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 86: “Would you feel better if I just came down and met you in the lobby?” she asked.
“Would you feel better if I just came down and met you in the lobby?” she asked. Alan didn’t seem to care for going upstairs in the apartment building even though she didn’t see any signs of the night desk clerk timing him.
“Would you mind?” he asked. “If it is a problem then I can still come up.”
“But you would prefer the lobby,” Gwen finished. “I can meet you down here tomorrow.”
Alan looked relieved as they entered the park. “Thanks that really does help.”
Gwen nodded and they walked over to their group. As the main group was split into smaller segments the day before it was just the small group she ran with waiting. Several of them were already stretching and even though she stretched in the apartment, Gwen stretched alongside them.
Peter looked over at her as they stretched. She felt him watching her but every time she looked up, he would look away. It was odd and she caught one of the other women rolling her eyes so she knew she wasn’t imagining it. They finished their stretches and moved to the trail they planned to run.
“So,” Peter asked as they walked over. “Will you be coming into the office all week?”
Gwen frowned. “No,” she said. “It was just a one time thing, unless grandfather finds another department he thinks I might want to talk to,” she said. “I’m not sure who else is left though.”
“Oh so you aren’t going to be assigned a position?” Peter asked.
“No,” she told him. “It was just so that I could get an idea what different job options looked like in the everyday so I could decide what to study.”
“Oh,” he said. “Cool.”
After that he backed up and moved to stand near Alan. There was a sigh and a shake of the head from a couple of the others.
As they started their morning run, Gwen realized Peter thought she was being given some sort of job at her grandfather’s office. ‘And it sounded like he resented it.’ Gwen let the thought slide. She had no intention of working in the office. ‘And if Grandfather decides to offer me some sort of internship, I should probably decline,’ she thought as they ran. ‘Especially if that’s the way Peter reacts to it.’
As they ran, thoughts slipped away. She concentrated on her breath and her pacing and simply enjoyed the running, forgetting everything else. For now, there was a limited window of what mattered and she was happy to let thoughts of both the immediate and distant future slide.
Their group circled back to the main entrance of the park, their run finished for the morning. Gwen and Alan peeled off from the main group and headed back to the apartment building. She was greeted by the watchful day desk clerk and Alan left as she took the elevator up.
With her keys she was able to let herself in this time. She heard humming in the kitchen and moved to see her grandfather sliding breakfast sausages off of the pan.
“Morning,” she said.
“Morning,” he smiled back. “Did you have a good run?”
“I did,” she replied.
“Good. I made sausages because you need protein,” he said. “And I get to have a few as well. Not too many or they will start yelling about my cholesterol, but still a few.”
“Nice to know,” Gwen said with a smile.
Ten til Midnight 