The new beginning...or not

There was something new about that morning, something refreshing, different...Riley couldn’t place it. Unlike the last seven mornings  she had spent in New york, she didn’t wake up this particular morning with  dark circles, soar throat or a weary look on her face. It had being tough since moving to new york, there was the midnight sobs, the waking up at intervals to cry over old photos and memories, the loss of appetite and generally, misery. That morning, Riley felt something different, she liked it. She had waken up earlier than usual to prepare for her meeting at a new agency, somewhere she would be employed at if everything went smoothly. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Riley’s lips parted in something that could be called a smile, weary, but a smile. She had on a sleevless  black gown that relaxed just right above her knees, a  black stileto that fitted as though it was made specifically for her and her hair packed in a loose bun with her gold earrings dangling and of course, a perfect fit for her necklace that rested on her neck with it’s pendant resting just above her breast as though it had never been removed. Riley’s look wouldn’t have been complete without her simple, yet, breathtaking makeup complimented mostly by her red lipstick to go. For someone who had barely stepped out of her room since moving to New york, she cleaned up well. Riley was just about to pick up her purse from the bed when a knock came on the door.

“Come in!”she shouted, turning to face the door with her hand resting on the reading table by the door.

“Look who decided to dress up” Ana said wth a smile as she opened the door and entered “Your dress is beautiful”

“Thank you”Ana said returning the smile

“How do you feel?” Ana asked moving closer to Riley

“ermm, good, i feel good...better, actually “Riley replied and sat on the chair by the table while Ana moved closer and rested her bum on the table, facing Riley “i got a good night sleep, that counts for something”

“Yeah?, then that’s good”Ana said patting Riley’s shoulder “I know this new job isn’t what you’re used to, i know that it is a big step down from your previous agency, but it’s something... they’re new and they’re doing well for themselves and i’m sure you’ll do just great over there, it’s a good start”

“Yeah, i thought about it too, plus, i could really use somewhere quiet right now...and i’m sure i’ll be appreciated over there seeing how they’re just starting out, it’s a new but i’m sure, exciting beginning...i’ll see how it goes after the meeting with the boss’

“Great”Ana said “So, how long do you have before you leave?”

“Uhmmm, an hour tops, why?”Riley replied

“Well, i was hoping to prepare breakfast before you leave, something to bring you luck”Ana said

“Awww, that’s so sweet of you Ana but, the only thing your food is gonna bring me is a terrible stomach ache and constant embarrasment from rushing to the toilet while i’m at the meeting...so, no”Riley said amidst laughter  “Girl, you can’t cook”

“I told you i’ve been taking tutorials on youtube, i’m learning quite fast, and well”Ana said feigning annoyance as she stood up from the chair ”I was just tryna do somethi g nice for my best friend”

“fine, fine, i’m sorry”Riley apologized still laughing and came over to hug Ana “i was just about to step out for breakfast downstairs, you  can come with, and if it’ll make you feel any better, you can pay...it’s almost like cooking me breakfast you know”

“Err, now you mentioned it, the place down stairs serve the best breakfast sandwich”Ana said “Okay, i’ll grab my credit card and meet you in the sitting room”

Ana hurried off to her room and Riley took one final look at herself in the mirror and left for the sitting room.

The girls were downstairs in no time and headed to the dinner just beside their building, from the looks of things, it seemed to be a really popular dinner. Ana led Riley to a good spot where they would sit for breakfast while she rushed over to the counter to get their meal. In no time, she was back with her breakfast sandwich and coffee and Riley’s chicken and waffles.

“Thank you”Riley said as Ana dropped her breakfast before her and sat down “It smells nice”

“Tastes even better”Ana said with a smile “try it’

Riley took a bite and from the satisfying look on her face, loved it “It’s amazing, they don’t serve good waffles like this anymore in new jersey”

“Welcome to new york baby”Ana said with a victory smile “So, i was gonna ask, have you heard from the boys yet?”

“Boys, what boys?”Riley asked totally confused

“Your boys, the one who totally broke your heart and the one whose heart you broke a long time ago”Ana responded raising her brows.

“Adam and Jesse?”Riey asked with a look of disdain “why would i hear from any of them?, Adam has being long blocked everywhere and Jesse, well, he hasn’t called, not sure he’s going to”

“ I don’t blame Jesse for not calling, i mean , you did break his heart in college”Anan said

“Why do i keep hearing that?”Rley asked getting annoyed “i didn’t break his heart, he knew exactly what he was walking into when he asked an unprepared college graduate with lots of dreams and aspiration to marry him”

“You could have Said no you know, like every other normal person, but you stood him up and left town a week before your wedding”Ana reminded her

“You don’t have to keep reminding me Ana, i lived it”Riley said rolling her eyes and wiped her mouth with the napkin “ I’m leaving Ana, walk down that memory lane alone”

Riley stood up and picked her purse “I’ll see you when i get back and i suggest you come back from the land of the memory past before then... thank you”

Ana watched with a smile as Riley left the dinner and got into her car.

“God, i love getting on her nerves”Ana said with a soft laughter

......................

Riley sat alone in the office as her eyes wandered round the room in admiartion. Coming into the office space rented by the agency, she admired the interior decoartion  and how put together everywhere looked. Earlier, She was greeted warmly by the staff present as thoug they couldn’t wait to have her on board, she also couldn’t wait to be a part of the agency. Her last agency was bigger and had more people, it was competitive working there everyday as there were lots ofpersons just as good as her. Compared to her old agency, this looked more peaceful and quiet, maybe she could finally have a work friend without having to watch her back.

