A New Mistake

Chapter One

Usually I am woken up by birds chirping outside, or the sun shining into my room, but not today. Today my slumber is interrupted by my roommate shaking me aggressively. She must not realize the alarm is set to go off any minute now. "Grace, I am up, please let me go." I mumble snuggling back into my cloud of a bed. "Miah, this is really important, please get up and get ready!" Grace is not a fan of me getting more and more comfortable. My body meets cold morning air as the covers are ripped away from me. "Okay! Okay I am up, leave me be to get ready now." I say shooing her out of my room. She slowly exits but does not officially leave until she witnesses me actually crawling out of bed. My outfit was already laid out and prepped from last night, getting myself together should not be long. A quick rinse and my famous ten minute makeup routine will suffice. Not too long after being forced awake I deemed myself ready and begin to gather the necessities for today. Packing my laptop case I sense Grace's eyes locked on me. She must not be fond of something I have done to myself, her raised eyebrow and tapping foot tell it all. "What now?" I question, triple checking my bag. "I just want to make sure you are truly prepared for this, she can be quite blunt." "I will be just fine Grace, you have let me handle this before have you forgotten?" I say attempting to exit the apartment. "I know but this is different, I am in real trouble here if you don't come through today." I snatched my jacket from the hook and wrapped the leather around my arms. There is so much to accomplish for her in such little time. "Miah, you do understand the pressure I am under right now right?!" An old umbrella is all we seem to have, don't have time to search for a more appealing one as Grace's barking is picking at my insides. "Make me sound good, talk me up! Oh and make sure you show her my new entries too!" Well, it appears old will have to do. She continues on despite the door closing in her face. Stepping outside drops of rain meet my face before my umbrella is put to use, praise waterproof makeup.

The streets were not merely as busy as usual today, seems as though I'll have to make a clear effort for a taxi. "Taxi!" I yell out, waving my hand vigorously hoping a yellow cab emerges through the fog. Shortly my efforts were rewarded and I find myself in the back of a beat up cab. "Where to miss?" The driver asks adjusting his mirror slightly to gaze at my bosom. "Downtown, Sherri's place." I say adjusting my dress. The plan is to meet one of Grace's co-workers on her behalf. Seems as though she cannot catch a break from the bug that has been tooling around lately, poor thing. Either way, her boss deserves an explanation as to why she has yet to complete another journal entry. How convincing can one sound to earn an extension? How am I to know how amazing her next submission will be, if it's to be something great at all. Does not matter what I come up with, her name will simply do. Even though she does not always submit work on time, her documents remain crucial. Journalists are the eyes and ears of this city, and Grace is well renowned here. Boy, the things I do for this woman.

Car horns are an ear splitting noise you adjust to in New York, everyone has somewhere to be and drivers like to be sure you know that. Although, the drive to the coffee shop is not a great distance from our apartment so bearing it won't take much longer. The rain covered the windows, shielding my view of the roads. The driver seems to be focusing less on my body now, which makes me slightly happier about his previous inappropriate glares. We slid into a parking spot, throwing my laptop off the seat. No need to thank the driver for that. With one swift motion I opened the taxi door and my umbrella and proceeded towards Sherri's. This once cozy shop has now turned into a popular and overcrowded meeting spot. This new atmosphere makes me miss when I'd attend on a day such as this one, to snack on a blueberry bagel and dive into a good book. A tall woman with a sharp black blazer approached me, her flashy name tag read, Diane. Hmm, there never used to be attendants, this place must have really boomed since my last visit. "May I take your coat ma'am?" "No, I am fine, thank you." I responded by wiping the raindrops from my coat and hanging it myself. No longer an ordinary coffee shop I guess. The employee proceeded to pester me with questions leaving me glued to the entrance. "Can I offer you something to drink?" She smiled. "Thank you again, but no. However, you can point me in the direction to Miss. Tannehill's coworker." She lost her smile and evaluated my choice of clothing today. Goodness let this be quick. "You must be an intern, follow me." Well that could have went better, am I overdressed for this meet-up? Note to self, skip the business dress and heals to not look like an intern.