(first two chapters)
Chapter 1
Los Angeles was an ugly place. A dirty city stitched together in haste. Concrete and asphalt thrown up by dreamers and schemers who couldn’t be bothered with such things as adequate sewer systems. Every downpour clogged what sewers there were with plastic bags, discarded shoes or any trash tossed without thinking into the street, overwhelming the system and sending run off into the Pacific. The myth of perpetually sunny and warm California unceremoniously shattered. For Los Angelinos, every rain felt like a betrayal. A promise broken.
Aurelia was not a fan of Los Angelinos. Her complains about them were run-of-the-mill and typical. Rude. Shallow. The usual flaws. But she did feel the reputation they had earned for being unable to drive in the rain was slightly unfair.
The freeways were filled with cracks reaching out for the horizon like veins. Pot holes had to be filled fast and during the middle of the night in a failed attempt not disrupt traffic. The clumsily bandaged wounds would inevitably open again, the cheap filler disintegrating even in the lightest of showers. Navigating the crumbling roads, in the rain, all while trying to fight for one centimeter of space in the gridlock, would of course be a recipe for disaster.
LA traffic jams could really turn into the stuff of nightmares, but for Aurelia, her thirty minute morning commute into The Valley was the closest thing she was going to get to a vacation. Her car was her sanctuary. Her only private place. She shared a one bedroom apartment in Koreatown with her best friend Simon. One bedroom because times were tough. Especially for Aurelia and Simon.
After parking she sat in her car mentally preparing for the day. Ever since she graduated from college six years ago she had bounced from one soul sucking menial job to the next. A young receptionist behind a desk is always dismissed as uneducated or even lazy.
Years of answering other peoples calls, never knowing if the person on the other end was going to belittle or abuse her in any way, had made Aurelia skittish of ringing phones. So much so that she never even answered her own cell. It drove Simon crazy.
Aurelia had been at Primo Industries for about a year, and even though it had its own set of problems and villains, there was much less yelling then what she had grown accustomed to in a working environment.
Her hand was on her door handle when she spotted her supervisor, Gregory Cormack strolling into the building. She stopped and watched him disappear inside. She waited a few more moments in her car, giving enough time for the elevators to retrieve him. Even though she was spared the awkward shared elevator ride, just seeing Cormack first thing in the morning was enough to sour her mood.
Tall, toned and good looking, no one would argue that Cormack was physically attractive. But every time Aurelia happened upon a new hire who couldn’t help but be smitten with him, her stomach turned.
Born to be a master of industry, Cormack did not disappoint. He was cool and emotionless most of the time. A numbers man, constantly adding up in his head losses and profits, his greatest accomplishment from what Aurelia had witnessed, was stopping Primo from giving away fifteen dollar Ralph’s gift cards to employees during Thanksgiving. He treated every employee like they were personally burning through his salary.
Aurelia liked her desk. She sat in front of a tall brick wall that kept her computer screen safe from passing eyes, leaving her to roam the internet as much as she pleased.
The lines were light that morning and everyone took their calls without complaint. It was just the type of uneventful day Aurelia preferred. Eventful meant stressful, and stressful meant tension and tension meant yelling, and no one wants to be the bottom rung on the ladder in an office full of yelling.
At 11:55 Cormack approached her desk.
“Aurelia! I need you to change my flight to Mumbai.” Aurelia did her best to suppress an annoyed eye roll.
“Sure. Can it wait until after lunch?”
“No. I need you to do it now. Why do you think I asked? Change it to fly out tonight instead of Wednesday. Also, can you stick close to the phones during lunch? Janet called in sick.” He turned and left, completely unaware the bomb he just dropped on Aurelia. He didn’t even ask if she had lunch plans, which she did.
As if on cue the elevators opened and her friend J.J. spilled out with a wide smile.
“Hey!”
“Hey.” He took in her deflated mood.
“Oh no. What’s wrong?”
“I can’t go to lunch. My boss just told me I have to first reschedule his flight and then I’m held captive because his assistant called in sick and there is no one to answer the phones.”
Like a true friend J.J. was instantly sympathetic “What a jerk! We’ll just stay here for lunch. You reschedule Ass-hat’s flight, and I’ll run and get us sandwiches or something.” Aurelia smiled as he darted away, his messy rust colored hair disappearing from view behind the elevator doors. J.J. always gave Aurelia a sense of comfort, like nothing bad could ever happen if he was around.
Eight years ago, on a cold November night that feeling was tested.
As freshman, just getting to know each other, J.J. and Aurelia found themselves shivering in terror as they were mugged at gun point outside the photography labs across from campus. After they had handed over their valuables, J.J. could only turn his head away, his eyes squeezed shut, helpless, as the mugger pushed Aurelia against a chain length fence, and groped and fondled her. They left out this part of the story when they reported the robbery to the police, and they hadn’t talked about it since. Each covering for the other’s feelings of shame. Grateful for other’s silence.
