8

Elaine

On Monday morning, I strode into the lobby of Sturm Publishing Inc. with nothing but printed inquiries Cora had sent me. Since I couldn’t go back to being an editor, because the job offers I’d browsed through on Craigslist weren’t paying well enough. I came across the post for a secretary with better payment and applied. Luckily, I got an email that said that I had been shortlisted for an interview along with six others two days later.

It hadn’t even been up to a week since we moved here and New York was already bearing fruits. I got Finn enrolled in a Catholic elementary school close to Cora’s new office so she could pick him up after work in the afternoons, since I would be closing by five on weekdays.

“Hello. Good day. I’m here for the interview?” I tilted my head and offered my hand to the middle-aged receptionist sitting behind a huge desk. There was a white intercom on her left, piles of paperwork scattered all over the table. She had her food flask opened in front of her