Update: Working on a novella.
A year or so ago I decided to start writing a novella. Yes, Sienna Tide based, her adventures take her elsewhere other than just heartbreak and college. I’ve included excerpts of one of the chapters (draft version) for your tasting. I’ve pretty much outlined the whole basic story. As one might think “The In Between Woman” may suggest something of the sexual/relationship nature, but I assure you, you’ll find this not so after I post a few more excerpts.
~Skylar Bayer
Excerpts from Chapter 1: Before it gets any better, it’s gotta rain for a day
October 12th, 2007
As a twenty-something I spend most of my days wallowing in some sort of self-pity for being single and wasting away my body’s best years on alcohol and unhealthy habits like smoking. I’m an Okay person, if I do say so myself, but life is over all pretty boring. After graduating with a liberal arts degree I floundered around for two years working at jobs I cared little about and then decided to go to graduate school because I didn’t know what else to do with my life. I live in Boston. I wish I lived in New York City, but I don’t. I sleep with a friend who will never really commit to me and that I am hopelessly in love with and I cling on to my martyrdom about it. I go to the gym. I read a lot. I’m not really a hipster, but I’m close. I am cynical and sarcastic. I hate PDA when I’m single and people who talk loudly on their cellphones in enclosed spaces like the subway or buses. As someone on the verge of coming off or on hipsterdom (I can’t decide which direction I’m actually going in), I spend a lot of time in coffee shops pretending to be ironic….
…“Sienna, your Americano is ready.”
I come up to the counter, mumble and slink back to my seat on the far end of the café. I want to hide in my coffee for a while before facing anything real I might have to contend with during the day. What am I doing with my life? My pack of cigarettes is radiating against my thigh but I choose to ignore this smoldering temptation. I pull out some files from school and lay them on the table and open my laptop. There’s a rumble outside and the street is dark as night. There’s a flash and another rumble that makes my bones shake. I involuntarily shudder. A dark figure in a trench coat walks in. Something out of a 1950s film. He has one of those detective hats that I’ve never understood as being impermeable to rain. He doesn’t order a coffee and continues walking through the café. I watch him from the corner of my eye. He stops at a table across the room from me. Folds his coat, takes off his hat and starts walking directly towards me. I pretend not to notice. He calmly takes a seat across from me and I raise my eyebrows in alarm and suspicion.
“Sienna Tide?”
“Umm, yes? Who’re you?”
“I’m Baker.”
“Is that your first or your last name?”
“Last. It doesn’t matter.”
“Ok, whatever. What do you want? And how do you know my name?”
“Listen, I have a job prospect for you.”
“Oh? You know I don’t really work at nights… gave that up years ago.”
He blinks. Not amused. Who the hell is this guy? I’m figuring out exactly how to neutralize this guy given the physical space between us. Every second my plan becomes better defined. I wonder if he has a gun? Probably. He looks like a government type.
“You work in a dead-end graduate program that is beneath your capabilities.”
“Maybe. It’s temporary before I figure out what I really want to do.”
“How do you feel about research? Field research?”
“I’m not a scientist.”
“I work at an agency that your father used to work at. I’m not sure if you know this, but he was lost on the job –“
“My dad left my mom before I was even born. That bastard. Just left her pregnant like that. Who the fuck are you?”
“Let me finish, Ms. Tide. We had only been monitoring your progress through life as a safety precaution – to make sure the same people that killed your father didn’t go after you or your mother.”
He paused and stared at me. I just stared right back. Un-fucking-believable. I feel like I just entered the twilight zone.
“Anyway, we’ve noticed in the last few years that you’ve been cultivating a lot of strong skills your father had. Language, martial arts, research, …sarcasm.”
“Yeah, so what?”
“Sienna, your talents combined are somewhat rare and well, we’d like you to consider coming to work with us. Here is my card. Think about it.”
He handed me a small white business card that just said “Baker” on it with the most redundant e-mail ever– baker@baker.net. He put on his coat and hat, nodded to me and walked out of the café. I stared after him wild-eyed. I turned to the booth behind me and the old couple seemed to take no notice of what just happened. The old man in the other booth felt me looking at him and looked back at me, a little puzzled, flattered and decided to wink. I blinked back. I turned my head back down to the card…
