The Fifteen Minute Novel is an attempt to take a single prompt and use the last sentence written each day as a start for the next day. This year I had several prompts circling around a similar story, so I have combined them. However, the story starts the same way each day, with the last line from the day before and a timer set for fifteen minutes. The hope is to end up with a complete, if very rough draft by the end of the year. Some stories are better than others, but I always learn a whole lot about my own writing when I do this so for me it is not only a nice way to work out a story, but it is a tool for helping my writing get better. And so, we continue this story for 2024 with…
Day 121: She figured her vehicle was safe and tried to put Kristen out of her thoughts.
She figured her vehicle was safe and tried to put Kristen out of her thoughts. Sophie finished her work out and went back up to her apartment to shower and dress for the day. At work she went to her new office space to begin her work week and had a few conversations with co-workers about their weekends before she started her day. It was a pleasant start to the day.
‘Much better than the barely acknowledged morning greeting,’ Sophie decided as she moved to her desk and turned on her computer. Sophie didn’t need to be best friends with her coworkers, but she found a little pleasant comradery wasn’t a bad thing. ‘It’s a bit like when I started,’ she realized ans she started taking out the items she needed to start her day.
When Sophie started the people she worked with were polite and pleasant. They occasionally went out to lunch in a group, but over all didn’t do much socializing beyond that. It was a comfortable office environment and when each of them left for the day they went about their own lives. When her old supervisor retired and Evers took the position, things began to change. He seemed to build a personal comradery with some and exiled others to hie periphery. Sophie knew that some of the people who she worked with prior left because they did not care for Evers and his more personal approach to reviews and promotions.
Those he liked were rewards, those he didn’t weren’t. Sophie was useful so she kept her position but never joined the group.
‘And now I am back to a pleasant and general office environment,’ she thought as she slipped in her ear buds and opened her first file of the morning. ‘Which is kid of what I want form the office.’
Sophie had no intention of climbing any sort of corporate ladder. She had what she wanted. A paycheck that covered her bills with extra at the end of the month to both support her hobby and slowly build her savings. ‘And with the sewing on the side, it at least pays for itself now with some still left over for savings.’ While Sophie didn’t trust her fledgling sewing business to pay all her bills, it was nice to have her favorite past time pay for itself.
‘Even better not to think about work when the day is done,’ she decided.
Now that she was in her own space, her day flowed smoothly with few interruptions. Ass the office as a whole generally went out to eat on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sophie brought her lunch for Monday. When lunch time rolled around, she ate at her desk and after cleaning up, got back to work. She left on time, chatting with those in the elevator with her.
The next day started as quiet as before. When lunchtime rolled around, Sophie went to the food court with the others and as usual heard the office gossip. Today it was Ryan who was the focus.
“She decided that it was finally time,” Linda said.
“Who Kelly?” Petra replied.
Linda nodded. “She filed for divorce and officially served him papers yesterday. Everyone says he is shocked and didn’t see it coming.”
“How could he not have seen it coming,” Petra asked. “How many people has he cheated on her with?”
“I think he thought she would always look the other way,” Linda said.
“Has Kristen had a reaction?” Petra asked.
Linda looked around to make sure that no one was near them. “I heard Kristen isn’t taking it well. She was named as the person he was having an affair with in the paperwork.”
Ten til Midnight 