Uncharted

by Nikki Thornton

  He opened his fridge looking for food that was still edible while his mom shot out a thousand questions.

  “No mom, she’s not with me. I’ll explain it later. How about tomorrow?” He grabbed the trash can and started emptying his fridge as she started planning a homecoming dinner.

  “Sure, that sounds great, mom. Just don’t make a big production out of it.”

  When he was done throwing away the expired food, the only things left were condiments.

  “Ok, mom. I gotta go. I need to get to the store. There’s no food here.”

  She rambled on a little more. “Ok, mom. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks.”

  He hung up the phone before she could find some reason to keep him on it. As much as he wanted to sleep, he knew he had to get food in the house; otherwise he would be living off pizza for quite some time.

  The Job

  By the time Kennedy landed, she had filled the rest of her notebook. She had to cramp her words on the last few pages to finish her story.

  She rented a car and drove the two hours it took to get home. She habitually checked the rearview mirror more often than necessary. Even though she knew it was impossible, she still found herself hoping she would see Emmerick cruising along behind her.

  As she pulled into town, she passed the local newspaper headquarters. An idea struck. It was a long shot, especially without an appointment, but the worst that could happen would be for them to say no. Well, maybe them laughing at me would be the worst thing, she decided.

  She pulled into the parking lot. Surely someone would have time to see me. Right?

  When she entered the building the receptionist asked who she was there to see.

  “Do you have a travel department?”

  The receptionist seemed confused by Kennedy’s question. “Yes, dear, of course we do.”

  “Could I speak with the editor of that department?”

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “Well, no, but…”

  The receptionist interrupted her. “I’m sorry, dear, but without an appointment, I’m afraid you won’t be able to see the editor.”

  Kennedy felt defeated. “Please, you don’t understand. I just got back from this whirlwind road trip. I’ve got a great story to tell and if I don’t do it now, I’ll lose my nerve.”

  The receptionist kept her stern glare.

  “Please.” It was barely a whisper.

  “I’ll see what I can do.” The receptionist picked up the phone.

  A wide smile crossed Kennedy’s face. It was quickly replaced with panic and anxiety. She had no idea how to pitch this. What would she do if she got the meeting? Show the editor her sloppy, hand-written journal? Just as Kennedy was getting ready to tell the receptionist never mind, she hung up the phone.

  “Good news,” said the receptionist, “Miss Abielle has a few minutes before her next meeting. She can see you now.”

  As she was finishing delivering her news, she saw the fear on Kennedy’s face. “Don’t worry; just keep your enthusiasm when you’re speaking with Miss Abielle. You’ll be fine.”

  Kennedy was not as sure as the receptionist. She felt as though she might hurl at any moment. The receptionist gave instructions for how to get to Miss Abielle’s office, and Kennedy went about her way.

  Two floors up and across the building, Kennedy found herself at the correct office. She hesitated in the doorway before knocking.

  Miss Abielle greeted Kennedy at the door. “You must be the girl Irene called about. Come in, sit.” She motioned to one of two cushy chairs in front of her desk. “How can I help you?”

  Kennedy gulped, “Well, Miss Abielle—”

  “Please, call me Paige.” She smiled warmly.

  Kennedy was surprised. Everything she had ever seen in movies or on TV suggested that editors were wound up and pretentious.

  “Ok, Paige,” Kennedy continued, “I’ve just gotten home from a seven week road trip. Well, I haven’t actually gone home yet.” Kennedy laughed to herself a little.

  Paige did not seem to be amused.

  Gulp. “And, well, I think I have some good stories to tell.”

  “You think you do? Or you do?”

  “I do. I spent the plane ride home writing everything down.”

  “Plane ride? I thought it was a road trip?”

  “It was…” How to explain this? “I rented a car. By the time the end of the seventh week came, I needed to get home faster than a car would take me.”

  “And you say you wrote this down?”

  “Yes.” Kennedy handed her the notebook. “It’s kind of sloppy; I haven’t had a chance to type it out.”

  Paige flipped through the notebook. “Does this explain what drove you home so fast better than you just did?”

  Kennedy blushed. “Yes.”

  “Well I have a meeting to get to. If you don’t mind, I’ll hold onto this and read some of it when I get a chance.” Paige stood as though to escort Kennedy to the door.

  “Actually, that’s my only copy. I’d rather not leave it behind. I could wait in the lobby until you have a chance to read it.” Kennedy gave an apprehensive half smile. “If you don’t mind.”

  “That’s not a problem, but why don’t you sit at that empty desk out there? Get an idea of the atmosphere. Make sure this is something you really want to do.” Paige continued her attempt to escort Kennedy from the office. “But I have to be frank, I may not get to this until the end of the day.”

  “That’s fine. That’s perfectly fine. I don’t have anywhere I have to be today.”

  Paige smiled as she left Kennedy at the desk. She admired her passion and determination.

  Kennedy sat at the empty desk outside of Paige’s office. She looked around the busy room. It was slightly small for the number of desks it held, and most of them were completely disorganized, covered in papers and folders.

