Under This Roof

Chapter 5

18 July 2014.

I wake up really early at the sound of my alarm. I feel so nervous and excited about my first day at work here. And God how I wish I could just go sit with Sarah and Ionna who would tell me if I did anything wrong and help me choose the right colours, and boost my confidence when I feel down. But unfortunately, Sarah and Ionna only exist back home. And now, I have to do this with someone new.

The cab pulls off in front of a huge building. It looks like an old very big house. It is very different in style from the building I am used to.

I am few minutes early. And right before I come in, Claire calls me to wish me good luck. And I feel so thankful to have met her.

"So what time do you finish?" she asks.

"Why are you asking?" I am curious.

"I thought we could have coffee together maybe."

"Right. Sure. I finish around 4:00pm."

"And I finish my shift at 4:30pm but it's fine I will leave earlier. I'll just tell the manager I have a doctor appointment."

"Claire, you don't have to do that. I will come to a place nearby your shop. That way you won't have to leave early. I can wait for few minutes there. "

"You know what? There is a good place nearby. I will text you the details."

I enjoy talking to Claire and I kind of need a friend now. I like being alone, but one can stay alone for only so long.

I look again at the building. A huge sign on its top, NARAH it reads.

I take a deep breath and enter.

The security card sees my NARAH ID card and notices that it is not issued in London. He asks me to go talk to the girl on the reception. "She will help you." he says. When I do, she asks whether it is one of my first days after relocation at work or whether I came for a meeting. She checks the system and my ID and looks back at me.

"Third floor, office 326." she says handing me back my card.

I take the elevator to third floor and head to room 326.

I knock on the door and a tall really thin girl opens up. Her hair, straight and held in a high ponytail and her eye liner is all you can see from her face.

"You must be Lauren Ellenberg." she says, a sweet smile appearing on her lips.

"That's me." I answer.

"Please, come in." she says and opens the door even wider, then steps aside.

I enter the huge room and I have no idea what to focus on. At the back end, the room has three doors probably leading to a bathroom and a couple other rooms. A huge desk on the right, an enormous bookshelf filled with files next to it. And to the left are shelves filled with different colours and fabrics. Behind the desk, there were three chairs. A blond man sat on one of them.

"Hello." he greets and smiles at me once I enter.

Then he stands up and walks towards me.

"Marcus." he says shaking my hand.

"Lauren."

"Oh I know. We've been waiting for you for a whole month now."

"This is Stephanie. The three of us will be working here as a team until we are done with this show." he explains what I already knew.

I have always loved fashion. It was my passion since I started to understand anything about this world. I set my eyes on NARAH as soon as I graduated from college and made it there. I have been working for a little less than three years with them now in my home country, Switzerland. The NARAH board decided to send me here for the summer so I can participate in the international fashion show taking place.

Clearly, Marcus, Stephanie and I will be sharing ideas for the first few weeks. I bet they want this to work as much as I do.

"Stephanie was here long time ago." Marcus starts. We all are sitting behind the desk and just drawing and thinking. A really soft music is being played. The atmosphere is very relaxing. Although the surrounding looks very different than the offices in Switzerland, the feeling is the same. 

"But I only came here a couple of months ago. Stephanie and I have been friends for a very long time now.' he continues.

"That's amazing." I say trying to sound as interested as one can be.

"Yes, sure is. So you're from... ? " Stephanie says.

"Switzerland."

"I thought you were American."

"You're not the only one."

Three hours later, I have already met Mr. Adderly, our boss. He is not as sweet as the others, but it is his job not to look so sweet, and I do appreciate people who do their jobs.

We have our lunch break, which was only our lunch break . Each floor has its own cafeteria. The team and I leave our office to the common area and have lunch together there.

"So let's ask you some questions to get to know you better. And we will reply to them all in return." Marcus says.

I nod.

"I will start. Siblings?" Stephanie starts.

"Only one brother, Louis."

"I have a sister, Alysia." Stephanie says .

"I do not have any." Marcus adds.

And in that order we keep on asking and answering.

Question: How old are you?

Me: 25 years old.

Stephanie: 27 years old.

Marcus: 28 years old.

Question: Nationality?

Me: Swiss.

Stephanie: British.

Marcus: Canadian.

And so on until the lunch break is over and we have to go back to our office. The atmosphere becomes friendly. Too friendly. And Marcus asks as we are entering the room "So Lauren, is there someone back home?"

"Nop." I clear my throat and answer. My last relationship with Blake crosses my mind. I do not like remembering Blake or talking about him.

"Aren't you two going to answer the question as well?" I finally ask them but keep looking down.

"Well," Stephanie clears her throat. She must have noticed that that was not my favourite question. "Home is here for me. And there is no one here so..." she chuckles.

"Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom." I say, dragging myself out of the room and out of the situation to the bathroom.

I feel that I moved on every day in my life. But the minute someone asks me about men, I directly recollect my bad experiences. Especially that last one with Blake. And although I am over it, I still hate to talk about it and remember how stupid I have been during that time. I do not like to talk about it not because it still hurts, but because of how bad it did hurt back then.

* So guess who appeared in this chapter !! Yes !! Louu :)

And it wont be the last time

- Yara :) x *