Spectrum (boyxboy)

March 07th 2014

Dear ma,
I know not, what to think of London.

It is a bustling, rambunctious city. The building are gargantuan and the people speak a mile a minute. The one thing that London and Virginia hold in common for me is that in both places I feel utterly alone.

Despite the loneliness there are some things here that I could be happy about. My loft for example. It has huge floor to ceiling windows that offer the most breathtaking view of the city and a general aura of homeliness to it. The fact that I also didn't need a car would leave me with quite a large sum of money to redecorate the loft and get my hands dirty.

The subways here, are for the most part clean and quite pleasant. Our trip to New York left quite a bad taste in my mouth when it came to public transportation, but London was much better in that area by a long shot. When it comes to people though both cities were quite similar. Everyone lived in their own little world and didn't go out of their way to smile at strangers. But I was fine with that.

I am actually quite excited to be here. I feel like it's a chance to start over, to build my life back up again.

* * * *

I've spent one week in London now. It's safe to say that my initial excitement is slowly dwindling. I've realized that having nothing to do in a big city is much worse than having nothing to do in a small town. The sounds of cars honking and people shouting do a good job of making me feel guilty for sitting in my apartment all day.

That is why I decided to find a job. Finding a job was also quite a chore. Seeing as I was quite lacking in the experience department. After searching around the city for three whole days I finally decided to give up and spent a day walking around absorbing the sights and sounds of the bustling city around me.

That is when I happened upon a dainty little shop hidden in a corner of London's quieter streets. The sign hanging up top read "Spectrum Art" in bold and brazen colors, the help wanted advertisement flapping in the air. Almost tripping over my own feet in haste I made my way inside the shop, the twinkling sound of a bell greeting me.

Inside, a woman with stark red hair the color of roses was bustling around almost falling over the many boxes haphazardly stacked in every corner of the store. I cleared my throat to announce her of my presence as the bell had apparently not done a good job. She whirled around, seemingly startled her red hair whipping across her face.

"Hi" she said, sounding disgruntled, pushing away the hair covering her eyes.

"Hey" I muttered, the prospect of talking to another person now weird to me "There was a sign outside saying there were jobs available" I said, jerking my thumb towards the entrance, a hopeful lilt to my voice.

"Oh my god yes" She said almost sighing in relief and smiling my way "I've just opened up the shop, as you can see" she said gesturing to the stacks of boxes surrounding her. "So if you want the job it'll be to help me turn this into an actual art shop and then man the cashier and do a little odd jobs here and there".

"That's fine with me" I said "It would be great actually"

"Well, how's your job experience, have you ever studied art?" She asked, tying her frazzled hair in a bun.

"I don't really have a lot of job experience" I said, casting my eyes downwards, excepting her to just kick me out as the others had done "And I don't really know much about art, but I'm an extremely hard worker and i swear i learn fast" I said, hoping that she would give me a chance.

She looked reluctant as she played with the hair tie in her fingers, but finally looked up and sighed.

"Fine, but if you don't work as hard as you say you do i will not hesitate in kicking your arse out okay?" she said, attempting to play the stern employer.

"Thank you so much" i said, almost hugging her in relief.

"You can start on Monday, be here by seven" she said, as she turned back to stacking the shelves.

I really hope my life works out this time.

Love,

Daniel.