The Falling of Lauren Johnson

Chapter Twenty

I wake up early in the morning with my head no longer feeling fuzzy but with a dull ache. That's what I get I guess. I push myself off of my bed into a standing position and swing my chipped arm into my view. 6:34 AM. Oh my goodness, this is too freaking early. Instead of laying back down to go to bed, I encourage myself to go into the kitchen and make one of those instacoffees. The brown liquid scalds my throat on the way down, but warms my tummy and I sigh.

I can't believe everything that happened last night. What the heck did they do to Mr. Small? Why was Elliot acting that way? What does that even mean? I down the rest of my coffee and I acknowledge that I actually have to get ready for the day. Its my first day of work. I make my way into the bathroom and I strip down bare to take a shower. The warm water feels so nice on my skin and the steam helps me feel replenished. I've noticed that after everything I've been through the last month or so, showering has been my only solace. Its like its rejuvenating my soul. I finish my shower and begin getting ready for the day.

I go to my closet to choose an outfit and quickly notice that basically the only thing to wear are professional dresses and suits, all of which I quickly decide, are going to make me look like a stuffy grownup. I don't want to be a stuffy grownup. I decide on a gray pencil dress with three-quarter length sleeves and hemline that arrives at my knees, and on top of it, a white blazer to give it that added look of "professionalism". I open up the bottom drawer of the dresser and pull out a pair of nude heels, and sit on the bed to put them on. To my surprise, they are the most comfortable shoe I've ever worn. I look at myself in the mirror. Well, this is as good as its going to get. I walk over to the kitchen area once again to make a bagel for breakfast, and I find a red folder laying on the kitchen island that I hadn't noticed before while making coffee. I pick it up and find that it addresses the job I'll be headed toward within the hour for the very first time.

I find a seat on one of the barstools next to the island and flip open the red folder to view its contents. On top of a small stack of papers, I find a handwritten note.

Miss Lauren Olivia Johnson, inside this folder, you will find a contract that will have to be signed preceding or upon your arrival at work on Sunday. I look forward to training you in and working alongside you. -Adam Sutton

I smile at the note. While my experience with men may not be extremely advanced, at least my coworker will be friendly enough. Awesome! I pull out the small mass of papers and find it to be a pretty extensive contract upon reading it, but the three primary and upmost important are bolded on every page.

1. You must keep everything that the soulmate division does a secret. The division and the clocks work because civilians don't know nor can they even fathom how the clocks actually work. To keep it that way, you cannot reveal anything about your job to anyone.

2. Be prompt when coming to work and always do your best work. If the Authorities in the department see that you are not doing your job to the best of your ability, there will be severe consequences which could eventually result in imprisonment as the worst-case scenario.

3. Do NOT, under any circumstance, alter or replace any of the soulmate match information. This is one of the most serious rules and if done, this crime is punishable by death. You will not only ruin your own life, but will alter those lives of the parties involved. DO NOT DO IT.

I find the signature line on each page of the contract, and I shakily pick up the pen. I feel like I'm signing my life away. You basically are, Lauren, but you just have to do it! DO IT! I push the pen to the paper and loop and odd as semblance of letters together to form my first and last name. It also feels weird that this is in paper. Nothing is in paper anymore, so this must be extremely legit. I set the pen back down and shove the papers back into the folder in which they arrived.