As you enter Katie’s rent controlled apartment, the bright hallway brings you past her bedroom and the galley kitchen before opening up to the living room; with floor to ceiling windows and the balcony door slightly ajar. The balcony is reminiscent of a New York City fire escape. It is here where we find Katie, sprawled across the overstuffed, mocha brown, leather sofa that is the centerpiece of the space. She is mindful of the time as the sunlight filters through the sheer white curtains to flood her living room with the golden glow of an autumn day accompanied by a refreshing breeze.
She keeps looking at the giant clock above her television; the second hand audibly ticking away moment after moment. There are two reasons why. One is that she has to be to work at 5pm – she is the closing host tonight. The second is because today is Saturday, and when she left the restaurant yesterday after her shift ended at midnight, the schedule for next week still had not been posted.
Katie’s phone vibrates and she looks down to see a text message from Molly. “Found cheap tix to Grandoozy next Fri, you in?” Katie texted back, “Can’t – don’t have my schedule yet.” Moments later her phone buzzed again. Jon said he was “comped” two tickets to the Monet premier opening at the Art Museum next Tuesday and wants Katie to join him. Again, she texted, “Can’t – don’t have my schedule yet.” She placed her phone face down on the sofa. She looked at her cats, Oliver and Edgar, as if to say, WTF? And, if that weren’t enough, Vanessa texted shortly thereafter to find out if Katie wanted to join her and her fiancé for her 25th birthday dinner next week at a restaurant Katie has been dying to try. One more time, she had to text, “Can’t – don’t have my schedule yet.”
As Katie texted Lucy at work, to ask if the schedule had been posted YET, she received a group text from Molly, Jon and Vanessa. It read, “Please get a real job so you can come play with us!”
Lucy texted back, “…Nope…”