the balcony ••• awsten knight

three

october 2016

Emily Iver is never late.

She isn't late today either, technically. But, she's usually much earlier than she is today, which makes her feel like she's late.

Today has already been Emily's worst all week.

Her phone decided to automatically update overnight, which meant that it reset all of her alarms and the one that she needed didn't go off on time. To follow, the hot water in her crappy apartment wasn't working, so she ended up having a cold shower— not the most pleasant experience. When trying to get ready after her shower, her hair dryer practically exploded in her hand; leaving her to towel dry her hair, which felt like it took an eternity. All of this then meant that she didn't have time to put on any make up, while she has the worst breakout she's had in months.

The only reliable part of her morning has been her car; it ran smoothly and perfectly for once, which is out of the ordinary. Although, she still got stuck in heaps of Los Angeles traffic.

"Running a little late, Emz?" Anna asks, from behind her reception desk, peering over at her.

She was hoping to slip past without an interaction with Anna— but, of course, she couldn't manage that.

"I'm not late," Emily replies, managing to mark her irritation. "And, please don't call me that. I've asked you before," she adds.

Thankfully, that doesn't warrant a reply— only an expression that Emily catches Anna doing more often than not, turning her nose up and looking away.

Emily heads to her office swiftly, letting out a long sigh once she closes the door behind her.

She almost forgets how tiny her office is each time she re-enters it at the beginning of the day.

She understands that she's new here, but to be overworked, underpaid and have a crappy office, it's not the best feeling in the world. She's still holding out hope for things to improve.

Emily is just about ready to get settled for the day when she glances to a bright pink post-it note stuck to her desk.

Her eyes widen as she reads it. It's the exact same as one she'd written last night and stuck to her kitchen cupboard so that she wouldn't let it slip her mind: Stop by meeting with Jeremy!!! Don't forget!!!

"Shit, shit, shit," she mutters, standing up quickly and leaving her office.

She takes a breath as she closes the door behind her, letting her eyes shut for a brief moment to compose herself, and then calmly heads for the conference room.

Professional mask: on.

Emily knows Jeremy has a meeting with a band today and that he wanted her to stop by for an introduction. She doesn't know which band, he didn't tell her, but she hopes it's a nice one.

The last time she was asked to interrupt a meeting like this, the lead singer started yelling at her. She doesn't want that to happen today— she really doesn't need that today.

After breathing in deeply, Emily knocks on the door— gently, but loud enough that Jeremy should be able to hear it over whoever is talking.