All By Design

Chapter 2 - Working Overtime

"I still don't get what you do for work. You're an engineer and you're a consultant. Those are like two of the most notoriously vague jobs ever to exist" Sof, Sofia a.k.a Samira's roommate, goes on during dinner the next night.

"Will you just eat your food, I've explained my job to you so many times" Samira says as she takes a bite of their homemade burgers. It was a new recipe they had found online, pretty good but maybe they had overcooked the patties just a tad bit.

"How's your boyfriend doing?" Sof asks instead taking another bite of her burger, the tomatoes threatening to fall out any second.

"My boyfriend is doing well thanks for asking. He got a new shirt, he wore it today and was telling us how the material doesn't need to be ironed because it is wrinkle-free. It suits him-"

"Was he telling you, or you overheard him telling someone else?" Sof interrupts.

"Well, he was telling Roy and I happened to be in the elevator at the same time"

"Oh come on! I was hoping for a juicier story than that today," Sof sounds genuinely disappointed as she semi-whines at Samira "'oh Sofia he has a wrinkle-free shirt' " she goes on to imitate Samira with a mocking voice, "shut up, I raised you better than this!" She takes another bite of her burger. 

Samira plays with her glass of soda, aimlessly moving it around, making the ice hit its walls. 

"Well, what do you want me to do Sof? He's my boss. Emphasis on the boss. I can't do anything. The cons list a lot longer than the pros."

"Oh Sam," Sofia sighs. 

Samira just shakes her head and says "it's just for the summer, then I'm switching to the other firm anyways," she's a little sad but she is in denial about it, and is also in denial about being in denial - she's working on it (not really, she really needs to find a therapist or something).

Sof just mutters an almost inaudible "okay" and they go back to their conversation about the next random thing. But Samira's mind wanders back to Thomas in the small pockets of silence.

Do I even cross his mind when I'm not directly in front of him? Even then, does he notice me? Notice that I'm in front of him?

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It's 6:00 a.m., and Toronto is awake. The fire trucks and ambulances usually wait a little longer to wake the city, almost like a dystopian urban rooster, but today they're early. Samira is also early, lying awake on her bed, her alarm with 30 minutes still on the clock.

She grabs her phone from the table and scrolls through the notifications on her lock screen.

Samira is not a morning person. But, lately, with her tiny crush and all, she's more excited to wake up, because that means she's going to work, and going to see the love of her life.

The notifications look usual, so she turns off her alarm and makes an attempt to leave her bed: she flicks her comforter off her body and lays still - it was an attempt.

What should I wear today? She thinks as she glances towards her chair, the chair, none of the clothes on there look appealing.

She turns her phone on again, trying to find the weather app.

She reads out loud, "Toronto, with a high of 26° C today, sunny, and no wind" and lets out a sigh through her nose "It's June dress weather."

She sits in her bed, pulling the comforter back into her lap. She looks to her closed closet doors, trying to imagine the clothes inside on the hangers so she can try to figure out what she should wear. 

When that doesn't work, she gets up and walks towards her room window, pulls the curtain aside, and looks onto the city observing the many people walking about so early in the morning.

Maybe I'll wear my pink dress today...

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