Atlanta, GA
United States of America
July 2017
Lysette reads Aaron’s group messages. Italy’s great, he shared a couple of
hours back. There’s a lot to see and a
lot to take in. It’s great for Instagram, he told them alongside a grinning
emoticon. The messages following that were of Eugene complaining that Aaron was
just ‘using the trip as an excuse to be a millennial’. Aaron neither complained
nor denied it, but they all knew that it was true.
After sending a teasing message herself,
she told them about how she was doing in Atlanta. Nothing much happened here yet. And no, I’m not going to pull off an
Aaron and take pictures of the sky at midnight. I’m planning to go to HQ
tomorrow; my initial interview will be in the afternoon.
Eugene shoots a message of luck but doesn’t
reply after; Lysette assumes that he had managed to fall asleep, exhaustion
quick to catch up to the male. She next assumes that all the way in Italy,
Aaron was busy sleeping as well. She thinks of shooting Aether an email, but
restrains herself. It was a surprise, after all, and she didn’t want to ruin
the surprise—
Shifting in bed, Lysette couldn’t help but
wonder how the entire trip in Atlanta would be. She didn’t know what she was
expecting; despite having read up on Headquarters and Atlanta, it all still
seemed like a mysterious blur to her. She had spotted police cars on the way to
the hotel while inside the cab, but they were probably just normal police and
not the kind of Headquarters’ own.
Exhaling, she shut her eyes.
It suddenly felt like she wasn’t ready.
Lysette hated uncertainty; it was what made her suddenly stock up on research
hours before leaving London. She wasn’t like Aaron and Eugene, who preferred
going into things with a fresh mind—she simply just had to know.
She knew about her interviewee, at least.
Aether Maxwell was in her mid-twenties and led Squad A; based on the pictures
on her Facebook wall, Squad A was comprised of four members including Aether.
The other three were men of different appearances; one of them was Korean and
the other two seemed American.
Despite the Korean and Aether seeming
awfully close, there were other pictures on Aether’s wall, pictures of her and
a redheaded man often spotted in formal gear. She was smiling in all those
pictures and so was he, and one of them showed them dancing, laughing.
(Aether owed Lysette all the stories.)
But then again, that was only one, two
aspects of Aether’s life. And that’s what made her nervous; Headquarters wasn’t
glitzy nor was it something that could help relax. It was the opposite—she had
heard that it was nerve-wracking and that employees had to continuously risk
their lives—
It made her shiver. Lysette shifted once
more on the bed, thinking deeply and wondering whether her best friend was
okay.
The next morning, she woke up to messages
from the group chat. Aaron and Eugene were busy talking; apparently it was
already 10AM and Eugene had been up for more than an hour already. Aaron,
meanwhile, was having snacks.
AaronSteele: I slept like a baby. Hotel beds are miles better than airplanes,
and I actually got to lie down for once.
EURamsay: ??? did you not lie down
during the flight
AaronSteele: Eugene, there was a family
behind me.
LysCross: what the fuck is happening?
AaronSteele: Sleep discourse. Sleep
well?
LysCross: pretty good, but I’m nervous
for later
EURamsay: youre going to kill it i promise
EuRamsay: now
EuRamsay: b r u n c h
The two of them helped in making her cheer
up, but she still felt shaky. Lysette still felt unbelievably nervous; after
all, the trip to America counted many firsts.
Her phone gave a resounding beeping noise.
AaronSteele: Are you okay?
LysCross: lots of nerves hahaha but I
think it’ll pass
AaronSteele: You’ll be okay, I can promise
you that.
AaronSteele: You’re interviewing
someone you know personally, and you’re in the United States. If anything, I
think you’ve got the best hook out of the three of us.
Aaron Steele: Being nervous is normal
and it’s fine. But remember that you *can* do this. Okay?
The messages came in steady succession and
she could tell that he was waiting alongside her for her to get her chill back.
Lysette inhaled and sat up in bed, eventually feeling the nervousness ebb away
slightly. It wasn’t much, but it was a start, at least.
LysCross: yeah shit I think you’re right
LysCross: it’s just a little—idk man I just realized what exactly what we’re
doing and it got me for a moment
AaronSteele: It’s understandable. The
whole thing is pretty big when you really start to think about it beyond
something that’s just an article to do.
AaronSteele: We’re dealing with real
people and a real organization.
LysCross: wow thanks I’m totally calm
right now
AaronSteele: I’m just spilling the
facts. :P
But she eventually pushed the nervousness
out and got out of bed, stretching. The day’s events flashed in her mind: she
had to bathe, eat, start on sketching out design ideas, and come one in the
afternoon would she begin to make her way to HQ with the little means (Google
Maps) she had.
“Right,” she breathed. “I can do this.”
She thought of Eugene and Aaron stuck in
different countries. She found herself agreeing with Aaron eventually; she had
it the easiest out of the three of them. Lysette wondered if they were doing
okay—but their chat showed that they weren’t as nervous as he was, and in fact,
where enjoying the time there so far.
The redhead inhaled slowly, then released.
If
they can do it, then I can do this, too. Okay, she
grimaced then replaced it with an attempt of a smile, alright, Lys. Let’s kick some ass today.
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