Church Bells ｡ Matthew Murdock

1 - TO BE A GOOD PERSON

Life was cruel but to one young woman in particular, it had been nothing but consistent pain for many years. For Juliette Allen, life had brought its worse again and again. Her life was once glamours; she attended all the right parties, dressed in the finest clothing and her smile lit up a room when she entered, everybody staring in awe. The socialite was a pretty face with a hidden talent for catching a lie, but that all had changed when her parents' private plane had gone missing over the Atlantic sea one late night in March. With the crash came the loss of her family's company; a high class real estate company that dealt with purchasing and selling properties within the New York area. It was her family's legacy and one day, she was to take the throne but her plans on her future were turned to ash when the company's profits were tied up with her dead parents. The Allen Group had been handed over to her mother's best friend, Markus O'Harris and the trust fund, the penthouse apartment and everything she owned had been yanked away. Now, the name Allen was nothing but a whisper on cold winds, a cursed name that had not stepped back into the Upper East Side since she had been stunned from her society circles. 

With nothing but a suitcase full of odd trinkets, she found one place where an old friend took her in with own arms; Blair Suen. The two girls had been childhood friends before her father and mother found their fortune and Juliette never forgot the kind girl who was good with calculations. That's when Juliette Allen became just a name once uttered around brunches and soon enough, the circles of high class Manhattan forgot all about the girl who was now poor. 

"You're going to be late, hurry up." Blair was cursing through the bathroom door, banging loudly on the wood and checking the time. The two girls had been living together for two years now and despite their close friendship; mornings were very hard on both girls. 

Juliette groaned into the mirror, seeing her reflection in the cracked mirror. The woman standing before her was but a ghost of her old life, the only thing familiar was the blue flicks in her eyes and the way she still managed to hold her shoulders back with pride, despite that pride had been tossed away long ago. She combed through her messy curls and fiddled with the high neck line of her blouse, borrowed from Blair, of course. "Does this look alright? You don't think I look too old in this?" She yanked open the door, finding Blair eyeing her over her black rimmed glasses. 

Both girls were wildly different in many regards. Blair Suen was a professional accountant now, all her hard work paid off with too many night lectures and crappy long train rides to her university in Queens. She was respected among her coworkers, always putting in extra hard work to get where she was in life. Juliette though was not so successful. With no real degree and no clue how she wanted to fill her life, was merely trying to find a job that paid the rent on time. "It's not like you're trying for a job on Wall Street, it's only a secretary position. You look fine, plus that's my lucky shirt, it will bring you luck. Now move it." 

Juliette stepped out of the bathroom with a little sigh. She was nervous about the job interview, knowing she couldn't keep borrowing money to pay the rent from Blair. She had been wallowing in her self pity and grief for far too long. She may not have been a socialite anymore but she was still an Allen and her family was built upon hard work. "I really do need some luck." She frowned, crossing the open spaced living room and grabbing her purse, checking to make sure her lipstick was inside, along with her phone and spare change. 

"Remember to smile, okay?" Blair called out, buttoning up her blouse and stepping into her heels, giving her friend a quick wave with her fingers. "Remember, someone could be falling in love with your smile--"

The dirty blonde gave a little chuckle, "I know, I know." She butted in, almost rolling her eyes because her friend always liked to cheer her up with that silly line. It had become natural for the girls to try their best in cheering each other up when things turned cloudy. "Okay, I'm off. I'll call you when I get some good news."