"In fact, may you be dull- if that is what a skilled, vigilant, flexible, unemphasised, enthralled, catching of happiness is called."-Philip Larkin
I stared longingly at my keyboard, ghosting my fingertips over the keys, trying to find the right words to ease the blow to my readers that the beautiful calfskin Chanel ankle boots sat on my desk in between my many piles of notes, deadline reminders and unfinished articles only cost a mere $1158.
I sighed heavily, realising my creative juices were probably limited by the raging hangover I was experiencing and immediately regretted the decision to drink one and a half bottles of red wine with my Ben & Jerry's last night.
It took me another painful five minutes of searching for a better word to describe 'you'll have to sell your fucking kidney to buy these shoes', until I decided it was time for a well-deserved coffee break with my best friend.
Angela worked on the advice floor of Eclipse, responding to the many desperate letters she received regarding fashion or personal issues. She was perfect for the job, she was kind, selfless and the most understanding woman I'd ever met, in fact, the only time I'd ever managed to get her to share some of the crazy stories she'd received was when I'd given her enough liquor to not know what year it was.
She didn't look up when knocked on her desk to signal my arrival;
"Can't. Busy."
"What?! Come on, there's only ten minutes till lunch Ange!"
"Yes, and that's ten minutes that I can spend helping someone in need," she took a moment to send me an annoyed look through the thick lenses of her glasses.
"Your best friend is in need! I've been dreaming of a double tall soy latte since I got here! Please?"
"If you want it that much then you can go on your own, I'll be literally ten minutes Bella," she laughed at me.
I took a seat from an empty desk and sat down next to her, eyeing up the large pile of letters in her file tray,
"Jeez Ange I don't know how you do all this."
She noticed what I was looking at and sighed, "I need a raise."
I picked the first letter on the pile and noticed it was beautifully handwritten, the majority of the pieces that were sent in are through email and printed off to prevent Angela's eyes from, and I quote "turning square and falling out of their sockets from staring at a screen all day".
I watched carefully to check that she hadn't noticed what I was holding before I began reading the letter:
Eclipse Magazine corp.
350 Madison Ave
New York
NY 10017
Dear Agony Aunt,
I've written this letter many times before, but it's only with the support of my mother that with this letter I hold the knowledge that I will send it.
This letter concerns my brother; he's never found true love and I'm worried that he never will.
I suppose I should start from the beginning.
My parents met when my father was training to be a doctor and my mother broke her leg falling off a ladder in the midst of decorating, the moment they set eyes on each other; they gave their hearts to each other. You see, the same thing happened with my eldest brother and me; we met out partners by coincidence and fell in love at first sight. I've decided its genetics, although the brother in question just calls me crazy.
My brother did once believe he was in love, but love is about a balance between giving and taking but all she did was take and stupidly, all he did was give. It wasn't until he realised she was having an affair that he saw the truth and hasn't looked for love since.
I just want my brother to be happy, and now he's almost thirty and hasn't dated anyone since the incident but I know that love will give him the happiness that love gave me.
What do I do?
Please help,
Alice (I would prefer for my name to be kept private but I have left my email for any further contact)
Thank you.
I suddenly understood why Angela chose to do this, even if I couldn't understand how she didn't crumble under the weight of other peoples troubles I could understand her need to help those who practically laid themselves and their problems out to her.
I looked at Angela to see her still furiously typing away before carefully folding up the letter and placing it in my jacket pocket.
A few minutes later she turned to me. "Ready to go?"
I smiled and stood up quickly, the letter burning a hole in my pocket,
"Yep!"
The hours leading up to the end of my shift passed slowly, I eventually finished the article about my beloved Chanel boots and had reluctantly placed them in the storage cupboard behind my boss', Victoria's, office. Although working for Eclipse had its privileges such as being able to stare at pretty dresses and carefully trying on shoes that cost more than I earned in a month, sadly those precious babies weren't allowed a step out of the building. It was like waving a bone in front a dog before throwing it into the fiery pits of hell. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration for the storage cupboard.
It took all my will power when I got home to resist the urge to write an email to Alice; it was all I'd been thinking about since I read the letter. How would I reply? What advice should I give? I'd decided during work that my reason to being anxious about my reply to Alice was because it was my first real 'Agony Aunt' moment, of course I've been asked for advice before but never like this. Like when Renee asked me which shoes went best with her dress, I'm sure my opinion wasn't that important to her as she went for the black instead of the red, against my advice. Whereas Alice was asking for genuine advice that might not only affect her, but also her brother.
How on earth did Angela cope.
I searched the fridge for something to eat only to find a few eggs and a plastic bag containing already grated cheese. I grimaced and wrote a reminder to go grocery shopping before cooking up an omelette.
I stared at the clock. 6:27pm.
Surely now I could write a reply? Do I even know what I want to say yet?
I sighed in annoyance with myself and reached for the laptop, as it powered up I began to run through what I was going to say and how I was going to say it before finally giving my first Agony Aunt reply.
To: acullen
From:
Subject: Agony Aunt
Dear Alice,
Instead of publishing your letter I have decided to send a direct response to the email you gave me.
I'm afraid I'm going to struggle to give really helpful advice without asking more questions, and I'm sure you don't want that. I'm worried that you might be looking too far into this, maybe your brother is still healing from a broken heart? Remember that we all take different paths to being happy, and some may be longer than others.
There's no doubt that obviously you know your brother better than I do, and if you think that he would find happiness in a romantic relationship then maybe you just have to send him out there? With the technology that we have these days, online dating is working wonders for so many people, as well as being quick and easy it also skips the messy bits, like going on a blind date to find that he has a ginger goatee. If he doesn't fancy that then you could introduce him to some new people, go to a bar, a coffee shop or even a music concert.
It depends on how invested you want to be, if you want to control everything to ensure his happiness then I advise you do what you think; if you know your brother well enough then you should do pretty good. But if you want no part in it then maybe just a simple talk with him, tell him what's on your mind and what's worrying; let him decide.
I wish you and your brother all the best,
Agony Aunt
I reread the letter, making sure it contained everything an Agony Aunt would say and hoping I hadn't crossed a line. I had no idea what kind of a person Alice was other than that she was worried about her older brother, so I didn't want to offend her.
Just then the phone rang; I smiled as I read the Caller ID and picked up,
"Hey baby."
"Hello my beautiful fiancé, I'm just about to head into a meeting but I was dying to hear your voice before I heard anything about profits."
I giggled before saying, "I miss you so much, come home to me."
"I will Bells, don't worry. Anyway I've got to go, talk to you later."
I quickly hit send on my email before replying.
"Bye Jake."
My first fanfiction! Please let me know what you think. Good? Bad? Ugly? ;)
Criticism and praise is always welcome.
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all characters