Office Gossip- (Sample)

1. New Beginnings

Violet

"You're never going to find a man if you spend the rest of your life in this apartment all day and night. You need to get out. Explore the world. If you're not careful, you're going to wake up one day, be an old lady and realize that you're never going to be able to get the years back that you wasted. It's been over a year since you were laid off. And I don't think that sitting around the apartment sulking all day is the best way to cope." My cousin, and sometimes shrink, Chloe had told me one dreary spring morning when she woke up to find me, sitting on the couch. "You know, the newspaper is hiring next month. And I think you would be great at it. Hell, its just like the job you had in Chicago. Beats sitting around here doing nothing all day. Besides, if your mother keeps calling you, egging you on every day about going out and finding a job or a man...I might go out and forge an application just to keep my sanity. Seriously, that woman really loves to poke and prod until she gets exactly what she wants."

I rolled my eyes, barely managing myself up into a sitting position on the couch, ignoring the television for the first time since I lost my job. "Fine. If I let you put my name in for an interview will you leave me alone? You're right. I don't need my mother, or you...or anyone telling me what to do with my life. Yeah, I got laid off and was forced to move back here with you. But I have to move on. If I don't, then, you're right, I might waste the rest of my life sitting around on my ass when I could be out making a life for myself. Not to mention I'm not too keen on the idea of my mother making me chose between being set up or getting a job. Hell, after everything I went through with the last guy...you bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to chose the job. No questions asked."

"Still, why can't I set you up? You and I both know that you're never going to go out and pick up a hot stranger in a bar on the weekend. Or any other place for that matter. I just want you to be happy, Vi. That's all."

"Who says I'm not happy, Chlo? I am perfectly happy. I've got this interview in the can, and I couldn't be more excited. And, if it turns out that I don't get the job, regardless if I know you or not ...then I'll keep looking. You know me. I'll do whatever it takes to get my mother off my back and feel like she never has to worry about me. Same goes for my father. He's just as paranoid as my mother is that I'm never going to get out of this apartment and find something useful to do with my life. And if that means meeting a tall, dark, handsome bad boy who has a heart of gold and eager to sweep me off my feet...or a tall blond bicep machine who could kick ass in the ring at a WWE match...

"Oh please, you can't be happy laying around here in your pajamas all day. Don't you want to go out and experience life? Surely you can't be happy sitting around here twenty-four seven? It's not healthy. Besides, the landlords are extending the rent this month an extra two hundred dollars. And I don't know about you, but you and I can't afford that, and manage to keep food in the fridge for a few weeks before we have restock. This is the only chance you and I have or else we're going to be living at your parent's house, where we'll have to endure your folks nagging us about getting kicked out. Especially on something as dumb as not being able to pay for something we both are smart enough to afford in the first place."

I rolled my eyes. I did not need to hear this speech right now. I knew what was expected of me. It was the pressure of living up to it that, I knew, would ultimately be my downfall. At least that's what I thought would happen. Chloe had given this speech, at least, a dozen times before. It wasn't anything I didn't already know. And now, after basically wasting away for the last year, I was about to get my life started and on track again. "I never said I liked laying around all day, Chlo. But, you know what...if everything goes well with this interview, then you won't be seeing me in my pajama's all day long. At least not on weekdays. Hell, I'll wear all the blazers and fancy slack pants that you got me for all those interviews for days on end. We won't have to do a load of laundry more than once a week,I have so many things in my closet that I haven't worn. Is that what you wanted to hear?"