Zoom Your Heart

The very first picture one saw when opening the album was this, her first day of work. They were all smiling at the camera, and she had some cake on her right cheek. Even he was smiling, that plastic smile she very soon learned to identify as the fake one.Of course, that day wasn’t as pretty as it appeared to be.***Actually, just an hour and a half before starting her first day at the magazine quarters, Joy had argued pretty badly with her mother.At twenty-three years old, she’d graduated with a double major in Journalism and Political Science. Her parents would brag that it was because their daughter was brilliant, but the truth was that those years in college were hell for Joy. She was suffocating.Finally, she gathered the courage to tell them she wouldn’t go to Law School.“I want to be a photographer.”Her father didn’t talk to her for more than three months, making it as if she was invisible, non-existent in the house. The only person in her family who gave her that look of utter disappointment was her grandma, who even praised the pictures she took and had them printed in her bedroom.Even when things gradually improved, it wasn’t the same as before, she wasn’t her parents’ pride anymore. Joy did feel guilty about it. They had spent so much in her education, so that she’d become the first person in the family to graduate from university.In order to keep going, she’d needed to have one clear first goal, and that was to become good enough to work for the person who first inspired her to be a professional photographer, Adrien Walker.Joy had first learned about him by chance, at a gallery exhibition one of her friends had taken her almost by force.She stared at one of the photos, where the silhouette of the person staring at the sea was so distant that it was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman, but it made her feel she could be that person. She imagined herself free when she was nineteen years old.Since that day, Joy started juggling between her mandatory classes and the photography lessons, thinking of it as a hobby that helped her to breathe.It wasn’t until she graduated that it occurred to her this was what she really wanted to do. One day, she’d work with Adrien Walker.When she was nineteen, he was a young but already well-known photographer. Some years later, however, he changed careers and settled as the art editor in a magazine that was just starting publishing, “Zoom”. In just three years, it was one of the most popular magazines in the country, and even started to get recognition overseas. Getting her portfolio ready and the opportunity of an interview wasn’t easy. When it finally happened, and she saw her idol face to face, Joy was over the moon.He was even more handsome in person. Just a look at his shiny brown hair and she could imagine how soft it’d be at the touch. He smiled at her and the thought echoing in her head was ‘he’s so kind’.She wouldn’t be the first or the last woman to have a crush on him, so Joy didn’t dwell too much on it later.But the happiness of meeting Adrien Walker or getting the job at Zoom were both ruined the morning of her first day.“When are you going to stop playing like this? Is it even a real job? Did you spend so much time at school to end up doing something anyone can do with a phone today?”“This is a real job, mom.”Of course, talking to her about how this also required her to train her skill, or that from now on she’d be earning more money was of no use.“Joy, we let you do this until now because at least you were also taking care of your grandma.” His father intervened. “Now you won’t do that either. You are truly an ungrateful child!”“Of course I’ll help around home whenever I can, but why is the responsibility only mine? What about James?”“Your brother is studying and going to do something productive for society one day.”‘Unlike you.’James would be a doctor, of course, and wouldn’t let down their parents the way she had.At home, they always had breakfast together but she left earlier that day. When she tried to smile to cause a good impression on her colleagues, it just wouldn’t come to her face.Joy loved her family, she really did. If they were being like this, it was because she failed their expectations, so for a long time she just endured it. It would have been nice to have some support, but she would be content with the silence from the first months.Living that way was tiring.‘I’m twenty-five years old, for Heaven’s sake.’“Joy Lee, right? Oh, why that look on your face, you’re not honoring your name.” “Oh, I’m sorry.”“Why do you apologize?”“Uhm… nice to meet you.”The brunette laughed. “Nice to meet you too. Hi, I’m Beth.”This was how she met Beth, one of the writers she’d work the most, according to what they’d told her during the interview.As she was introduced to everyone, her mood gradually lightened, and when Adrien arrived bringing a cake in his hands, she forgot about her previous unhappiness.“Tradition here, newbies get treated well for one day before being exploited.” He told her, patting her back and making her feel butterflies in her stomach.“Welcome to the team, Joy. And be careful with your boss, he’s a manwhore.”“Don’t go slandering me like that.”They were all laughing, so she took it as a joke.Someone, she believed it was Courtney, put some of the cake icing on her face, right before everyone gathered to take the selfie.It had been a good first day, with Adrien explaining to her how they were doing to work, telling her about the concept for the next session and his ideas about it. She’d been so excited that it felt like being on a sugar rush, but just like a sugar rush it didn’t last long, as the day ended and she had to go back home.“Your father and I have talked about this. We’ve been far too tolerant with this late rebel phase of yours, but it’s time for you to wake up. If you continue like this, pick your things and leave our house.”“What?”Her brain had a hard time processing her mother’s words.“You can do whatever you want with your life, but you have to live on your own.”Joy smiled bitterly.Why did it sound as if she’d been living off them? It was true that they paid for her education, but she’d worked hard the past three years, most of her income went to the house’s expenses. She had also been taking care of grandma when their old lady started to have problems walking.“Okay then.”‘I’m an adult, I don’t have to live like this.’But except the years she’d been at college, she didn’t know any other life than this. Besides, it was one thing to leave because you decided to do so, and another very different to be kicked out by the people who were supposed to love you.“I’ll go to pack now. Just give me a couple of days.”That was her happy first day at Zoom.