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“Aunt Katie really loves her Sherlock Holmes.” Ethan laughed, sharing an understanding look with Aiden.
“It’s okay. She’ll recover.” Aiden’s answer was curt. It seemed as if his demeanor changed every 2 minutes.
“At least, he finally got time away from his big company to hang out with us humble lot.” Ethan took a jab at him, smiling mischievously.
Aiden let out a small laugh that seemed almost sarcastic to her. His eyes met hers again.
“What do you do around here?” This time the question was directed at her. She was almost too shocked to speak for a second that high and mighty Aiden had asked her a question.
He didn’t even know anything about her. Ethan never talked about her with him? Not even in passing? Did she even exist in people’s lives or was she just a side character? She felt like a side character in her own life.
“I write for the local magazine. Been trying to find a job in New York.” The words seemed stupid to her. What must he think about her? She wasn’t doing much with her life. She was pretty sure working at the local magazine was not on his list of respectable jobs.
“What do you write about?” She couldn’t help noticing how well the salt-and-pepper hair complimented his gray eyes.
She wished the earth would swallow her whole. Her brother was smiling at her from behind his newspaper; the sad part was that she was sure he was proud of her. But she wanted to do better.
“Anything and everything,” she smiled and turned around, busying herself with buttering up a bagel so she wouldn’t have to deal with more of his questions. On the inside, her heart was pounding fast, and tears almost filled her eyes. Aiden didn’t try to talk to her after that and felt that it had been rude of her to turn around mid-conversation. But she hadn’t wanted to continue it.
She was desperate to find a way out of this place. A place where she didn’t feel she could do anything with her life. She focused on her bagel as she heard Ethan and Aiden chatter about the New York stock market.
After breakfast, she headed to work. The local magazine office was small, so small it could hardly be called an office. The employees didn’t have a designated cubicle but rather there was an old rectangular wooden table set in the middle of the office, a large wooden one-story building. It gave off rustic vibes that she was kind of into, if she didn’t lie. It reminded her of something out of Jane Austen’s novels. A small chandelier hung from the ceiling, directly on top of the table. Only their boss, editor and founder of the local magazine, Elena had her own office; correction, a cubicle.
“Ah finally! I have got something to tell you!” Trisha jumped up as soon as she entered the office. Trisha had a bubbly personality that was a huge contrast to the office. She and Trisha had gone to high school together but hadn’t really bonded until they had started working at the magazine. Aurora wouldn’t consider Trisha a friend, but a colleague that she could talk to occasionally.
“What happened?” Aurora asked, dumping her bag on the table.
“I got a job offer from Times Magazine! They really liked the piece I submitted and wanted me to join as a news writer.” Trisha was glowing with happiness, her blue hair looking electric in the yellow light in the office. There were only the two of them in the office, the rest of the employees hadn’t shown up yet.
Aurora congratulated Trisha, genuinely happy for her. She knew how hard it was to get such a great opportunity and Trisha was a great writer. She would sure miss having her around, as she was the only one who was from her age group in the office.
“Did you hear back from the places you applied to?” Trisha asked, sipping her coffee that she had placed dangerously close to her laptop. One day, Aurora was sure she was going to spill it.
“Not yet. I’m still stuck between whether I should apply for an editor role in a book agency or as a writer. I’ve always loved literature so I feel getting into a book agency as an editor would be great if I want to be a writer some day.” This way she would be able to know the ins and outs of book publishing and editing.
“But you’re such a great writer! Either way, any sort of job would be good for you. All that matters is getting out of this place,” Trisha laughed.
She was right. Aurora smiled and then pulled out her laptop. She really needed to finish the piece she had been working on by today or Elena would have her head. Even if the job was small, the magazine still mattered to the people in this town and most importantly to Elena. Elena was fifty years old and it had been her dream to have a magazine of her own. A mother of three, she had put her dreams on hold for years until she decided to start the magazine ten years ago. One day, Aurora hoped to be like her. She hoped to be able to publish her first book.
Half an hour later, the rest of the employees rolled into the office. There was Jack, an eighteen-year-old intern with a passion for everything tech, Anne, who was the junior editor and Kyle who managed all the press and printing. Aurora liked their company, and it was not all that boring to have them around. Still, she wished for a change.
“I heard Aiden is back in town. I remember he was really tight with your brother back when they were kids.” It took Aurora a moment to realize Kyle was talking to her, being engrossed in writing her article. Kyle had been friends with Aiden and Ethan back in high school, but a sick mother diagnosed with cancer had held him back from moving away and pursuing his dreams. Sort of like her story.
“Yeah, I heard Mrs. Roberts broke her hip.”
“Oh, poor thing.”
Aurora packed up around 5pm. She had finally completed the piece on the protest and was glad to be done with it. She hoped to get home on time so she could work on a piece she was planning to send to People’s Magazine. But first, she wanted to clear her mind.
Chapter 3
She had been thrown off in the morning, seeing Aiden in her kitchen. That had not been a good start to her day. Not that he had said anything, but something about seeing him this time around, after so many years and realizing he was attractive, made her feel uneasy. Then there was news about Trisha’s acceptance. She decided to take a walk by the beach to clear her mind. She grabbed a sandwich from Mr. White’s coffee shop and headed towards the beach.
This was her evening ritual of sorts. Whenever she was feeling gloomy or lonely, which was a lot lately, she found the ocean to be her companion. Walking on the white sand, she let herself relax listening to the sounds of the saves.
“Here again?” Her thoughts were broken by Aiden’s voice. It seemed like an electric shock ran through her and she almost dropped her sandwich. Aiden was wearing a black shirt and khaki shorts, and he was barefoot.
“I like to take walks to clear my mind.”