Her cell phone rang. Simon. She turned the muted the volume, and started her work on changing Cormack’s flight. Moments later the company line rang.
“Good morning. Primo Industries.” This was the least painful reception greeting she ever had to memorize. She appreciated the brevity.
“You answer this phone!”
“They pay me.” Aurelia tried not to smile, and lowered her voice. She scanned around to see if there was anyone who would care she was taking a personal call. When she was satisfied it was safe she asked, “What’s up?”
“Can you pick up some Jack on the way home?” Aurelia paused. She had just bought a bottle two days ago, but she knew it was useless to ask where it had gone.
“Ok. Anything else?”
“Just that you’re the best.”
“No. You are.”
She hung up the phone and tried to push the image of Simon alone in their apartment sitting on their couch with a quickly emptying bottle of Jack Daniels perched on their coffee table out of her mind.
Simon hadn’t worked in over a year. He negotiated with his parents that he just needed a little hiatus, a short time off and they agreed to help him out for three months. His parents were good on their word. Simon’s worsening depression made sure he wasn’t. After the checks stopped coming, he asked his parents for more money. After they refused once, he never asked again. Since then Aurelia had supported them both.
J.J. showed up with sandwiches just as she was printing out Cormack’s new boarding pass.
“Shall we?” J.J. asked motioning to the beak room.
“Yes. I’m starving.”
The break room was empty except for two employees from the India office who were watching the news intently.
“India is so far denying reports that the illness has spread beyond the confines of Dharavi, Mumbai’s largest slum…”
At the mention of Mumbai, Aurelia turned her head toward the television.
“Reports that the President and Prime Minister have been stricken are also being denied…”
Across the break room, Aurelia watched as the two Indian employees stared intently at the television, concern etched on their faces, and she wondered if she would have to reschedule their flights as well.
Chapter 2
Aurelia’s uneventful morning eventually turned into a hellish week. A cold swept across the office, and every day started with a barrage of employees calling in sick. Aurelia hadn’t been able to take a lunch for the rest of the week since there was no one else to cover the phones during her break.
By the time Sunday rolled around, she was bursting to get out of the apartment to attend a housewarming for her friend William. Anything to break the monotony of the work/home/work/home routine.
The three bedroom house at the end of the tree lined street wowed J.J., Simon and Aurelia. It felt like they had stumbled across The Secret Garden.
Once inside, Aurelia walked towards the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the rolling hills of Pasadena and wished more than anything she could jump out of them without making a scene. The house was other worldly to Aurelia who had spent most her nine years in Los Angeles neighborhoods where outdoor space wasn’t a top priority. The sights, the sounds even the smells were different up here. They were better. For as long as Aurelia had known him, William had always done everything better.
He was born in Illinois and raised in an affluent suburb of Chicago. Basically a universe away from Aurelia.
Everything seemed to come so easy for William. School went by like a breeze, after college he had his pick of highly competitive internships before deciding on a smaller production company owned by an up and coming director. It wasn’t long before he was officially hired. He remained loyal to the director and the company and was continuously promoted and last month he was made a vice president. To celebrate he, along with his fiancé, Karen, purchased the house Aurelia was now eying with intense jealousy.
It was by chance William, J.J., Simon and Aurelia become friends. They all just happened to be assigned to the same dorm on the same floor freshman year, and as the years passed the divide between them grew wider. J.J. struggled to earn a living playing music, Simon was sucked into the vortex of depression, and Aurelia, all she knew for sure was that she hated being a receptionist. She would say William was outgrowing them. The truth is, he was always ahead.
A crisp March breeze wafted in through the open window, slicing Aurelia in half. The moon had risen already, launching an early attack in the darkest blues it could find. The lights of the houses were just starting to flicker on, sparkling like fireflies trapped in the quickly darkening hills. This place, this moment was breathtaking, but it didn’t belong to Aurelia. Everything beautiful in Los Angeles was out of her grasp. This city was no place for the envious.
“Well, I feel bad about myself.” Simon stood next to her sipping a glass of champagne.
“Right? Can we go home and feel our shame in private?”
“Psh. Home? I’m not going back to that dump.” Aurelia laughed, choking on the sip of champagne she just took.
“Hey Guys! Thanks for coming!” Aurelia and Simon smiled widely as William and Karen approached them. Aurelia collected herself and hoped they didn’t overhear her and Simon’s pity party.
“Your house is beautiful!” She slapped a wide smile on her face and leaned in to hug Karen.
“Thank you. We just got the fire pit built out yesterday, I was so afraid it wouldn’t be ready for tonight!”
“Oh! There’s a fire pit!” Aurelia couldn’t help looking right at Simon, who was in mid champagne chug.
“Down the stairs in the back, here, let me show you.” Aurelia allowed herself to be escorted outside. Behind her she could hear William tell Simon “Pace yourself, buddy.”
