Romance In A Column

chapter four,

    Sometimes Eryn—while deep in thought during late nights—wonders if the art of taking things for granted is ingrained in the human hard drive.

    Throughout life, few short-circuits make appearances. The majority of these are consequences to curveballs. For example, the diagnosis of a terminal condition to a significant figure in our lives, a sudden death of a relative, news of an upcoming move across the country, a divorce or split—and in the material realm, whenever anything we're subconsciously attached to is snatched out of palms or broken before our eyes. All feel like a sudden turn into a dead-end street.

    When people turn into these dead-end streets, they come to a reluctant halt. Tires screech, marking the road beneath the car. That's the instant, with their hearts underneath their palms beating erratically, when they chance a glance around. Looking at the colorful houses lining the street with balconies overflowing with flowers, absorbed by the voices of children and laughter of elders, the animate barks of the dogs returning to their owners with various toys gripped by sharp teeths.

    These instances enlighten people into more appreciative perspectives yet they don't last long because of the fast pace of our ever changing reality.

    Unavoidably, people look at the dashboard. Blinking as the digital clock draws them back inside their vehicles, where they come from and, more importantly, where they're headed either because of themselves or because they're needed.

    And so, they slowly make a U-turn back into the main highway. Joining the flow of cars at a velocity that blurs the greenery alike scenery.

    Eryn likes to think some have revamped their codes, erased this destructive feature. While she may not fully be one of them, she tries.

    It isn't a daily occurrence, Eryn is guilty of speeding down the highway without much regard for anything other than the sprawling lane she's in. But every once in a while Eryn eases on the gas pedal.

    Today, for one, she's consumed by the magnitude of New York City and the beauty inside of it.

    The sound of Eryn's kitten heel clad feet against the pavement are like a whisper in a concert and with every step she's a little deeper into the memory lane, briefly reminded of the rose-colored glasses she wore on her first day in the city.

    In her eighteen year-old mind, New York was meant to be just like the set of Sex and The City in all it's luxury. A number one, top pick show in her high school years—which formed this standard of her dream city, the one Eryn would be one to strut the streets of with Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags decorating her arms. A true embodiment of her idol, Carrie Bradshaw.

    And though on her first walk around it's streets, Eryn Sallow hadn't felt as if Samantha Jones, Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbes would join in for a sort-of catwalk debut down the sidewalk—she had been nothing short of amazed because, honestly, it exceeded her expectations.

    The skyscrapers which dot the skyline visible through her desk go from mere specks in the distance to imposing, glass buildings. Cars transit beside the pedestrians whose diminutiveness becomes glaringly evident if seen overhead. And though clouds swallow the afternoon sun, casting dullness onto the streets—the energetic bustle of the city is hard to dim. 

    The thick mass of commuters which accompanied Eryn on her walk from the nearby coffee-shop to the coworking building where Let's Be Honest headquarters is located, thin as some suit-donned men and women enter Eryn's destination.

    The door is held open for Eryn by a journalist known to be from the Woman To Woman column. Articles inside the advice section dedicated to womanhood as an entirety. From birth control methods, to the struggles within their industries (—maintaining anonymity for the sake of the submitter), casual sex, life in the city, the magic of a good bra, breast cancer check-up and victims, menopause and much more. The topics are usually selected by requests on the magazine's instagram page while the writers use the followers as sources to their pieces.