Man Of The Year

Chapter 1 : Strength

The mixture of spoiled food and wet dog lingered in the alleyway of the Italian restaurant. This had been the same spot Aja had laid for the last month and a half. The homeless shelter had shutdown due to bed bugs leaving her and others without a decent place to rest their heads.

"God is testing your strength... you will make it through this." She told herself.

The sun had gone down making it easier for her to eat something without being caught dumpster diving like the others who held no shame. She stood and shuffled through the trash then hid behind the dumpster bin when someone approached throwing away a brown bag. Soon as they were gone she grabbed the bag in search of its contents.

"Thank you God for this meal, Amen." She unwrapped the foil and bit into the half eaten Chipotle burrito.

Aja took her time eating the burrito, she imagined that it was a full course meal made by Bobby Flay. She smiled with her eyes closed and took another bite. In that moment she didn't care about who walked by she just knew that this burrito was everything.

The cold air hit her face causing her to shiver. She took a seat back behind the dumpster and wrapped herself back up in the warm blankets as she continued to finish off her food. This was the place last place she wanted to be but it could have been worse circumstances.

Her graduation was slowly coming up and Aja had just landed an internship with one of the most popular men's magazine companies in the world, GQ (Gentlemen's Quarterly) as their fashion editor. It being a non-paid gig made it much harder with only seventy-two dollars to her name she prayed that a change would come soon.

They had no idea the predicament she was in and Aja planned on keeping it that way. Her pride wouldn't allow people to treat her like a charity case. She was determined to make a way out of the financial crisis she was in.

After sleeping a couple of hours, Aja gathered her belongs and walked to the subway. It was still dark out so she had more than enough time to get cleaned up and to GQ headquarters but she had to make a quick stop at the quick mart to pick up a sweet treat for her friend, Manny.

In a matter of 20 minutes Aja, had gotten to the subway and cleaned her body then began to get dressed. Today she decided to go for the neutral look with a pop of red lipstick she was ready to go. Though she was homeless she still had style. She took one final look into the mirror and smiled.

GQ headquarters

Aja hid her duffel bags in the maintenance closet and place two honey buns on the shelf for the maintenance man, Manny. He always asked for honey buns in return for guarding her bags. He never questioned why she brought bags or why she'd always arrive an hour before everyone else.

"Hola senorita." Manny kissed her hand and winked at her.

"Hola senor Manuel." Aja said smiling widely as Manny turned the lights on.

"I have tostada and cafe con leche at your desk." Manny smiled and walked off before she could even thank him.

"Thank you Manny." Aja whispered to herself and made her way to her little office space.

This week was fashion week in NYC and GQ always hosted one of the best parties every year and this year they were crowning their man of the year. The categories varied and votes were taken by the women and men at the office. This year was going to be tough with both sports and entertainment thriving Aja hadn't chose anyone yet.

"I like Channing but he's won already." She scratched out his name and went on to the next name.

"Sports." Aja scrolled down to the list of NFL popular players.