“Hello, i’m so sorry for being late”A voice said snapping Riley out of her thought “wife duties”

Riley smiled and stood up to engage the woman in a short hug.  It was Amelia, owner of Vivo , the agency Riley was in. Amelia was a fascinating young woman who had excelled greatley and made a name for herself in the advertizing world. Haven worked in many ad agencies herself, Amelia finally decided to open up her own and so far, it’s been beyound success.

“it’s fine, i’m not married myself but i can only imagine”Riley said and smiled. She took a closer look at Amelia, though she’ve seen her picture few times on socila media, she looked way better in person. In fact, Riley was almost intimidated by the woman before her, taller, fairer and frankly, more beautiful. Amelia was a very private person and had little information abourt her on the net, g****e her name and all you’ll find is everything about her business. Riley admired the way she carried her business, something she wanted for herself and the main reason she was willing to work with Amelia. “You could use a mentor now Riles”she had said to herself after coming across the email from Vivo.

“Please have a seat”Amelia said as she walked over to sit on the chair with a table demacating her and Riley. “Thank you so much for being here today, we had to reach out to you the minute we heard you were settling in new york before any other agency did, though i’m sure you must have already been scouted by a few”

“Well, you know how it is”Riley responded seeing it as an opportunity to tooth her own horn “I’m one of the best in the field and really, who doesn’t want the best working with them?”

Amelia let out a soft laugh “Indeed, and i’m very sure you’ll be a great addition here at Vivo”

“That sounds positive...so, i already emailed you my cv and ermm, i’m ready to answer any question you may have about me” Riley said

“Riley, you must have it all wrong”Amelia said with a smile “you’re not here for an interview, no, we don’t need to see a cv, trust me, in this our world, your work speaks for you and i’ve seen lot of ads you spearheaded and they’re great... i know companies you’ve managed their ads for and they had only good things to say about you”

“Well, thank you”Riley smiled

“So, we don’t need an interview, this is only for formalities, it’s just a meetng for us to get to convince you to work for us, i know this agency is a big step away from what you’re used to, but we’re doing reallly well, we have all these big accounts and we’ve worked and are ready to work with most of the top firms and establishments here in new york, we’ve barged awards as the most promising agency , and mostly, we’re like family here, yes, money is important but we look out for eachother mostly here... we know we don’t have a big office space but we’re comfortable and if you come to work with us, we will give you the best, you’ll have your own office and you’ll have a comfortable and friendly environment to work in and the pay and benefits are great too”

“Well, frankly, i’ve been approached by many other agencies, i have few big ones just like my old firm and even bigger, but, for once, i want to settle for peace. This advertising world is kinda intense and when i saw your email and i researched about your agencyt, something about it felt right”Riley said and nodded her head “i think i would love it here Amelia”  

“Really, oh great”Amelia said with a smile of relief “and please, call me Amy, and welcome onboaard, you won’t regret it”

Riley knew she had nothing to regret, more so, nothing to lose. It’s been a while since she had a job at a place that cared for something other than the numbers and competition. She needed a fresh start and this could be it, she felt excited.

She had barely walked out of the building when she felt a grumbling noise in her stomach, it was hunger. She knew she haven’t been eating much lately and for someone with a history of ulcer, she was at risk of contacting it again. At first, she ignored the grumbling ad entered her car but it only persisted. She had no choice than to drive down the road and to the nearest eatery. She found a good spot to pack and got out of the car. She looked at her wristwatch and it was 12:00 noon. “Perfect”She said to herself as she entered the restaurant. It didn’t exactly look like a high end restaurant but it was decent and from the looks of things, had workers as it’s number one customers. She figured the restaurant was so close to many offices , hence, the high in flow of workers. There were people all over the place, eating and chatting, some having a meeting at a quiet area, some just eating. Most people had one coperate wears while others had on casual attires that looked decent enough to be worn to work. Her concern at that point was where to sit as all the good spots seemed to be occupied. She was almost giving up when she sighted two persons getting up from a table just by the window, she rushed over to it and smiled as they walked past her.

“Hello ma’am, what can i get you”A waitress asked immediatley Riley settled as though she had been observing and waiting for her to have a seat.

“Ermm, is there a menu?”riley asked as she stylishly tucked her hair by her ear.

“Sure”The waitress who couldn’t be more than 20 replied passing a menu over to Riley with a smie.

The menu had a lot of Riley’s favorites in them, ranging  from sandwhich, avacado toast with poached eggs, scarmbled eggs, and cripsy fried eggs. Riley finally settled for egg, spinach, avacado toast and tomatoes which happened to be her go to food when she seems to be running out of options. The waitress took down her order and left.

Riley took out her phone from her purse and dailed Ana’s number, she picked after the second ring.

“hello Riles”Ana said from the other end “are you done with the meeting?”

“Yeah, i just rounded up few minutes ago”Riley replied

“And...good news?”Ana asked in an exciting tone

“yes, i got the job, though it was never mine to lose to begin with”Riley replied with a smile

“That’s great, congratulations”Ana said “so, i guess this is really it huh, you’re here to stay”

“Yeah, it’s ehmm, a new begining, like i wanted”Riley replied “And i just found this new restauarnt that coud totally be my regular,it has just the perfect ambiance””

“Aww, i love this for you girfriend”Ana said

“i love this for me too”Riley said with a smile that quickly vanished from her face as she lifted up her face. In a second, her smile had turned to a look of surprise.  “Ana, i’ll call you back”

Riey dropped her phone on the table and looked at the man walking towards her,i t was Jesse and he looked like the best version of himself in that blue suit.

“Hi Riley, what are you doing here?”He asked with a smile as he finally got to her table.

Riley’s mouth parted in a smile, what was this?, she wanted a new begining and an ex was anything but that.