lydiaglassman

[lydiaglassman]

The Summer of '89

"Mom, you're sooo boring." Her thirteen year old groaned, laying upside down on the couch.

"Have you been this boring your whole life?" Her eleven year old pouted, crossing his arms.

***

Simply put, she wasn't. Back in the summer of '89, she was a young and single woman without any children. Hadn't met her husband, hadn't finished college yet, and hadn't had any idea as to what she wanted to do with her life.

All she wanted to do was break into the shut down asylum by her college that had been closed down by the town and by local police. With police tape draped on the exterior fence and shattered windows, the asylum sat empty. It was almost begging her to sneak in.

"Come on, Aileen!" Her friend, Jake, whispered. He had begun scaling the wall as she tried to break the lock on the fence. Without hesitation, she threw her leg over and jumped the fence.

Once they were over, the two walked towards the entrance. The dreary looking building looked like it could collapse at any second. The exterior paint was chipping, nearly every window was broken, and one of the main doors was almost off all of the hinges.

The two pushed the door open, causing a loud creak. Jake jumped a little, feeling a cold shiver rush down his spine.

"You're not scared, are you Jakey?" She asked, teasing her old friend.

"No... Of course not." He retorted, crossing his arms at her. She poked her head into every room, admiring all of the broken fixtures and ceiling tiles that blanketed the floor, as well as the dust and rubble that coated the building.

Jake walked into a room that contained an electric chair, admiring the broken torture device. Distracted by the chair, he didn't hear Aileen sneak by. Moments later, she jumped up from behind the chair and made Jake screamed, a high pitch yelp. Aileen cackled, watching her friend catch his breath.

"Aileen!" He yelled, then started to laugh. "Okay, maybe I am a little scared." He admitted. As he felt his heart rate begin to go back to normal, he heard a door slam and someone yell down the hall.

"Scarborough Police!" A deep voice yelled, causing Aileen and Jake to gasp. They turned off their flashlights and hid behind the chair. They heard the loud footsteps of the officer walking the halls.

"Damn kids," he muttered as he began to investigate. "You're trespassing on private property, ya know!" He bellowed, making Aileen giggle.

"Aileen, we should go." Jake whispered, growing nervous.

"He'll never find us, Jakey." She replied, shaking her head.

"If I find you damn kids, you're going to jail!" The officer yelled, then making Aileen nervous. She had been arrested, but released, for vandalizing the track coach's' house for making her run extra laps, so she couldn't risk it again. Her mom would kill her!

"I have a plan." Aileen whispered, picking up a rock. She threw it into one of the only windows that weren't completely shattered. The officer jumped, feeling nervous and wishing he wasn't alone.

She made her flashlight flicker, making him check in on the room the two were in.

"Is anyone there?" He asked reluctantly.

"Turn back." She yelled, making him sweat.

"I-I can't."

"TURN BACK!" She yelled, causing him to drop his own flashlight. Since he could no longer see, the two ran past him and out of the asylum. They ran until their legs were shot from running and they could no longer catch their breath.

They sat down in defeat, laughing as they realized that they just barely got away with it.

***

Aileen was brought back to reality, as she remembered that her children thought she was boring.

"I'll bet you were president of the math club or something, you're lame." The thirteen year old sighed, walking away to go play on her phone. Aileen laughed to herself as she thought back on when she was young, single, and free, without spoiled kids.

[lydiaglassman]

The “Ice Princess”

Marriage was such a silly concept to Marianne. To her, the whole point is to marry someone you love. To her father, the whole point is to marry someone who is rich.

“They may as well call you the Ice Princess!” Her father shrieked, waving his hands dramatically.

“You’re expecting me to marry someone just for money and status!”

“That’s the whole point!” He sighed, slamming his fist into the table. His wife rolled her eyes as she continued to eat her supper without a care in the world.

“Time is running out, Marianne. I am old and sickly, and your mother isn’t getting any younger, either.” He snapped, causing her to click her tongue.

“Just get to the point, you old hag.” His wife blurted, making him red.

“If you can’t choose, I’ve decided to make it easier for you. I have spoken to the Viscount from the neighboring village and he is certainly interested in you.” Her father bellowed, causing Marianne’s jaw to drop.

“You should be a jester, you’re hilarious.” She scoffed, crossing her arms. However, she quickly realized that he was quite serious.

“And you must be an ass, because you are certainly stubborn like one.” He retorted, mocking her as he crossed his arms and matched her face.

“That lousy fool has been a thorn in my side since my first coming out season! He’s quite high-handed, arrogant, and utterly distasteful!” She shrieked.

“Well, Ice Princess, that doesn’t matter. He’s good looking, comes from a wealthy family, and his family is of good status. What more do you need?” He curtly answered, as Marianne took a deep breath in frustration.

“I refuse.” She stood up from her seat, shoving her full plate away from her. She spun on her heels and headed towards the doors, pushing them with great defiance. She briskly walked through the halls, ignoring the yells of her father.

Upon reaching the main doors of their castle, she took another breath as she placed her hands on the handles. With a reluctant exhale, she pushed the doors open and walked outside. She let the cool breeze push her hair and the sun kiss her cheeks. 

She didn’t have to accept the fate her father created for her. She’ll make her own.

