𝑂𝑛 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

Chapter 1 • Just Another Night

MILA

Last night was, oh my God, it was the best night of my entire life.

And I've been through a lot of nights.

I stretched my arms over my head and shook my tangled brown hair from my face. I was in some random guy's—no, a sex god's— bed, who's name I didn't know. At some point in the night, I remember him telling me who he was. No last name, just the first. Now that I'm thinking back on it, his first name was the only thing the man told me about himself. Sharing hobbies and livelihoods just didn't seem too important  when we were smashing our faces against each others and ask. Even if those things did come up, the two of us were both too drunk to be able to remember.

I sat up, letting out a deep yawn. The tall, brooding, and handsome man from last night was gone already, just like I expected him to be. Even though I was secretly wishing for morning sex, it was better this way. One night stands are always awkward after you wake up. The mere thought of him watching me do the walk of shame out of the room makes me cringe. With him gone, I can get ready in peace, without being glared down and rushed until I finally left.

As I looked down my eyes landed on a note that sat on top of the bed side table. It had a hotel room key laying across it, the words scribbled roughly and rushed.

—Drop this down at the front desk when you leave.—

I rolled my eyes.

Why didn't he just take it down there in the first place?

I grabbed my clothes —a dark washed pair of straight legged jeans and a black lace body suit— and threw them on. I have to be on a plane to New York City in less than 2 hours. Yes, I know, hooking up with someone the night before you start a new job isn't the most responsible thing to be doing, but I've decided to think of it as my send-off from Chicago. Illinois and New York are two similar, but also very different places. With a job like being a journalist, I needed a shot of adrenaline to get me started.

I had landed a 'semi'-transfer from ACM to the New York Magazine. It was a big deal, like a really big deal. Living in the Big Apple, chasing stories and telling the world's news is what every journalist dreams about, especially me. I fell in love with writing the second my hand touched a pencil for the first time in kindergarten, and I also fell in love with gossip in the seventh grade. Writing is my life. There's times that I will actually think in times new roman 12 point font.

With my red purse over my shoulder, I grabbed the key from the table and replaced it with a five dollar bill for the housekeeper. Of course he didn't leave anything for them. I barely knew him, but that guy seemed like a real hard-ass. The men I tend to meet always turn out to be arrogant, trust fund babies. He was kind've that. The only difference was he was less trust fund and more serious family business.

After I had left the hotel, gotten to the airport, and was in the plane I had forgotten all about the night before. It was a distant memory of my old life and how far I've come. Making it in New York has always been the goal. I made Pinterest boards and followed all the cities top end newspapers and magazines on Twitter. I've never been closer to my life's purpose then I am right now.

I left the boarding gates, grabbed my luggage from the carousel, and quietly scrolled on my phone as I leaned against a wall. Airports were a nightmare for me. Being majorly claustrophobic with a job that constantly has me around crowds wasn't the brightest move in my career path, but it's honestly helped me somewhat. It makes me face my fears of being in large crowds and challenges me to suck it up and deal with it. It's a blessing and a curse.

"Mila?!" My ear drums shattered. The voice was high-pitched, assertive, and very girlish. "Oh my God, it's you!"

My head whipped around to find my best friend of nine years, Ally, engulfing me in a bear hug so tight I couldn't breathe. I tried to hug her back, but my arms were pinned own to my sides by hers, so instead I laughed. I could feel her cheesy grin against my shoulder until she finally pulled back after a minute of squeezing the life from my lungs.

"Quick, start crying so that people think we're reuniting after a decade of being torn apart by our rival families." Her hands were still grasped onto my shoulders with her voice hushed and head tilted down.

I did exactly as she said. I quivered my lip and held my breath to make my eyes water. "Oh, Ally." I whispered, shaking my head with faux disbelief. "I knew we'd be together again. Nothing will keep us apart, I promise you."

Ally tried to respond, struggling to speak as she held a laugh in her puffed out cheeks. "I-" She started, then immediately busting into a fit of laughter and I did the same, no longer able to keep it together. "Yeah, I can't." Ally said, a grin across her face.

"Ugh, Allyyyyy." I groaned, "You ruined it! I wanted to have one of those sappy rom-com love stories, except the gay version."

"You read too much." She laughed, slinging her arm over my shoulders as we walked out from the airport and got into a cab.

Without Ally there is no way that I would be here right now. She's been writing for NYM for a few years, leaving me in Illinois to chase dreams of her own. She's always had a way with words and her name, Ally Fukuda, always sounded better on paper then mine. It'd be a lie to say that I didn't envy her when she landed the job. I was happy for her of course, but there's no denying that I held a silent grudge for a good month and a half.

I've been over that, though. I've only been assigned a small article on some crime around the area, but it was a start. It was something to get me going, a chance to prove myself to the writers I adore. I had a month to show that I was more than some low-level journalist who dreamed higher than she could reach.

I'd make a story out of this no matter what.

•

Heyyyy!! Hopefully you liked the first chapter! It's a bit rough, but I'll make some edits after I get a few more chapter posted!

love y'all and please remember to vote and comment!!! <3

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