wk 2 Assignment
Topic: Portrait
An Elevator Ride
This morning I woke up to my alarm clock, which has been snoozing on and off for about an hour since eight. Fighting the heavy eyelids, I opened my eyes, unfocused staring at the blank, white ceiling. I still felt drowsy, my brain rejected to function and my limbs refused to move. For a split second, I couldn’t even remember who I am. Why am I waking up so early in the morning? What do I look like? What am I? Who am I?
I got out of the bed, unconsciously putting my clothes on, dragging my feet to the bathroom. As I squeezed the toothpaste onto my toothbrush, I looked up to the mirror, and then I finally remembered who I am. Most importantly, I also remembered why I have to wake up so early in the day.
Topic: Portrait
An Elevator Ride
This morning I woke up to my alarm clock, which has been snoozing on and off for about an hour since eight. Fighting the heavy eyelids, I opened my eyes, unfocused staring at the blank, white ceiling. I still felt drowsy, my brain rejected to function and my limbs refused to move. For a split second, I couldn’t even remember who I am. Why am I waking up so early in the morning? What do I look like? What am I? Who am I?
I got out of the bed, unconsciously putting my clothes on, dragging my feet to the bathroom. As I squeezed the toothpaste onto my toothbrush, I looked up to the mirror, and then I finally remembered who I am. Most importantly, I also remembered why I have to wake up so early in the day.
Today is Monday.
Oh, what a wonderful start of the week. As a long-term unemployed actor, I really should get out and made myself useful. What my name is was not important, for I changed my character quite often every once in a while due to my unstable career, most of the time I couldn’t even remember my true self. I blamed it all on my bad memory.
After all the trivial tasks, I walked out of my apartment and hitting the elevator button heading down. Waiting for the elevator was always a challenge for patience, any moment now I would might as well walked down the stairs instead, only if I wasn’t on the twenty-seventh floor. The trip down the stairs could have been just as painful as the wait.
“Ding!” The light lit up as the elevator door slowly opened. I stepped in and saw there was a gentleman already in the elevator, occupied one corner.
I threw a quick glance at him, a gentleman in deed. He wore a good quality suit, fine cut, nice material, with his hair combed back with gel, and his shoes were a pair of shiny leather Oxford. There on his right hand was a Rolex wristwatch. This man, from top to bottom, looked expensive and distant, like one of those elites working in the office on the top of a skyscraper. However, he seemed friendly enough; he gave me a genuine smile as I stepped in.
I took the other corner, and we both silently waited.
Waiting in this one and a half minute elevator ride.
Waiting was always boring, especially in the elevator. Compared to other transportation like bus or train, this vertical public transportation took much less time but required more patience. To kill time, I slowly developed a habit of observing those strangers in the elevator. Observing characters were always a good fun.
Suddenly, the phone rang, breaking this silence.
It was a classic ringtone, I saw him pulling out of his pockets, double-checking the caller’s number and answered, “Hello, this is Louis Graham.”
“…Yes, we handle all kinds of lawsuit cases, ma’am.” His sounded very professional, and his voice was very calm and soothing, “you may come in anytime today in the morning. I will have my lawyers take a look at your case… No, you would only need to pay a certain fee in advance, but nothing more. No need to worry, we will handle the rest. I will have my assistant email you the payment details…
“…Yes, I look forward to see you too. Have a good day.”
A lawyer, huh?
He hung up on the phone, right hand digging through his pockets, I watched him as he pulled a small stack of cards, different color, different sizes. I squinted my eyes for a better vision. Those were business cards.
He picked out one of the card, dialed the number, “Yo, Jimmy, this is Fred!”
My thought paused for a second, utterly surprised by the change of his attitude and his voice.
“What? You don’t remember me? I met you at that party last night, you even buy me a drink… What – –well I’m sure you were just too drunk at the time, that’s all right… Yeah, never mind that. Listen, bro, I know you got some connections. I’ve heard through the grapevine that this Graham law firm is a scheme. You help me snitch this news to the cops tomorrow and we split that reward fifty-fifty.”
He ended the call, reviewing on his smart phone, messaging or checking on his account. The phone on his hand rang again.
He saw the caller’s contact, clearing his throat before he picked up. This time, the voice was in much higher pitch and feminine. If I had my eyes closed, I would really believe it was a young lady speaking, “Hello, ABS Investments. This is Jasmine speaking, how may I help you?”
“Ah, Mr. Lee, yes, how may I help you? …Oh your investments? Can you hold on for a moment, let me check on my computer…”
“Ding!”
