Chapter Two: New York, New York
These little town blues, are melting away
I'm gonna make a brand new start of it - in old New York
And if I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere
It up to you - New York, New York
Yes, I was humming Frank Sinatra in my head as I took the subway to where I would finally meet my team from the New York crime lab. I couldn't believe it. This had been my dream ever since…well, ever since a tragedy. Was it ironic that I found my dream in a disaster? I think so. But all the same, I had made the most of my life. The past four years I had been living in New York, attending Pace University, and graduated with a Bachelor's in Forensic Science. Now, I had an interview with a man named Mac Taylor, who was part of the leading crime laboratory in New York City.
I could barely contain my enthusiasm.
Horatio, along with one of my professors, gave me a recommendation, and Mac had agreed to see me for an interview for a position at the lab. Walking through the doors of the building, I began to feel a bit uneasy. What if there was someone more qualified for the position than I was? I was counting on this job, but I had really never thought that I might not get it. As I ascended the elevator, I brushed lint from my navy pants and smoothed out my top. The elevator opened, and I was immediately aware of the bustle of the lab. Trying to not feel like the outsider, I maneuvered my way through people who were rushing towards me in the opposite direction—a fish moving against the current. Although, I realized too late, I had no earthly idea which direction Mac's office was in.
"Anna?" I heard from behind me. I turned around to see myself looking at a man, maybe in his 40's, with the general demeanor of someone in authority. Before I could reply he extended his hand. "Detective Mac Taylor," he said politely.
I opened my mouth to introduce myself, but Mac cut me short. "We had better go somewhere quieter." I followed him into his office, and sat down.
"Oh!" I said, feeling like quite the idiot, "My name is Anna Price. It's a pleasure to meet you," I acknowledged with a smile. Mac nodded and held up a file.
"I know. Horatio sent you quite the recommendation you know."
I smiled. "Yeah, well, I should be the one doing him favors since he helped me out so much after my mother's death." I was finding it easier, as I grew older; to talk about what happened to my mother.
Maybe I was growing up after all.
After the basic interview questions, such as specific abilities and qualifications that I had for the job, Mac turned the questions into more personal ones.
"Why do you want to work here, in New York? After all, you could have worked for Horatio in Miami," he asked, looking at the folder in his hand. I sighed, not dramatically, but more or less out of concentration.
"I guess that I knew when my mother died that I wanted to become a CSI. And though, granted, I loved Miami; my mother provided me with enough money to go wherever I wanted to go. This was her dream for me: to get an education and a good job that I loved. I guess that she always regretted not being able to fulfill her dreams, that she wanted me to become, in essence, the epitome of what she never was. And it's not as if she forced me to become a CSI…she wanted me to do anything with my career, under one condition: I must love what I am doing. And I came to New York because it had a wonderful opportunity for me, so I seized that chance before it was gone."
I concluded my mini-speech to see Mac grinning, something I really didn't picture him doing too often.
"That is exactly what I wanted to hear, Miss. Price. Someone with motivation for doing the work that they do. Someone who is willing to step outside of their comfort zone into a land that they do not know of. This job takes strength, mainly emotional, and I believe that through the actions you have taken after your mother's tragedy demonstrate that you have that emotional strength. Well the only thing left to say is congratulations Miss. Price, and welcome to our lab."
I had to contain my squeals of joy and the urge to hug Mac at that moment. Instead, I contained it with a broad smile and a "Thank you so much for this opportunity."
"Well, it'll be good to have another woman CSI around. I feel Stella and Lindsay have begun to feel outnumbered. Although, I have to say, they are quite capable of holding their own against the men," Mac said. Almost as if on cue, I heard noise from outside Mac's office.
"Hey! Montana! Wait up, will ya"
"For the last time, my name is not Montana! It's Lindsay? Is that so hard to remember?"
"But--"
"I have evidence to process, alright?"
I stared at the figures passing by the window, and then glanced curiously at Mac. He offered explanation.
"Exhibit A of feisty females of the lab," he said with a little laugh. "Her name is Lindsay Monroe, and you would never know by the way she acts sometimes that she is a country girl from Montana."
My eyes widened. "Oh, Montana. I get it. Cute nickname," I added with a smirk.
"Yes, Danny Messer thinks so too," Mac said lightly. I turned my head once again to see a curly haired woman walk down the hall with the air of impatience, talking on her cell phone.
"No, no, no, Hawkes. I don't care! Get your ass down here!"
"And that is Exhibit B. Stella Bonasera. She's me, only in female form," he said, jotting down notes on his folder, but I could see a faint smile playing on his mouth. "And you, Anna, make three: three opinionated women in one building."
"What could be more fun?" I asked with a smile.
