Welcome to the Fifteen Minute Novel. Each morning I spend fifteen minutes writing on a singular story line. Each morning starts with the last line of the previous day. The goal is to get a (very) rough draft out of the simple story idea and to avoid letting the story idea languish in limbo forever, actually writing it out. This is the third year I have done this writing experiment and each year I learn just a little bit about myself and the way I write as well as creating a framework for the story. But without further ado…
Day 57: Those were the stores she focused on.
Those were the stores she focused on. While Margaret didn’t seem to mind stopping to take a look at things that caught her eye, she didn’t seem to feel the need to go into every store just in case something she wanted was lurking in the background.
As they moved down their list Gwen found herself enjoying the shopping trip. She Slowly became loaded down with bags, but a they were all things that she needed. When Margaret made a list of toiletries Gwen needed replaced she took down the names of the high end samples Gwen had with her. Instead of stocking up on regular drug store items, Gwen’s bags now contained full sized versions of the pricier items she liked.
Gwen thought about protesting but as Margaret picked up some of her own items, some even more expensive than the ones Gwen favored she decided not to mention it. She enjoyed those products and it would be nice to use them more on a regular basis.
In addition to the essentials, Margaret helped Gwen pick out a few outfits that she could wear to her grandfather’s office when she went to talk to some of the people working there about what they did.
“We’ll need a couple of outfits,” Margaret told her. “You may only plan on going once but I am sure that George will find several reasons to get you to go. So it is best to be prepared.”
“I don’t mind,” Gwen said. “I don’t exactly know what he does, but it would be interesting to find out.”
“Yes I suppose his title is very broad and nonspecific,” Margaret said. “From what he tells me about is day is his more or less like a corporate shepherd. The company has many different divisions working on different projects and he sort of wrangles them in allowing them to do what they all do best but making sure they focus their efforts on what is best for the company.” Margaret shrugged. “He also seems to get different departments to work together when their projects align so he has to keep track of all of the projects every division does.”
“Sounds complicated,” Gwen said.
“I suppose it is,” Margaret said. “But he absolutely loves it. Every now and again he’ll make noises about retiring, but nothing ever comes of it. Besides if he did retire it would only be because he had a project that he wanted to pursue on his own more than he wanted to organize other people’s projects. He is not a man who can spend days on end golfing. He likes the game but it tends to be a once a month thing and usually something requested by a client.”
Gwen nodded. “Dad golfs on weekends,” she said. “He says it’s an essential business skill.”
“For some it is,” Margaret said.
Gwen thought about the few times she went golfing with them. She was pretty good with her shots and fared pretty well but found the entire afternoon tedious. Generally she was only called into golf when one of the people her father was playing with had a child around her age that they were also bringing. Luckily that didn’t happen often.
“I think I can cross anything that golf as a required business skill off my list of things to pursue,” Gwen decided.
Ten til Midnight 