Work-In-Progress
Katherine
Chapter 1
I had a simple life. I had a great boyfriend, a beautiful house, the best friend in the world, and two beautiful cats. Little did I know that this was all going to change!
I had to walk to work this Friday morning because my car was in the shop.
On my way one of my heels broke; so I stopped to put on my sneakers. When I bent down, all the change in my wallet poured out all over the place. A couple walked by and started to help me pick it up. We kept talking about how exciting it was to be married, which I didn’t want to hear. After all I was waiting for Austin to pop the question to me. I have a feeling I will be waiting a long time. After the mess was cleaned up I noticed I had a run in my new $30 dollar pantyhose. So I decide to take a taxi the rest of the way. As if my day wasn’t already bad enough, the one I flagged down liked Opera music. He had the radio tuned to the 24 hour Opera station. When I got to work I had a pounding headache. At the door I was meet by Vicki, the gossip queen, who started telling me the first gossip of the day as we went up the escalator.
Luckily when I reached my office I saw a familiar face. It was Natalie.
We had been best friends since second grade. She was always coming up with ways to spend my money. She greeted me with,” Hey you! What’s up?”
“Natalie you know my life is dull, boring, and simple. So why do you always ask?”
“I thought it might have changed. You need to loosen up and add excitement to your life. Treat yourself to a shopping spree or a cruise.”
“Just because I have money doesn’t mean I have to spend it in order to have fun.”
“I know, but it’s better than letting it sit in the bank.”
“Letting it sit in the bank is making me more money, Natalie.”
“Oh well, then leave it there. I might put some of mine in there too!”
Natalie and I work at a newspaper. I also own it. We both had to walk home after work so we decided to go to Natalie’s. Her house was the closest to the office. Plus a New York suburb was much safer than walking through the city to my house on the other side of New York City. After a long frustrating day of nothing but work, we finally packed up at 4:15 and headed towards the door. As usual Vicki was waiting by the escalator to tell me the last gossip of the day. Natalie wondered how anybody could hear so much gossip in one day and still get their work done in time to wait for us at the escalator. Neither Natalie nor I really cared about what Vicki had to say but figured since I was the top boss she felt she had to report it to my.
Three blocks later Natalie saw a young woman who walked hurriedly by. She was dressed in rags and covered in dirt. She obviously hadn’t taken a bath recently. The women had very pale skin and coughed several times. She was not alone for she had someone with her. A baby in an old and white basket. She was carrying her close to her heart. In the woman’s left hand was a black trash bag. Natalie assumed it was carrying her and the baby’s things. Natalie was so stunned to see this that she didn’t know what to do. She grabbed my arm and said “Sarah, did you see that woman pass by? She looks so poor. I wonder if she is going to be OK?
“Natalie, I’m sure I will. Now would you like some ice cream? Maybe that will make my day a little better. It certainly can’t get any worse.”
“Sure, why not? I haven’t been to 81 Choices in a long time.”
When we got there we had to wait in line for about ten minutes. I already knew what I wanted, cookies ‘n cream, my favorite. Natalie didn’t care; she liked every type of ice cream the world had to offer. The lady behind the counter was so slow the ice cream was melting by the time you got it. Natalie gave my order first,” Umm... I’ll have the caramel splurge. No, wait. The bluebe...; no, the chocolate mousse; no, the goblin delight. Instead give me a scoop of caramel splurge, blueberry, goblin delight, chocolate mousse, and cream soda. “
“Are you sure that’s what you want ma’am? “
“Oh yes. I’m positive now. “
The lady turned to me next and said, “ What would you care for ma’am?”
“My order is a little simpler and faster. I want two scoops of cookies ‘n’ cream.”
“We’re out of that.”
“What? You’re never out of ice cream, that’s your motto. I have never heard of an ice cream store running out of ice cream. Well I guess I’ll have to settle for the sweet cream.”
“Out!”
“Zany vanilla?”
“Nope, ran out this morning.”
“Lemon ice?”
“Yep, enough for two scoops.”
“Good I’ll have them.”
The lady started on Natalie’s order and ten minutes later she had only gotten two scoops done. I was getting impatient and finally I went behind the counter and took over. I finished Natalie’s and mine in less than two minutes. We both took our ice cream with us and finished it three blocks later. As we turned the corner of the fourth block we sighted something that would change both our lives tremendously.
