Status: Feedback motivates me.
Balance Beam
Chapter Two.
My alarm sounded off and I groaned as my hand felt it’s way to the snooze button. My head was pounding and I did not want to go to work. Last night my roommate Quinn and I went out to the bar and watched the baseball game with a few of our co-workers. All of us got trashed; Quinn and I could barely hold each other up on the walk home. A knock came to my door and my best friend immediately came inside.
“Wake up you alcoholic!” Quinn laughed as he playfully punched my arm.
“Fuck off,” I grumbled as I dug my face further into my pillow.
“Dude we got work, man! We can’t afford to be late again,” he said as he stalked out of my room.
I unwillingly pushed myself out of bed and took a shower. I dressed in my favorite leather jacket, a black shirt, and dark jeans. Running my hands through my hair, I made sure it looked perfectly out of place and every which way. The ladies seem to like men with messy hair for some reason. I kind of dig it too, I suppose. Hey, whatever makes them want me.
When I was done getting ready I joined Quinn in the kitchen. I poured myself a cup of black coffee, inhaling it deeply before I sipped the warm beverage. I looked over at Quinn, who was dressed in skinny jeans and a flannel. His shaggy blonde hair was all over the place. It’s a good thing our chief editor isn’t strict about dress code. We’d probably lose our jobs on the spot.
“You know we have a new neighbor?” Quinn asked with a mouthful of Apple Jacks. I shook my head at him, softly chuckling to myself. Quinn was such a big kid; always goofing around, or watching cartoon and playing video games. But somehow, chicks liked that about him.
“No, I haven’t heard anything about that,” I admitted. Quinn gave me a weird look.
“How the fuck can you be a column writer and not know the 411? Bram you need to pull up dude,” he laughed before stuffing another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. I laughed at his joke. He was always busting my balls about my job. The funny thing about it is, I’m really good at what I do. I know it, Quinn knows it, my boss knows it, and all my co-workers know it too.
“So do give the details of our new neighbor,” I said. Quinn finished his cereal and put his plate in the sink.
“Apparently she’s a few years younger than us. Must be some rich college girl because her stuff was shipped in advance. Oh you might like this, I heard she’s a redhead,” he grinned.
My lips turned up into a smirk. “You know that’s my favorite color. It sure does look good on me,” I said as I finished off my coffee.
Quinn and I made a few more jokes about the neighbor and then left for work. I looked around the lobby to see if I could see what she looked like, but I didn‘t see any unfamiliar faces. We stopped at Starbucks to grab some coffees and a muffin. The young girl behind the counter blushed everyday Quinn and I came in here. It was kind of cute actually. I think Quinn would have a better chance at fucking her. She seems like she would be the one who likes nerdy guys.
When we got to the magazine’s building, everyone was running around frantically. Quinn and I exchanged looks, both unsure what the hell all the commotion was about. Was there another terrorist attack? Cause this is exactly how everyone acted on that day. We made it upstairs to our branch. I immediately spotted Lucinda, our boss. Unfortunately for us, she spotted us at about the same time.
“Bram! Quinn!” she yelled as she charged towards us with her finger pointed at us. Lucinda was a middle aged woman who has been chief editor for about seven years now. She’s really improved the magazine, drilling everyone to keep up to date as much as possible. She can be very, very intimidating.
“What is going on?” Quinn asked as she stood face to face with us. She shot him a glare and he whispered a sorry.
“You two seriously have no idea what’s going on?” she asked. You could tell she was shocked. I nodded and she rolled her eyes. “It seems the FBI have found their first vampire.”
I stared at my boss, blinking ever so often. Did she really just fucking say that? Before I could tell her how absurd she was, Quinn began howling loudly in laughter. He pointed at her and bent over, giggling away. I looked over at Lucinda, waiting for her to slap the shit out of him. She stared at him the entire time and until he stopped. Quinn seemed to realize what he had did because he cleared his throat.
“Right, vampires. I always knew they were real,” he said nodding.
“Oh shut the fuck up Quinn,” Lucinda roared, causing me to laugh. She snapped her head in my direction and I stopped and quietly apologized. “He just came forth and said that he killed that NYU field hockey player last week,” she said as she waved for us to follow her to her office.
