Temptation [ Min Yoongi | ENG ]

F I F T Y S E V E N

I woke up at my usual time and got on with my routine, but today I wouldn't be going to the Mediapark. I had my interview at the publisher and was mentally preparing myself to make a good impression.

It was unusually warm for the beginning of March, the weather seemed anxious to leave winter behind. I rode my bike to the address and it didn't take me long to get there, the place was still in the centre and I could have easily walked there.

I was met at reception by one of the partners. She explained the mission of the publishing house to me, being herself one of those responsible for the published works. The purpose was to give women a voice and vehicle to their stories and struggles, as well as tools for other women to find their voices in their daily lives.

I was delighted and a little nervous, but the conversation flowed surprisingly smoothly.

"You currently work at RTL, right?" Margriet, that was your name, asked me.

"Yes, I am a proofreader for RTL Nieuws from 6 pm."

"Ah! There's a lot of prestige in working on something like that." She commented. "And why do you want to leave?"

"Despite the prestige, I no longer identify myself with the type of work. I would like to dedicate myself to an activity in which I see purpose."

"I understand. Before opening this publishing house with my partner, we worked at a large and prestigious publisher in Amsterdam, but our work was completely meaningless."

"Yes!" I said, confident that we have this mutual identification.

"But here things are different from a broadcaster, both in pace and at work. We are a small company and we work with the concept of slow dedication."

"What does that mean?"

"We don't work with goals and our deadlines are usually realistic. This can be demotivating for some who prefer to work under pressure."

"Ah, yes! Tranquility at work is all I could possibly want at the moment." I answered. "I am good at managing my time, but nowadays, working without the pressure of tight deadlines is a privilege of the few and I would like to have that."

"I saw that your experience with printed media is not very extensive."

"Actually, most of my professional practice, since leaving university, has been with audiovisual journalism, but I have always been interested in literary publishing and that is why I took some courses aimed at that."

"Yes, I saw that you always kept updating yourself." She said, looking at the notes in front of her. "Would you be ready to move out of the area you are now?"

"Yes! Personally, I am completely ready, but I would need to arrange the procedures with the network to be disconnected from there."

"There is no problem with that, this spot is to be filled in early April. I think that there is enough time until then and you can resolve any issues you have." She smiled at me.

The job was mine! I left there so lightly that I hardly noticed the path I took to Sultan's.

From there I went home, undressed completely and slept a heavenly sleep. I woke up hours later, hungry for having had lunch at 10 am, with my phone beeping with messages from Maud, inviting everyone in our group to dinner at her house.

>>>><<<<

I stopped my bicycle in the front yard of her house and walked to the already open entrance door. I was excited to tell everyone my news.

I was in the hall, taking off my coat, when I heard the conversation coming from the kitchen.

"But are they really over?" It was Evi's voice.

"Yes. He broke up with her over the weekend." Lotte confirmed.

"How do you know?" This time it was Maud who spoke.

"He arrived at the house a bit late on Sunday and although I locked myself in the bedroom to give them privacy, I was able to hear the conversation coming from the living room."

"And what did you hear?" I heard Evi's curiosity scream in his voice.

"Not much, but he said he made a really big mistake, that he never really got to like her and that he didn't see a future for them."

"Huh?!" Evi was incredulous. "What the fuck did he do, really?"

"Coming from him can be anything. He just does shitty choices." Maud was bitter.

"I'm not sure..." Lotte continued. "I heard what they were saying, but I had the TV on too, so they wouldn't think I was listening."

I couldn't stay there, I didn't even finish taking off my coat, I turned around, went out the door, unlocked my bike and cycled back home.

A few hours later, Maud called to ask about me. I said I preferred to be alone.

I also didn't show up to anyone in the next few days, going from home to work and from work to home.