Sara reached into the next box and pulled out a worn green folder. Flipping it open she found a small stack of old applications for jobs related to her physics degree. She had applications to several prestigious research facilities, one or two for doctoral programs, and even one for a teaching position at a small private college in New York. So many different paths she could have taken. She clearly remembered the day that her path was chosen.
Sara stumbled into her apartment shedding her mittens, hat and scarf as she made her way inside from the blistering Boston winter. The shrill ring of her phone echoed loudly in the otherwise quiet apartment, but she was much too concerned with warming herself up to be bothered with answering the phone. Slipping into warm pajama pants and fuzzy frog slippers, she heard the answering machine click on.
"Hi, you've reached Sara Sidle. I'm not here to take your call right now. Please leave a message and I'll call you back later. Thanks! Bye."
"Sara! It's Jeff, are you there? Babe, I need your help. I'm trying to finish my applications for a research internship and I am in desperate need of your assistance. If anyone can make me look good on these things, it's you. I wouldn't trust my future to anyone else. Plus, if I know you, you've probably had all of your applications in for at least a month. Please, please, PLEASE call me back as soon as you get this message. Maybe I'll just pop by later. Anyway, give me a call."
Sara rolled her eyes and smiled as she made her way into the kitchen. It was so like Jeff to leave everything to the last minute.
These research internship applications were no small task. Each one had essays and your resume, transcripts and letters of recommendation. They were a lot to put together. And to be considered for any of the positions, everything had to be postmarked by midnight tomorrow.
Turning on the coffee pot Sara sighed and cast a wayward glance at the green folder sitting open on the coffee table. Spilling out of it were seven completed applications, complete with essays, letters of recommendation, and addressed envelopes.
Three were for positions in research labs, two were for doctoral programs to continue her education and get her PhD and one was for a teaching position at a small private college. The last application was different. The last application, currently sitting on the top of the pile, was for an entry-level position in the San Francisco coroner's office.
It paid less than the others, involved long hours at odd times of the day and night, and was something completely outside of where she always pictured herself working. Still, something in her wanted to go for it.
Sara had only recently begun taking forensics classes. But even after two short semesters she knew that forensics grabbed her in a way that no other subject ever had. She had always been a dedicated student, but when she was studying forensics she went beyond dedicated to something close to obsession. But was it really meant to be her career? Something in her still doubted her instinct. Hence the reason that she filled out all of the other applications.
The phone rang again, interrupting her thoughts. Shaking herself back to the present Sara crossed the room and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Sara! It's Jeff; I just left you a message."
"Yeah, I know, I was just getting home and I heard you on the machine. I was just changing clothes and starting some coffee before I called you back."
"Good, make that a big pot of coffee, and I have the doughnuts. I'm at the corner bakery right now; I'll be there in five minutes."
Before she could respond, the line went dead. Just like Jeff to invite himself over. At least he was bringing doughnuts.
Half an hour later Sara was sitting on her couch sipping out of a large coffee mug and staring blankly into space when she was interrupted by a knock on her door. She padded across the apartment and opened the door, revealing a very cold Jeff holding a box of doughnuts.
"Sorry that took so long, I got stuck behind a car accident," Jeff said, pushing past Sara and into the apartment. As she closed and locked the door behind him he grabbed the steaming mug from her hands. "And you meet me at the door with coffee and everything," he gushed. Taking a sip he scrunched up his face and added, "What is this?"
Sara grabbed the mug back. "Irish coffee."
"No kidding. How about you make me one with just coffee in it?" He asked as he dropped his bag on the floor and shed his bulky winter jacket.
While Sara was in the kitchen getting the coffee, Jeff made his way to the living room. Seeing the papers spread on the table in the living room, he flipped through the pages and pages of different applications.
"Sara, girl, what's up with all the applications? You have, like, a billion filled out. Are you actually going to send any of them?"
Sara walked back into the room carrying two steaming mugs. Handing one to Jeff she sat down on the couch folding her legs beneath her. With a shrug she took a sip of her coffee. "I haven't decided which ones I want to send in yet."
"Why not just send them all? They're already done, what's the harm?" Jeff asked.
"What if I make the wrong choice?"
Jeff sat down next to Sara and put his hand on her knee. "Sara, you don't actually make the choice until you are accepted. What is this really about?"
Staring into the mug clasped in her hands, her reply was almost inaudible. "What if it's just because I have a crush? What if it's not what I'm supposed to do?"
Jeff sighed. Ever since Sara had taken that first forensics class with him two semesters back she had changed.
When they first met Jeff had the impression that Sara was one of those people that probably had their entire life planned out day by day from the time she was in kindergarten.
She had been flying down the straight and narrow path at breakneck speed when Dr. Grissom turned up and derailed her. His class struck her in a way that Jeff could only pretend to understand. And there was more. Dr. Grissom seemed to take quite a liking to Sara. Not the same way every other professor favored the star student that was Sara Sidle. No, he saw something in her that she didn't even see in herself. Something special, something more.
Even after his class was done Jeff knew that Sara kept in contact with Dr. Grissom. While he had teased her on many occasions about 'dating the professor,' he had no clue the depth of turmoil that was inside Sara when she thought of Grissom.
"You'll never know unless you try it," Jeff said, breaking the silence.
Sara looked up suddenly as if startled. "Easy for you to say, it's not your life."
He shook his head. "No, it's yours. But honestly, if you go for the position in the coroner's office and head of into the wild world of forensic science and you don't like it, and then try something else. With your record I'm sure you can still get one of these other positions a year or two from now if you decide you made a mistake. Besides," he added picking up a random application from the pile. "Which sounds better. San Francisco sun, or cold winters in the middle of nowhere New York?"
Sara smiled, "I've always loved the sun."
Jeff grinned and dropped the application into the already addressed envelope and set it aside. "Now that that's settled. I'll drop it at the post office with mine…as soon as we fill them out."
Sara groaned. "I can't believe you left everything to the last minute like this."
"Yeah, well not everyone can be a teacher's pet like you," he teased.
Sara smiled as she set the folder to the side. If it hadn't been for Jeff she might not have taken the path that she did. Maybe she would have been just as happy working in some research facility, but she doubted it. Despite the ups and downs on the road that was her life, it had been a decent ride.
Reaching deeper in the box she wondered what memory she would pull out next.