Modern Loneliness - Wayhaught

Chapter 1

Waverly Earp threw open the window of her cramped apartment. The frantic hum of New York traffic flung itself into the room, and the cooking smells of near by Chinatown approached cautiously behind it. She paused for a short moment. Busy commuters honked their horns. Shopkeepers flung open their metal shutters. People strode with some purpose only they knew. This was her dream, this hustle and bustle. She smiled sadly and turned away from the window.

There were a few precious hours between now and work at 8am, so she ate her breakfast with no rush. This time was slow, a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. She loved her time in the morning. Sitting at the messy counter, easy morning sunlight warmed her arms, radio music floated in the cool air, and for once, a calmness spread throughout her, seeping through her bones, and she was completely and utterly at peace.

But this time always ended too soon for her liking. At 7:15 she began to get ready for work. Taking time and care with her appearance was important to Waverly. She wasn't dressed for high society but her clothes were clean and well cared for. When she spent the little money she had on clothes, they were bought to last, and she made sure they fitted perfectly and that she loved them. This resulted in a very small collection of clothing, but she adored all that she had.

Fuelled by coffee and more coffee, she made her way to work.

-

Stephanie and Chrissy greeted her as she approached the staff room in the library. The library was old in the way old buildings in New York usually were – it needed a new coat of paint, and the air conditioning was nearly nonexistent, but it's history didn't compare to it's European counterparts. Paint peeled off the dirty cream walls, and the rough carpet was worn by busy feet. It was bright though, and as clean as they could make it. In the afternoons warm light would stream through the skylights, making the library prettier than any paint or new carpet could.

Stephanie waved at her from the reception desk. "Morning! You're gonna hate me for this but we got a batch of new books", she gestured to the large pile beside her, "and it's your day for book covering."

"Oh great." Waverly made a face and groaned in good humour. "This is going to be so much fun!"

"Hmm well unless you want to be on filing duty..", Chrissy chimed in with a smile.

"No, no! I'll take book covering."

Book covering was a boring, tedious task. You took a new book, removed all the price tags, slapped a bar code on it, covered it in a sheet of sticky plastic, repeat. Just this same repetitive process for hours. It was the lesser of two evils though, as book covering was mindless enough that you could listen to music or a podcast, but with filing you actually had to pay attention. Chrissy was good at filing and didn't mind it, so she usually took it without complaint.

Waverly sang while she worked, Chrissy and Stephanie joining in when they knew the words. A hit song from a few years ago came on and they all looked each other before bursting out singing. Their voices were loud, off key, and carefree. Stephanie attempted to sing in a deep tone to harmonise with them, and this was too much for Chrissy and Waverly. They let out loud, unashamed laughs that echoed throughout the building.

Stephanie tried to keep a straight face as the other two kept setting each other off. "My singing isn't that bad!", she protested, faking offence, "stop that, you know it's not!"

Chrissy and Waverly stopped for a moment before glancing at Stephanie's indignant expression and succumbing to fits of laughter again. These short moments reminded Waverly why she moved here.

-

When she finally finished covering all the new books, Waverly began putting all the new and returned books to their places on the shelves. This was easy work, and a great way to find new books to read.