Lucinda shut the door behind us rather loudly. We sat down in her two black leather chairs as she closed the blinds. Her high heels tapped on the floor as she walked behind her desk and sat opposite of us. She pulled a cigarette out and lit it, placing an ashtray between the three of us.
“Feel free to give yourself cancer,” Lucinda said light-heartedly. “I cannot show you two the video, but I’ve seen it. When his canine teeth grow…it’s just like in the movies! And his eyes got all red, scary red.”
“Perhaps it could be a prank,” Quinn suggested as he shrugged him shoulders. “Special effects have come a long way over the years.” Lucinda shook her head violently.
“The president is meeting with the vampire council leader. Apparently there is a lot of them. Shit, they’re going to probably have rights just the rest of us!”
Lucinda seemed very into this subject. I was still flabbergasted and trying to wrap my head around the idea. Vampires really do exist. Those blood-sucking, night-walking creatures exist. Holy shit, they’re going to take over the world. Is this the apocalypse? I hope it isn’t; I’m not in any way religious so I‘d be fucked.
“This is going to be our project for the upcoming months. We have to cover all of the political standpoint, interview vampires and get to know them, get opinions of this, etc. I think this is going to be a good thing,” our boss smiled.
Lucinda kept us in her office, discussing what she’d like the magazine to cover. With all her ideas, you’d think she’s been preparing for this for a long time. After about an hour, Lucinda got fed up with Quinn’s sarcastic remarks and sent us to our cubicles. My desk was on the opposite side of the room than Quinn’s but we normally sent each other emails throughout the day when we had downtime.
During our lunch break, the government tapped into the televisions and let us all watch the president meet with the leader of vampires. I nearly choked on my egg roll when it came on the screen. This is real. Vampires fucking exist. Everyone in the building sat at their desk and watched the plasma televisions.
There our president was, face to face with a pale man who looked just like everyone else. Well besides how pale and handsome he was. I stared, my mouth slightly gaped open, as our president signed an agreement that all vampires will have rights like any other citizens. That means that laws apply to them and also protect them. That being said, the vampire that the FBI had in custody was going to be the first vamp to have a trial.
“Wake up you alcoholic!” Quinn laughed as he playfully punched my arm.
“Fuck off,” I grumbled as I dug my face further into my pillow.
“Dude we got work, man! We can’t afford to be late again,” he said as he stalked out of my room.
I unwillingly pushed myself out of bed and took a shower. I dressed in my favorite leather jacket, a black shirt, and dark jeans. Running my hands through my hair, I made sure it looked perfectly out of place and every which way. The ladies seem to like men with messy hair for some reason. I kind of dig it too, I suppose. Hey, whatever makes them want me.
When I was done getting ready I joined Quinn in the kitchen. I poured myself a cup of black coffee, inhaling it deeply before I sipped the warm beverage. I looked over at Quinn, who was dressed in skinny jeans and a flannel. His shaggy blonde hair was all over the place. It’s a good thing our chief editor isn’t strict about dress code. We’d probably lose our jobs on the spot.
“You know we have a new neighbor?” Quinn asked with a mouthful of Apple Jacks. I shook my head at him, softly chuckling to myself. Quinn was such a big kid; always goofing around, or watching cartoon and playing video games. But somehow, chicks liked that about him.
“No, I haven’t heard anything about that,” I admitted. Quinn gave me a weird look.
“How the fuck can you be a column writer and not know the 411? Bram you need to pull up dude,” he laughed before stuffing another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. I laughed at his joke. He was always busting my balls about my job. The funny thing about it is, I’m really good at what I do. I know it, Quinn knows it, my boss knows it, and all my co-workers know it too.
“So do give the details of our new neighbor,” I said. Quinn finished his cereal and put his plate in the sink.
“Apparently she’s a few years younger than us. Must be some rich college girl because her stuff was shipped in advance. Oh you might like this, I heard she’s a redhead,” he grinned.
My lips turned up into a smirk. “You know that’s my favorite color. It sure does look good on me,” I said as I finished off my coffee.
