First Edit: 10/07/2017
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There it is.
34 Street Penn Station.
The subway entrance. If it is possible, I'd probably queue the angels choir to sing Hallelujah right now. I've been searching for this station the last fifteen minutes.
"Finally," I whisper in relief.
I guess it's not the worst thing to move to a new city, but in my books it's not just a new city that has my nerves swinging on a wrecking ball these last few months. I moved to a whole new country. Trust me, New York is a far stretch, as in oceans apart type of stretch, from the town I grew up in - which is in South Africa.
New York is a bit overwhelming at times.
I picture the amount of people that roam these streets as tiny ants, whose nest just got destroyed; and they need to work overtime to fix the thousands of tunnels. Not to mention the gigantic skyscrapers and buildings that tower over the human ants 24/7, or the intense amount of traffic that orchestrates a symphony of honking cars, pedestrians and drivers alike shouting at each other. My favourite thing though, is when NYC transforms into its own galaxy of stars when the city lights twinkle at night.
I know the last thing I should do is wander around like I am doing right now. I look and act like a tourist if I don't walk fast to my destination, which is the subway entrance. New Yorker's hate tourists, well that's what Will always tells me if I walk too slow according to his taste.
After catching the train, I finally emerge from 42 Street Station, Times Square. My ears are welcomed to the never-ending hustle of the city's noise. It is almost 9 o'clock and if I don't hurry, I will be late for my first day at the new job.
I came to America with nothing but a duffel bag, not that I had much of a choice, but by some much appreciated help, I managed to get into one of the biggest publishing companies in the country, HarperCollins.
"You stand out like a damn sore eye in this city! And it's not because of your pale white ass!" I hear a familiar voice say behind me just as I am about to walk into the giant office buildings.
I turn to see Will standing with hands on his hips, pouting his lips. He shakes his head as if he is dissatisfied with my choice of outfit. Will has been my one and only friend I've met the day I moved into the apartment building across from where he stayed. He didn't give me much of a choice as he just barged into my apartment unannounced practically every day since we met and started hanging out with me.
I clear my throat and walk over to him, "What are you doing here?"
"Girl, I couldn't let your lost ass go working without helping you first," he says and takes off the bright red scarf around his neck, "this is the part where you thank me." Before I can protest, he swings the scarf around me; he ties it in a dainty-looking knot and smiles.
"Um, thank you?"
"Hmph," he eyes me from head to toe before his attention is turned to his shoulder bag, "Here, take a sip of this, it will give you a boost of energy," a small flask rests in his grip as he holds it out to me.
I'm too afraid to even ask what's in the flask. I try squinting my eyes to look into the container when I open it but Will sighs and shoves it to my mouth before I can see anything. The only thing I can feel is ice cold, but burning liquid making its way down my throat.
"Will! I can't drink alcohol on my first day!" I scold. The taste of vodka burns my insides and I can't help but let out a cough or two to ease the sting.
"Don't worry, they won't smell it," he jokes, putting the flask back in his bag. "Now, make sure you come across as miss B when she is Sasha Fierce. Stab any bïtch that want you to do their dirty work, you hear me?"
I roll my eyes, I don't understand half the terminology he just used, "I need to go, I'm going to be late."
Will is clearly unimpressed with my statement, as he crosses his arms.
"Leah Michelle Smith!" he huffs, "you listen to me when I give valuable advice for free! You're a goddamn marvelous writer, I read some of that so called hidden files on your laptop," he exclaims, lifting up his finger to shut me up when he sees I want to interrupt him, "so act like a BOSS in there! No excuses!"
Internally I flinch at the sound of him calling me Leah Michelle Smith. One of the many things that had to change when I came to New York. Now is not the time to reminisce about the past so I nod my head. Will looks like he just gave the I have a dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr. I know he is just trying to hype me up to be on my game on my first day.
"What are you going to do today? Since you're never awake so early." I ask.
"I set ten damn alarm clocks for your ass, girl, you better be thankful as hell," he says, "and you better buy me a pizza and a drink tonight," he smirks, "as for now, I saw some sexy ass men over at that coffee shop over there," he points to what seemed to be an up-market coffee shop for professionals, "I'll be working my magic!" he says, walking away.
"Say ass one more time for me!" I shout as he walks away like a freaking model on the runway.
A sassy Lafayette from True Blood pops up in my head when I think of Will chatting up straight men in the most inappropriate of places. I shake my head and laugh to myself when the elevator reaches the seventh floor.
Instead of stepping out the elevator like a normal person, my whole body crashes into what feels like a concrete brick wall when I try to move forward. Before I could see who I walked into, my head bumps against the person again and I stumble to the side. Ever so elegantly, well, more like a chicken running around without a head, I fall to the floor in a big plonk.
"Ow," I murmur as I rub my forehead.
"Shit! Here, let me help you," a husky voice says. He bows down and puts his hand around my waist for support as I'm pulled back up.
I'm met with the most beautiful golden brown eyes, framed by dark chocolate brows. Holy shit.
I should probably open my mouth and speak, but I think my brain just froze.
Maday! Mayday! Brain malfunctioning!
His lips grow into a slight smile as he looks at me. I think he is finding this amusing - my sudden muteness, because it takes a whole minute before he eventually speaks. "Are you okay?" He rubs the back of his neck with his hand and to my convenience, his baggy shirt allows for the sleeve to fall down and his biceps are in full view.
He raises a brow, clearly noticing me stare at him.
Right, I should speak.
"I, um, work -" I stutter embarrassingly, slapping myself mentally for how stupid I must sound to the godlike creature in front of me.
"You work here?" he asks, looking behind him and back at me, making his bleached, wavy hair bounce underneath his black hat.
I nod, "First day." My muscles decide to start working again, thankfully; and I readjust the red scarf around my neck and pull down my black skirt that almost managed to work its way up to my butt.
A moment of silence passes again. The stranger keeps standing in front of me, making it really inconvenient for me to walk pass him.
"So..." I awkwardly say.
"So..." he teases back, making me chuckle.
"I should probably get going..." I mumble in a low voice.
"Tell me your name first."
"It's Cal-, Leah, just Leah," I manage to stop myself before giving myself away.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Leah," he holds out his hand for me to shake, "good luck with your first day," he steps to the side and in to the elevator, allowing me to pass.
I turn back looking at him, "Wait, aren't you going to tell me your name?"
He suddenly frowns, looking up at me in confusion, "You don't know who I am?"
The elevator doors start closing as I shake my head.
"I'm Justin," he says as he clearly sees my facial expression confused and unchanged, "Justin Bieber?" he asks.
The name sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Am I supposed to know who he is?
"I'm sorry?" I say, watching as the elevator doors close.
From the small gap between the doors I could see his wide eyes as he shouted "Wait! Where are you from?"
With the blink of an eye, the doors are closed and I could see from the numbers above, the elevator is moving down to basement.
I shrug and turn to walk to the HR office. I am already ten minutes late for my first day of work.
Here goes nothing.
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If you enjoyed the prologue to this story, please consider giving it a vote and/or comment to tell me what you think!
I'm slowly coming back to the first chapters and editing/rewriting some parts to better the story. Nothing major is changing, just the wording/grammar/sentence structures etc.
Thank you for reading!
-euodiadem