How To Get The Girl

Chapter Four

☾ S O P H I A ☽

I continued to doodle on the side of my notepad, drawing a detailed image of an eye while the staff meeting continued around me. Every time I heard Mr. Bates repeat something, I scribbled it down as a quick note, but afterward I continued to add eyelashes to the eye I was drawing. Every now and then I would glance up at the clock above his head and gauge how much longer it would take until the meeting was over, but every time I did, only minutes seemed to pass.

My favorite professor from college, Professor Doyle, had been kind enough to help me land a job right out of school working in the accounting department for a large company. However, the only thing I like about the job is the salary. It was extremely lucky to have a starting salary of over $67,000 a year right out of college, and I was eternally grateful to Professor Doyle for going out of her way to help me get the job.

But still, every time I sat down at my cubicle and began crunching numbers, I longed for something else. There was a void in my heart that told me there was no passion behind anything I did for my job. I simply worked all week, praying for the weekend, and then when it came, savored my free time before the cycle started again. But even though I felt a longing for a different career, something that filled the void, I couldn't complain about a well paying job.

So I didn't say anything, not even to Brayden. He was so proud of me when I told him I had got the job, that he didn't even ask if I was happy. He simply assumed that I was doing what I loved, and so he supported me. I can't be upset that he never asked, considering he was right to assume that I would turn down a job offer for something that didn't make me happy. But still, I quietly suffered and constantly contemplated telling someone so I could get advice.

"Have a nice night, everyone," Mr. Bates concludes, and shuts his agenda book before walking swiftly out of the conference room.

I let a breath go and feel a nudge on my shoulder. "That's good. Like, really good." 

I look up at Bridget, a girl who works for the HR department in the company, and smile at her. She was a very kind woman in her mid thirties. "Thanks. It was just some doodling to pass the time." 

"If I doodled like that, then I sure as hell wouldn't be working here," Bridget comments off handedly, and doesn't realize how much her words impact me.

I give her a tight smile and shut my note pad, then stand up. "It's just a habit. Have a nice night." 

And then I turn around and head out of the conference room, in the pack of the other fifteen or so workers here to represent their respective departments, as they file out the door. I grab my bag from my desk and head to the elevator, eager to get back home so I could change into comfortable clothes and binge watch the Real Housewives. 

I stepped into the empty elevator and as the door began to slide shut, I heard, "Hold the elevator!" and quickly pressed the open door button. The doors slid back open and Bridget smiled gratefully at me as she stepped in beside me. 

"Thanks," She says breathlessly. "It takes forever for the elevators to get back up here from the ground level." 

I nod and return her smile. "No problem."

A moment of silence passes before Bridget says, "So, Sophia, how long have you been drawing like that?" 

"You can call me Sophie," I tell her, because I don't like letting anyone call me Sophia. Not anymore. "And since college. I was an art major in school and minored in accounting." 

Surprise passes across her features. "That's an interesting combination. What made you want to work here instead of pursuing something in art?"

And there it was, the very question that I had been asked since taking this job. Even Brayden asked it once, but when I gave him my go-to answer, he didn't question me and never asked again. It was weird, having this conversation again, considering I hadn't had it since I graduated college and decided to take this job.