Chapter 2
Esmeralda rolled out of the bed and crouched on the floor as she looked around, her heart hammering in her chest as she tried to discern where the sound was coming from.
She scrambled up and headed towards the window only to notice that there were construction works across the street.
“Construction workers at seven in the morning?” she asked herself as she scratched her head and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and blinked as she put her hands behind her head and stretched.
She checked her watch, and her eyes widened in surprise. She had slept through her alarm clock. Again.
Her alarm was supposed to go off at seven, and it was now seven-thirty. They were going to be so late unless they could be dressed and out of that door in thirty minutes.
Why hadn’t Chris woken her up?
“Chris! Chris?!” She yanked her door open and raced down the hallway and stood outside Chris’s door. She began pounding on it to no avail.
She finally wrenched the door open and flew in, her eyes searching the room for Christina’s form. Christina was sprawled on the bed, peacefully asleep, unaware that they were late.
Esmeralda grinned wickedly as she jumped on the bed and yelled. “Chrissy, Chris! Rise and shine.”
Christina’s eyes flew open, and she yelped as she saw Esmeralda sitting there causing her to roll over and fall off the bed.
Esmeralda began to laugh as Christina grumbled from the floor before she hoisted the top half of her body up, so she was perched on the edge of the bed. “Was that really necessary?”
“Since I accidentally slept through my alarm, yes, it was. We’re going to be late.”
Christina stood up and ran her hands through her hair before checking her wrist watch. “I can see that, but was the jumping and screaming necessary?”
“You wanted me to waste a perfectly good opportunity?”
Christina scowled. “Yes. Considering I haven’t had my coffee yet, and the only thing that’s keeping me from strangling your overtly perky ass is the thought that the prison uniform would look hideous on me.”
Esmeralda guffawed. “Just keep reminding yourself of that.”
“It’s my mantra. How do you think I’ve handled living with you all these years?”
Esmeralda batted her eyelashes at her as she drew a halo around her head. “Because I’m such an angel?”
Christina snorted, “Ha! Is that what you think? What kind of angel barges into a room with that much energy at this ungodly hour?”
“It’s half an hour later than when we usually wake up,” Esmeralda pointed out, amusement coloring her tone.
“Well, aren’t you just a regular Sherlock, today? I’m highly aware of that, but I usually stumble to the kitchen and brew my first cup of coffee before my eyes are fully open which you’d know if you weren’t busy making your bed, and taking a shower in the time it takes me to peel my eyes open.”
Esmeralda shrugged. “It’s not my fault I don’t need as much coffee as you. To be honest, I could totally live without it.”
“I can put up with your chipper ‘the early bird gets the worm’ attitude, but if you keep spewing blasphemous things like being able to live without coffee, I’ll be forced to move out.”
Esmeralda stood up and patted Christina on the head. Christina rolled her eyes at her before she moved, so she was standing behind Esmeralda and began to propel her out of the room.
“Coffee. Kitchen. You. Out!” she gritted through clenched teeth before she slammed the door shut behind Esmeralda.
Esmeralda laughed as she made her way to the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. Once she made sure the coffee was brewing, she made her way to her room and picked out her outfit.
She went with a simple pair of jeans and a loose green top. She managed to wriggle into them, and she paired it with a light sweater and a pair of sneakers. One of the perks she loved about her job is the fact that their company didn’t have a dress code.
Casual clothes were fine just as long as shorts were avoided.
She whistled as she made her way back to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee for Christina and added a dollop of cream, and a spoonful of sugar.
She decided to forgo her own cup of coffee and instead poured herself a glass of orange juice. She took out a bowl, poured some cereal, milk and set it down on the table. She made Christina a cheese sandwich because she knew she wouldn’t have time to make one for herself.
She sat down and began to chew on her cereal dimly noting that they had to get going in a few minutes. She washed her bowl and glass and made her way back to the room to brush her teeth. While she was there, she heard Christina yell out thanks as she no doubt discovered her coffee mug.
She heard the water running and knew that Christina was washing her coffee cup.
