semi-automatic ; j.d

twelve ; one door closes

mia walks out of the chilly winter air and into the comfortable temperature of the magazine office building.

the small gold light behind the upward arrow button lights up after mia presses it with her index finger. it's a huge building, with seven different floors all belonging to a different magazine. she steps into the small elevator enclosure and selects the sixth floor. it's not long until the gravitational pull of the floor changes stop and the elevator lets off an arrival 'ping' noise. her worn-in combat boots pad against the carpeting of the elevator and then the rich hardwood flooring of floor six.

the receptionist, a nice looking girl with dyed blonde hair and quite dark roots glances up at her. she has green eyes, something that mia is a bit envious of.

"hey, you're here to see laura, right?" she inquires after recognizing mia's face as one of the magazine's online writers.

mia nods her head while taking off her black gloves and slipping them into her coat pocket. "yeah, for two thirty." faintly she can hear the melodies of one of panic! at the disco's new song through the sound system.

the blonde girl looks back down at the computer screen that's resting on her desk to check the appointment schedule. "okay, cool. she should be in her office. it's room two-twelve down that way," she says and points towards one of the long stretches of office doors.

"thanks," replies mia. her feet carry her down the hallway and she glances around at the decorated environment. there's a bunch of framed covers from past issues lining the walls, along with some awards and certificates. mia started working at polaris (the name of the made up magazine) as an intern her senior year of high school, and once she graduated her supervisor offered her a job as one of their resident writers.

she stops walking in front of the closed mahogany-framed door that has a small plaque next to it with the number six hundred and twelve in small characters. bringing her hand up, she taps the back of her knuckles against the door and waits.

"come in."

mia gives the doorknob a twist and then pulls the door open. her boss, laura preedom, is sitting at her desk with her eyes flickering across her computer screen. she looks up at the young girl standing in the door way and gives her a warm smile.

"hi, mia, how are you?"

"i'm doing good," she answers as she walks into the room and takes a seat in the chair across from the desk. she's known laura for a couple years, and as far as bosses go she's pretty nice.

laura has shoulder length brown hair and dark coffee colored eyes. shes in her mid fourties but with the makeup she does, she could probably pass for a bit younger. "that's good," she nods, clicking off the pages she was working on and then she turns her chair to face mia. "so i wanted to talk to you about your hours."

mia nods casually. she doesn't really get called in to come to the office building a lot because she usually does all of her writing on line and communicates with the other writers through email, so she's a little bit confused as to why her boss wants to talk about hours.

"look, mia, i'm gonna be honest to you. we love having you write for polaris, you're one of our best columnists. but because of a few setbacks we can't afford to have you be working for us part time," laura explains, her hands folding together on top of the glass desk. "i want to have you working in the office full time."

"oh," mia says, because it's the only thing she can say at first. then after a second she frowns slightly with confusion. "but i'm in classes on weekdays."

the middle aged women nods slowly, her lips pursing ever so slightly. "right, which brings me to something else," she says and then she exhales. "with your writing capabilities, i can see you having a very successful career with us. so i think it would be in your best interest if you quit your schooling now, so that you can be here full time."

mia waits for laura to say that she's joking. there's no way that she's actually telling her to drop out of college so that she can be at the magazine, right? when laura doesn't say anything else, mia realizes that she's serious.

"laura, i can't do that," she says. "this is my last year, i'm planning on graduating in the spring."

"i think you should change your mind about that," her boss says with a shrug, like college is completely irrelevant. "i'm telling you that you can have a spot here full time, as in a career, so why would you need to get a degree if i already find you qualified?"

"um, i don't know, because i don't want to work at this magazine for the rest of my life?" mia replies sarcastically before she can stop herself. "this job was just supposed to be something to start off on until i graduate. i don't even know what i want to do with my life, i just want to write."

"well i'm sorry, mia, but i can't afford to keep anyone around that isn't a hundred percent committed."

she gapes at her. "you're firing me?"

"i guess i am," says laura. "you'll be paid through the end of the week for your latest piece. you can go now."

"thanks," mia stands up from the chair, biting down on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying anything stupid. she had a bad habit to let her anger get the best of her, but she wanted to act at least a little professional and leave without cussing her now ex-boss out.

she leaves the office and passes the nice girl at the receptionist desk that knows her name but for some reason she can't remember hers, and she takes the elevator back down to the lobby and walks out. her bottom lip tucks between her teeth and she takes her phone out of her pocket to text jenna.

mia💕 : we're drinking tonight