A Day In The Life // H.S.

21. | Is This Some Kind of Game to You?

1 week later

I woke up to the sound of smoke alarms going off in the apartment. I jolted out of bed and threw on my robe before running into the main living area to see Harry swatting the air with a tea towel and Hayley frantically trying to turn off the blaring alarm. My eyes glanced over to the stove where there was smoke coming from the frying pan and a stack of pancakes nearby. 

Harry burnt pancakes. I suddenly burst out laughing and they both turned to look at me. Hayley managed to get the alarm to stop before Harry stopped trying to get smoke from the air. "You burnt pancakes?" I asked, not even trying to hide my smile. Hayley was just shaking her head, looking at Harry, waiting for him to respond. "I thought that was obvious." He laughed at me before walking into the kitchen to rescue the pancakes that were actually edible. He put some on a plate for me and handed it over.

I sat down at the breakfast bar and ate the surprisingly good pancakes. I was going to have to leave for work soon and I wanted to enjoy his company for as long as possible before he had to leave again. Hayley had headed into her room to change.

"What are you doing today?" he asked. "Interviewing her about her songwriting process," I told him, smiling sweetly. "You should let me come." He winked and I violently shook my head. "No way. That would be such a train wreck." I admitted, and he looked at me dramatically. "Why, what are you doing today?" I pressed, and his eyes flickered with sadness. 

"I have to get packed. I have a flight home tonight," he said, and I took a deep breath. "Right. I forgot we lived across the country from each other." I felt the sadness of reality creep through into the space between us. "Maybe you want to, I don't know, move?" he asked and my head snapped into his direction. 

"Move? Across the country? At the snap of your fingers?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "It wouldn't be so bad. There's lots of great apartments there. Plus, it would be easier for Hayley to book acting gigs, God knows there's enough acting jobs out there anyways." Harry reasoned and it suddenly made a lot of sense to me. 

"I could ask Jessie to a transfer. I could work for the magazine out of the LA headquarters. I could ask for just a writing position." I suddenly said, and Harry nodded eagerly. "You think she'd go for it?" he asked and I nodded my head. "It's practically a demotion. I don't see why she wouldn't." I said, sipping my glass of orange juice. 

__________

"No." Jessie said, not even looking up from the papers on her desk. "What do you mean? I'm asking for a demotion and I need a fresh start. There's too much in New York that is preventing me from living the way I'm supposed to." I said honestly, hoping she'd change her mind. Jessie set down her pen and removed her glasses, gesturing for me to take a seat. 

"Chloe," she said, crossing her arms, "you are an exceptional reporter. I need that skill in the field doing these articles. Your work is continuing to put us on the map and it would be a complete idiot if I let you go." She spoke confidently. "But, I wouldn't be going, just transferring. And I'm happy to just write articles online, it plays to my skill set much more. Please, let me have this opportunity," I pleaded, my situation looking grim. 

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I cannot authorize this transfer." Jessie said, going back to her work. I shook my head in disbelief. "Fine." I said, standing up. I placed a piece of paper on her desk and began to walk out of the room. "What is this?" she asked, confused. I turned back around, a smirk spreading across my face.

"That's my resignation. See, I don't think it's very fair to be denied a reasonable transfer request after I've done nothing but good things for this company. Have I been here long? No. But, you said it yourself, my work has made a huge impact. So, I'm just going to remove the problem right here. If you won't let me transfer, then so be it. But if you think, even for one fucking second, that I'm going to let you of all people hold me back from being happy, you've got another thing coming. So good luck, I wish you nothing but the best." I turned on my heel and walked out of the office and out of the front doors, getting into the car Andrew was driving.