A faulty street light pinged in the darkness above as Ariel pounded down the wide sidewalk. The array of lights lining the nearly empty street cast an angry orange glow in the faint tendrils of smoke from a distant wildfire. She slowed, huffing loudly with her hands at her slim hips. Her fingers massaged her aching side while she slowed her pace.
"Morning," a young man said as he passed her effortlessly on the left in the gloomy haze. She nodded at the man, too out-of-breath to reply and then sighed while leaning her upper body back.
Sweat lined the woman's body. She brushed a few strands of long, black hair away from her eyes and kept walking forward. The silent radiance of the raging fire seemed to consume the darkness surrounding it. She eyed it and knew she'd have to start using the treadmills again. At least until it was put out and the smoke had cleared.
Another pair of joggers, a man and woman that appeared to be near her age, passed her. They chatted occasionally and she frowned at their backs. Her 30th birthday approached and she felt like she was in good shape - perhaps not as good as her college years - but she was finding it harder and harder to keep the pace she'd grown used to over the years.
Ariel tsked as a muscle twinged in her lower back. She reached behind to massage the already-fading pain as early morning commuters zipped past in expensive convertibles. Blue light glowed from her wrist when she checked her fitness tracker. It was an expensive model but she wasn't wearing the separate specialized heart rate monitor. Despite that, she could feel her heart pounding and didn't doubt the depressingly high figure that blinked at her.
With another sigh, she turned around and began jogging back to her house. Her ears buzzed, her side ached and she could feel the arch of her feet beginning to throb but she pushed through it with a mental note to order a new pair of shoes. She forced a smile at every passing jogger that quickly turned to a determined grimace when they passed.
The first angry welts of sunlight appeared on the horizon behind her as she began a series of mental encouragements.
Almost done,
she thought to herself while focusing on the uneven sidewalk before her.
Just need to get home and I can shower. Nice, short little shower to save water like a good community member. Grab some coffee, relax for a second and then get to work. But first, shower. Glorious, glorious shower. I am
not
going to have a heart attack and die on the sidewalk. That is absolutely not how I go out. Just two more miles. That's nothing. I've got this.
Sweat dripped from the tip of her nose. She flicked it away and repeated her mantra as the sun rose behind her.
--
Ariel's black BMW pulled smoothly into her reserved parking lot. Sparse clouds filled the gray sky and she glanced up at them as she stepped out of her car. She inhaled and then gagged slightly while wrinkling her nose against the acrid scent hanging in the air. Her reserved spot was close to the entrance of her work so she held her breath as she made her way to the front of the building. As she opened the door to step into the lobby, a gentle voice rang out from the overhead speakers.
"Welcome to FutureGen," the cultured female voice announced. "The future begins here, today."
The young woman rolled her eyes as she did nearly every time she came to work. A web of cameras watched the entrance to the building and she knew they were running facial recognition in order to catalogue visitors and potentially flag any unwanted guests. She had begged and pleaded with network security to turn the announcement off when an employee entered the building but they swore it was nearly impossible to configure.
"Good morning, Dr. Hollister," the receptionist chirped. The young girl was, as always, impeccably dressed and well put-together. Ariel smiled while giving her an appreciative glance. She'd had a slight crush on the girl since she'd started working at the company but she never let it get beyond the occasional private fantasy. Caitlin would tease her
mercilessly
if she knew about it.
"Good morning," Ariel replied as she walked past. Thinking of Caitlin brought a shy smile to her face as she made her way through the maze of offices.
Her girlfriend had come home while she was out jogging and they'd been able to spend time together this morning before Caitlin had gone to sleep. Ariel had sat on the floor between the other woman's legs and they'd talked about life and work while her girlfriend braided her hair in a tight french braid. For a brief, happy moment, the stress of her adulthood had melted away and she'd relaxed with her eyes closed while pretending she was at a sleepover. It was an indulgence she didn't often allow herself but it helped to center her when life weighed heavily upon her.
Various early morning workers nodded at her with a respectful "Doctor" as they went about their tasks. Although she didn't know all of them, she acknowledged each of them just the same. At twenty-nine years old, she was the youngest director in the company's history and everyone knew who she was. FutureGen had fought six other corporations in contract negotiations before she'd even finished her first phD six years ago.
Cubicle walls vanished behind her when she approached a single white door. She pulled her lanyard to tap it against the grey block beside the door and it pinged as her access was granted. Pulling the heavy door open, she stepped into her lab.
Although the office and foyer occupied the front of the building, her laboratory consumed nearly seventy percent of the first floor. She walked swiftly through the brightly lit hallway, pausing at intervals to pull clipboards from their hooks. Certain experiments were at a critical stage and, despite the incredibly expensive computer network and top-of-the-line tablets, her researchers jotted down quick notes on paper for their teams. She scribbled notes and answers on a few of the clipboards before making her way to her office.
At times, her ludicrously large office made her feel embarrassed. But now, as she slowly eased her sore body into her office chair, she appreciated it greatly. A single button press caused the glass walls to darken as her overhead lights brightened to compensate. She kicked her heels off and spun in her chair while her feet decompressed. Various awards lined her office, mixed in with framed photos of celebrities and Nobel Laureates.
The pain from her jog frustrated her more now than it had this morning. It gnawed at her and made her wonder if it was time to visit her physician.
I'm too young for this, aren't I?
She asked herself.
Both of her parents were alive and healthy. In fact, they were both hiking in Japan at this very moment.
It's funny,
