Chapter 17

• The loud ping of Stephanie’s iPhone woke her up before her alarm did. Pushing a lock of straight, black hair away from her eyes, she reached for her phone on her nightstand, swearing when the brightness of her screen hit her square in the face. She reduced the lighting, and clicked on the notification at the top bar. That took her straight to her email, and her forest-green eyes, which were half asleep, half awake, were now wide open. She’d been accepted for the job she applied for four months ago. PA to CEO of Primer Magazine. Stephanie Stone could barely contain her excitement, she read through the email twice, just to be sure it was real. As real as the expensive two piece suit, currently hanging in her wardrobe.
• Okay. It was. Pushing herself up, Stephanie Stone checked the work hour, and details of what she was going to face coming Monday. It wasn’t much. Before eight, she had to be at the office, doing desk duty. And by eight sharp, she was to have her bosses’ coffee already fresh, and waiting on his table. They’d go over his schedule briefly, and she would head back to her desk to continue working, pending the time for his meetings scheduled for that day. Wasn’t a tough thing to do, Stephanie was professional, and professional was what they wanted.
• Getting out of bed and her tangled sheets, she padded across the hardwood floor to the bathroom, flicking on the switch for the water heater. Stephanie’s apartment was big–not Will Smith’s, or Jennifer Lawrence kind of big–but big anyway. She’d paid for it with her last ten grand, and had the black and white decor redesigned to suit her taste. Now it was a light blue. The apartment, located in eastern New Jersey, had high walls and ceiling, and a glass window which overlooked the busy streets, and showed a nice view of the popular Hudson river. Some nights, she would sit at the window, usually with a glass of wine, and her mind would wander to Steve, and how he’d so shamelessly ended their relationship. And she’d let the tears fall.