Defying Gravity

Chapter One

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." - Jane Austen.

Correction.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged in the 21st century, that a very single woman in her late twenties, with not one bit of a fortune (because half of it was spent on educating herself) at all must be desperate want of a decent job. An enjoyable man is only a bonus." ~ Aria Walsh.

It was the day of judgment and the monotonous sounds emitting from under my feet put me off. My apartment clearly lacked the sound proof walls it had advertised because I could hear the constant crying and screaming from the couple living below.

"C'mon!" I begged, throwing my hands into the air. "Just get a divorce already!"

"I don't reckon they can hear you," my roommate, Katie, said sleepily, squinting her eyes at me. "And he got the divorce papers last night. I saw him clutch them during our little rendezvous."

"You are unbelievable!" I said laughing. "We're getting our acceptance slash rejection letters today, and you're off and around snogging married men."

"Let's face it. Their marriage was screwed the second she said yes."

"Are you sure? The doorkeeper says it was the other way round," I replied, winking at my best friend while as I made myself a cup of strong caffeine.

Katie clutched her throat and mimicked a terrified expression and made her way to the bathroom. I felt the tension in the room. It was officially our last day as physiology students and there was no denying that the both of us were immensely nervous. Though Katie mastered in Child physiology and me in Sports physiology, we were immensely close and shared a home together since college days. And since we knew each other better than we knew ourselves,we decided to apply for each other.

We individually filled out applications for ourselves and chose the right company for each other. We both liked an element of surprise and decided it would be the best thing to do.

For the past month, we collected every letter that came through to our doors. Katie's came to me and mine went to Katie. We made a pact that today, the 1st of June, we'd open up our letters and read it in the presence of each other. That way, we'd get through the joy and pain a tad bit easier.

I heard the sound of papers being slid across on the floor and immediately looked at the foot of the door. There was one single envelope and I saw "Ms. Walsh" written gracefully on it. I pursed my lips and debated in my head if I should go take a peak. I'd waited so long after all, and there was only a couple of minutes left. Fighting the irresistible temptation, I did the wise and fair thing.

"Katie, there's a letter for me. Come take before I decide to rip it open," I said with urgency in my voice. In a split second, my best friend dashed out of the washroom, with her toothbrush in her mouth.

"Ipshghajof!" she said her face adorned with red toothpaste.

"What?" I asked amused. It was quite an entertaining sight, looking at Katie bend down and pick up the letter. She dropped it on her bed and went back to rinse.

"I said I'll get it," she said, emphasising on her previous words.

"Oh, what would I have done without that explanation, Katie? " I replied, tip toeing to catch another glimpse at the envelope on Katie's bed.

"I think there's some paste on the cover," Katie said chuckling.

"Who's it from? Who's it from?" I asked, jumping up and down like a little child.

"Let me see..." Katie trailed off and turned to the back of the envelope. Her eyes widened and I couldn't say if that was a good or a bad thing.

"What?"

"Oh it's nothing. You'll know by four this evening."

"Katie, did you send my résumé to a hooker servicer?" I asked. I was expecting the worst.

"I absolutely did. You're now officially a part of the A-Team. All you need is some pot."

"Go have a shower. You reek of white, rich and married men."

"And you reek of a boring, plain life. Can't wash that off, can you?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

I ignored my best friend and began reading the newspaper. I skipped to the feature story, they always gave me some food for thought in the morning.

"Rocketing unemployment affecting marital lives?"

A recent survey, done by a group of students from the Oxford School of Psychology, suggests that the number of the unemployed married youth, is directly proportional to the number of divorces. According to the survey, a massive 3000 divorces have been filed in the past four months. While not all of them go through with this, many of them state irreconcilable differences and unemployment seems to be the primary cause of this issue. Grad school students, especially, have difficulty getting jobs, and thus, a difficulty getting a strong base for marriage.

Jane Stone, one of the contributors to this research survey, said that 'The main element required in a marriage is happiness and content. Whether we like it or not, money drives that happiness. No job translates no money. And well, no money no honey.' That does seem to make a lot of sense. Unemployment leads to moodiness, moodiness leads to irritation, irritation leads to quarrels and well, since you're technically unemployed every day, you're bound to tread down the unpleasant path.

However, some people had different views on this subject. Sarah and Jake, a married couple of eight years said 'We've been through that rough patch, but we worked together and got past it. This too shall pass.' Maybe couples reading this will get some inspiration. There isn't an actual, permanent issue in your marriages, folks! Ladies, just cut down on the shopping and phone bills and men, well, take your girl out to dinner to make sure she cuts down those bills."

Reading this, I couldn't help but chuckle. The things people come up with! Maybe MTV would make a TV show out of this. Unemployed and divorced. Being the sneaky chick I was, I dialed the digits to her mother's number and it went straight to voicemail.

"Mom, skip to the featured section of the daily. And that's the umpteenth reason why I should get married right now. Call me later, bye!" If something on the newspaper couldn't convince her mother, she didn't know what could.

I glanced at my watch, and it was just as I expected. 8:30. I was going to be late and I abhorred being late.

"Katie, I'm leaving now. Meet me in the diner at 4!" I called out to Katie.

"Alright. Bye!" she yelled over the sound of the shower.

I'd already begun the day being late. And I couldn't help but wonder whether I'd end up at Joe's bar, drunk and celebrating or just... drunk. I guess time will tell.

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Hey guys, so this is my first attempt at chick lit, so pleaaaaase vote if you like it xx I promise to read your stuff (: