Ah Thursday, the day I look at the week and realize how much I still have left to do before the weekend and then double panic because I realize that the month is almost ending. Yeah! But before we panic, let’s check the writing prompt off the morning list shall we?
I knew it was a competition but it took me a while to figure out what sort of competition. I started to get it towards the end. I think I might loop back through this now that I know and start to fix it. It could be interesting. I think it is just one of those stories that you need to set some of the details before moving ahead.
Thursday, April 28th: George was growing tired of their antics.
George was growing tired of their antics. The two of them acted as though they were the only ones in the competition who deserved to win. They acted as if winning was their right. And to secure their right the duo had already planned and executed several nasty stunts. Other people’s work had been sabotaged. Some of the issues were possibly the vagaries of fate. Items being out of stock or deliveries being delayed.
This morning he saw Tanya and Luke pay off one of the delivery drivers who arrived four hours later than planned and causing two separate teams to lose valuable time. A few days prior he saw the pair purchase items that he knew one of the other teams wanted. Surprisingly, none of those items made it into the work shown by Tanya and Luke so George suspected it was simply making the item unavailable that was the draw.
This far, he hadn’t been targeted, but he was certain it was because he wasn’t viewed as a threat. He sat down to think through his options. He tried talking to the pair, but they dismissed him. He was told he was simply being jealous.
To himself he could admit that a part of him was jealous. He envied the vast array of options their family’s wealth and power laid before them. He envied the lack of struggle their lives contained. They believed it was the money itself, their skills and their privilege that he envied. The truth was he often pitied them. They were offered so much, yet seemed to value none of it. They expected that they would win any competition they joined simply because they were used to being at the top.
George thought of the others and realized that they didn’t really spare much of a thought for him either. They were nice about it, but they didn’t think he was in their league either. That wasn’t due to money it was a more professional dismissal. His school was not as prestigious as theirs and was looked at as lesser. In addition their work experience this far had been with big name designers. His were less glamorous.
Again though he had a hard time feeling jealous. Each of his jobs paid enough for him to be independent and each job taught him more than he learned in school. In addition there was no famous designer with a team at their disposal. With his jobs it was often him and one older designer working together to achieve the virtually impossible. He managed to gain experience in many facets of design that were already serving him well in the competition.
Not that anyone knew that. They were allowed to look at the other’s drawings, but once work began they could not visit each other’s spaces. The judges viewed each project and gave them each a score and aspects they could improve on before the next challenge.
Soon though the scores would be made public and the second phase of the competition would begin. George stood and stretched. He decided that it was likely that the other teams knew of Tanya and Luke’s little games. The duo wasn’t exactly subtle.
At the moment there was little to be gained from getting involved. His plan would be to stay away from both camps and continue with his work until the points were revealed. Then he suspected there would be issues. But it was also an elimination round and he hoped that with the elimination things would change. ‘At worst I’ll be cut and leave them all behind.” At this point, it wasn’t a bad thought.
Ten til Midnight 