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Chapter One – Carrie

The best laid plans soon falter Or soh what you never really hear about are plans that aren’t laid at all, events in life that come out of nowhere and blindside you like bad news on an idle Sunday afternoon

I knehat I wanted to do I had the whole cliché childhood dreaoal I trained for years, both vocally and physically Few really appreciate the exertion and control required for proper technique, particularly in ter quietly and in all contexts

Standing, sitting, even lying flat on your back with a hunk of debris in your side, as with my dream role of Epinine in Les Misérables I still had a scar on my head, small and faded but present, froing “On My Own” around the house My hair was blonde like Cosette, but should it change color at all, I would bloody well dye it if I had to

I didn’t have to It never really caot the chance to audition Fate, striking like a train, sent me over the roof of a car as I rode to practice one lovely Saturday afternoon I could still technically walk, but nowhere near ould be needed for the rigors of the theatre Permanent paralysis was the possible cost Another career had to be found, and quickly

While nearly cliché as the best laid plans, it was also usually true that fate rarely closed a door without opening aNo sooner had I been released fro bastard bill to keepfor interns An exciting opportunity for soht attitude No experience necessary

It never failed There were, in fact, three certainties in life Death, taxes and get-out-and-walk traffic No matter how early you left, or the day of the week, it would find you eventually, like the blood-curdling inevitability of a demon’s dark curse that choked out the city sky and crushed all hope of a punctual return

The ie of the prisoners of circu that really only hurt their fellow inmates The nefarious monsters behind the construction schedule were safe within their gated fortresses

It was like an open-air music festival with dozens of acts set up within inches of each other, all co to be heard over the other Salsa to the left of ht, Stealers Wheel stuck in the middle, and K-Pop and Top 40 somewhere in the distance All blocked out, for the most part, by “Worst Pies in London” in my very own head

I was apparently the only one in hundreds to think to wear headphones I only kept one bud in at a ti of course At that moment, however, there wasn’t a hell of a lot to listen for

As I waited for the horrors of modernity to relent, I set my mind to the day to coent Maxwell Jaan Replete in his finely tailored suit, inky black to match his liquid eyes

He was deep and wise beyond his 29 years, which went a ways to explain how he had ed to qualify for the Fortune 500 when he was not yet 30 It really was enough to , but there was ot too much and I had spent the le-occupancy bathroo his beautiful eyes looking up at ot even worse, and better, after I was proent

With everything else that was happening in the vast and expanding universe, did it reallyinto the office when I knew for a fact that Max spent the first twentyhis beautiful body and brilliant mind for another day of innovation and would never know unless someone ratted me out? Of course it didn’t Unfortunately, not everyone shared this philosophy

“Late again?” Lauren asked, clicking her tongue in theway possible

“Depends on your perspective,” I said, placidly as I could e

“What is Max’s perspective?”

“Non-existent because he isn’t going to know, and if you try to tell hi type and has a ossip”