Charlie was late.
Charlie was always late.
She sprinted out of the subway tunnel and whirled around at street corner trying to gather her bearings. Where the hell am I? She focused on a sign hanging above an old grocery store that read:
Jacob's
Hell's Kitchen's Number One Stop for Fresh Produce
Charlie glanced in the window at the flies that buzzed over Jacob's 'fresh' produce.
"Fresh produce my ass," she muttered as she whipped out her phone to bring up Google Maps. Judging by the map, she should be near the building where the interview to determine the rest of her future was to be held. And she would be late. Of course.
She scurried across the street in the general direction of where the map had indicated while trying to ruthlessly calm her unruly hair into some semblance of a ponytail.
"Stop, misbehaving. I grew you. Don't be so ungrateful." She whispered to herself as she rounded a corner and stopped dead in her tracks.
There it was.
Stapleton's Newspaper.
Only the best the city had to offer in undercover journalism and what Charlie hoped would kick start her career into the world of photojournalism.
Or you know, reject her for being late to her interview and kick her to the curb to live out the rest of her life as a starving artist begging for scraps outside of Greenwich Village.
I mean, whatever works.
Charlie glanced at her phone: 6:39. Shit. The interview was supposed to start at 6:30. She pulled open the heavy glass doors and practically ran to the receptionists desk not even stopping to enjoy the beautiful interior of the classic brick building.
"Hi, umm, Hello, Charlotte Evedyn. I'm here for an interview with a-" She rummaged through her messenger back and pulled out a scrap of paper. "-a Mr. Renner?" She hoped her face wasn't too flushed from the wind and the New York winter but she assumed she probably resembled a mad woman fighting for her sanity.
The receptionist glanced over her large framed glasses and raised a pristine eyebrow. "You're late."
"I know. And I am very sorry. I'm new to the city and it was much harder to navi-"
"Upstairs. 8th floor. Take two lefts and walk down the skyhall. His room is the 4th on the right."
"Yes, of course, thank you!"
Charlie sped to the closest elevator and pressed a rather large button for the 8th floor. Elevator music began to play. It was horrendous. She took this opportunity to glance at the reflective walls to take in what she assumed was a messy and windswept version of the outfit she most meticulously put together earlier that day. Her high-waisted black dress pants had cat hair scattered throughout and the blue blouse she had thrown on was wrinkled and limp. Her thick and curly mahogany hair was frizzing from the humidity on the city streets and was sticking up in places it really should have behaved. Her pale skin made her grey blue eyes stand out amidst a sea of freckles splattered across her nose and cheekbones. The only makeup she had bothered to put on was mascara and some light pink lipstick that she hoped was improving her rushed appearance instead of looking like she was a ghost.
The elevator reached the 8th floor all to quick and Charlie sighed. Here goes nothing. She walked to Mr. Renner's office with what she hoped was a portraying confident posture and not the bundle of nerves she felt in her stomach. She took a deep breath and rapped three times on his door and heard the crisp "Come in."
His office was large with a view of a street that allowed her to see a bit of the Manhattan skyline. The sun was already setting and she knew the temperature would be steadily dropping. It was going to be a cold December, definitely not like the ones she was used to in North Carolina. Mr. Renner himself looked to be a man in his mid sixties with a gentle smile and a well groomed suit. His circle glasses gave him the look of a wise owl and his blue eyes crinkled when he saw Charlie stumble a bit in her unfamiliar heels.
"Ah, you must be Miss. Evedyn?" His voice was friendly as she straightened herself, recovering from her stumble and approached him with an outstretched hand.
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry I'm late. I promise I'm not usually late." Only a white lie. Charlie barely ever made it somewhere on time. It was a fatal flaw. Mr. Renner took her hand firmly in his own and gave it a brisk shake.
"It's fine, you're not that late. Did you bring a portfolio?"
"Of course!" She pulled a black folder from her messenger back and set it on his desk.
"Please, sit, Miss. Evedyn."
As Charlie took a seat in a dark leather chair she studied Mr. Renner's face as he sifted through her life's work. Years of photography schooling and thousands of dollar later Charlie had graduated from a prestigious art school in North Carolina and taken a leap of faith when she hopped on a train to New York city hoping to kick start a career in photojournalism somewhere where the news actually relayed the truth. After hours of research she discovered that Stapleton's was one of the few companies in the city that actually worked to get accurate and timely stories out to their readers. It seemed to be a great place to start on her journey that would hopefully end with her running her own company one day.
"I'm impressed. These are extraordinary. I've never seen pictures this detailed. You must tell me how you got access to the Mattherhorn Estate? I thought it was banned from the press?"
Charlie felt her face go red. "It was, I umm, acquired access to the facility and once I was inside it was fairly easy to get where I needed to go. They put all of their focus on the barriers, there really wasn't much security inside." She hoped he didn't ask her to elaborate on her knowledge of fortresses. That was a conversation not meant for her first interview.
"Acquired?"
"Yeah, I did a lot of rock climbing and parkour when I was in college. It just kinda-" Charlie waved her hand in the air, "- came to me." She let out a nervous smile, hoping he wouldn't think to much about her means to an end.
"Ah, I see. Well, sometimes you have to get your hands a bit dirty to get to the truth. You've impressed me, Miss. Evedyn. I would like to see how you work with my team. We have assembled some of the most talented journalists and photographers from different backgrounds and ambitions and I think you would fit perfectly. When can you start?"
Charlie's mouth dropped open. She quickly closed it and shook her head a moment. "Anytime. Tomorrow. Tonight. I have no plans." She blurted before her mind had time to tell her to shut up.
Mr. Renner chuckled. "Well, Miss. Evedyn-"
"Charlie." she interrupted. " You, er, can call me Charlie."
"Well, Charlie. I will see you here tomorrow, 9am. Sharp." He raised his eyebrow as if to challenge her to be late again. Hell no , she thought. Tomorrow begins the first day of the rest of my life.
