The Good Life

I woke up on my couch for the second morning in a row, this time surrounded by an assortment of fast food wrappers and my living room smelling of French fries. The Pirates of the Caribbean title card is softly playing on my television, but I can faintly hear Maroon 5 coming from my bedroom. I force myself to get up and check out where the sound is coming from: my alarm clock. Instantly my mind starts racing, wondering if I woke up late and missed some work time again. However, one glance at the bright red numbers on my alarm calm my fears. It’s only half an hour later than I normally get up, and if I hurry, I won’t be any later than a few minutes. After taking a quick shower and primping myself, I clean off the coffee table and dash to my car just in time. Thank goodness for the hair dryer, otherwise I’d be late for work and guilt myself into staying a few extra hours like the day before.

“Hey kiddo,” the red words stared up at me. A copy of my weight loss story sat on my desk, Angie’s handwriting gracing the top. “Just a few minor changes need to be made. Excellent work! We’ll be printing this in next month’s issue.” I glanced over the rest of my article, noticing a few bright red circles and little notes jotted on the side. Only two or three small things--not too bad! Thank goodness I decided to stay a few hours later the previous night. I quickly typed up Angie’s edits and went to go place my officially completed story on her desk. Of course, she was on the phone, but motioned for me to set it in her inbox and flashed the “okay” sign before shooing me out of the room.

I wandered into the break room and smiled when I noticed Jenna and Corbin huddled together in the back. I’m friends (more like… acquaintances) with a few other people I work with, but Jenna and Corbin are definitely my favorites. I snagged a cup of orange juice before butting in on their conversation. Jenna glared at me while Corbin scoffed in the background.

“You shouldn’t just do that, you know.”

“Mmmm do what?” I asked, batting my eyelashes in the most innocent way possible.

“Interrupt out conversation,” Corbin finished for her. “You wouldn’t even want to hear the things we chat about.”

“Yeah. I mean, we could have been talking about you.”

“Buuuuut,” I cut in. “If you were talking about me, then I would want to know what about.” Jenna opened her mouth to respond, but promptly closed it when she realized there really was no comeback to my statement. “Hah, I win.”

“Huh,” she sighed. Corbin just shrugged in response. “Fine, you may converse with us. Right now, we’re talking about how sexy Leighton Meester was on the Gossip Girl rerun last night. Honestly, she steals the show every time.”

“Agreed. Blake Lively may be hot, but she can’t even begin to compare,” he continued. I sat back in my seat and let them drabble on about meaningless TV shows and celebrity sightings before Jenna stood to announce that we should all be getting back to work.

“Just cause you guys are my best friends doesn’t mean you get to slack off. Come on, you two,” she called before strutting out of the room. Corbin and I quickly followed suit, mimicking her America’s Next Top Model-worthy walk as we headed toward our cubicles. I mindlessly browsed through Facebook before checking my email. Angie had already sent me one about my weight loss story, saying that it’s now perfect and I won’t need to change a thing. See, told you I’m good. As I read on, my mouth dropped.

Also, Kristen Bell is going to be our feature in a few months. I’d like you to take the lead on this one. Good luck!

It took me a while to catch my breath and be able to formulate a reply. I tried to play it cool with my responding email, sending her a “Sounds great. Thanks!” but inside, I was screaming. I opened IM and sent “I GOT THE COVER STORY I GOT THE COVER STORY I GOT THE COVER STORYYYYYYYY!!!!!” to practically everyone on my buddy list. Jenna and Corbin immediately sent me congratulatory replies, and after a few minutes some other coworkers followed suit. Eventually, I got a response from Evan. I didn’t even realize I IM ed him…

evank27: Hmm… Another one of those journalist things I don‘t understand. I’m gonna guess that this is a huge deal for you?

mickey: uhh YEAH! don’t worry. i’ll inform you of every. little. detail tonight.

He laughed (online..) and we chatted for a few minutes before I told him I really needed to work. Now that I have the chance to write the cover story, I’ve got to start writing my questions. I need to be 100% prepared!

After working at Mascara long enough, and showing promise with your articles, Angie will give you the chance to lead up the cover story for an issue. That means contacting wardrobe, photography and makeup, writing up an interview, and finally, typing out the entire article. Not to mention, meeting celebrities. If you do extremely well, she’ll give out a raise or sometimes even a promotion. Needless to say, I’m super excited and slightly nervous. If I do well with this whole story, then I could finally move up the ladder. One step closer to Jenna’s position! Not that I’d ever try to steal it from her, of course. For a long time, I just needed a little sign that my work wasn’t going unappreciated and that I had a shot of moving up. And I finally got that sign! I neglected my other stories and focused solely on my future cover story.

The rest of my workday was spent researching Kristin Bell and looking up her past interviews. I’d like to conduct my question-and-answer session without repeating the generic things she’s asked all the time. More quickly than it ever had before, the clock hit 5 and everyone dashed away. I probably could stay later, but there’s a nagging voice in the back of my head reminding me that I have something to do tonight…

“Oh well,” I thought, walking out to my car. “I’ll remember it sooner or later.”