  The desk directly facing the empty one was one of the more organized. The occupant even managed to have room for a small vase of flowers. Kennedy twirled slowly in the chair, taking in the scene and trying to figure out if she could see herself there.

  “Hi!”

  The sudden sound of someone’s voice made Kennedy jump, and it felt as though the chair would fly out from under her.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Kennedy turned and saw a woman sitting at the desk she had just surveyed. “Hi.”

  “I’m Mary.” She offered a smile with her name.

  “Kennedy.”

  “Did you start today? I didn’t realize they were planning on replacing Holly.”

  “What? Oh, no. I’m just waiting for Paige to review some of my work.” Is it ok that I called her Paige to one of the employees? Is it ok that I referred to my sloppy notebook as my work?

  “What kind of work?”

  “Just a little summary of a road trip I—” Kennedy stopped mid-sentence. She had been looking around the room as she spoke, with an occasional glance back at Mary. Her eyes found a face she had hoped she would never again see.

  “Is something wrong, Kennedy?”

  Kennedy forced her eyes back to Mary. “No, nothing wrong. I just saw someone I recognized.” Of all the newspapers in all the world…

  “Mary, I trust you’re not trying to scare Kennedy off?” Paige was walking into her office holding stacks of folders in her hand that she hadn’t had when she left for the meeting.

  “No, not at all. I was just introducing myself.” Mary said it in a way that told Kennedy she and Paige were closer to friends than just boss and subordinate.

  After dumping off the folders, Paige appeared beside the desks. “I gotta tell ya, Kennedy, I got a little bored in that meeting and took a peak at this.” She held up the notebook. “So far, I like what I see, but I still don’t understand why you took a plane home.”

  Kennedy laughed a little. “Yeah…that explanation starts about halfway through.”

  Paige looked intrigued. She was a
bout to comment when a girl who barely looked old enough to have a job approached her. “Miss Abielle, Mr. Swortuel wants you to come to the noon meeting early. He wants to discuss the next print.” She handed Paige a new stack of folders.

  “Thank you, Tiffany.” She turned back to the desks. “Mary, Kennedy,” she said, and then she disappeared with Tiffany, who was apparently Paige’s assistant.

  Kennedy looked around the room more and watched the people more closely. After a few minutes of observation, she turned back to Mary. “Tell me something, Mary. Is it always this crazy here?”

  “Almost always. Today’s a little worse because the next edition is out in two days.”

  Kennedy took a moment to think it over.

  “You know, Sunday…”

  “Right,” Kennedy said, “Sunday.” Is it really Friday already?

  “But even when it’s crazy like this, it’s a pretty great place to work. Most of the people are nice, unless there’s a pressing deadline.”

  “Most people, huh?” Kennedy snuck a glance at Julie, her ghost from the past.

  Mary followed her eye line. “You’re kidding! Julie’s the person you know?”

  “I wouldn’t say ‘know;’ we went to high school together.”

  “Oh man, between you and me, I wouldn’t count her in the ‘most people’ category.”

  “Me either,” Kennedy mumbled so quietly that Mary didn’t catch it.

  As the time passed, Kennedy got bored. She offered assistance to Mary, who seemed pretty stressed out. Her hair was becoming more disheveled by the moment, and she was chewing her pencil more than she was writing with it.

  “I mean, if you don’t mind. I’m supposed to have these copies ready for Paige when she gets out of her meeting, but I’m also supposed to have this article done…”

  “Yeah, no problem at all. I’d be happy to help; just point me in the right direction.”

  Mary pointed out a copier that was pretty close to Julie’s desk. Kennedy tried to be as conspicuous as she could in approaching it, but apparently this was a close-knit family. Everyone knew she didn’t belong.

  Just as the copies were finishing, someone pointed Kennedy out to Julie. Any hint of friendliness in Julie’s face disappeared almost instantly. Kennedy grabbed the copies and headed back to Mary’s desk as quickly as she could.

  Julie thought it over for a moment before deciding to follow her. Just as Julie approached, Paige appeared and put a laptop on the desk in front of Kennedy. Julie stopped within earshot.

  “What’s this?” Kennedy was confused.

  “Company laptop. Hope you girls get along; you’re neighbors now.” Paige grinned.

  “Really?” Kennedy could barely believe it. “You mean it?”

  “Kennedy, I don’t joke about journalism. Mr. Swortuel was late for his pre-meeting, so I took the time to look over the rest of your notebook.”

  Kennedy blushed a little and couldn’t contain her smile.

  “I want you to be here at eight on Monday morning and start turning this notebook into a column.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, I can start now, if you’d like.”

  Paige laughed. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but the IT department still needs to set up your access. They’ll come by later today to do that, so just leave the computer here for the weekend, and when you come in on Monday it will become your left hand.”

  “Thank you! Thank you so much, Paige.”

  Julie was absolutely radiating anger.

