for someone to appear. Kirsty nearly died when she was tapped on the shoulder.
          "Are you stalking me?" the familiar voice announced.
          Kirsty turned around and came face to face with Ross, who was now dressed in a pinstripe suit.
          "I'll have you know I'm not stalking you, I'm here to hand in the copy for the new Cadbury's ad," Kirsty chirped as she handed him an envelope.
          "How charitable of you." Ross mused as he took the envelope and went behind the desk. He placed the envelope in one of the many in trays.
          "Hey, it means I get free chocolate for a year," Kirsty chided.
          "What is it with chicks and chocolate?"
          "This from a man who leaves a half eaten Mars Bar on his desk," Kirsty observed.
          "I sacrificed a Violet Crumble for that mars bar you know. I can leave it wherever I want."
          "It's not very good customer relations to leave chocolate laying on the front desk."
          "It's half a Mars Bar for fucks sake."
          "You should see what I can do with half a Mars Bar."
          "What? Here and now?"
          "Well…"
          "ANDERSON!"
          "Yes sir?" Ross asked as a large man stormed out into the reception area.
          "Have these sent by courier by 4 o'clock this afternoon and call Douglas about that idiot from that dog food commercial," he said as he thrust a pile of documents at Ross and stormed back to his office.
          "Yes Sir," Ross answered.
          "Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir," Kirsty mocked as she turned and headed for the door. She stopped when she felt the thwack of a pencil against her skull and turned to look at Ross, who was head down at his desk. She turned back to the door and heard him start to snigger. He soon stopped when she threw the pencil back at him and it narrowly missed his eye.

          Kirsty and Julia were in the middle of their dinner, chicken and chips when Penny walked into the kitchen, pulled a plate out of the cupboard, sat down and started filling her plate with food.
          "Hi Penny," Kirsty perked.
          "Why don't you join us for tea? There's plenty to go around," Julia added.
          "How the hell was I supposed to know he was vegetarian?" Penny announced, shoveling chips into her mouth.
          "Have we missed something?" Kirsty asked.
          "Hey wasn't today the day you tested your rocket?" Julia asked.
          "Okay I'll start from the beginning," Penny announced. "This morning this sex god of an engineer…" Julia and Kirsty looked at each other over the table and raised their eyebrows "…started at work and was assigned to my group. We finished the rocket and decided to test it and how was I to know that the fraction instead of the decimal would make the rocket veer off course and kill a sheep? Then the pretentious prick had a hissy fit about the pain the sheep went through. Because he's a fucking vegetarian and he wouldn't talk to me at all the rest of the day. All I could think of was licking salsa off his naked buttocks…God I want him so much," she sighed as she took a sip of Coke.
          "So Jools, did you get that tax thing sorted?" Kirsty piped up.
          "Yeah, they'd forgotten to take the GST component out of the expenses and I had to spend ages on the phone finding out what had GST, what didn't. It took me ages to sort out," Julia rambled.
          "Are you guys even listening to me? I'm in pain here," Penny interjected.
          "Yes, we are listening Pen but…" Kirsty was cut off by Jools.
          "You're in pain? The hottest guy in the office is chasing Megan the bimbette as if she's the first woman he's ever seen and it's not fair 'cos I want him," she huffed.
          "I got hit in the head with a pencil," Kirsty announced.
          "What?" Julia asked.
          "I ran into Ross again."
          "Ross?" Penny asked.
          "You know that guy that knocked me over last night. I've run into him twice today. First we argued over the last Violet Crumble in the store and then I was handing my ad in and he was the bloody receptionist. Wearing a very nice pinstripe suit too… but I digress…he threw a pencil at me I threw it back at him then I left," Kirsty explained.
          "That's the most foreplay you've had in months," Julia teased.
          "Oh come on we've run into each other three times. If that's not an act of God what is?"
          "What about the sheep? Was that an act of god?"
          "What sheep?" Penny and Kirsty asked together.
          "The sheep that Penny killed."
          "I did not kill the sheep it was the decimal," Penny huffed.
          "I think you'll find that the rocket killed the sheep," Kirsty informed her.
          "Why does he have to be vegetarian?" Penny whined.
          "And so we're back at the beginning again," Julia sighed.