The Arsonist

One

Good God, it's cold in here! Gray thought to herself as she tried not to make her teeth chatter. She was sitting in a small glass room. Glass was everywhere. The door, the windows surrounding the door, the secretaries office windows, the windows themselves; all of it made Gray nervous, if she were to breathe wrong, her and the secretaries would go crashing out of the building.

Little glass figurines sat on a glass table, depicting a mother holding the hand of her son. It might have tried to look cute, but all Gray could think about was the mother was admitting the boy to this god awful place. She doubted that's what the artist meant but, assumed that's why they bought it.

If you're going to have a room with all of these windows, Gray thought, at least don't make them drafty.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a Mickey Mouse- like voice, shattering the silence like a false step.

"Gracie Ashworth?"

About time, Gray thought as she stood. She had already read through all of the Time, People, and (against her better judgment) Teen Vogue Magazines and resulted to aimlessly staring out the windows.

She stood and flashed a smile at the short dark haired, squeakier woman.

"Dr. Lawrence will see you now, Mrs. Ashworth."

"Uh, Miss, actually. Thank you...." Gray looked at her name tag. "Tanya.'

"You're welcome."

Gray walked down the short hallway and into an office where a man sat scribbling away on his Sudoku puzzle.

Gray quietly knocked on the door frame, "Doctor Lawrence?"

"Ah! Gracie! Please, please come in have a seat."

"Thank you. And I just go by Gray if that's okay," she informed him.

"Well, I prefer Micah if you don't mind. Not a problem at all. Now let's get down to business. Why do you want to work at St. Joan's?"

Gray thought about it for a moment. She had always wanted to be a therapist or a psychologist. All six years she had been in college she had dreamed of the moment she would be interviewed for her dream job.

"All my life I've wanted to help the helpless. And the people in this hospital are a great place to start. I've always wanted this and I think it would be a great opportunity," she explained.

"I see that you don't have very much experience. Fresh out of college?" He stated as a question.

"Not really, sir. I worked part time at a nursing home for a year, but that's it. I hope that isn't a problem," she said.

"No, not at all. I mean your exam scores are phenomenal! Plus, we need some young faces around here," he said.

"Thank you, sir. So does this mean that I have the position?" She asked, just to make sure.

"Of course. I'll have Jean, my assistant, show you around today and you can start tomorrow," he told her.

"Thank you so much, sir. You have no idea how much this means to me," she rambled.

"Oh you're welcome! Come see me if you have any problems okay?"

"Okay yes sir! I will," Gray stood up and smoothed out her skirt before walking out the door. She quickly walked back to Dr. Lawerence's office and stuck her head in the door frame, flashing him a grin.

"Down the hall and to the right... That' s Jean's office."

"Thanks again!" she said and as she walked away she heard him sigh and chuckle to himself.