Claire had been in New York now for over 3 weeks and had become very acclimated to her new home. She had hung up her favorite photos around the apartment, including the one she took of Nate with oversized eyes cut out of magazines in place of his actual eyes. She had a normal routine of going around the city looking for job opportunities and handing out her resume and portfolio to all the photography studios she could find.
It had only been two weeks, Claire thought to herself, I've been going out every day of the week putting on a happy fucking smile and being fucking proactive!
The first month's rent was coming up soon but Claire had her trust money from her father to pay for that. Unfortunately, she couldn't always rely on that to keep paying for rent due to it eventually running out. New York is an expensive city, something that was becoming more and more apparent each day for Claire. With each passing day Claire felt more and more frustration due to not hearing anything back from these studios.
She knew she was talented, how could they not see that?
If she didn't hear anything back soon, she might have to resort to a job outside of her career-field. The thought of that made Claire wince, as she had done that previously back home by working in an office, which she hated and had ended badly.
Negative thoughts started creeping into Claire's mind, what if all this was a mistake? What if you no one hires you and you end up having to work a job that you hate for the rest of your life?
It's times like this she wished she had something to help her stress. Back home she would usually cure this with drugs and alcohol but she had yet to go out on the town or meet anyone yet.
Why did I move somewhere where I don't know anyone! Claire threw her hands over her eyes and rubbed them down her face. Claire hadn't thought about smoking since Nate's death but this one was one of those times that she felt as if she needed it desperately.
Maybe if I actually enjoyed being around other people I wouldn't feel so miserable. Claire knew she had a hard time making friends especially here. It didn't help that she had "resting bitch-face" most of the time she was walking in or out of the apartment building. All of her neighbors probably thought she would chew their head off if they spoke to her. Claire seemed hard on the outside, but on the inside she was as sensitive as they came. If only she let people in long enough to know that about her.
Knock. Knock. Claire looked surprisingly at her door as if there were smoke coming out from under it.
"Open up it's an emergency!" yelled some random man on the other side.
Claire wasn't sure if she should open up, is this legit or is someone trying to rob me and kill me!?
Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. "Please open up this is not a drill, we need whoever is in there to vacate immediately," the voice was persistent.
Even though Claire thought she might get chopped into little pieces she decided to open up the door since the desperation in his voice had gotten to her.
Claire opens the door ,"What is it?!" Claire says annoyingly.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your day miss but there is a gas leak in the building and we need everyone to vacate immediately,"the short, burly man said in a hurry.
"A gas leak? Ummm.. ok. So … I need to leave right now?"
"Yes ma'am, right now!" The man started to get impatient.
"Ok then… Let me grab some stuff and I'll be down," Claire was very hesitant in her response but didn't' feel like she had a choice.
"Please hurry!" The man shouted one last time and then ran up the stairs to the next hall of tenants.
Claire grudgingly went down the stairs and out to the curb to wait with the few tenants who were actually home during the day. She looked around with an annoyed look on her face as she waited to find out when she could finally go back into the building.
Out of the corner of her eye she notices a young guy with shaggy hair and tattoos standing 10 feet away from her. It's him! She thought to herself. It's that guy I see every now and then in the hall.
Claire had never officially met him but they had glanced at each other in the hall, followed by him flashing a smirk to her once in awhile. Claire was intrigued by him but tried to stay away due to her and Ted along with this guy seeming like just the type of guy Claire would hinge onto.
Although, there wasn't much to be said about her and Ted anyways. They had been conversing back and forth every other day or so but both knew they couldn't be in a relationship with each other because of the distance. Claire had even stopped saying I love you to Ted at the end of phone conversations. There was no her and Ted anymore, besides being friends who happen to love each other. Yet neither of them had officially said it was over to the other.
As Claire is glancing up towards her young neighbor's way she sees that he notices her and gives her a smirk. Claire gives a tiny smirk then looks down, she doesn't want to be completely rude but doesn't want him to come over either. Then she sees him start to come over and moves her head the opposite way as if she has focused on something else.
"Hey neighbor!"the young neighbor says with a smile.
"Hey", says Claire unenthusiastically and with a forced smile.
"I've seen you a couple of times now and still haven't gotten your name, mine is Cory".
"I'm Claire, it's nice to meet you," Claire immediately looks away after she says it.
Cory jokingly goes to the same direction that she turns her face to to further the conversation between him and Claire.
"So.. Claire, you are from California. I've noticed the plates on your car. Why did you move here?" Cory seemed very interested.