Quinn and I made a few more jokes about the neighbor and then left for work. I looked around the lobby to see if I could see what she looked like, but I didn‘t see any unfamiliar faces. We stopped at Starbucks to grab some coffees and a muffin. The young girl behind the counter blushed everyday Quinn and I came in here. It was kind of cute actually. I think Quinn would have a better chance at fucking her. She seems like she would be the one who likes nerdy guys.
When we got to the magazine’s building, everyone was running around frantically. Quinn and I exchanged looks, both unsure what the hell all the commotion was about. Was there another terrorist attack? Cause this is exactly how everyone acted on that day. We made it upstairs to our branch. I immediately spotted Lucinda, our boss. Unfortunately for us, she spotted us at about the same time.
“Bram! Quinn!” she yelled as she charged towards us with her finger pointed at us. Lucinda was a middle aged woman who has been chief editor for about seven years now. She’s really improved the magazine, drilling everyone to keep up to date as much as possible. She can be very, very intimidating.
“What is going on?” Quinn asked as she stood face to face with us. She shot him a glare and he whispered a sorry.
“You two seriously have no idea what’s going on?” she asked. You could tell she was shocked. I nodded and she rolled her eyes. “It seems the FBI have found their first vampire.”
I stared at my boss, blinking ever so often. Did she really just fucking say that? Before I could tell her how absurd she was, Quinn began howling loudly in laughter. He pointed at her and bent over, giggling away. I looked over at Lucinda, waiting for her to slap the shit out of him. She stared at him the entire time and until he stopped. Quinn seemed to realize what he had did because he cleared his throat.
“Right, vampires. I always knew they were real,” he said nodding.
“Oh shut the fuck up Quinn,” Lucinda roared, causing me to laugh. She snapped her head in my direction and I stopped and quietly apologized. “He just came forth and said that he killed that NYU field hockey player last week,” she said as she waved for us to follow her to her office.
Lucinda shut the door behind us rather loudly. We sat down in her two black leather chairs as she closed the blinds. Her high heels tapped on the floor as she walked behind her desk and sat opposite of us. She pulled a cigarette out and lit it, placing an ashtray between the three of us.
“Feel free to give yourself cancer,” Lucinda said light-heartedly. “I cannot show you two the video, but I’ve seen it. When his canine teeth grow…it’s just like in the movies! And his eyes got all red, scary red.”
“Perhaps it could be a prank,” Quinn suggested as he shrugged him shoulders. “Special effects have come a long way over the years.” Lucinda shook her head violently.
“The president is meeting with the vampire council leader. Apparently there is a lot of them. Shit, they’re going to probably have rights just the rest of us!”
Lucinda seemed very into this subject. I was still flabbergasted and trying to wrap my head around the idea. Vampires really do exist. Those blood-sucking, night-walking creatures exist. Holy shit, they’re going to take over the world. Is this the apocalypse? I hope it isn’t; I’m not in any way religious so I‘d be fucked.
“This is going to be our project for the upcoming months. We have to cover all of the political standpoint, interview vampires and get to know them, get opinions of this, etc. I think this is going to be a good thing,” our boss smiled.
Lucinda kept us in her office, discussing what she’d like the magazine to cover. With all her ideas, you’d think she’s been preparing for this for a long time. After about an hour, Lucinda got fed up with Quinn’s sarcastic remarks and sent us to our cubicles. My desk was on the opposite side of the room than Quinn’s but we normally sent each other emails throughout the day when we had downtime.
During our lunch break, the government tapped into the televisions and let us all watch the president meet with the leader of vampires. I nearly choked on my egg roll when it came on the screen. This is real. Vampires fucking exist. Everyone in the building sat at their desk and watched the plasma televisions.
There our president was, face to face with a pale man who looked just like everyone else. Well besides how pale and handsome he was. I stared, my mouth slightly gaped open, as our president signed an agreement that all vampires will have rights like any other citizens. That means that laws apply to them and also protect them. That being said, the vampire that the FBI had in custody was going to be the first vamp to have a trial.
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Critisism?