Today I’ve made sure to prepare myself for all the emotions that could hit me when I come face to face with what will become my future.
I stood in my bathroom before the mirror. My reflection looked nervous, and my stomach hurt from the tension that I’d been holding. My breathing came out in ragged clumps. My hands shook at my sides. I turned on the water and splashed my face with water from my trembling hands. I stared at the droplets of water as they traced their way down my face.
“Everything’s going to be okay now,” I whispered to myself.
In the car, I was finally able to soothe myself past the point of shaking to just a loudly beating heart. As long as none of the technicians received body enhancements I’ll be the only one who can hear this pounding. I started the car and pulled out of my familiar driveway and away from the tiny living space, I’d been assigned to for the last 5 years since graduation. My eyes lingered on the building once more, but I felt nothing. Not even loneliness. All this place was to me was a temporary residence, and I never felt warmth towards it. Now I was leaving, possibly never to return.
I sped out and away. I glanced in the rearview mirror. The small gray block of a building almost looked sad to see me go, but I sure didn’t, not one bit.
The drive was long and full of uncomfortable buzzing silence. The used cars for sale nowadays have optional music packages and there was no way I could afford a car with audio. The car was fine. As long as it could take me to where I wanted to go.
When I finally made it to the Instar building it was already close to dawn. The night sky had begun shifting from the dark and callous night to the forgiving light that enveloped the tall green-tinted building. The building was, of course, taller than any building in the city quadrant I lived in. I stared up as the green color started to change from a dark green too much more vibrant turquoise, the bottoms tinged purple and then pink. I’d known that color-shifting glass was a luxurious feature that the upper class took advantage of, but I’d never seen it personally.
This was the place that I was going to be working at… Oh my god, this is the place that I’m going to be working at. Oh my god. How do I even show these people that I’m worth the investment? But then again, they were the ones who reached out to me. That’s right! I’m the guest here. They should be the ones going out of their way to welcome me! But then again, if I upset them I may never work in the scouting industry ever again. Oh god…
I began the walk up to the receptionist's desk. I felt strangely calm, it was almost as if all of the nervousness I had felt earlier was all just part of my imagination. I was placid-faced as I opened the door and the cool office air filled my lungs. It took my eyes a second to adjust to the darker light inside the office. I blinked a few times and the room seemed to open up as I refreshed my eyes. Floral decorations peppered around the room, but they didn’t look like the artificial kind they sell in grocery stores, no, these flowers looked fresh. Man, when was the last time I saw fresh flowers. My body felt compelled as I approached the biggest arrangement in the center of the room on a low coffee table.
The flowers themselves looked full of life, their light fragile petals looked nothing like the cheap plasticky flowers that my mom had bought me for graduation. I had no idea that flowers could look so alive. The slight wrinkles in the petals winked at me as the wind from the sliding doors shook their thin stems.
I turned suddenly to face the opening doors. I stared as a man dressed in an eye-shockingly crimson red suit started making his way through the entrance I had only just walked through looking much shabbier than the specimen before me. The man who entered the doors carried himself with a certain elegance that translated into his every movement, making even his confident stride towards me be more like dancing rather than just him simply approaching me.
I straightened up rigidly, awkwardly trying to flatten out the wrinkles in the starchy button-up I had stolen the day before from the old cafe’s uniform stock. I figured that they at least owed me a parting gift before I left the planet for good. But now, looking at this amalgamation of perfection I felt as if the faded butter stains on the front to grow even darker.
The man’s sharp almond eyes glanced over me sideways as he continued walking past me. I continued to stare as he reached the large glass doors that stood opposite the entrance. The dark glass was silent as the man reached forward and waved his palm over the small panel that protruded out of the smooth glass. The glass doors began to lighten as the edges started bleeding a bright white light that covered the entirety of the doors. The man stood in front of the doors for a beat before he looked over his shoulder and grinned.
“Aren’t you coming?” His canines sparkled bright with the childish smile that he flashed me.
I stood a moment longer dumbfounded before I regained my shaky composure and quickly ran after him as he pushed open the doors and we were showered in that great blinding light.
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