The Land of Mirrors: Part 2

After being out of the mysterious world, Jersey was back to her tedious job. Customers were everywhere outside the fitting room, so she took care of as many of them as possible.

So many clothes needed to be hung and the stalls needed to be straightened. She longed for her break to near.

~

As she ran to the nearest break room table with a pant, she took out her phone and scrolled through her Instagram until she received a notification that a Betsy customer wanted to buy her product.

She had been trying to sell her journals for years before graduating college. No one would buy anything, no matter how much Jersey tried to promote them. But for once, a customer took interest in her product.

Jersey clicked on the notification and saw that the person had ordered her journal. She smiled and did a little dance. The journal cost $15, but she hoped to sell much more.

~

Back from her break, Jersey took care of more customers until the fitting room emptied. She returned to the stalls and sprayed the mirrors with her magic spray. The mirror opened the portal again and Jersey stepped right in.

She was now the lead editor of a popular writing company called "Sit Write". Soon, Jersey would own this company and change it to "Jenkins and Co". But "Sit Write" was cute for now.

Jersey's subordinates would ask her for her approval of their editing. If she gave a thumbs-up, she would approve; if she didn’t, the editor would be doomed.

Her dark hair was pulled into a messy bun with a pencil through it. She wore a beige top, a black skirt, and high heels. She looked sophisticated and fancy.

As she typed rapidly on her computer, a man her age approached her.

“Hey,” he said.

She turned her chair around and smiled at him, hands in her lap.

“Hey.”

She stared up at his blue eyes, shimmering in her direction.

“May I make you a cup of coffee?" he asked.

“Of course." Her lips curled. 'And you can do something else for me as well.”

He smiled teasingly. “And what is that?”

“This.”

She stood up and leaned in for a kiss. As he leaned, their lips met. The embrace warmed her. Nothing could possibly ruin this moment.

“Um, Ms. Jenkins-Rivera?” one of her mousy subordinates interrupted.

Jersey looked over at her and glared.

“There’s no kissing in the office,” she said, rubbing her back nervously.

“That rule only applies to you, Ms. Russell. Now get back to work.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Beatrice Russell said as she walked away.

Jersey turned back to Tayte Luc Barnett, her French-British boyfriend. Man, were his lips yummy.

Her arms were wrapped around his neck. Boy, was she lucky to have him.

Before the two could go for another round, she got snapped out of the fantasy.

Dang it! she cursed to herself. What happened?

“Yoohoo!” a voice called out from the front. “Anyone there?”

Jersey walked to the front of the fitting room and huffed to herself as she faced her old friend Macie with none other than Tayte! Her arm around him made Jersey’s cheeks burn with envy. She had forgotten that he proposed to Macie. That feeling of heartbreak fell on her all over again.

“Hey, bestie,” Macie said, her voice annoying as ever.

Hey, what do you want? Jersey wanted to say. But she held it in. Macie still believed they were friends with her irritating voice, obnoxious blonde bangs, and goofy-looking smile.

“Hey,” Jersey said as nicely and casually as possible.

“Tayte and I wanted to try on some clothes.”

Jersey counted her friend’s clothes, which were six, and then Macie walked inside.

Tayte leaned in. “How ya doin’?” he asked in his British accent.

“Fine.” she sighed. “Work’s been boring. As usual.” She rolled her eyes.

“Well, you could always work somewhere else. You did graduate from uni, right?”

“Uni? Oh, college?” She chuckled. “Yeah. But it’s been hard getting a job lately.”

Jersey had spent almost six months finding a writing job, or any job. Nearly every job she looked for required at least one year of experience in writing and other skills. Even though she’d written a bunch of stories online, Jersey knew that the pieces she’d written, which were short fiction, may not be what the companies had been looking for.