“I’m ready,” Christina’s voice called out from the end of the hallway.
She sprayed some perfume, grabbed her purse and keys before she shut her bedroom door and made her way down the hallway. “Me too.”
Christina took a bite of her sandwich, and they made their way out of the apartment and to the garage. They slid into the car, switched on the radio and made their way to work as they realized that they were only five minutes behind schedule.
***
“Are you almost done with that story, Esmeralda?” her boss questioned as she dragged her eyes away from the screen and looked up into her boss’s eyes.
He was leaning over her desk texting something on his phone.
Eric Lovat was a legend in the publishing business. He had built this company from scratch with his own money. He worked as a teacher for a few years while taking the odd free-lance writing jobs here and there till he finally saved enough to start his own business. Once he did, he brought on one of his former students, Esmeralda on.
She was lucky enough to have a boss who taught her so much at an impressionable age, and who was her role model in so many ways. At 5’2, he wasn’t the tallest guy she had ever seen, but his sea green eyes, easy going smile and charismatic energy made him very easy to work with and respect.
“I kind of wrote myself into a corner,” She admitted, the frustration creeping into her voice.
Eric chuckled. “Again? You really are having a hard time with this client, huh?”
She didn’t want to complain or sound ungrateful especially because she really was grateful to him for giving her the job on her dreams. “It’s just that some of these clients can really nitpick, and they keep sending me the stuff back with a ton of revisions, and comments like too original, the backstory is too complex, keep it simple.”
Eric threw his head back and began to laugh. He slapped his knee in amusement. “Yeah, sadly, ghostwriting is not based on originality. It’s mostly based on how much you can spew forth that’s even slightly readable.”
“I guess so.” She took off her glasses and began to rub her eyes.
“Don’t worry so much. You’ll get it. Just try coming at it from a different angle, and if that doesn’t work then take a break, get those creative juices flowing, ok?”
“Thanks, boss.” She gave him a warm smile. He nodded at her before he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. “That’s the missus, I’ve got to go. Keep me posted, ok?”
“I will, say hi to Mellie for me.”
“Will do,” he called out over his shoulder as he made his way back to his office.
She rummaged around in her drawer for the piece of cloth she kept to polish her glasses. She blew hot air onto the glass and began to wipe it thoroughly letting the mechanical smoothness of the gesture lull into her a more peaceful state of mind.
She began to chew on her bottom lip thoughtfully as she tapped her pen against the desk.
She began to stare around the office for inspiration, dimly nothing the specific details of her surroundings, but focusing rather on the general outline and feel of the place. One of her idiosyncrasies was that whenever she was feeling writers block, she’d stare around the room she was in, narrowing her eyes when she noticing something peculiar about an individual then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, inspiration would hit her, and she’d be inspired to get back to work.
She couldn’t really explain it, and she knew most people didn’t get the process, but she thought it was cool.
She drummed her fingers against her jeans as an idea began to form in her head. Once it was finished fermenting, she swiveled in her chair to face her laptop, placed her glasses back on and started typing.
***
“Oh, look at you, hard at work with those cat eye, sexy librarian glasses.”
“You’ve got those sexy librarian glasses on again.”
Daniel plopped down onto the couch next to her and ran his hands through his hair. Esmeralda gave him a distracted smile. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, you know what I’m talking about.” Daniel placed his leg squarely on her lap and kept wriggling them till Esmeralda was forced to drag her eyes away from the screen and look at her boyfriend of two years sitting there in his short and t-shirt trying too hard to look innocent.
Esmeralda raised an eyebrow. “Is this some kind of code or something?”
Daniel laughed. “No, it’s not a code. Okay, I’ll explain it to you.” He moved his legs off of her lap and wrapped an arm around her. “Sexy librarian glasses are basically what you’re wearing now. Any guy who has ever had a fantasy featuring a teacher or a librarian or even a writer has pictured those glasses because they give this illusion of innocence while still being extremely sexy. They give you this cool sophisticated nerd look, and still cater to a guy’s fantasy.”
