The Girl With the Bad Dreams

Chapter 2

The Model and Knight mailroom is not a musty and dark basement hidden away from clientele. Instead it's bright, open and lit by a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. Across the center of the giant space are three stainless steel counters, atop which is dumped the incoming mail. Creativity is king in this ultra-hip advertising agency, or at least that's what the founders want you to think. So everything, even the mailroom, is designed to thwart expectations and encourage outside the box thinking.

The large open space rumbles with the sounds of torn envelopes, crumpling paper and enthusiastic conversation. Treating their jobs of glorified delivery men as a mere stepping stone to fame and fortune as an ad exec, the mail room employees know that in order to get ahead they first have to get noticed. So they take every opportunity to strike up conversations and make impressions, not just to their bosses, but also to each other.

They dress to impress, too. No one wears a business suit; that would be far too conservative. Instead they're garbed in affected fashions that pretend to be casual but are, in fact, carefully assembled and ultra-expensive. They wear boutique jeans, limited edition graphics t-shirts, and an eclectic collection of vests, sweaters, leather and fur. There is literally no way they can afford their apparel on their mailroom salaries, alone.

Which is perhaps why Carlin is stuck in chinos and Keds. Or maybe she's just oblivious to the too cool for school attitude of her colleagues. Either way, she looks embarrassingly out of place. To make matters worse, she makes the mistake of not speaking unless spoken too. To her colleagues it's clear she'll never get promoted, and it's a wonder that she even got this job in the first place.

As she sorts through a pile of envelopes she's clearly anxious and distracted, as if she's grappling with some monumental decision. She puts down the envelopes and turns away from the bright steel countertop. Ted, her work neighbor with a thick beard, Ray-Ban eye glasses, and curly hipster haircut, looks up from his own stack of mail with a frown. "Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom," she replies.

"You just gonna leave me with all your work?" Ted accuses.

Carlin rolls her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll be right back. It's not like I can escape."

Carlin moves away from the central counter to the edge of the mailroom, where two latrines have been added. Sure enough, they're in clear view of the entire cavernous space. And there's no chance of an employee sneaking out a window, because inside the bathrooms there are no windows. Apparently Model and Knight don't believe creativity ever occurs on the can.

Carlin nervously checks to make sure the Ladies Room is, in fact, empty, glancing for feet under the stalls. Then she locks herself in a toilet and fishes her phone from her pocket. She stares at it a moment before taking a deep breath and dialing a number.

The phone chirps in her ear with each ring until Carlin hears the "click" of someone picking up. "Hello?" asks a girl's voice on the other side.

Carlin recognizes the voice...it belongs to her sister, Heather, and its sound makes her smile subconsciously. "Hi, Heather, it's me, Carlin.

"Carlin! How are you?!"

"I'm good, what are you up to?"

"What do you think? I'm opening moving boxes and unwrapping wedding gifts." She whispers conspiratorially into the phone. "Wanna know the best thing about getting married? All the presents!"

Carlin giggles. She can imagine her sister, a younger, prettier version of herself, dressed in comfy socks and blue jeans, brimming with excitement as she completely re-decorates her husband's apartment. "I wanted to apologize about not returning your call."