In The End

Just a small-town girl

I took a moment and stared up to the top of the 35-floor tower commanding it's status over the early morning skyline. I hoped to God that its steely, clinical facade was just a front and that the inside would offer a more cozy, welcoming feel, but I wouldn't put my last 20 bucks on it. Swiftly flicking my wrist the screen of my watch sprung to life and 7:45 am flashed up, along with several good luck messages from my Mom. I'd been in LA a whole week and the texts and calls were still coming in thick and fast from her. I thought with the distance from Georgia to LA she would have no choice but to let me go and make my way in the world, but as it turns out she was holding on tighter than ever. Thankfully my Dad had scuppered her plans in time else she'd have driven him across the country to ensure me and Eden made it here safely and settled in without being drugged, raped, or murdered within the first 4 hours of our arrival. I shook away the thoughts of her following me and reminded myself to be thankful that I had a mother that cared so much, there were far worse hands that I could have been dealt. I checked the watch again, 7:49 flashed back at me.
'Ok' I whispered to myself. 'You got this.' I pushed my shoulders back and put one foot in front of the other, making my way through the intimidatingly large revolving door and into the vast open reception area.

It was completely silent except for the faint electrical humming my ears instantly honed in on. My hopes for a warm and welcoming interior quickly faded as I took in the large reception desk that wouldn't look out of place on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, yep, everything was twice as big and just as corporate as I expected.

'Excuse me, Miss, may I help you?'

My attentions turned to a short, full guy bouncing towards me with pace and purpose.

'Hi,' I stepped forward, meeting him sooner than expected as one of my strides took up two of his. 'I'm Olivia, Olivia Anderson.' My hand instinctively reached out in front of him to shake. He eyed me for a second longer than was comfortable.

'Not from round here are you?' He warmly chuckled as he accepted my hand and shook it firmly. 'Well Miss Anderson, I'm Cliff, security supervisor. He tapped proudly at his ID badge then turned on his heels and headed over to the large angled reception desk. 'Who are you here to see?' he tapped on the desk causing a large screen and several aqua-blue lights to spring to life, and illuminate the area around them. 'You're very early you know, nobody tends to show up till 9:30 or 10:00 at the earliest?'

'Oh, is that right?' I scoffed internally as he puffed his cheeks out with frustration towards the non-compliant computer system. I took another glance around the space. It was all floor-to-ceiling windows offering lots of light to the reception desk, with white leather chairs opposite it creating an small waiting space. The light from the desk bounced off the shiny chrome like flooring and to the side of the reception desk were several waist-high security barriers that wouldn't look out of place at an airport or station.

'Ah ha!' Cliff's exclamation of glee brought my attention back to him. 'So, who were you here to see?'

'Well, actually.' I felt myself unnecessarily tripping over my words as I spoke. It didn't help when Cliff tilted his head and began squinting at me. 'I'm sorry.' I took a long deep breath and started again. 'Hi, I'm Olivia Anderson. It's my first day here, I'm going to be Mr. Vaughan's personal assistant.'

'I see.' His stubby fingers smoothed over his handlebar mustache. 'Well, that's a whole different issue. Have you been issued your ID card? I can't let you through without it?'

'No,' I sighed and gently shook my head. 'It's my first time here, I'm supposed to meet Amaya, Mr. Vaughan's current assistant at 8:30 am, I'm shadowing her for this week, you know, learning the ropes.' I internally cringed at my unnecessary body movements as I tried to sound cool, like Cliff gave a shit if i was hip or not.'