Esmeralda pretended to be horrified as she shrugged his arm off. “Is that why you encouraged me to get them? You little scoundrel. You said they looked nice. I wasn’t aware I was catering to your little fantasy.”
Daniel waggled his eyebrows at her. “What’s wrong with catering to your boyfriend’s fantasies? It’s not hurting anyone.”
He leaned forward and titled her head up, and she got lost staring into his eyes. “Besides, you look sexy as hell, so much so that I’m tempted to just kick that laptop away and have my wicked way with you.”
“Is that so?” she whispered huskily. “Well, who says I’ll let you?”
Daniel grinned as he kissed the corner of her mouth. “I can already feel your defenses weaken.”
Esmeralda giggled as he pressed his lips to hers.
Esmeralda blinked as she noticed that Christina was waving her hand in front of her face. Esmeralda gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, did I zone out?”
She tried to shake the memory of her ex off as she focused on Christina instead. Esmeralda reached for her drink and began to sip. “You know those glasses are like a prop in porn, you’re practically a porn star now.”
Esmeralda choked on her drink and started hacking and coughing until Christina leaned over and began to pat her back, with a smirk on her face. “Drink too fast?”
Esmeralda shot her a look. “They really use them as props in porn?”
Christina shrugged. “Well, it’s not the type that I watch, but I heard so, yeah.”
Esmeralda flushed deeply. “I had no idea.”
Christina examined her nails. “Yeah, apparently boohoo chic is all the rage.”
Esmeralda pursed her lips. “That’s kind of weird. I mean what about the women who actually wear those glasses because they need to do, and not out of some misguided notion that they need to appease man’s sexual fantasies?”
“Well, then, better for the men because that means they won’t have to discover that they’re fake and get upset.”
Esmeralda made a sound in the back of her throat. “I don’t get it though. What’s the appeal?”
Christina waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “It’s this belief guys have that every good girl has a wild side, and that librarians specifically have this penchant for the, shall we say, particularly rowdy extracurricular activities?”
Esmeralda made a gagging sound. “Urgh, ew. That’s kind of sexist.”
“It’s not for everyone.” Christina smirked as she waggled her eyebrows at Esmeralda. “Come on, I bet you’re secretly into those kinds of things.”
Esmeralda snorted, quickly. “Roleplay? I don’t know, I’ve never tried it, but I don’t think so. I mean why pretend to be other people? Isn’t that kind of like hiding behind a mask?”
Christina rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be so genuine all the time, Esme. Besides, it’s not hiding. It’s supposed to fun, exciting and sexy. Getting to act out your sexual fantasies can be very liberating and very exciting for a woman.”
“Isn’t it better to just be yourself, so that the passion and excitement, and yes even the sexiness will be more natural then? Less forced as well.”
Christina stood up. “And that my dear, Esme, is why you are an old fashioned romantic who doesn’t belong in this modern day and age—an old soul if you will—and one of the many reasons why I love you, but also one of the many reasons why a lot of your relationships don’t work out. Guys just don’t want to commit anymore, and why would they when a lot of women don’t want to either?”
“I know you believe that, Chris, and I know some people out there are happy settling for that, and hey who am I to judge? Good for them. But as it applies to me personally, I could never be happy doing things half assed especially relationships. I’m all in or all out, and the guy that I’m with can either take it or leave it because I’m not compromising that for anyone.”
Christina held up her hands in mock surrender. “Okay, Amelia Earhart, relax. I agree with you completely. That doesn’t make it easier though.”
“I know, so when are we telling the boss about our trip?”
Christina checked her watch. “I’ve got a meeting right now, but after the meeting, in a say an hour or so.”
Esmeralda nodded. “Okay, great. That gives me more time to finish up, so I can send it before we head off to Egypt.”
“Same.” Christina blew her a quick kiss, and the sound of her high heels faded down the hallway and back to her own desk which was only a few feet away.
Esmeralda had been friends with Christina for a while, and in those four years, she always wondered how Christina managed to look like she wasn’t doing any work, yet she always managed to submit her things on time. Esmeralda couldn’t figure it out, and sometimes it drove her nuts. Surely, the truth made sense.