“It’s okay.” I laughed. “No one knows who the other Sarah is, turns out she only did a phone interview because she was overseas on some internship in London.” I sighed in envy. I would love to go to London, but I’ve never even left the United States.
“Well, if you think you can get away with it.” Katy sounded unsure and that made me nervous. Katy was the level-headed one in our friendship and I was the more flighty one. I valued her opinion more than she knew.
“Katy, I didn’t go to school for four years to be an actress for nothing.” I spoke in an English accent, trying to win her over. “It’s going to be fine. And get this, I am making a hundred fifty thousand dollars a year.”
“Whoa.” She sounded impressed. “That’s a lot of money.”
“Right. We can move out of our dump and actually move into the city.” I knew that would win her over. “We can get a really nice apartment, one that doesn’t have pet rats and roaches.”
“Can we move to the Upper West Side?”
“Hello, that’s what I’m thinking too.” I laughed. “I’ve already been looking at newspaper ads and Craigslist.”
“Sarah, I don’t know.” Katy’s voice still sounded unsure. “Do you really think you can get away with this?”
“I know so. My new boss, Lewis Walker, loves me. I think he has a crush on me. There is no way that he will fire me. I’ll just keep smiling and flirting and all will be fine.” I played with my long blond hair as I walked to the subway station and smiled to myself. “Something is finally going right for us, Katy. Maybe you can even quit that shitty job.”
“Do you really think so?” Katy’s voice now sounded hopeful. She was working as a sales assistant at a cell phone shop and hated it. She had gone to school to be a history teacher but hadn’t been able to find an open position due to budget cuts at the board of education. And now she spent her days trying to get commissions from people buying the latest iPhone and Android. I knew that the sooner she could leave, the happier she would be.
“Yes, Katy.” I stopped outside the subway station so that I could continue talking to her without losing service. “In fact, why don’t you just walk out of there today? I get paid every two weeks and will be able to carry the rent until you find something you like.”
“OMG, Sarah. Are you sure?” Katy’s voice got louder and louder with excitement.
“Of course. Do it. Leave now.” My voice got louder along with hers, and more excited. I could see people walking by and giving me a look like I was some sort of mental case. “Our tide is turning, Katy.”
“Okay. I’m going to go and quit now.” Katy sounded excited. “I’ll see you at home later, yeah?”
“Yup. And then we can go out for drinks to celebrate.” I looked quickly at my watch. “But I have to go now too. My lunch break is almost over. I’ll see you tonight.” I hung up and raced into the station and down the stairs so that I wouldn’t miss my train. I was lucky, the train pulled up just as I got to the platform. I grinned to myself, my luck had finally changed, and I was ready to take on the world.
The train was pretty empty in my car so I was able to sit down and check my makeup. I stared in my compact mirror and reapplied some pale pink lipstick and navy-blue mascara. My big blue eyes stared back at me, shining with delight and happiness. I didn’t have to reapply any blush because the cold was making my cheeks red enough. I smiled widely to check my teeth for food and sat back with pleasure, pleased at my appearance.
Katy and I had moved to New York four and a half years ago from Florida to go to college. We had been best friends since high school and had been ecstatic when we had both gotten into college in the Big Apple. She had gone to Columbia and I had gone to NYU. We had shared a studio apartment in Brooklyn since our junior year. Unfortunately, we had both studied subjects that weren’t really sought after and neither one of us had great job prospects when we graduated. We were broker now than when we had been when we’d first arrived in the city. I had always dreamed of being a big Hollywood actress (don’t ask why I live in New York) and all Katy had ever wanted to do was to teach sixth grade history.
We had graduated jobless but we hadn’t wanted to move back to Florida, so Katy had gotten a job in a cell phone store and I had looked for receptionist positions. We had just received an eviction notice about two weeks ago as well. The notice stated that if we didn’t come up with the last two months’ rent within thirty days, we were going to be kicked out into the street. Alvin, the landlord, had offered us another deal but neither one of us were willing to have sex with him to stay in that dump. I’d worried that we’d have to go back to Florida with our tails between our legs, but our luck had finally changed with this new job.
I got off the train and walked down the street with a pep in my step that I hadn’t felt in years. I walked back to the Green & Hall’s building with pride and only a little twinge of worry. I mean, I’m not stupid. I was sure that I would be in a lot of trouble if they found out I was Sarah Smith, NYU drama graduate and new receptionist as opposed to Sarah Smith, Harvard MBA and new executive. But I figured if someone realized the mistake and approached me with the truth, I would just pretend to be confused. I had already practiced the lines I would say if that happened. “Lordy, Lordy, I don’t know what is going on here? I surely thought that God had blessed me on this good day with the job of my dreams. I hope you can find it in your heart to let me prove myself. This is the job I deserve and can do, even if my qualifications would lead you to believe otherwise.” I hoped that whoever I spoke to wouldn’t recognize that I was putting on a Southern accent and send me to a mental institute; though that would be preferable to going to jail. I was pretty sure I couldn’t be sent to jail for pretending to be a different Sarah.
“Hi, Maggie.” I beamed at the receptionist, who looked at me coldly. “I’m just going up to my office, you know the big one on the thirtieth floor.” I almost skipped to the elevator and giggled as I pressed the button. I couldn’t quite believe my luck. Lewis Walker hadn’t even given me any real work—he’d just handed me some files and told me to familiarize myself with Green & Hall’s Corporation’s lists of companies..
“Hold the doors,” a deep voice boomed from outside the elevator and I quickly pushed some buttons. I watched as the doors closed and realized that I had pressed the close door button instead of open. Oops, I thought to myself. I didn’t think it was a super huge deal because the doors opened again before the elevator left, but the man who walked into the elevator didn’t look too happy. “Didn’t I tell you to keep the doors open?” he snarled at me.
I frowned at him. “Sorry, I pressed the wrong button by mistake.” I attempted to smile at him but he continued snarling at me. “I mean it’s not like it’s a huge deal. You’re in here now, aren’t you?”
“What floor are you going to?” He ignored my comment and pressed the button for the fortieth floor.
“Oh, I’m going to the thirtieth floor.” I looked into his eyes engagingly and offered him a sweet expression, hoping he would get over his bad mood. I didn’t need anyone to put a damper on my day. I twirled my hair as I looked at him. He was handsome, and I wouldn’t mind him flirting with me. That would make my day even better.