Carry On

I groan as I skim over my e-mails. My shift was officially over in twenty-three minutes, not like I was counting or anything, and I wanted to make sure I answered any important ones before I left the office. I was the editor of Music Connection, a magazine located in Glendale, California, which was only fifteen minutes away from Los Angeles. Most of the time, I was able to work from home. After all, proof-reading and editing a journalist’s submitted copy of an article wasn’t all that hard to do. However, once in a while we had meetings that all employees had to attend (about changes in rules or what the next big article was to be about and what was needed to be mentioned).

Most of my e-mails were just lengthy and almost pained me to read. Only having to reply to seven of the thirty eight I received since this morning, I power off my computer and grab my stuff from one of the drawers in my desk. Although our meeting was at ten in the morning, I decided to spend the rest of my time at the office as opposed to driving the thirty minutes to my house and getting nagged by my supervisor via phone-calls and texts every twenty minutes or so. Instead, I stayed at my workplace and allowed them to pass by every so often to make sure I was still on track. A lot of times, they checked over my shoulder without actually interrupting me to make sure I was working on the right article. Everyone knew that once I was zoned into my work, I hated being interrupted. Not only did the distraction make me lose my place, but it also halted my thinking process, in which I would feel the need to reread the article from the very beginning.

I say my goodbyes to a few coworkers as I make my walk to the closest elevator. Normally I would’ve walked the eighteen flights of stairs but because I was exhausted and just wanted to slip out of my very uncomfortable but oh-so expensive heels, I opted out of getting some exercising in. Once the doors ding, I step into the elevator and smile at the other two people in there. I pull my phone out of my pocket, checking to see if I missed anything in the few hours that I was at work. It was just a few minutes passed three and I already had two text messages and three missed calls from my best friend, Gina. I roll my eyes as I read them: something about us grabbing drinks with some college friends on Saturday at Venice Beach. Stepping out of the elevator, I walk the brief distance to the door that lead to the underground parking lot. My heels click under me as they met the concrete and echo throughout the deck. Grabbing my keys from my bag, I let myself into my 2011 BMW 335i. It was my baby and I tried to take care of it the most that I possibly could. I had lost both parents at a very young age in a car accident, and was raised with my grandparents. When they passed a few years back, they left a large sum of cash to my name. With it, I bought a brand new car and a house with Gina, invested some and set the rest in my savings account. I was blessed to be financially stable, but I tried not to take anything for granted. I knew the pain of losing your whole world, and I didn’t want to go through that misery again.

The drive to my house takes longer than I expected. Because it was the beginnings of April, the weather was finally starting to warm up (not that it gets THAT cold). I must’ve changed the radio a hundred times before I got annoyed with the same old music and commercials. Instead, I connect my phone via Bluetooth to my radio and opened Pandora. As I wait for the light to turn green, I settle for the Today’s Country station and sing along to every song that plays. Country wasn’t too big in Los Angeles, but new artists were beginning to rise to the top of the charts and I was always open to listening to new music.

I pull into the driveway of my two story house that I share with my best friend. Her car was parked on the left side of the driveway so I knew she was home. I get out of my car and make my way up the path that lead to the house, locking my car in the process. Walking through the threshold of the front door, I call out so Gina would know it was me and not an intruder.

“Wendy, I’m home!” I shout, imitating my favorite scene from The Shining. I kick off my heels, and pick them up with the intention of taking them to my room and storing them until next time. As I walk through the living room, the scent of chili fills my airways. It was only then that I realize how hungry I really am, having skipped lunch. “Buggs, you have got to stop spoiling me so much with your cooking, you’re gonna make me fat.” I smile as I place a kiss on my best friend’s cheek.

“Oh please, you haven’t gained any weight in the twenty years I’ve known you.” She rolls her eyes as she laughs at me. Gina and I had been friends since we met in second grade when we were seven. I had been moved from my seat for being too much of a social butterfly and was instead seated next to Gina who at the time was the quietest person I had ever encountered. Our opposite personalities clicked and I vouched after that day that we would be best friends forever. She’d been there through all of my ups and downs and I love her to death.

“Hey! I know I was a fat kid, but come on I wasn’t THAT chubby.” I stick my tongue out at her. “Oh, and thank you for the lovely texts. You couldn’t just wait until I got home?”

