To Live Another Day

Part Four (second half)

The following day, it rains heavily.

Not that she had plans anywhere outside. Her team has gathered since noon to work on the last preparations for the networking event, and now it's evening and it is getting darker by the minute.

Their manager's office is on the sixth floor. She has never been here until this late. There is glass on most of the space where a wall should have been, so a lot of light still enters from outside. The horizon is yet somehow yellow and it reflects on other buildings of the city visible from here.

Such long hours...is she not right to get distracted by the peaceful view?

Suddenly, the room lights up.

She flinches and darts an eye on the right, where another student is standing near the door, his hand on the light switch.

"I think this is better, right?" He says, checking with the others.

The group moves, stretches, yawns and rearranges their chairs. A few nod to his question, another one thanks him.

Noé is his name.

He sits next to her on the table, but unlike other days, she doesn't mind. He is the only person in their group that she has talked to on a level other than "Hi" and "Is the presentation already finished?". No one of the others would be a better option anyways, so she is glad he is holding the place instead.

Noé is from France. He loves photography, but in fact has multimedia skills. One day, when the cafeteria was full back at university, they sat together over lunch and he talked to her about his life. Quick stuff, of course. She does not know him too well yet.

Though one thing that she knows, and it has stuck with her for a long time, is that he loves what he is currently doing. He dreams of launching an event company soon, preferably one that organizes surprise birthdays. There is something intimate between birthdays and him, something that he holds deep in his heart or a memory that he keeps warm. He never misses anyone's, and she is starting to believe that he notes them down in his calendar as soon as he gets to know people.

She envies him. It is the first time that she envies someone who is not an artist and it is strange, but not suffocating, not draining, not poisonous. She likes to hear about what he says. If she had the confidence and a strong enough will to engage in small talk, maybe she could ask a few questions to him too.

If he knew about her...would he be able to give her some advice?

Ah, she knows now. She knows what is to be envied in him.

It's his meaning, the reason that keeps him going, that she would like to know how to acquire. If she asks him how he found it, maybe she can tailor one for herself as well.

——————— 

Soon, the door opens and the manager shows up with a blue file in her hands.

"Heya everyone. Well, how are you doing?"

The group forces out a "hi", to which she smiles.

Her heels echo inside the space of the room until she takes a seat, brushing her curls back. She is in her early thirties, with that being the youngest creative director in the company.

Lou looks up to her. Not to her career or whatever achievements she has bagged. It is her stance, her walk, her confidence that she likes. She wants to be able to walk into a room with her eyes straight ahead, to throw back her shoulders, to hold someone's gaze without having to feel as if they are seeing through her mask. But maybe she can fake it a time or two. Maybe that's what the manager does.