Chapter 1: Starting Out

 

Marlene sighed as she looked at her disappointing new home.

She readjusted her skirt as she prepared to examine the place she would be living in for, well, a while.  It was the only place she could afford after her parents passed away.  She grew up in a wealthy family, yet she was always overlooked by her parents, so she only inherited a small sum of money compared to her older sister.

 

 She headed straight towards her graphic table: She had wanted one as soon as she decided to become an interior designer.

She completely got in the zone as soon as her pencil touched paper.  She sit there forever--in fact, she sat there overnight, completely forgetting to go to bed, and more importantly, apply for a job at the City Hall.

The city hall in Twinbrook was astounding.  Marlene wished she could be as good as the architect who designed it.

She walked up the stairs to meet her new boss, Aaron Jackson.

"You, er, must be Mr. Jackson," Marlene said, stuttering as she realized how handsome the man was. 

"Please, call me Aaron.  We will be starting a renovation now, come and join me in the taxi so we can begin."  He said kindly.

As he headed towards the taxi, Marlene couldn't help but do a mini happy dance as she realized she would be working with such a man.

"Marlene, is there a problem?" Aaron asked as he noticed her celebration.

"Sorry, I was just...never mind."  She said flabbergasted.

One renovation later, Marlene was riding, in the very same taxi, home.  However, she wasn't expecting the surprise in store for her.

Not too long after, a young woman, Marlene's age was walking to Marlene's house. 

"Ahem," the girl coughed.

"Jasmine!" Marlene shrieked.  Jasmine was Marlene's best friend from high school, who had come to pay a visit.

"What on earth brings you to my shabby place?"  Marlene asked, surprised

"Can't an old friend pay a visit?" Jasmine giggled.  She had never seemed to grow out of her teenage phase.

"I can't believe it!" Marlene said.  She couldn't wait to tell her about her day, and Aaron.

The next day, Marlene and Aaron were off renovating a couple's house.

Marlene was telling Aaron how nervous she was.  This was her first real renovation, because her last few were mostly Aaron, while her job was to do all the dirty work.

"You'll do fine, Marlene, it's just a guest bedroom turned into an office."

Here is the before. 

Here is the after.

TJ Jones, the house's owner, began to investigate the room.  He didn't seem too pleased.

"Mr. Jackson, you are one of the best designers in Twinbrook, and this is what you came up with?" TJ said.

Aaron was all too pleased to brush off the insult onto Marlene.

But, TJ got soft when realizing it was Marlene's first time, saying that she just needed some practice.

So Marlene finally got up the nerve to ask out Aaron to join Jasmine and herself at dinner.

The three met at the bistro just as the sun set.

Jasmine glanced over to Marlene, who was staring lovingly at Aaron. 

Jasmine knew that look too well from high school, where she gave that look to the school's soccer goallie. 

"So,  you must be Aaron,"

It was a shame, because Jasmine decided that Marlene wouldn't be the one getting Aaron in the end.  It would be her.

"Yeah...Has Marlene been talking about me?" He asked awkwardly.

Bu then, the waiter showed up just in time.

However, he seemed to have the hots for Marlene, judging by the way he was looking at her.

It made Marlene quite uncomfortable.

"I'll have the Goopy Carbonada, please," Jasmine said, completely discarding the situation.

"I need to use the restroom," Marlene semi-shouted as she bolted.

"Why don't you sit down," Jasmine said coyly.

"I'm Shane.  Shane Bonner," he said.

"Do you want Marlene's number, because she'd be happy to talk to you anytime or go out, or whatever," Jasmine said suavely.

"I'd love it.  But she didn't seem too thrilled to see me," He chuckled.

"But wait.  Don't tell her," he said in a panicked voice. 

"I don't want to seem pushy or desperate..."

"Not a problem,"

Aaron looked away.  It was getting really awkward, really fast.

"Well, I'm not supposed to sit down on the job, so I'll get going."  Shane said as he stood up.

"JASMINE! What was that about?" Marlene questioned.

Marlene sighed as she looked back at where the young waiter was standing.

"So Aaron, tell me about yourself."  Jasmine said sweetly.