I shudder when I think of what my life could have been like otherwise. Would I have gone into business with my two best friends? Would I be one of the founders of a highly successful sales and marketing company?
My parents had given up the chances of a good life in favor of their next fix, but I’d turned my back on the temptations of addiction to have a good life. I’d wrenched back control from the things that had threatened to take it away from me, and life rewarded me.
I have my brother and our best friend as co-founders in the company. Business is booming, and I’m able to lead business how I want. I’ve even been able to put down real roots for the first time in my life since I bought my house.
Life is good.
So why do I feel like something is missing?
2
Harper
“No,” I whine. “No, no, no. Don’t do this to me, baby.”
I hit the side of the coffee maker, but that doesn’t convince it to work. I pull it back and check the cord. It’s plugged in. I just filled the water reservoir, so that’s not the problem. The screen is even on, proving that it has power.
The only thing it’s not doing is making coffee.
“Come on, baby. I need you today.”
I bite my lip and step back from the counter. “Lee?” I call down the hall.
My roommate and best friend, Lee, steps out of the bathroom, dark hair up in a towel and a toothbrush hanging from her mouth. “Yeah?”
“Do you know what’s wrong with the coffee maker?”
Lee walks back into the bathroom, and I hear her spit the toothpaste into the sink before she reemerges. “It’s on the fritz. I called the company since it’s still under warranty. They’re shipping out a box so we can send it in for repairs.”
“No coffee?” I beg, hoping there’s a second coffee pot hiding somewhere.
Lee shakes her head. “Sorry.”
I look at my watch. I have enough time to get drive-through coffee if I leave right now. “Okay. I gotta go then.”
Lee smiles, bits of toothpaste still at the corners of her mouth, walks over, and rests her hands on my shoulders. “You got this. You’re Harper Sullivan, recently graduated with fantastic grades from one of the best schools in the country. You’re headed to your first day with your top pick company. You’ve got this.”
“Thanks.” I smile. “Doesn’t help with first-day jitters, though.”
Lee laughs. “A bit of confidence never hurts.”
I lean in for a hug. “Thanks, Lee. See you tonight.”
“Have a good first day.”
I rush down the stairs of our apartment building and to my car, grateful that it’s a warm day so that the engine will start easily. The roads are mostly clear as I pull out and head to my favorite coffee shop. If I order plain coffee instead of something fancy, I should be able to get some caffeine and still get to work on time.
However, I realize my mistake as I pull around the side of the building and see the line I’m in is easily ten cars deep.
“That explains why there was nobody on the road,” I mutter to myself. “They’re all here…waiting for coffee.”
I throw the car into reverse, only for the person behind me to honk.
“Damnit,” I sigh. “Can’t even make a strategic retreat.”
I’ve listened to two songs before the line even starts to move, and when I crane my head to see what the holdup is, it appears that the person at the window is receiving tray after tray of drinks.
“Did they order for the whole damn office?”
Finally, the person at the front of the line leaves, and we all inch forward, only to have the next two cars make large orders.
I drape my arms over the steering wheel and rest my forehead on them. “Just my luck.”
Even if I wasn’t stuck in the middle of a line for coffee, there was no way I was going to make it to work on time. So I do the only thing I can.
“How may I direct your call?” the receptionist asks.
“Declan Cruz, please.”
“He’s not due in for another ten minutes. May I take a message?”
“It’s Harper Sullivan. I’m supposed to start as a marketing assistant today, but unfortunately, I’m going to be a few minutes late.”
A moment of silence. “I’ll give him the message, Ms. Sullivan.”
“Thank you.”
“Is there anything else?”
“No. I’ll be in as soon as possible.”
“I’m sure Mr. Cruz will appreciate that.”
The words bite, as does the condescending tone to her voice. But even if I did have a witty retort handy, the line is already dead.
“I guess it’s better to admit defeat sometimes,” I sigh. “And at least I called before my shift was supposed to start, right? That’s better than just waltzing in fifteen minutes late.”
Even I am unconvinced. It’s not the most auspicious start to my career.
Finally, it’s my turn to order, and I think the only people more relieved than me about not having to spend time on a complicated drink are the harried-looking baristas. The one at the window pulls my coffee as if it were a break, and hands it over with lightning speed.
I pull onto the main road and right into heavy traffic. But at least I am moving again.
“I’m buying a kettle and a pour-over setup on the way home,” I grumble. “No complicated circuitry to break.”
My luck seems to change when I find a parking spot on the right side of the parking lot and closest to the building I’m heading to. But it doesn’t last long. Somehow my purse gets caught by the steering wheel, and the strap rakes across the buttons of my blouse, sending one god-knows-where in my car.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whine, looking down to see the dreaded cleavage gap where the button should be.
“No time.” I curse, reaching into the backseat for the suit jacket my professor had recommended we always have in the office.
“You never know when a potential client will walk in the door, but you always want to demonstrate that you’re a capable professional. Keep a suit jacket in your workplace to deal with unexpected opportunities,” he’d said.
“Not an opportunity,” I grumble as I set my purse and coffee on top of the car. “But, I do need this.”
The jacket is almost stiflingly hot but covers up the missing button.
“It’ll have to do,” I sigh, grabbing the coffee and my purse again and bolting towards the building.
The receptionist smirks at me as I run in and to the elevator. But as long as she delivered my message, I don’t care. I exit on the third floor and head to my new boss’s office. Declan Cruz is handsome, though a slightly imposing man. I can feel his disappointment immediately as I step into his office.
He makes a show of looking at his watch. “Twenty minutes late is not the most promising start, Ms. Sullivan.”
“I know,” I blurt out. “I’m sorry, Mr. Cruz. I was nervous so I couldn’t sleep, which made me sleep through my alarm. I would have been on time, but then the coffee maker was on the fritz. I thought I had enough time to get a drive-through coffee, but the line was too long, and somebody was behind me when I tried to leave to come here. Then…”