Surrender

Chapter 1

With 20 minutes to spare, I walked through the front door of her new job and was instantly greeted with smiling faces. An older blonde woman made her way to me and introduced herself.

            “You must be Toni! I’m Samantha; it’s so nice to finally meet you,” she said, “I’ve heard so much about you! I’m sure you can’t wait to get started, so I’ll show you around.” Samantha linked her arm through mine and led me around the entire 4th floor. “To the left is where all of the fashion shoots take place, so that’s where you’ll be spending most of your time. In the back here is where your desk will be.”

            As we walked towards my new work area, I noticed that another employee already occupied the left side. Samantha caught my confused glance and smiled.

            “Your desk is on the right side. Your partner in crime will introduce herself when she gets back from her lunch break. She writes the articles that accompany your fashion shoots, so be friends with her because you’ll be spending most of your time with her,” Samantha explained. “Your first shoot will be on Tuesday. Vanessa Hudgens will be here so start looking through our collection and pick out a handful of outfits. Talk to your partner and ask her any questions. My office is down the hall and to the right if you need me. Good luck and I will check in with you before Vanessa gets here on Tuesday!” With that, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked towards her office. I sat down at her desk and took a breath. I could feel my smile growing and expanding into an ear-to-ear grin.

            I glanced at my neighbor’s desk, noticing personal pictures in classy, black frames and magazine articles taped to the wall. This girl seemed to be quite the people person so I hope we’ll get on really well. I’ll have to remember to bring in some of my own pictures so that my desk doesn’t look so empty and boring.

            I started looking around my desk area, grabbing old issues of SEVENTEEN and flipping through, paying extra attention to the fashion. I basically only have Monday and Tuesday morning to get Vanessa’s look together so I might as well get a head start.

           

I was deep in concentration when a girl came up to my desk and started talking to me.

“Hey, you must be Toni! I’m Briana but please call me Bri,” she laughed and bent down to give me a hug. “I’ll be the one writing the articles about whoever you dress up. I’ve seen your videos on YouTube and you have amazing style!”

“Wow, thanks so much!” I exclaimed. “Oh and its nice to meet you!” She sat down at her desk and spun her chair to face me.

“You’ll love it here, everyone is like family. Actually, there’s a work party tomorrow night for one of the other writers. Would you wanna come with me?” Bri asked. This party sounded like a perfect way to meet the other staff members, so I nodded.

“Sure! Thanks for inviting me!” I said, grateful that Bri was nice to me.

“Great! I write down where you live and I’ll come by and pick you up so that you have somebody to walk in with! My boyfriend is coming too so then at least you’ll know two people before you make it inside the party,” Bri said with a light laugh. She spun back around to face her desk and started working.

Wonderful. I hope Bri isn’t one of those girls who is totally attached to her boyfriend and totally forgets about the new girl. Oh well, if she is then it’ll give me a chance to meet other people, I guess. I turn back around and continue marking up pages in my magazines, getting more inspiration for the Vanessa photo shoot.

When I finally left the 17 Magazine office, I was beyond tired. Guessing from the navy sky, it was probably around 8:30. I walked back to my apartment building, looking up and admiring the bright lights and how they reflect off of the dark background and light up the night. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of New York City.

As I stepped through the door of my apartment, I flipped the lights on and locked my door. I walked straight into the bathroom to start washing up and changing for bed. I know it’s pretty early and it’s a Friday night, but I didn’t want to overwork myself after my first day of work. After all, Bri is taking me to that party tomorrow night and I’d rather be well rested for that.

I flopped down onto my huge king bed and flipped through the channels, landing on one of my favorite movies, 13 Going on 30. It’s amazing to think that I’m basically starting to live Jenna Rink’s life, except she knows who her dream guy is and I still haven’t met mine. I finish the movie and climb under my sheets, succumbing to my heavy eyelids.