She stood in the open door of her balcony, looking out at the city below her. It was twilight and it was her favorite time of the day. The dirty streets, the traffic, all the things you hate about living in a large city always seem to fade away under the approaching nights shadows. The world looked softer, more sensual under twilight's haze. Sensual? She shook her head slowly; laughing under her breath at how quickly that word sprang to her mind. It wasn't surprising, not really, considering what happened to her the other night. It had to be the full moon affecting he. It sure wasn't logic dictating what she'd been saying or doing lately. Still laughing quietly, she stepped out into the night's silence and sat down on a padded chair, remembering how it all started even as the darkness around her deepened.
The day had started out so badly. She woke up and turned over, looking at the alarm clock by the bed. Seeing the numbers flash, she knew there had been a power surge during the night. She jumped out of bed; trying to find her watch on the dresser so she could see just how much trouble she was going to be in at work. As she hoped, she had just enough time to maybe throw on something and get out the door, praying traffic was light today. She might just make it in time if everything went perfectly. She reached into the closet and grabbed the first thing her hand hit as she raced to dress. Not even looking in the mirror, she raked her fingers through her hair to tame it down, grabbed her shoes, and headed out the door. Just as she got to her car in the parking lot, she looked down and saw she'd grabbed the wrong shoes. It wasn't a matter of them being the wrong color. No, she'd picked two different shoes.. both for her left foot. Swearing under her breath, she ran back inside, searched the closet quickly for a matching pair of shoes and finally found a pair. As she stood up to once again leave, she looked down and noticed the dark mark on her white silk shirt. Somehow, she'd already gotten it dirty. Gritting her teeth, she found a somewhat unwrinkled shirt that matched and threw it on, frantic to get on the way. She rushed outside and got in the car, which thankfully purred like a kitten, and started her commute.
Traffic was ugly and she finally arrived at work fifteen minutes late. Luckily for her, he was running late as well. She sighed in relief, starting on the morning's tasks. Things seemed to be running smoothly for a change and she became more relaxed as the morning went on. After lunch, she received a call from her boss, asking her to come into his office at two. Wondering if he somehow knew that she'd been late, she began to get nervous. He never wanted to see anyone in his office unless something was wrong. Her mind raced to try to remember if there had been talk of layoffs or downsizing, but she couldn't remember even the hint of such a thing happening. At ten minutes till two, she was standing outside his door, waiting for his assistant to let him know she was there. Finally, she was sent in, where he asked her to have a seat across from him at the desk. He stared at her quietly, making her even more nervous. "Do you like working here?" he finally asked. She looked up at him, made contact, then looked away quickly before answering that she did enjoy working for the company. He sat in silence again, no expression on his face.
She began to fidget slightly, tugging at her skirt hem, playing with the buttons on the cuffs of her shirt. "Then you won't say no if I tell you that we're giving you a big project to handle on your own and that it's going to require you work a lot of overtime for which, since you're salary, you won't be monetarily compensated. However, it will show everyone else in management how ready you are for additional responsibilities and could get you a promotion in next year's review." She jerked her head up at him in disbelief. She wasn't being fired, but was instead finally being given her own project to manage? She knew the project managers tended to work nearly 60 hours a week most weeks, and now they were doing the same thing to her, knowing she couldn't refuse or else they'd replace her. "No sir, not a problem. When do I start on the project?" Smiling at her, he replied "Tomorrow morning. I'd suggest you take today and as long as it takes tonight to finish what's pending on your desk." He then turned around in his chair and started dialing the phone, thereby dismissing her.
She was fuming. Sorry morning, sorry afternoon, and what was going to be a long sorry night. She spent the rest of the day finishing up the small things on her desk, and began to delegate the bigger ones to other coworkers. As she assigned the last task to the new guy down the hall, she stretched and realized how sore she was from sitting all day. Glancing at the clock, she couldn't believe it was already nine pm. She didn't even remember getting out of her chair since she'd sat down after she'd left her 'meeting' with the boss. Still aggravated, she got in her car and headed home.
Her mind was busy, already organizing her calendar over the next several weeks to give her plenty of time to meet the due date on the project. As she aimlessly drove towards her apartment, she saw a building with a pink neon palm tree above its door. Since she was stopped at a traffic signal, she curiously stared at the place, wondering what it was. The door opened and she could hear the heavy thrumming of a bass and briefly glimpsed flashing lights as a couple left the place. She so needed a drink after the day she had. Should she go in, see what the place was like? But she had this huge project starting tomorrow and it was already so late, shouldn't she go home and get some sleep? Arguing back and forth with herself, she saw the light change from red to green and knew she had to make a fast decision. Turning to look over her shoulder for traffic, she whipped the car into the entrance of the lot, and finally found a spot near the back wall. Not really being thrilled with her options, as it was rather dark back there, she shrugged, grabbed her ID and her money, then locked the car and set the alarm.