"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope."
― Dr. Seuss
Marie yawned as she stretched and got up from her bed. Time for another day at work. She got dressed in her usual blouse and shirt, grabbing her jacket and a waffle. As Marie walked out of her apartment, she locked the door and pushed the elevator button. She had always liked doing that. Marie sighed as the slow elevator was the one that came. She got in and after what she estimated to be a minute, the elevator stopped at the next floor. A man whose name she didn't know stepped in. She had seen him around the building all the time, but never had a conversation with him. They exchanged polite nods and waited for the elevator to finally reach the lobby. Their hopes were shattered when it stopped at the next floor down. Laughter could be heard and both Marie and the man had pained expressions. That laugh was all to familiar, it belonged to a very annoying 'Prussian' man. Marie scooted to a corner of the elevator, partly to make room and partly to escape the trio. Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis walked in to the elevator and, once they saw her, smiled. She realized that in her position they could corner her, but knew that they would be too scared after what Elizaveta did last time.
"Hey Marie, how are ya?" Gilbert asked.
"I am fine, thank you. You?" Marie politely answered, even though she knew the answer.
"AWESOME!" Gilbert explained, causing Marie and the man from earlier to wince. Gilbert turned to the man and observed him.
"May I help you?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, Roderich, you can't. Wait, maybe if you lost that prissy attitude. Yeah, now that I think about it, just stop existing. Or better yet, make it so you would have never existed," Gilbert replied. The name Roderich sounded familiar. Oh that's right, Roderich was Elizaveta's boyfriend.
"You're just jealous," Roderich said coolly.
"Why would I be jealous of you? Because you can play the piano with your eyes closed?" Gilbert asked.
"No, everybody with at least an ounce of talent can do that. You could be jealous because, hmm, Elizaveta hates you, yet you don't feel the same way," Roderich snapped back. By the evil glint in Gilbert's eyes, Marie could tell Roderich had gone too far. Gilbert was about to punch Roderich when the elevator door opened and the landlord, Arthur stepped in. Gilbert immediately stepped back next to Francis and Antonio, who waved at Arthur. Arthur did not return the favor, but turned to Marie.
"Marie, hello. How are you,?" Arthur asked.
"She is fine," Antonio muttered. Arthur turned and glared at him.
"Did I ask you? No! Marie is capable of answering herself!" Arthur exclaimed. He then straightened his tie and turned back to Marie.
"I'm...okay, you?" Marie asked, avoiding the word 'fine.'
"I'm quite well, thank you. There are some letters for you in the lobby. There were some for you too Francis, but I accidentally dropped them into the shredder. Oh, and a package for you, Roderich," Arthur informed us. By the look on Francis's face, he didn't like that.
"What! But, what if that was important," he asked.
"Oops, it seems to be that I forgot to care, Mr. Bonnefoy. You need to pay this month's rent, by the way," came the bitter reply. Francis handed him a check.
"Haha, funny joke, but it seems that I forgot to laugh," Francis said with the same bitterness and stormed out of the now open elevator doors. Antonio and Gilbert followed immediately. Roderich left and Arthur made sure it stayed open.
"After you," he said, being a gentleman.
"Thank you," Marie replied, stepping out with Arthur right behind her.
Marie arrived at work 5 minutes early, as usual. She unlocked the door to the studio with her new key and put her stuff in a locker in the back. She walked back out and saw some flowers on the doorstep. Confused, she walked over and opened the door, picking them up. They were livingstone daisies, one of her favorites. She checked to see if there was a note and saw one.
Dear Marie,
I hope that you enjoy these flowers from me.
The writing was familiar, but she couldn't remember whose it was. She put them in a vase an pocketed the note. Just then, her boss, Laura, walked in calmly.
"Oh hey Marie, what's up with the flowers?" Laura asked.
"Oh, I found them outside the door," Marie replied.
"They for you?" Laura questioned.
"Yeah. So, is your brother coming today?" Marie changed the subject as quickly as possible.
"Nah, he doesn't technically get paid so he doesn't like to come in," Laura responded, leaving to put her stuff in a locker. When she got back, Marie opened the door for Mathew. They all worked at the music studio called Beat To It. Marie was the agent, Laura was the manager, and oddly Mathew was the secretary. Mathew left to put his stuff in the locker room and the phone rang. Marie decided to answer it for him.
"Hello, this is Marie at Beat To It, how may I help you?" Marie asked.
"Hi, last month I ordered a sycamore guitar and you said it should be there by now. Should I come and pick it up?" asked a voice.
"Just a second, I'll check the inventory room," Marie said and put the phone down.
"Who was it?" Laura asked.
"A customer who ordered a sycamore guitar. Do you know if we have it in the inventory?" Marie asked.
"Yeah, it came in yesterday right after you left," Laura responded helpfully. Marie picked up the phone and held it up to her ear.
"Yes, we have your guitar in our inventory. You can come and pick it up whenever is convenient, but we close at 6," she said.
"Okay. And can I place another order?" the customer asked.
"Of course," Marie said.
"I need some sycamore drumsticks and a sycamore-looking guitar picks," The customer said.
"Okay. Those will probably be ready in a week, well the drumsticks. I might find them and the guitar pick in the inventory though by the time you come. If you would share your phone number I can call if I find them," Marie said, looking for a pen and paper but found only a 'Prussian blue' Crayola crayon and half of a coupon for a free pizza at the new restaurant: Vargas 2.
"780-1234," the customer supplied.
"Thank you," Marie said, writing the customer order and sticking it over with all the rest of the phone numbers left in the past month. Mathew walked out of the locker room just as she put the phone down.
"I'll go and check the inventory," Marie said.
"Hey! I found those purple drumsticks someone wanted!" Laura yelled, walking out of the inventory room with them in hand. Mathew started looking through the pile and raised an eyebrow when he saw the most recent one.
"Interesting," he muttered, "Here! I found the number!" Mathew yelled triumphantly and called it right away. The phone rang right after he greeted the person.
"Please hold," Mathew said, answering the next call. "Hello, this is Mathew at Beat To It, how may I help you?" he asked.
"Oh hello, may I speak to Marie?" came the reply.
"Okay, let me forward the call to her phone," Mathew said, shooing Marie away. She picked up the phone in her neat, mini office.
"Hello, this is Marie at Beat To It, how may I help you?" Marie answered.
"Hey Marie! It's Lizzie! We should go shopping at your lunch break!" Lizzie cheered happily.
"Lizzie, my lunch break is ten minutes to go and get three bagels and coffee across the street," Marie explained, rubbing her forehead.
"But wha- wait, you have ten minutes to go buy bagels and coffee across the street? That long?" Lizzie asked, distracted.
"That place gets a lot of business, okay?" Marie said.
"Anyways, if I talked to Laura maybe we could go with her!" Lizzie exclaimed.
"Sure, do you want me to go get her?" Marie asked.
"No need, I'm right outside," Lizzie replied. Sure enough, the little bell rang signifying someone came in. Marie looked over to confirm that it was indeed Lizzie. She walked over to Laura and started chatting. She saw Laura nod and Lizzie jump in joy. She walked out and grabbed her wallet while Laura and Lizzie did the same.
"Hey Mattie, can you watch the studio while we go shopping?" Laura asked with puppy dog eyes.
"Under two conditions. One, bring me a bagel and coffee. Two, I get to leave work early," Mathew said, giving in.
"Wow Mattie, hurtful, I thought you liked us more thank that. But yeah, whatever, thanks bye!" Laura rushed and dragged them out. Mathew sighed and returned to his work.