The Echoes of Gatsby's Gala

43 7 9
                                    


Taking the metro from the office in SoHo to her home in Chelsea is a short ride. Gracie had the convenience of only needing to take three stops on either the E or C line to travel between her photography internship office and her cozy apartment. Sometimes, when she was tired, there were instances where she unintentionally missed her stop. Tonight, this actually happened.

Gracie, overcome by sleep exhaustion, accidentally missed her stop on the metro. Realizing her mistake, she felt a mix of frustration and weariness. Instead of waiting for the next train she impulsively decided to walk home ignoring her sore feet from a long day at work. The night intensified Gracie's frustration during the walk, with the dimly lit streets and the eerie stillness. Each step weighed on her, her tiredness fueling her growing anger. Despite the cool breeze providing a slight respite, her irritation grew with every passing moment. The peacefulness of the surroundings became maddening, as it contrasted with her inner turmoil. The demanding journey only fueled her anger further, until she found herself seething with frustration amidst the nighttime cityscape. Gracie walked past a group of drunk men who catcalled her, but she ignored them and continued trudging her way home.

Finally she reaches her apartment building. Gracie trudges up the five flights of stairs to her apartment, her legs growing heavier with each step. The climb feels never-ending, but she keeps going, fueled by the thought of reaching her bed.

Gracie reaches the 5th-floor landing, pulls open her messy, completely filled purse, and rummages around for her keys. Finally, she finds them and starts to unlock the big wooden door.

Gracie steps inside her apartment -the lemon smell overtaking her- she lets all her bags fall to the ground. First, she rushes to the shower, needing to wash off the day's sweat and grime from college classes in the morning and  assisting her boss in a photoshoot in the afternoon. After getting clean, she dries off, puts on a robe, and takes care of her skincare routine. Then, she feeds her cat before wearily making her way to the kitchen to prepare chamomile tea to aid her sleep. Finally, she changes into pajamas and crawls into her cozy bed.

As Gracie drifts off to sleep, she is abruptly awakened by the blaring sound of loud music. Startled, she groggily sits up, the pulsating beats fill her apartment, making it difficult to ignore. Annoyed, she reluctantly gets out of bed, trying to locate the source of the music. Gracie realizes that it's coming from the apartment directly above hers.

As Gracie thinks about the obnoxious music from the apartment above, she remembers the annoying moving trucks parked in front of her building earlier in the week. They made it a pain to get to class, she had heavy projects to carry, both elevators were taken by movers, forcing her to climb down the stairs. These memories only fuel her irritation. 

She couldn't care less about the music ordnance laws normally; but tonight all she wanted is a good night's sleep. Annoyed by the disruptive music, she becomes even more determined to find a way to silence it and finally get some rest. Gracie groggily gets out of her warm sheets, quickly putting on a robe and slipping into her slippers. With a sigh, she steps out of her bedroom and grabs her keys and phone. Ready to confront the source of the music, she leaves her apartment and heads upstairs.

Gracie confidently raps her knuckles against the door—once, twice, three times—awaiting a response. When there's no answer, she decides to ring the doorbell instead. The door swings open, revealing a pretty but clearly intoxicated girl. Before Gracie can react, the drunk girl enthusiastically pulls her inside, exclaiming, 

"Finally, you're here! Come join the party!" Gracie stands there, momentarily stunned, unsure of how to respond to the unexpected invitation.

The drunk girl forcefully pulls Gracie inside, insisting on getting her a drink. She quickly finds a glass of champagne and thrusts it into Gracie's hand. Gracie takes a sip and surprisingly finds it quite enjoyable. 

You Sunshine H.SWhere stories live. Discover now