From Darker Shores

Chapter 1 - The Letter

In all the time I lived in New York, I'd never quite worked out why they put windows on subway trains. After all, they spend most of the time in black tunnels with nothing to see.

My leading theory was that it was meant to help people feel less claustrophobic, but if that was the case then it wasn't working. Being stuck a hundred feet underground in a metal tube full of strangers stressed me out. Plus, in August it was so hot and airless that I seriously wanted to crawl out of my own skin and into my iced latte.

Taking a sip of said latte I glanced at the map on the wall opposite. Eight stops to go.

God this train was slow. I should have taken a cab.

All around me the morning commuters read their papers, flicked through their phones, or bobbed along to their music.

I took another sip and returned to the notebook I was sketching in.

I'd lived in New York since I was thirteen, but sometimes the sheer volume of humanity still overwhelmed me. It was incredible that so many people could live and work in such a small space. It made a person feel like a sardine in a can. 

The only good thing I could say about it was that it gave me plenty of live subjects to draw from.

I'd been sketching a woman and her baby before they'd gotten off a few stops ago and was now adding in details from memory. The tilt of the mother's head. The baby's chubby hands. The pose had sort of reminded me of the Madonna and Child which was why I'd liked it.

"That's really good," the woman sitting next to me said, peering over my shoulder. "You've got a real talent there."

"Thanks, that's very kind," I said, smiling graciously.

"You an artist?"

"No, um... it's more of a hobby these days. I'm more into conservation and art history. You know, repairing old paintings which have been damaged. I specialise in renaissance works from the end of the seventeenth century."

The woman's eyebrows went up. "Wow, that sounds intense. Didn't realise there were jobs out there for stuff like that."

"Um... There aren't many of them, no," I said, faltering slightly.

Overhead the train voice announced the next stop and the woman got up. "Well, keep it up. Good luck with the conservation work."

I forced a closed-lipped smile as she left, then closed the sketchbook.

Conservation work.

I let out a deep breath then reached into my bag and took out the envelope again.

I'd been carrying it around with me everywhere and the white envelope was dogeared and crumpled. The letter inside was written on heavy paper with a watermark of a company logo at the top. I'd read and re-read the letter so many times over the last few days that it now lay almost perfectly flat.

My eyes skimmed over it, though I already knew the whole thing word for word.

Dear Ms Victoria Beaumont,

We are writing to officially offer you the position...

...your contract will be sent to you electronically upon acceptance...

...employee benefits, as discussed in your interview, will include...

...all flights and outlays will be paid for at the company's expense...

...we would very much welcome your response by the end of the month.

I gritted my teeth, stuffing the letter back into its envelope and fanning myself with it.