Josey lifted her eyelids just before their lips met, hoping to catch a glimpse of the sparkling glaciers the mystery man's eyes held. Instead, she was met with her sister's puppy dog brown ones looming in her face.
"Get up, Josey, you're gonna be late!" Giggling at Josey's sleepy lips perked, Emily made kissy faces at her sister.
"Oooo..I'm Prince Charming, kiss me!" Emily jumped into her older sister's lap, enjoying the rare chance to poke fun at her.
"Get off me, you dork!"
Josey pushed her laughing sister onto the ground while trying not to laugh herself.
Only Emily could make Josey feel embarrassed and cheerful at the same time.
"Spend more time worrying about yourself, Em, it's already 7, and you're going to be late as well!" Noticing the time on her alarm clock as she turned in her bed to get up, she told her sister this. Emily was still trying to gather herself from her laughing fit.
"Alright, alright. Don't go back to sleep, and today is the big day! I even made you breakfast!" Emily beamed at her sister.
"Is that smoke I smell?" Josey sniffed the air watching her sister freeze and then yell out.
"Oh my gosh, I forgot, the toast!" Hurrying out of the room, Emily was squealing about the toast, and Josey smiled as she shook her head.
It's been seven years since their parents died in a fire at their father's warehouse. Josey recalled spending months perched outside the police station in the rain, snow, and blistering heat, begging them to solve the incident. Every time, she always got the same answer.
"Double suicide, that's all we can tell you." Josey would listen to these words from an officer and argue that it was impossible, but they would always repeatedly tell her the same thing.
"That's what the evidence shows, kid. Let it go. Move on." Josey has never moved on, at least not in her heart.
Emily brought Josey out of her thoughts as she returned to the bedroom.
"Okay, the toast is extra brown, but I put tons of jelly on it, so it should taste ok. I will get going now, sis. Make sure you eat and text me what happens!" Emily said this, practically dancing with excitement, as she walked into their room quickly to grab her bag. They shared a small one-bedroom rental as it was all they could afford.
"I will, it's not till 8:30, so I have plenty of time to get ready. Have a good day in school, and DON'T skip out on piano lessons; I'm warning you now!" Josey half snapped at her in a motherly tone. They struggled with money, but thankfully Emily's musical talent landed her free piano lessons from a talent show at her school.
"I won't!" Emily's words trailed until Josey heard the apartment door shut.
Getting out of bed, Josey suddenly jumped up and down. She was trying to contain the excitement from a text she had received late in the evening yesterday. She finally got an interview for a contract position at a large pharmaceutical company about four blocks from their apartment.
Dancing around, she realized she needed to get going, and she wanted to look perfectly professional. She knew nothing about pharmaceuticals, but the position was for essential office work anyway, so she felt she could handle that at least.
Josey had yet to put in her notice to the three different part-time gigs she was juggling. She wanted to wait until it was a sure thing, and then she would quit whichever couldn't be done after hours.
Going into her closet, she pulled out a white dress shirt framed with a navy blue colored pantsuit. It was her most prized and only possession she had ever spent money on for herself. She also had help from Emily, who ran around handing out advertisement fliers for weeks, and then gave the little money she made to her older sister for her birthday.
Tears welled up in Josey's eyes. They had struggled to make ends meet, but her younger sister had been selfless. Josey swore one day she would land a good job and buy her sister everything their parents couldn't give them. Josey prayed that day was today.
Hearing the phone ring, Josey grabbed it, seeing it was the second person she owed a lot to that was calling her.
"Hey, making sure I'm awake?" Josey asked Jared playfully.
"You know it! Good luck today. I will be by the company myself later to get some things signed. Maybe I will see you there?" Jared had helped Josey get the interview through connections. Meanwhile, her friend CeCe worked there and was the one who submitted her resume. She owed both of them dinner.
"Maybe, hopefully, I don't make a fool of myself. Cece said that the job they are hiring for is just basic office work. I have a little experience working for the post office part-time. Making copies should be a cinch." Josey didn't want her confidence to leave just yet as she said this, but slowly, she started wondering if that were all she'd be doing in an office.
"You'll do fine, Josey, don't worry, but hey, I gotta go. Let me know how it goes, okay?" Jared hung up before Josey could respond. She had gotten used to his way of saying goodbye. He never does.
Josey looked at the time on her phone and realized it'd been a half hour between her thoughts and the phone call, so laying her dress suit down on top of her messy comforter covered in cute smiling moon faces, she practically ran to the bathroom to wash her hair and attempt a bit of makeup.
When her hair was finally dry, she was dressed, and with a bit of powder on her face, she applied playful red lip gloss. Smacking her lips, she pulled her thick black hair into a tight ponytail and went into the living room. It was a little past eight, and she knew it'd take her at least 7 minutes to walk the four blocks and 10 mins to get registered. Noticing the breakfast her sister had made, Josey felt bad and grabbed a quick bite of burnt toast and a sip of grape juice.
Slipping on the only pair of black flats resembling dress shoes, she grabbed a small black purse hanging on the hooks at the door. Shutting the door behind her, she prayed everything would go smoothly today.
What she didn't account time for, though, was running into her landlady standing out on the sidewalk that ran in front of several ground-floor apartments like Josey's.
"Good morning, Mrs. Bellard. What brings you by so early in the morning?" Josey asked with a light tone knowing her landlady was very emotionally touchy.
Not saying a word, the landlady handed Josey one of the several pieces of printed paper she was holding.
Not having time to read over it, Josey folded it and stuck it in her purse as it looked like some new rule notice.
"I'll read it the moment I can, Mrs. Bellard. Have a good day!" Estimating she had just wasted 2 minutes, Josey started a fast pace walk as she left the Landlady standing there. Josey swore she heard her say something about a new tenant but shrugged it off.