For almost every application, she either got ghosted by companies, got contacted by scammers, or worse of all, got rejected. Rejection after rejection, Jersey decided to give up and try to do her own business. Some of her other friends seemed to be doing their own and became successful. But even though she tried getting her first sale on Betsy, she failed. She did ask for her friends’ help and tried to follow their advice as much as possible, but nothing seemed to work. So that was why she was stuck at this boring old job.

“Yeah, I know,” Tayte said. He leaned in and lowered his voice. “But you’ll get one someday. Trust me.” He winked.

Jersey couldn’t help but feel weird. Even though she liked, no, was in love with Tayte, she didn’t want to be seen being flirted with by her friend’s fiancé. Was he really flirting with her?

Tayte seemed to read her thoughts. “Hey, relax.” He reached out to grab her hand and rub it. “I don’t bite. Listen. I don’t like Macie. Never have. I only proposed to her to make you jealous. But I don’t want to hurt her. So, I’ll find a way to turn her down easy and be with you. Sound like a good plan?”

Jersey was trying to process what she was hearing. This guy seemed like a scumbag. A real one. But he seemed very into her. She should say no, but nothing came out of her mouth.

“Jersey?” He slightly frowned, but his flirty eyes never left. “You oksy?”

Before she could say another word, a door from one of the stalls opened, making Tayte quickly release Jersey’s hand.

Macie walked out with a sparkly, white dress on. “So, what do you think?” She turned around, and from every angle, she looked perfect!

“Well, you look gorgeous, darling,” Tayte said.

“What do you think, bestie?” Macie asked.

Jersey was still processing her conversation with Tayte, but she managed a small smile and said, “Great.”

“Awesome! I’m so getting this!” She rushed back in and closed the door.

Tayte looked over to Jersey again with a smile. “So, what do you say?”

Jersey swallowed. “I-I think you’re being a jerk to my friend.”

Tayte frowned again and sighed. “I know. But ever since I met you, I’d always fallen in love with you.”

“Then, why didn’t you tell me?” Her voice slightly rose in anger.

“You were with him.” His voice growled when he said “him”.

Kole Murphy was her last boyfriend. They got on well together until he decided to move on with someone else. Of course, Jersey was sad until she met Tayte. He was so cute with his light brown hair and bluish-green eyes. And that freaking smile!

“Well, since Kole and I broke up, you could’ve still talked to me,” Jersey said.

“I didn’t think you would be interested.” Tayte looked sad.

“Why not? Dude, you’re hot. Who wouldn’t want to go out with you?” Jersey then realized she said those words out loud. She facepalmed internally.

Luckily, he didn’t notice. Instead, he shrugged and said, “Some girls may find me stuck up. I thought you would feel the same way.”

“Well, you’re kind of…shady. That’s the vibe you’re giving me right now.”

“Just don’t tell Macie about this. Please. And think about it, okay? If you don’t want to be with me after this conversation, I completely understand.”

Macie came out with her clothes, kept her sparkly dress, and gave Jersey the rest.

“Alright, babe,” Macie said, turning to Tayte. “Your turn.”

Jersey counted Tayte’s clothes and he had four suits.

“Tayte and I are so perfect together,” Macie said after he went in. “I can’t believe we’re getting married!”

Jersey flashed a fake smile.

“Wanna be my bridesmaid?”

Jersey paused. Of course, she was going to ask her that. But she thought back to what Tayte said to her. What if there wasn’t going to be a wedding? How and when was she going to tell Macie the bad news?

She couldn’t say ‘yes’ to being a bridesmaid for a wedding that may never happen. But she couldn’t say “no” either because Macie was one of her best friends. At least for now, anyway.

“Sure,” Jersey finally said, chuckling nervously.

“Great!” She hugged her quickly. “This is going to be the best wedding ever!”

Tayte came out with a dark red suit and struck a few poses.

“You look great, babe!” Macie squealed.

“Thanks, baby.” He peered at Jersey. “What do you think, Jersey?”

Jersey gave a thumbs up.

“Awesome! This might be the winner.” He rushed back inside.

Jersey had to find a way to escape this situation quickly!