INKS AND MEMORIES

No way. I stood in shock at the number of people who were in line for the interview. I was in awe, and my self-esteem dropped. I saw a lot of very famous writers in the queue. I was so perplexed. I thought writers were more independent, but I guess not. “Maya Greene.” I said my name and I was handed my tag. I smiled in appreciation and went to the back of the queue which felt like forever, but I had bet all my cards on this company, so I had no choice but to stand in my two-inches heels and pencil skirt, in silence. “We are here with the famous Kiara Anderson.” The huge television showed Kiara in all her glory. Kiara Anderson. One of the reasons why I am here today. Kiara writes from the soul and she writes like there is no one's reading it but you. She made me aspire to be a writer and come work in COLOR ME. I want to be in her team, I want to follow her on her tours. I want to see her write autographs, I want to be by her side as she puts her pen on paper and writes. Yeah, I am a fan of Kiara. “Thank you. I am very happy to be here.” she replied to the interviewer. “Your book, ‘FEED THE MIND’ has been asked to be turned into a movie. We are quite interested in seeing how that turns out.” I completely zoomed off watching the interview that I completely forgot where I was, how discouraged I felt, how my feet were killing me or how long I had to wait for my turn. After a long wait. “Number 150-200, please follow me.” Finally. I was so relieved. We followed her into this massive room with high walls and a lot of seats. We were told to sit according to our numbers. “195?” A girl beside me called my number. “Yeah. I am Maya.” “Maya, nice meeting you. I am Joel.” I smiled in response and took a seat next to her. She was number 196. She looked so confident and professional. Her ponytail was neatly laid. Her legs crossed in a girly way and her back was straight. I shuddered a bit. It was quite a cold room. “Stop. Is that not Joel Sanders?” I looked so confused as people started murmuring. “Yes, it is so her.” “Her article appeared in the New York Times.” “What is she doing here? I thought she had her own independent voice.” My mouth opened wide. New York Times?!!! I opened my eyes wide and tried to keep my cool. People kept murmuring about her and I felt uncomfortable for her. My phone buzzed, distracting me from the whole situation. It was my best friend and roommate, Zara. ZARA:‘Have you gotten there?’ ZARA:‘How was the interview?’ I smiled as she kept sending texts without waiting for my reply. ME:‘Still in the waiting room.’ ZARA:’Alright darling. Good luck!’ Zara and I met at university. On my first day, I was so nervous that I forgot my purse in my dorm and I entered a taxi with no clue that I had no money on me. She begged that we should carpool because it was so difficult to find a taxi on the first day. When we got to my faculty, I found out that I had forgotten my purse. Zara didn’t hesitate to pay for us both. I felt so bad that I had to pay her back. I got her contact and we have stayed in contact since then, and became the closest of friends. After graduation. I didn’t want to go back home. I wanted to stay in New York to chase my dream, and so did Zara. So we decided to get an apartment together and become roommates. Zara got a job in an Insurance firm and she has been so busy at times that we didn’t get to see eachother a week or two. “It is our turn.” Joel told me. I felt a bit nervous but I am smarter than I give myself credit for. I did research on how the interview works here, it is quite a popular company. They have three interviewers, they never change them. I walked in and I was darn right. The three interviewers were the top three heads of the company. Mrs Jean, owner of COLOR ME, Jason from Jason Publications and Mr Liam, the Director. I studied how they interview people and how they ask your questions. I really shouldn’t have underestimated myself. I sat beside Joel and they started asking the questions. I even got Joel shocked at a point with my responses and I felt a bit of victory. The interview ended and it felt like a huge load off my chest and I was quite relieved. “You absolutely killed it.” Joel said, and my eyes widened in awe, but what can I say. I did kill it. “Thanks.” I smiled sheepishly. We talked for a while and I found out she was also a huge fan of Kiara. We later went to a restaurant near the company. I found out a lot of things about her, like how she had to sleep outside of her apartment a lot of times because she always forgot her keys, how she never entered a taxi before, how she got the internship to work at New York Times. She seemed like an entirely different person from the interview. I envied her, because she had achieved so much and she a year younger than me. It was getting really late, and I really wanted to get the heels off my feet. “I really hope we get the job.” I said and sighed. “With the way you killed it at the interview, I definitely caught a smirk from Mr Jason.” she tried to hype me up. I laughed. “You are so funny.” I laughed as she kept talking. We said goodbyes and we both walked to the bus stop. “This is my stop. I hope we get the job and get to meet again.” She entered the bus and waved at me as she left. I took off my heels and walked down the road because I lived way close to the company. “Hey girl, can I get your number.” I heard a feminine voice. I looked and saw Zara in her car, trying to imitate a guy trying to pick up a girl. “No you can’t, but you can buy me a jet.” I played along. “Okay, so how was itttt?” she asked, grinning. I entered the passenger seat and I told her how the interview went and how my plan worked out for the interview, and how I met Joel. “Wow, she seems fun. I am happy the interview went well.” We got back to our apartment and the nervous feeling came back. I really hope I get the job, because I am back to being unemployed with no experience and I will not be able to afford the apartment anymore. I slumped on my bed, hand above my head. My thoughts kept running free. I got a bit curious about Joel’s paper in the New York Times so I went to check it out. The Formula for Humanity. The title was quite intriguing. I kept reading until Zara interrupted me. “Maya. I am going to the laundromat, are you coming?” “Yes.” I packed all my laundry into the sack. I kept my eyes glued to the screen as we went to the laundromat. We got to the laundromat and there was only no one in it. I put my laundry in and sat on one of the dryers. Zara brought out her speaker. Typical Zara. “It is kinda late.” “But no one is here and we are in the laundromat. We can recreate Jungkook’s laundry scene.” She plays ‘SEVEN’ by Jung-kook, and puts my hand on her waist and hers on my shoulder and sways me. “I keep lovinggg you right.” I laughed at her cheesiness and decided to join her, “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…” “Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Seven days a weekkk.”she screeches. I twirled with my eyes shot and almost lost my balance. “Maya.” I hear a voice. I opened my eyes and my heart skipped. “Lando.” Zara said the obvious. “Maya, it’s been a while.” I just kept staring. I was in utter shock. I didn’t think I would see Lando again, especially in New York.