"To conquer the big city," Claire says sarcastically. She realizes that she may be coming off too snarky when Cory was being so nice.
"Actually I came here to pursue a career in photography." This was the first time Claire had talked to anyone past the normal "hello" and " here is my resume that highlights my job skills."
"That's cool, I'm guessing since you're here right now you haven't gotten any offers."
"Not yet, still trying." Claire wasn't sure what to say back to Cory, this was more in depth than usual for Claire.
"Let's go down the street and get a bite to eat," Cory said to Claire.
Claire couldn't believe they were already going out on a lunch date after a few sentences back and forth. She wanted to say no but literally had nothing else to do right now. If she did say no they would both have to stand there awkwardly until they were allowed back into their apartments. Also, Claire wasn't drowning in friends, so taking up this gesture would be good for her.
"Sure. Let's do it," Claire repeated the phrase back in her head ,"let's do it?",and rolled her eyes at herself.
They walked down the street to a pizza place called "Mario's". Claire had walked past it a couple of times but had never gone inside. When they walked in the place was hot with one fan in the corner moving from side to side. There were three other people sitting in the restaurant and one man behind the counter looking bored.
"What will it be?" said the man behind the counter.
"I'll get 2 slices of pepperoni with mushrooms," Cory responded.
Claire wasn't sure what she wanted and was already feeling anxious about sitting down and eating with Cory for the first time. "I'll have the same," she blurted back.
The man quickly went behind the counter with rows of pizza and got them 4 slices. He brought them up to the cash register.
"That will be $8.15,"the cashier said to them.
Cory already had a $10 bill out and gave it to the man. Claire was surprised that he hadn't even asked her if he wanted her to pay or not, he just paid for it without asking. Why is he being so nice to me? I hope he doesn't think I'm putting out because I'm fucking not. Maybe he thinks I'm so alone and new to the city that he can "befriend" me and then get into my pants. Claire had already pegged Cory to be nothing more than some guy who was only after her for sex, something Claire was used to. She wasn't used to guys being this nice to her right away without a motive. They sat down at a table near the door and sat in an awkward silence for a couple of seconds before Cory finally said something.
"I like your red hair,"Cory said to her smiling.
"Oh...thanks.." Claire thought that this made things even more awkward.
"I'm sorry, that was really weird to say. I just wasn't sure how to start the conversation," Cory said smiling.
Claire was surprised that he had admitted what he said was weird because it was. The fact that he was being honest really appealed to Claire.
"I'm not so good with talking with people who I barely know either," Claire surprisingly admitted back.
"Great, so we know we don't have to bullshit with each other," Cory said smiling back. What a relief, Claire thought.
"What do your tattoos mean? I can kind of see that one, is there any meaning behind them?"Claire was pointing at his right arm, he had a tattoo that stopped at his elbow.
"This is a bird tattoo, I got it for my mom. It isn't a specific kind but my mom had seen a drawing of this bird in a book and loved it."
"That's cool that your mom is okay with you having tattoos."
"Actually, she passed away over 5 years ago, so she didn't' like them but I got this as a way to remember her."
"I'm really sorry. It's good that you have that to remember her by." Claire didn't know what else to say to him. Sharing that with her made her see him in a different light for a minute. Claire's family knew how to deal with people losing their loved ones well but Claire wasn't. That's why she usually tried to avoid the funeral ceremonies at her house in California. She had to constantly be considerate of other people's feelings in her house that's why it was hard for her to express her own feelings sometimes without feeling guilty about it. This is probably why she had such a hard time getting to know people and letting them in along with her past of bad ex-boyfriends.
For some reason after her and Cory had that moment of him telling her about his mother she seemed more at ease with him. It could be due to being so familiar with death and loss.
"Let's go back and see if we can get inside of our apartments yet." Claire said to Cory.
They both got up and walked back towards the apartments. They saw a van that said "National Grid" on the side and two men in gray uniforms walking around. After standing there for 5 more minutes talking, they told everyone it was safe to go back into their apartments. Before going upstairs, Cory turned to Claire.
"We should go out sometime, not like a date but just as a way to get you out to see the city. I figured you probably don't know a lot of people yet."
"I'd like that." Claire couldn't believe she had actually said yes. But it's not like it was a date or anything, according to Cory. She was tired of being at home every night and needed a push to get out. As Claire entered the inside of her apartment she smiled and felt her cheeks flush. She didn't know if she was happy that she made a friend or she had something to look forward to in this city.