Hey guys, happy Sunday. I’m going to change things up this weekend with some fiction. Some parts are inspired by my real life. This is the first part of a short series. Hope you enjoy!
— Shannon
Part One
My palms were still sweaty and my black pinstripe shirt felt too tight. I pulled my gray tote bag over my shoulder as I stumbled out from under the heavy rotating glass door and into the blinding sun. Freedom, finally.
My stomach grumbled and I opened up Yelp. Bubble tea sounded nice. I started in a brisk walk straight ahead, not really sure if it was the right way.
Source: Giphy.com
The road ahead seemed pretty empty, except for the guys standing around on the sidewalk. Some were huddled in small groups. Their expressions were haggard, curious, almost as if they were going to say something to me. Some were whispering amongst themselves, staying eerily quiet. Hm, okay, I thought, squinting down at my phone and trying to ignore them.
But after making a turn or two onto a new road, I didn’t encounter any crowds or bustling streets as I was expecting. More guys stared at me. I felt my palms get sweatier and my heart pound harder. The sidewalks were littered with trash. Ok, I gotta get out of here, I thought. Bubble tea would just have to wait.
I started walking a bit faster and saw ahead that there were cars. My walk turned into a brisk jog. Finally, I started seeing people walking around on the sidewalks — some were chatting with each other and holding shopping bags. The bumbling red trolly. Then the American Eagle and the Victoria’s Secret appeared, and I let out a big sigh. I don’t think I’d ever been so happy to see tourists. My stomach let out a frustrated growl again and my feet felt sore in my black block heels. Luckily I saw a little blue coffee shop a few feet down the street. My feet moved automatically.
Inside, the coffee shop was cozy and clean, with two people wearing blue t-shirts behind the counter. There was only one other Asian guy buried in his laptop in the shop. “Hi, welcome!” A girl with pink hair greeted me with a big smile.
“Hey-y,” I stammered. I ordered a matcha latte and stumbled over to an empty table in the corner next to the Asian guy. He was wearing a grey shirt and looked pretty normal. Our eyes caught each other’s briefly, but I just sat down and fumbled for my laptop.
Black screen. Crap, I rolled my eyes. Then, I remembered I had my laptop charger and felt so smart for bringing it with me. When I reached down, though, I realized that I couldn’t find an outlet. Perfect.
“Hi, um, excuse me,” I called out to the friendly people behind the registrar. “Is there an outlet? Like, for charging?” I felt dumb for asking it.
“Oh, yes, I think there’s one near you but you might need to push aside the tables and chairs. It’s kind of hard to find,” the pink-haired girl replied with a giggle.
I bent back down and tried to find it, but could only feel the blood rush down to my head. Nothing. Was I just blind?
“Oh, hey, you can use the outlet here.”
It was the Asian boy next to me. He had a surprisingly deep voice that somehow didn’t match his face. “There’s an outlet here,” he said, pointing down at the outlet on the wall underneath his chair.
“Thanks!” I said, plugging in my laptop charger. I cozied back into my seat and watched as my laptop came back to life. I sipped on my matcha latte and felt the creamy goodness warm my body. Soon, a blank email template was staring back at me.
“So, what are you working on?”
I turned around and saw the Asian guy looking at me. He had big, brown eyes and bushy eyebrows. Somehow, they felt friendly. “Oh, I’m just writing up some thank-you emails. I just had an interview.”
“Nice. Where’d you interview?”
“Square.”
“Oh, nice,” he said, nodding. “I think I’ve heard of them before.”
I couldn’t help but smile a little. “Honestly, it’s the worst. I don’t even know what position I just interviewed for.”
He laughed. “I’m actually prepping for interviews, too. Are you from San Francisco?”
“Nope, I flew in from New York yesterday. Okay, so, I honestly didn’t expect SF to be as…rough.”
“What?” he said with a chuckle. “How so?”
“I mean, I haven’t been back to SF in a long time, but it’s just hard to get around. I just walked into this neighborhood with a ton of people just standing around and had no idea where I was.”
He paused for a moment. “Oh. I can help with that.”
He pulled out his iPhone and opened up Google Maps. Then, he proceeded to give me a brief history and walkthrough of the main neighborhoods in San Francisco, including restaurant recommendations and things to do.
“By the way,” he said with a smile. “My name’s Matt. What’s yours?”
Source: Giphy.com
I learned that Matt had grown up and lived in San Francisco almost all his life. I told him about all the places I’d been interviewing at and he told me he wanted to work in product at an aerospace company in San Francisco. “Imagine taking helicopters to the airport instead of cars.” Matt’s eyes grew big, the way cartoon characters’ eyes did. “I was an aerospace engineer in college and did my masters in electrical engineering here in the Bay area.”
He had both the energy of New York and the relaxed attitude of someone from the West coast. There was this excitement about the future that I could relate to, though sometimes forgot about, in the midst of it all. He had a nice smile, too, which didn’t hurt.
Then, the conversation pivoted to our favorite songs somehow and I told him that I was obsessed with Mac Miller and Big Sean at the moment.
“Oh man, Mac Miller Rest In Peace. Yeah, I love his stuff! What’s your favorite song?” he asked.
I paused. “Probably…‘Hurt Feelings’. Right now, at least,” I said.
“Oh that’s such a good one. Have you heard ‘Circles’? It’s from his posthumous album.”
“Yeah, that’s such a sad one. It’s beautiful, though,” I replied.
There was this excitement about the future that I could relate to, though sometimes forgot about, in the midst of it all.
Matt nodded. “Oh, and if you like Big Sean, you need to listen to ‘Jump Out the Window.’ It’s one of my favorites.”
“Ok, I’ll add that to my list,” I replied. Admittedly, I said that a lot when friends recommended me stuff, but often I’d forget to actually check them out.
“So, how long are you in SF for?”
“I have one more interview tomorrow at another one of those tech companies,” I said, smiling. “Then leaving the day after. I might come back in a week though, for another interview.”
“What?” Matt laughed. “Wait, how many final rounds do you have? So are you looking to move to San Francisco?”
I shrugged. “I dunno, maybe. I love New York so much, but if there’s a good opportunity and it makes sense, then maybe. But I’d love to stay in New York.”
“Gotcha. Hey, can I get your number? If you’re free tomorrow, I could show you around the city.”
“Sure,” I said with a small smile as I typed my number into his phone. “And yeah, maybe. That could be fun.”
I finished the last bit of my matcha latte, packed my laptop and charger back into my bag, and headed out the door. The sun was already setting in the horizon in front of me, casting this reddish, orangey glow on the street and sidewalk. My stomach growled again. I was always hungry. What a day, I thought as I pulled out my phone and looked up directions back to my hotel. I could finish writing my thank-you emails when I got back.
As the spring wind brushed across my face, I searched Apple Music and found it. Jump Out the Window. It had this weird, reddish-blue cover art. I had no idea what it was but popped in my earbuds. Then, a light pinging noise and the familiar green banner. It was a text from Matt.
Smiling, I nodded to the edgy beat.
And then hit repeat.
Love the new direction! Always look forward to reading your new posts😊
Hey girl! I wanted to start at the beginning of your short story, and I'm so glad I did! This is so good so far. Can't wait to see what happens next!! #charredbroccoli ;)