  “Don’t sweat it. Just get home and rest. You’ve apparently been through a lot in the last two months. Just make sure you stop at HR and give them your information first, though; that way you don’t have to mess with it on Monday.”

  Kennedy thanked Paige again before finding her way to HR. She wanted to thank the receptionist on her way out, but a different woman was at the desk. When Kennedy asked, she found out that Irene only worked until noon, as she started at five in the morning.

  When Kennedy got home, she sorted through her mail to see if anything important had come. Of course not. She looked to her answering machine. And oh, look, no messages. It really wasn’t much of a surprise. Her mother was the one who called the most, and she knew Kennedy wasn’t home.

  On her way home, she’d had every intention of going to sleep as soon as she got there, but when she arrived she was too wound up to sleep. Instead, she started a load of laundry and checked her email. Nothing but junk and notices from Facebook.

  She logged into Facebook and replied to a few people’s comments. After setting her status to “home sweet home,” she remembered that she was supposed to find Claire on the site. Would that be weird, everything considered?

  Her curiosity got the best of her, and she typed in “Claire Callahan.” Not many profiles came up, so it was pretty easy to find her. Her profile was private. Kennedy had to send a friend invite if she wanted to see it.

  Letting her curiosity take over, she sent the request with a note that said, “Hi Claire, it’s Kennedy. Even with how things happened with Emmerick (which I don’t want to talk about), I’d still like to be your friend. I enjoy talking with you. If it’s too weird for you, I’ll understand.”

  She logged off and shut her computer back down. She was suddenly feeling sleepy. The laundry would have to hang out in the washer for the night. She fell into her bed and slept.

  * * *

  Kennedy rose before the sun, wide awake. It was weird to wake in such a familiar place. She had gotten so used to waking up somewhere different almost every day. But she had purpose this morning. This was her last weekend before starting work. A real job, her first real job.

  Even though she already had been one for quite some time, she felt like an adult—an adult stuck in a teenager’s apartment. That had to change. She needed a presentable home. She had to adultify it. All of the walls were still white, and there was no art or decoration, just ratty old furniture and boxes of junk.

  Perhaps the worst thing was that her cupboards were bare. She was famished but had no food. She crawled out of bed eagerly. Today was the day she would “officially” become an adult.

  She drove to the home improvement store for paint, an office supply store for a proper desk and supplies, and the grocery store to fill the bare cupboards. She had just enough money left in her account to afford it all.

  She normally would not spend so much of her savings, but with the promise of a decent and steady paycheck, her account balance didn’t seem to matter as much as it used to.

  After putting away the groceries, she changed into more appropriate housework clothes. She spent a few hours going through boxes she had never unpacked and stacks of paper piled throughout the house. It felt as though she took a hundred trips to the dumpster.

  When she finally finished clearing out the clutter, her apartment seemed bare. There was mostly just furniture left. She pushed it all to the center of their respective rooms and started to paint. She started with her bedroom first. It seemed like the most crucial to have time to dry.

  She wanted her “new” home to be bold; she felt bold. She painted the bedroom a deep shade of violet. It made the room dark, but not dingy. The room that would become her office became periwinkle; that room would need to have good lighting.

  At the store, she had debated about whether or not to paint the kitchen, but she decided she didn’t want any white walls. Instead, those walls became a honey gold, and she finished her painting in the living room with a pretty sand color. She wondered if she subconsciously chose that color to remember her trip.

  As she was cleaning herself up in the bathroom, she realized that she hadn’t even thought of the bathroom when she was at the store. She used the remaining periwinkle paint to give it a “spa feel.”

  In hindsight, she wished she painted the bathroom first. She was desperate for a shower, but it would have to wait. It was getting dark outside. Not much of the day was left to make her transformation. After snacking on some food
that didn’t require cooking in a freshly painted kitchen, she got to work assembling her new desk.

  She positioned it in the room and rearranged some furniture around it, careful not to hit the walls. When she put her bedroom back together, she was happy to see that her existing comforter complemented her dramatic walls.

  She was exhausted but not finished, so she put her living room together the way it had been. Her battered furniture didn’t look right against the fresh paint. She needed to go buy slip covers.

  Determined to get everything done in one day, she headed out to a twenty-four hour “we sell everything” store. She picked out simple, cream colored slip covers and bought accent pillows, throws, and rugs to add contrast. Luckily, before she left the store, she remembered that she needed art, so she picked up some framed prints of famous and not-so-famous paintings. It pained her to have to use her credit card, but she couldn’t leave her makeover only half finished.

  Upon returning home, she put the slip covers in the wash and went to check the progress of the drying. Every room was dry, but something didn’t look right. There was something she didn’t like.

  Other than in her new office, she put each room’s furniture back the same as it had been before the paint. She took time to rearrange everything before cooking herself a much needed dinner.

  While the slip covers were drying, she organized her desk and arranged the floor plants she had bought at the office supply store. She had found it weird that they sold plants, but after she thought about it, every office she had ever seen had a plant.