The cool air hit them full force and Aurelia tightened the shawl around her shoulders. Twinkling strands of lights illuminated the stone stairs which led down two levels before ending at a wide concrete slab with benches surrounding a flaming pit.
“It’s not done yet. We still need to finish up the landscaping and we need more furniture, and William has to have a grill.” Karen giggled, and Aurelia realizing she had nothing to add or even say to this person nursed her champagne. Karen was nice. And that was about all. She had lived a life very similar to William, but unlike him, she didn’t have sharing the same dorm in common with Aurelia. Therefore – nothing to talk about.
“It is necessary.”
“We’ll probably do all that after the wedding.”
“That’s not for a while, though, right?” Karen froze for a second, the color draining from her face, but recovered.
“Yeah. Not for a while. I’m getting cold. Let’s go back inside.” Aurelia had finally learned something about Karen. She was a horrible liar.
Once back inside Karen scurried off to play perfect hostess and Simon swayed over.
“How was the grand tour?”
“Grand.”
“I know. I heard there was a fire pit.” From his tone Aurelia realized Simon had crossed the line from pleasantly buzzed to annoyed, from here it was only a hop, skip and a jump away to belligerent. “Any idea where the bathroom is in the place?”
“Just start walking, I’m sure you’ll come across it.”
“And if not there’s always the fucking fire pit.” Simon handed off his drink to J.J.
“Already?” J.J. asked as he watched Simon walk away.
“Well, the sun has gone down.” She set her glass down on the antique buffet in the living room. “So, I think Karen is hiding something.” She relayed the story of the fire pit tour to J.J., and judging by the look on his face Aurelia knew that he knew the secret Karen was hiding.
“What?” she asked anxiously, her stomach filling with dread. J.J.’s dark brown eyes shifted down to the hardwood floors. He took a deep exasperated breath.
“William and Karen decided to elope in Vegas in two weeks.”
“Oh. Ok. When are they telling everyone?”
“They did.” Aurelia paused and what J.J. was trying and failing to break to her lightly made her voice catch in her throat.
“I’m not invited.”
“There are expenses. Gas money or plane ticket, hotel, food.” When Aurelia didn’t respond, J.J. continued, desperate to lessen the blow. “They knew that you and Simon are having a hard time now.” Aurelia nodded, tears burning in her eyes. Tears she refused to shed.
#
Aurelia walked J.J. to her front gate after he helped get a very drunk Simon into bed. He lit a clove, and blew the smoke into the chilly Los Angeles night.
“How long has he been like this?”
“Ever since he quit his job. Today was the first time he’s left the apartment in weeks.” He passed her the clove and she took a drag, breathing in the scent deeply. “I don’t know what to do.” The tears she held in at William’s slowly streamed down her face. J.J. pulled her in for a bear hug and she buried her face in his shoulder. He smelled like cloves and smoke from the fire pit.
“Shhhh. Don’t worry. Everything is going to be ok.” He continued to hold her while her body wracked with almost silent sobs. “We’ll fix this. I promise.” She stopped crying and lifted her head. J.J. used the sleeve of his sweatshirt to wipe her wet face before he kissed her on the cheek. Time slowed down for a moment as they looked up into each other’s eyes.
Aurelia knew J.J. was attractive. If he had been a girl he probably would have been labeled a slut in college. The truth was though that J.J. loved women. He loved everything about them, and felt that they were honestly just the superior sex. Every conquest he entered with the best of intentions. He expected to fall in love, but to his disappointment, he never did. Over the years he and Aurelia had a couple of near misses. Usually resulting from a night of too much drinking. Teasing became flirting and flirting became touching and touching became long extended hugs. But the line they were both very aware of had never been crossed.
The champagne and the drama encouraged Aurelia to not turn away from J.J.’s gaze, and for a second she thought he was inching closer to her face.
The wrought iron gate slammed and Aurelia’s neighbor, Evan, appeared in the darkness. J.J. moved aside and allowed him to pass between him and Aurelia.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” She watched Evan scoot awkwardly by them, realizing she probably saw him more than any other human being. He worked at Primo too. A year ago he spotted Aurelia tearing off a slip of paper from a flier looking for telemarketers, and told her about the open receptionist position. That was the last time they had an exchange that was more than one word.
“I should get going.” J.J. said moving towards the gate.
“Yeah. I have work in the morning.” He turned around one last time.
“Remember. Everything is going to be ok. We’ll get through this.” Aurelia nodded and waved good-bye.
Through the bedroom door Aurelia could hear Simon’s loud snores echoing against the empty walls. She curled up on the couch with a blanket and shut her eyes.
Fits of coughing from a neighbor, wafted in through the open window, disturbing the stillness of the night. For now Aurelia could shut it out. For now, she could sleep.
Bethany Lopez 