An Interesting Love

New Beginnings

Word count: 2,425

"Here's your desk, Charlotte."

"Thanks, Jocelyn. Where's the bathroom again?"

"Behind Alan's desk, to the right. I will get back to my own desk now and let you get started."

"Thank you so much again for showing me around, I'm very excited to start."

I'm standing on the fourth floor of a pretty office building. The windows are tall and wide, without a smudge in sight. No one speaks and the sun is bright in my eyes. I put down my backpack and walk over to the window. I get annoyed at its cleanliness and lay my finger on it. There, a nice little imperfection. I look down to the crosswalk outside; there must be a hundred students in my small circle of sight down there. They're on the road to becoming doctors and lawyers, activists and politicians— Columbia University sends the brightest of the bright out into the world. It's really a blessing that I got this job writing for the Intercollegiate Lense— it's a newspaper that offers students from the little ivies an opportunity to show their work to bigger universities and their alumni. I'm in my sophomore year at Amherst College, I still can't drink legally but I can live alone in New York City. They didn't have enough on-campus housing so they put me up in this little apartment a block away from the office. It's a pretty nice setup.

"That's a hot guy," I think to myself.

I turn around and walk back to my desk, stopping to pick up a lost sticky note. I stick it onto the side of my desk in an easily observable spot so that its owner might see it and reclaim it. I'm resisting the urge to take a picture of me in front of my desk for my mom. I'm wearing a really nice and professional outfit: a dark blue Armani dress that cuts off at my knees with black stockings and short docs. I may have overdressed; the other students working here are just wearing jeans and band t-shirts. I met one guy who was really nice; he' a junior from Colby College. I can't remember his name but I think it started with an M.

I sat down in my swivel chair and could resist the urge no longer. I snuck my phone out of my backpack and took a little selfie from under the desk. I look fucking great and my eyeliner came out perfect this morning. I love eyeliner. I like heavy makeup in general but lack the ability to apply it to my own face. Now is the time to start the actual work. I was offered this position for my composition skills. Every day I am to submit two poems for the creative writing section of the paper; it is basically the best job I could have. All of the creative writers have to stick to a particular theme each day, and today's theme is "new beginnings," which makes sense since this is the first issue of the summer. I open my laptop and begin to research song lyrics. I like to ride a wave each time I write a poem, and this wave is starting with a new band. I look up recently formed bands and find one very easily. They've released one EP and they say that their main message is embracing their youth. I look into each song and one particular lyric catches my eye: "Let the drought dry God's hands so you won't slip through his fingers." I like this idea of natural phenomena tied to being saved and the risks we take, so I work with it. It takes me about twenty minutes of brainstorming before I look at the clock and see that it's time for lunch. I prefer having lunch early so that I can be more energized for the remainder of the day. I am still very excited to do this work, but I only got about six hours of sleep last night. I usually get eight or nine. I need the food to liven me up and inspire me.

I leave the building and walk two streets down to the closest dining hall. It only takes me about five minutes to get there because every crosswalk is filled and cars have no chance of getting past quickly. I walk in and swipe my ID, moving past the long line for the main entrees and moving to the pizza station. I get the slice with the most spinach and feta on it and move on to the salad station. I pile on tofu over a bit of lettuce and spinach and drizzle some baby formula over the rock hard bowl. I go to take my seat near a window that has a nice tall bush right outside. Just before I lay my juicy ass down I hear a voice call my name.