Best-Case Scenario, Act I of Nyra’s Journey
New Adult
Date Published: Nov 2018
Publisher: PhoenixPhyre
More than a year after graduating from college, Nyra is beginning to wonder
when her life, professional and personal, gets started. Was it like this for
her mother? She doubts it, but things were different, then. Nyra’s reality
is nothing like her mother’s. Each generation confronts its own
challenges.
Still, she’s tired of feeling like she’s wading through waist-deep wet
cement. Buried somewhere deep in a future she can sense but not feel, Nyra
can hear the siren’s song of hope and hypothetical options whispering to
her. She’s so ready! But is the song she hears hope or just an
illusion?
Best Case Scenario is the first act in Nyra Westensee’s journey from
student to self-aware, fully actualized woman.
EXCERPT
Chapter 2—The Face in the Mirror
The mirror in the women’s room offers no refuge from Nyra’s conflicted pride and dissatisfaction. Expressive green eyes set off by her light olive complexion get lots of second looks. A prominent hawk nose calls attention to high cheekbones and overall symmetry. Striking—even pretty, maybe. Time to tweeze her eyebrows, though.
Lips a taste too full for her thin “ish” face? A boyfriend from a couple years ago had called them “kissable.” He’d wanted to do more than kiss, but had moved on to the busty blond in their Mass Marketing class—just when Nyra’s simmering sexuality was about to overwhelm Sister Elise’s warnings against “promiscuity.”
The modest swell of her breasts is all but camouflaged by her flowy tunic. Turning sideways in the mirror, Nyra pulls it tight and pouts. Does anyone even notice? She twists and stands on tip toe, for an over-the-shoulder look at her stern. Does her slender waist make her ass look too wide?
She’d once overheard her brother’s best friend Mark commenting on her “sassy chassis.” Nyra’s all-through-high school crush on Mark dated from that off-hand remark. He’d flirted persistently, but nothing ever came of it. Had Kip warned him off?
The door swings open and in walks Toni, the IT Applications Manager. Nyra pivots hastily toward the mirror.
“Hey, Nyra!” Toni smiles, pulls plum-shaded lip stick from her purse and gets to work. “You look just fine leaving, if that’s what you were wondering. How goes it in the call center?”
“Nothing but a party.” Nyra fishes lip-gloss from her own purse and concentrates unnecessarily on applying it.
“One of those days, huh? I feel you… Had a few of those working the IT help desk before I got my certification.”
“Nothing I won’t get over,” Nyra says.
“That which does not kill us?” Toni’s lips twitch in irony.
Their eyes meet in the mirror and Nyra’s stomach twists. Toni has most of what Nyra wishes she had. Full, prominent breasts, perfect symmetry. Her mahogany skin seems to glow, calling attention to generous, kissable lips.
A light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks spills down both sides of her neck, inviting speculation. A thick cascade of glossy black curls frames her face, brushing her shoulders. And those liquid brown eyes…
Toni drops the lipstick in her purse and pulls out a cell phone chiming to a text message. Her brow furrows as she reads. “Gotta go.” She meets Nyra’s eyes again and smiles. “Keep the faith, Girlfriend.” Nyra follows Toni’s graceful departure until the closing door cuts her off.
About the Author
Dirk’s path to authorship wasn’t quite an accident, but almost.
It’s not that he didn’t write. He did. But through two previous
careers, first as a Marine officer and subsequently as a corporate trainer,
Dirk started way more stories than he finished.” But in the backwash
of the 2008 financial meltdown, his employer filed for Chapter 11. Cordially
invited to leave and not return, Dirk found himself out of work and
excuses.
Since then, Dirk has published West of Tomorrow, Best-Case Scenario and a
collection of short fiction entitled, Through the Windshield and Tier Zero,
Volume I of The Knolan Cycle, all available from Amazon in Kindle and
paperback formats. Works in progress include The Year of Maybe, sequel to
Best-Case Scenario, and Eryinath-5, Volume II of the Knolan Cycle.
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