“NICE TO KNOW THAT I COULD’VE BEEN DYING AND YOU WOULDN’T HAVE ANSWERED ME.” Gina dramatically threw her hands in the air as her face contorts to one of pain. “You’re such a terrible best friend.”

“Love ya!” I blow her a kiss. “Kay, I’m gonna go change because I need to get out of this skirt.” I turn away from her and am halfway up the stairs when I hear her shout something along the lines ‘but it makes your ass look great.’ The soft carpet feels like heaven under my aching feet. I pass two rooms before I reach my bedroom at the far end of the hallway. I am half naked before I even reach my dresser. I finish undressing and throw on a pair of baggy sweatpants that most likely weren’t mine and a t-shirt that was so old that the original navy blue color was now more of a blue-gray tone. I slip my feet into a pair of penguin slippers that Gina had given me years ago for my birthday. They were so over-worn but so comfortable that the left one was missing an arm and the right one no longer had eyes. My obsession with penguins began when I was just three, when my parents took me to the zoo and I was able to see them just chill in an imitation of their natural habitat. It carried so much that although I lived in the suburbs of Los Angeles my whole life, the Penguins were my favorite hockey team just because of their logo. I picked up my discarded clothes and made my way into my en-suite bathroom where I dropped them into the hamper.

“Food’s ready!” Gina shouts up the stairs. I quickly make my way out of my room and down the stairs, almost slipping down the last few stairs. The sound of the T.V. gives away that Gina was already situated on the couch. I peek my head around the corner to find both of our chili bowls on the coffee table in front of her with silverware but no drinks. I waltz into the kitchen, grabbing two wine glasses from the cupboard and an opened bottle of sauvignon blanc from the refrigerator. I comfortably situate myself next to Gina as I pour us each a glass to the brim.

After dinner, I grab our dishes and made my way to the kitchen while Gina advises me that she was going over to the Luke’s house. Gina has been dating Luke for a while now and she would occasionally spend the night at his house, however she always claimed they were just casually dating. She wasn’t one to stay tied down for too long, but unlike all her other boyfriends, I actually thought Luke was a good balance for her. After finishing the dishes and placing them back in their respective locations, I make my way back to the living room and plop down on the couch. I reach for the Xbox controller on the table and pour myself the rest of the wine as I wait for the game console to load up. My game of choice was already inserted, Call of Duty: Black Ops. I decide that I am in the mood to play live instead of doing the campaign today. Team Deathmatch was my favorite gameplay because I liked being a troll sometimes and just camp and hear people whine and trash talk once in the lobby.

I become so drawn into the game that I hadn’t realized I’d been playing for almost four hours. I had joined a chat party with two members that were on my team after the first three games. One known as xxShadowxSniperxx007 always had the top score. The other guy, 66Vengenary61 and I alternated being in second and third on our team of six players. I quickly learned that Vengenary’s name was Zack and Shadow Sniper was Matt. They either were used to playing on the same team or were actually friends in real life by the amount of arguing and joking going on between the two. I was leaning more towards the latter. Zack left after an hour and a half of gameplay, which left Matt and I in the party alone.

“Fucking campers, learn to play the fucking game.” Matt shouts at the T.V. “He’s hiding in the middle building. There’s two of them.”

“On it” I reply as I ran across the map, shooting anyone who I cross paths with. Throwing a grenade through the open window, I get a notification that I killed one while I see the other running from the building. Luckily Matt had reached the building by that point and was able to kill the guy. “Yesssss, got my attack dogs.” I say gleefully. We ended up kicking the other team’s asses that match.

“Alright, I’ma get off. Work in the morning.” I state as I use all my willpower to exit the lobby.

“Yeah, I should get off too. My girlfriend’s been nagging me to go to bed for the last hour” he groans. “Can I add you? Maybe we can team up again another day.” Matt questions. I nod as I answer affirmatively.

“Yeah, I had fun. Don’t think I’ve ever had such a long win streak” I laugh, semi complimenting Matt on his Call of Duty skills. “Alright, bye Matt, it was nice playing with you.” I yawn as I accept his request and turn the console off.

Turning off the T.V., I get up from the couch and set the alarm for the house before shutting off all the lights and making my way to my room. It was just passed eleven and I was so thankful that I was able to sleep in tomorrow and work from home instead of going into the office.

Notes

I'm bringing this back. Maybe some day i'll be one of those people that posts consistently.