Sophomores Elle Gable and Rosemary Everly live through daily torment because of their weight - 295 pounds each. After a life-threatening prank on Rosie and a humiliating joke with Elle at the center, the girls decide they've had enough. Sick of bein...
I've been to New York City hundreds of times since I was a little girl but it never ceases to amaze me. Elle feels the same way, though she's only been a dozen times before. Both of us stare out of the town car windows, lips parted as we take in the world around us. We're less than an hour away from Sleepy Hollow but it feels like we've entered another dimension.
The sidewalks here are wide enough to be a street in our small town. People crowd around each other but only a few interact, most staring straight ahead or looking down at their cellphones. The tall buildings surrounding us block the normally foggy horizon we'd see in Sleepy Hollow, shadows changing around us as the sun fights to poke through the gaps in between.
I used to think there'd be a lot of color in a place with so many different people but I'm always disappointed by the overwhelming majority of dark fabric in the crowds of commuters. Gray and black might be the go-to professional-looking colors for clothes but surely these people realize business wear can be colorful too! You'd think the city that hosts Fashion Week twice a year would be more creative.
Thankfully, my mom has a better sense of style. Her outfit for today is business casual: a salmon pencil skirt and pale pink top tied together with a thin brown-leather belt and a vertically-striped jacket. Her black-and-white handbag fits perfectly. I find myself admiring her loose blonde curls as the warm sunlight turns her honey strands into a glowing gold.
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I scan the crowd with a sigh as we come to a stop – the traffic here is consistently annoying. A few people have pops of color – there's a young girl with a hot pink purse dangling off her arm as she balances her phone and a drink carrier, but her pant suit is black. Oh! There's a yellow dress! Finally.
Mom looks up from her tablet to smile at me, briefly glancing out the window before she turns back to her work, focused on narrowing down a list of potential caterers for a client's wedding. Half of her work can be done from home, like calling vendors and researching different venues online, but she travels to the city at least four days a week to do what needs to be done in person. Plus, I know she loves the adrenaline rush of making sure everything is perfect so she can pull off a fantastic event.
After twenty minutes of stop-and-go traffic, we finally pull up in front of the office building.
"Mom!" I yell, pointing at the Starbucks down the street. "Can Elle and I go get coffee real quick? Please?"
Mom's eyebrows knit together, "You just had Starbucks an hour ago."
I shrug, earning an amused sigh before she answers, "Alright, go, but be careful."
Elle and I beam at each other, calling out rushed 'thank you's' to my mom as we hurry to join the growing line.
Two iced lattes later, Elle and I make our way to the elevator and push button 28. Most businesses in this building only rent a certain amount of office space but Mom's firm owns the whole of the 28th floor.
