A bag full of happiness
Food time! Glorious, glorious food time! Claire pressed the Windows and L keys and stood up. The best part of her workday was the one where she didn't actually have to work. She grabbed her purse from under her desk and headed towards the office door. She strolled down the street, and nipped in to Karen Millen for a quick look. Then she got a salad and a sandwich from Pret A Manger and sat down. Today hadn't been half bad. Toby, her boss, seemed satisfied with the concept for the Valentine's day promotion she had handed in earlier. Her sleazy colleague had conveniently overlooked her and no customer had yelled at her. So far, so good. She picked absent-mindedly at her sandwich, then noticed her cracked nailpolish and sighed. There was a reason children were told not to play with their food. But it wasn't bad manners or offening your dining companions. She stuffed the remainder of the sandwich into her pocket and headed towards the car. She'd get the bottle of nailpolish from the car and top up her nails before returning to work. No biggie. She'd been lucky to find a public parking spot this morning. Her heart sank when she noticed the paper under the wiper at the front window. Another one? It was a warning about her expired Zone A permit. The fourth one this month. Or the fifth?. She had meant to renew that. As soon as the next paycheck came in. Well, okay, technically the next one was already spoken for, so the one after that. She stuffed the paper into the glove compartment and took out the nailpolish. There, all perfect again.
Claire wasn't quite so lucky in the afternoon. The shooting for a Christmas shooting had apparently gone very wrong and it was all her fault for booking the model and her photographer ex on the same job. She wanted to say, that there was no way she could know about the love lives of all of the city's creatives but she stayed silent. Experience had taught her that logic or common sense did not get her anywhere when Toby flew into a rage. The best strategy was to look down and hope the storm would pass. Only three more hours, one more conference call, and one more meeting to get through. And then she could leave.
"Arent you coming with us?", Philippe looked at her, one eyebrow raised. Oh, right. Claire stopped in her tracks. That was today. Once a week they went to a bar after work with a couple of people from other offices in the Walkie Talkie building. It was always good to keep one ear on the tracks. Plus the drinks and gossip helped her relax and she usually drifted home on a cloud of being ever so slightly drunk. Not more than appropriate for a workday of course. Just a little bit.
They sat around the table and shared this week's episodes of awful customers and demanding bosses. And in Philippe's case of live-in, move-out, move-in again partners. Claire was just about to take another sip when Sophie seemed taken aback. "Hey, what's up? What's going on? Are you crying?" Claire hadn't noticed. "I'm not, it's nothing, I don't know why I'm crying...", she trailed off. "It was a bit stressful earlier. It's probably best if I call it a day." The others nodded. "Sure, you do that!" "See you tomorrow"" "Get home safely!" Everyone seemed super cheerful.
The icy wind on the street cooled her cheeks and gave her an excuse in case anyone should notice her still misty eyes. Determinedly she walked on, just put one foot in front of the other. Oh, there was that Karen Millen dress again, she had admired during her lunch break. A dress for a sensible, no-nonsense, sophisticated lady. It would be perfect for the weekend dinner at her fiancés parents. And maybe this would finally be the meeting they would deem her worthy. She opened the shop door for the second time today and walked out with a bag full of happiness not 20 minutes later.
It was too nice a day to return straight home so she went to Pane E Tulipani, a café and flower shop. She'd get a bunch of flowers to remind her that even though it was autumn and there were no flowers to be seen anywhere on the streets they still existed. Beauty still existed. And a good life. A life of tanning on the beach and having coffee in a seaside café and no expired Zone A permit and no overdrawn credit card. She should check if there were any flights for the Christmas holidays available. She got out her phone. But her booking was declined and she remembered the stack of letters on the table behind the door. The very first spot she could put them down after she entered her apartment where they would have to wait while she kicked of her shoes and took some time to rewind from the workday. She would deal with them later. Or never. It would be too embarrassing to have her card declined in Pane E Tulipani and she did not have enough money in her wallet to pay cash. Claire bit her lower lip and walked back towards her car.
English is my 2nd language and I welcome friendly hints if I made an error.
Claire wasn't quite so lucky in the afternoon. The shooting for a Christmas shooting had apparently gone very wrong and it was all her fault for booking the model and her photographer ex on the same job. She wanted to say, that there was no way she could know about the love lives of all of the city's creatives but she stayed silent. Experience had taught her that logic or common sense did not get her anywhere when Toby flew into a rage. The best strategy was to look down and hope the storm would pass. Only three more hours, one more conference call, and one more meeting to get through. And then she could leave.
"Arent you coming with us?", Philippe looked at her, one eyebrow raised. Oh, right. Claire stopped in her tracks. That was today. Once a week they went to a bar after work with a couple of people from other offices in the Walkie Talkie building. It was always good to keep one ear on the tracks. Plus the drinks and gossip helped her relax and she usually drifted home on a cloud of being ever so slightly drunk. Not more than appropriate for a workday of course. Just a little bit.
They sat around the table and shared this week's episodes of awful customers and demanding bosses. And in Philippe's case of live-in, move-out, move-in again partners. Claire was just about to take another sip when Sophie seemed taken aback. "Hey, what's up? What's going on? Are you crying?" Claire hadn't noticed. "I'm not, it's nothing, I don't know why I'm crying...", she trailed off. "It was a bit stressful earlier. It's probably best if I call it a day." The others nodded. "Sure, you do that!" "See you tomorrow"" "Get home safely!" Everyone seemed super cheerful.
The icy wind on the street cooled her cheeks and gave her an excuse in case anyone should notice her still misty eyes. Determinedly she walked on, just put one foot in front of the other. Oh, there was that Karen Millen dress again, she had admired during her lunch break. A dress for a sensible, no-nonsense, sophisticated lady. It would be perfect for the weekend dinner at her fiancés parents. And maybe this would finally be the meeting they would deem her worthy. She opened the shop door for the second time today and walked out with a bag full of happiness not 20 minutes later.
It was too nice a day to return straight home so she went to Pane E Tulipani, a café and flower shop. She'd get a bunch of flowers to remind her that even though it was autumn and there were no flowers to be seen anywhere on the streets they still existed. Beauty still existed. And a good life. A life of tanning on the beach and having coffee in a seaside café and no expired Zone A permit and no overdrawn credit card. She should check if there were any flights for the Christmas holidays available. She got out her phone. But her booking was declined and she remembered the stack of letters on the table behind the door. The very first spot she could put them down after she entered her apartment where they would have to wait while she kicked of her shoes and took some time to rewind from the workday. She would deal with them later. Or never. It would be too embarrassing to have her card declined in Pane E Tulipani and she did not have enough money in her wallet to pay cash. Claire bit her lower lip and walked back towards her car.
English is my 2nd language and I welcome friendly hints if I made an error.