Finding Gen

Chapter 1

The early chill of early fall hit her face as she emerged onto the New York City streets from the over-crowded subway station. With a single wireless headphone in her ear, Lara Jean started down the street en route to her midtown office. She fell in step with the hoard of fellow commuters doing the same thing.

New York City had been her home since college. She had always imagined staying close to her small town in Virginia. But now, she could not fathom living in a small town with the population of her city block in the Upper West Side. She came to the city with bright eyes and optimism, but those faded over time as they often do. She had become a realist. She had to be for her job as an investigative reporter for Typewriter Magazine. Lara Jean heaved the heavy large glass doors of her building swinging them open with fervor when her phone buzzed in the pocket of her oversized navy blazer.

She was surprised to see the name pop up. Mrs. Mitchell was her best friend Gen's mom. LJ didn't even think she had spoken more than two words to the woman since her and Gen graduated from NYU over five years ago. She was surprised she even still had Gen's mother's number. She's had to change her number numerous times when a source for a story would get a little too comfortable. "Hi Mrs. Mitchell." Lara Jean answered as the elevator doors opened.

"Lara Jean. Thank God." She sounded exasperated, triggering a panic in Lara Jean's heart.

"Is everything okay?" She watched the lights above the elevator light up as it landed on the ground floor.

"Gen's not with you, right?" LJ could hear Mrs. Mitchell's leg shaking against her seat through the phone.

"No, ma'am" she replied as she hit her floor number. There was a heavy silence between the two.

"She's missing." Mrs. Mitchell said bluntly, breaking the static. "She's been missing for almost a week."

"What?" Lara Jean twitched slightly at the news.

"She's missing. I have been calling all her friends to make sure she's not with one of them. But no one can find her." Her voice bobbled, not able to keep her emotions at bay anymore.

"Oh" was all that Lara Jean could get out. She heard a cry from the other end of the call. "Can I do anything for you?"

"I think we need your help." She said through her tears. "You do the investigative stories. Maybe you'll see something that no one here can." A silence took over the line as Lara Jean felt speechless. "Please Lara Jean."

A ringing took over LJ's entire body as she stood in the lobby of her magazine's offices. The shock of hearing that one of her best friends was missing made her heart go crazy. "I... I.... I uh... I'll see what I can do." She took a deep breath.

"Thank you, Lara Jean." Mrs. Mitchell sniffled. "I'll hopefully see you soon." LJ heard the phone click on the other side. She looked down at her phone stupefied by what just happened.

"Morning LJ!" one of her coworkers, a tall skinny hipster who worked in graphics exclaimed as he walked past a frozen Lara Jean.

"Yeah." She said trying to shake the news out of her head. She took another deep breath and walked through the open workspace to get to her perfectly organized desk. She sat down and stared blankly at her second monitor, not knowing what to do next.

"You look like someone died." The voice came from the desk across from hers. Reynita, had become one of Lara Jean's best friends since they both started at the magazine within the same month. She was sweet but fierce. She would be the first person to cry with you on the couch after a breakup, but also knew when you needed space. The perfect friend and desk mate for Lara Jean.