[lydiaglassman]

A Zoom Love Story

James McConnell is a powerful, well known attorney in the Greater Boston area who doesn't have time for nonsense. Well, he doesn't have time for anything, for that matter. He constantly takes on new cases and meets with new clients all the time. To him, time is money so wasted time is lost money. He's known for staying late at work, since his number one priority is making money.

The pandemic certainly made a mess of things for James. When the world shutdown in March, James was most worried about how it could affect his career and future. But very quickly, he learned that loneliness was a bigger problem than that. Although, he could never consider himself to be a lonely person. With so many clients and well respected colleagues, how could one be lonely? And besides, his assistant Emily is always there for him.

Emily is a young intern from Cornell with aspirations of becoming the best attorney in Boston. While James thinks it's a nice goal to have, he finds it unrealistic and quite naïve. She also considers herself a free spirit, which is one thing that James never understood.

James is a firm believer in routine and sticking to the plan, while Emily likes to "go with the flow" and play things by ear. While James has never understood Emily, he has almost come to appreciate her free, open nature. Much like every other day, James is at his penthouse and is working from home. Although he misses working with his clients and colleagues daily, he has enjoyed being able to get away with wearing sweatpants to work.

Every day, Emily sends him a schedule consisting of calls and meetings to attend, whatever needs to be completed, et cetera. In these weird times, it is so easy for the days to blend together. To be honest, James is glad to have Emily. Having her as an assistant while the whole world is turned upside down makes him feel more balanced.

Today was like any other day. He had gone through most of his itinerary and was nearly done for the day. His final meeting was a bit later in the evening, with another firm he doesn't necessarily care for. Thinking nothing of it, he clicked the link a minute before, as he always does. He doesn't like to be the first or last person on a call (much like most people). But when he joined the call, he was surprised to see that the firm was not there. But someone else was.

As James entered the meeting room on Zoom, he realized that he had made a mistake. Whoever these people on the call are, they certainly aren't the other law firm. Quickly, he exited the call. 

He took a quick sigh in relief, since it was quite awkward. He reopened his email and looked at the link for the call. Suspecting he clicked the wrong link, he clicked on it again and accidentally re-entered the same call. Realizing his mistakes, he quickly grabbed his mouse and was going to click out of the call until a woman's voice stopped him.

"Hi there! Are you a new member to the group, James?" A woman asked, her video highlighting as she addressed him. He quickly unmuted himself, feeling like a fool for not exiting in time.

"Sorry, I was supposed to be joining a call with a law firm I worked with, but I somehow made it on this call." James apologized, feeling bad for interrupting another call.

"No need to apologize, welcome to our group! My name is Annie, I own a small candle shop in Rockland, Maine and on Tuesday nights, we have a candle making and wine night!" She explained, full of excitement.

"That's nice. Well, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I should probably go..." he apologized, getting ready to leave the call again.

"Wait! I know you didn't sign up ahead of time, but why don't you stay on with us?" She asked and he paused for a moment. Did she even hear herself? She wants him to join a candle making and wine night!

Before he could even answer, he laughed out loud at the mere thought of himself doing that. It's only 7pm on a Tuesday and the workday is still not over! One more call with another firm where he'll be charging them for his services— tons of money!

"You see, I manage a law firm in Boston. I don't make candles!" He chortled, and Annie just smiled sweetly at him.

"Wow, that's fascinating! And it's okay, I made my first candle only three years ago and now I own a small business! I'm sure you're busy, candle making is very stress relieving!" Annie explained, making James laugh again. "Why don't you join us?"

"I would, but I have to meet with the other firm." He retorted, crossing his arms as he chuckled at her question.

"Our meetings are about an hour long every Tuesday. If your meeting ends early, you're more than welcome to join us! Or even better, join us next week! It's nice to take time in your life to try something new and take time for yourself." She offered and he chuckled again, still not understanding why she wanted him to make candles with them.

His colleagues would understand his confusion. James is known as the colleague who is a sharp shooter that is always on the clock. He doesn't make time for friends and family, work is his first and only priority.

"Thank you." He said. As he was about to laugh the idea off, he paused and had a slight change in heart. Something about her warm, calming, and welcoming demeanor made it seem like candle-making would be a good idea. Although he could never imagine himself agreeing to something like this, he paused and thought on it. "I'll have to check with my assistant. I'm a busy man, you know. I tend to book out a few weeks in advance." He continued, sounding sneer.

"I understand, it was very nice to meet you, James! I hope to see you next week, good luck on your call!" She waved and he exited the call. Realizing that he was already seven minutes late, he called his assistant.

"Emily!" He called, exactly as she answered the line.

"James, is everything alright?"

"I'm late to the meeting with the firm. The link in the email is wrong, do have it?" He asked and she immediately realized that she had made a huge mistake.

"Oh I am so sorry! I'll email you the link right now." She apologized, opening her email as fast as she could.

"Just send it over as fast as you can. Talk soon." He said, hanging up on her before she could answer. He put the phone down with a harsh thud and massaged his temple and sighed. Moments later, the correct email appeared in his inbox. He  straightened out his button up shirt and swiped a stray hair to the side. He joined his call, almost regretting that he turned Annie down.