For a minute I thought it was from his phone. We reached the first floor, the elevator door opened. He took the step walked out before me, continuing talking on the phone in his high pitch voice.
“Yes, no, you do not need to worry about them, Mr. Lee. Our incorporation has prime bank guarantee to buy at a discount and sell at a premium…”
I followed out the elevator, still stared at him incredulously. Honestly, I still didn’t catch his name, even though he talked on the phone, and had already reported his name three times.
He turned his head, gave me a one last glace with a grin on his face. Not the kind of that genuine smile that I first got. He winked, and swiftly walked out of the apartment building.
I stood in the lobby for a several minute, trying to sort out the mess in my head.
Can someone remind me again, please, why was I out so early in the day? And who am I?
Oh, what a wonderful start of the week. As a long-term unemployed actor, I really should get out and made myself useful. What my name is was not important, for I changed my character quite often every once in a while due to my unstable career, most of the time I couldn’t even remember my true self. I blamed it all on my bad memory.
After all the trivial tasks, I walked out of my apartment and hitting the elevator button heading down. Waiting for the elevator was always a challenge for patience, any moment now I would might as well walked down the stairs instead, only if I wasn’t on the twenty-seventh floor. The trip down the stairs could have been just as painful as the wait.
“Ding!” The light lit up as the elevator door slowly opened. I stepped in and saw there was a gentleman already in the elevator, occupied one corner.
I threw a quick glance at him, a gentleman in deed. He wore a good quality suit, fine cut, nice material, with his hair combed back with gel, and his shoes were a pair of shiny leather Oxford. There on his right hand was a Rolex wristwatch. This man, from top to bottom, looked expensive and distant, like one of those elites working in the office on the top of a skyscraper. However, he seemed friendly enough; he gave me a genuine smile as I stepped in.
I took the other corner, and we both silently waited.
Waiting in this one and a half minute elevator ride.
Waiting was always boring, especially in the elevator. Compared to other transportation like bus or train, this vertical public transportation took much less time but required more patience. To kill time, I slowly developed a habit of observing those strangers in the elevator. Observing characters were always a good fun.
Suddenly, the phone rang, breaking this silence.
It was a classic ringtone, I saw him pulling out of his pockets, double-checking the caller’s number and answered, “Hello, this is Louis Graham.”
“…Yes, we handle all kinds of lawsuit cases, ma’am.” His sounded very professional, and his voice was very calm and soothing, “you may come in anytime today in the morning. I will have my lawyers take a look at your case… No, you would only need to pay a certain fee in advance, but nothing more. No need to worry, we will handle the rest. I will have my assistant email you the payment details…
“…Yes, I look forward to see you too. Have a good day.”
A lawyer, huh?
He hung up on the phone, right hand digging through his pockets, I watched him as he pulled a small stack of cards, different color, different sizes. I squinted my eyes for a better vision. Those were business cards.
He picked out one of the card, dialed the number, “Yo, Jimmy, this is Fred!”
My thought paused for a second, utterly surprised by the change of his attitude and his voice.
“What? You don’t remember me? I met you at that party last night, you even buy me a drink… What – –well I’m sure you were just too drunk at the time, that’s all right… Yeah, never mind that. Listen, bro, I know you got some connections. I’ve heard through the grapevine that this Graham law firm is a scheme. You help me snitch this news to the cops tomorrow and we split that reward fifty-fifty.”
He ended the call, reviewing on his smart phone, messaging or checking on his account. The phone on his hand rang again.
He saw the caller’s contact, clearing his throat before he picked up. This time, the voice was in much higher pitch and feminine. If I had my eyes closed, I would really believe it was a young lady speaking, “Hello, ABS Investments. This is Jasmine speaking, how may I help you?”
“Ah, Mr. Lee, yes, how may I help you? …Oh your investments? Can you hold on for a moment, let me check on my computer…”
“Ding!”
For a minute I thought it was from his phone. We reached the first floor, the elevator door opened. He took the step walked out before me, continuing talking on the phone in his high pitch voice.
“Yes, no, you do not need to worry about them, Mr. Lee. Our incorporation has prime bank guarantee to buy at a discount and sell at a premium…”
I followed out the elevator, still stared at him incredulously. Honestly, I still didn’t catch his name, even though he talked on the phone, and had already reported his name three times.
He turned his head, gave me a one last glace with a grin on his face. Not the kind of that genuine smile that I first got. He winked, and swiftly walked out of the apartment building.
I stood in the lobby for a several minute, trying to sort out the mess in my head.
Can someone remind me again, please, why was I out so early in the day? And who am I?