Everything comes back to you -J.MARIANO

[2.02]

𝓢eptember and October passed at lightning speed. It was the middle of November and Taryn had only just started to find the time to create her usual handmade christmas presents that she often started in the beginning of October. She was just too absorbed in all things to do with her course and current life in New York. She hadn't thought that she could have loved any place of education more than Stars Hollow high but that was quickly disproven. All of her lecturers, there were four, created notes before all the lessons that she was given access to just in case she missed something during a lecture and needed to fill in a gap. That, and many other things, simply proved to her that this school was the place she needed. They did multiple things to help her through the course but her favorite, by far, was the phone that C got in especially for her in the office.  Taryn's phone had a special connector which allowed her to read captions of the phone calls and she had been also allowed to use it for personal phone calls. It was the job of the first years to answer the phones and run errands, as well as auditing meetings and various other small tasks. C, the boss of the company, liked the first years to get a good understanding of how the business worked before they turned to the designing side.

On a Saturday morning, Taryn and Aria walked down the streets of New York arm in arm to prevent douchebags from pushing them apart. It had happened on so many occasions that they now found themselves forced to walk as a unit. "Oo what about him, he's hot," Aria suggested as she pointed across the road and to the other side of the sidewalk where a man walked quickly and weaved between other people. "Dressed well too."

"Ri, he looks about forty five with a wife and six children," Taryn  laughed, completely unable to see the appeal of the slightly gray haired but well groomed man that looked around as if he knew someone was looking at him.

"Six children in this economy? Christ,"Aria laughed softly. "Don't you think I'd make an excellent step mother though."

Taryn nodded as they both moved out of the way for a woman pushing a stroller. "Oh yeah like the one in Cinderella."

"Bitch!" Ara explained then the two fell into soft laughter but it still managed to pull on their stomachs in the way that reminded them both that they were alive. Taryn enjoyed that part of laughter and she hadn't felt it for a long time with anyone other than Tas. Aria suddenly stopped and stared at a girl as she walked past. Another fashion girl who she recognised from a previous runaway. She went to the other college and held intense eye contact with Aria as she walked past. "Damn."

"Outfit or face?"

Ri sighed contently. "Both, she was incredibly hot."

Taryn laughed softly, "You broke up with Sophie not three days ago, I thought you were sad. Early Christmas decoration shopping was meant to cheer you up."

"Maybe I lied a little to get my roommate to agree to decorate," Ri shrugged as they turned into the first shop that they saw with Christmas decorations in the window. Like usual, they both instantly drifted towards the magazines and began to pick out the ones that they hadn't seen before. Whilst Taryn picked up a smaller brand magazine that she had recently discovered, Ri picked up the very magazine that they both worked for and began to look through it.

Taryn sighed softly as she flicked through the first initial pages. "And to think I almost felt bad for you."

"Hey I really liked Soph," Aria countered somewhat sadly, looking up from her chosen magazine to further the point.

"Trina said she was bad for you and you broke up three days after, are you sure she's just your roommate?"

Aria tutted with her tongue dismissively and stuck her focus back onto the page in front of her. "Dude don't start, I get enough of that from Olive."

"I'm just saying..."

"Holy shit Taryn," she interrupted just as the static of a colleague announcement echoed above them all. The static lingered in Taryn's ears a little longer than others, her brow furrowed at the sound. She wasn't particularly used to all of the sounds of the bigger cities yet.

"What?"

"I said Holy shit Taryn!" Ri explained excitedly whilst hurrying over to her side. "Look!"

Taryn took the magazine that had been flung into her hands and followed Ri's finger towards a brief yet prominent article that had her blinking twice. "Holy shit, that's my dress."

"Not only is it your dress, it's your dress on the fifth page with a blurb written by C all about your potential! Taryn, thousands of people are going to see this!"

"Holy shit," she blurted as her eyes skimmed the glowing article and the words echoed with her head. She wondered, for a moment, how C could think all of these things and the other colleges had rejected her after a mere look at her previous work. But she couldn't dwell on that for too long as Ri had other ideas.

"I'm so proud of you and your gigantic, brilliant brain!" she exclaimed, referencing an inside joke the two of them shared, as she found herself flung into Ri's arm for a tight and squeezy hug. Taryn couldn't help but let herself cry just a little, tears of joy though - for once.

-

The following day in the office, after a two hour lecture of things she already knew, Taryn  sat at her desk and tapped a pencil atop a plain page in her sketchbook. A tapping on her desk broke her thought and the voice that followed broke any sort of focus she may have had. "Congrats Tay."

"Thanks Aug," she responded, looking up from the sketchbook with a small grin. "Did you know she was doing it?"

"Nope," he responded and Taryn found herself raising a brow in surprise. August was C's right hand man, the only third year who had made it through the program without quitting, so it surprised her that he knew absolutely nothing about it."Total secret. You deserve it though, that dress was incredible."

She smiled and was about to respond when her phone began to ring. August, getting the idea, stood from his leaning on her desk and went to walk away. He smiled a lingering goodbye then walked into C's office, turning back just in time to see her pick up the phone and press the button for captions.

"Dads?" she spoke into the phone, having recognized the number reflected back at her almost instantly.

"I had to hear it from Luke Taryn, you told Luke before us?"

"What... ? Oh! Sorry! I was going to call you today, I got distracted."

She could vaguely hear Da's laughter as he replied, "By August?"

She frowned and glanced around to see if anyone had overheard. "Shut it Da."

"What magazine is it? Bootsy said he can get some copies so everyone can see it," Dad responded whilst Da continued to laugh behind the scenes.

"I already sent you a copy in the mail and I got express shipping."

"Did Luke get a magazine?"

"No Dad."

"We're so proud of you!"

"Would you still be proud if Luke did get a magazine?" she asked with laughter mixed between the words. No words reflected back to her on the machine and she could not hear anything. It was dodgy though, as well as her hearing when it came to phones, so she always double checked.  "Is the machine broken or are you both being silent?"

"Silent."