Erica's Goals

Erica Blythe only allowed for three daily pleasures: One hour of Downton Abby, one Earl Grey Tea Latte, and an evening walk with Mitzi, her pup. The rest of the day was spent on bettering herself. Studying for her night classes, managing her strict diet, and working on impressing her employer took up the rest of her day. Her life was full, without a lot of room for fun or friends, but there was no way that Erica would end up like her mother, broke, aimless, always chasing the next fad, no goals or future.

Even as a child, Erica had known that what she saw in her mother was not what she wanted for her own life. Stacking multiple part-time, dead-end jobs on top of each other to make ends meet, meanwhile spending all of her free time partying with friends, watching pointless romantic comedies, and enjoying too much white wine. And then there were her boyfriends. A seemingly endless stream of idiots and losers, each one wanting one thing and one thing only, and boy didn't they run for the hills the moment 'mommy dearest' introduced them to her lovely daughter.

No, Erica's life would be different.

Despite being only forty, despite her impoverished background, and despite her substandard educational resume, Erica had worked her way up to Division Manager, overseeing a staff of fifty, and had her sights on a VP role. Yes, her hair had begun to grey, but Erica had never cared much about how she looked. Erica cared about how she lived. She was moving up, she was driven, she was going to be somebody.

For a brief moment, Erica felt disoriented, almost dropping Mitzi's leash. It passed as quickly as it hit her.

Without missing a step, Erica continued on her walk with her stupid little dog. Ugh. Mitzi was such a pain. Being tied down with a pet was such a drag. Terri, her bestie, had been talking about how cute little dogs were, how they were a great opener when you want to talk to a guy, so of course Erica had rushed out and picked one up. She never thought about how much work they were, how you had to come home to take care of them, how you couldn't stay out all night unless you wanted to come home to a mess on the floor.

It was bad enough having to work such long hours at her boring job, but to have to come home to responsibility? She was young! Only forty! She should be living it up!

"Don't you want to do something with your life?" her lame Division Manager had asked her that morning during her performance review, "You're smart, but disengaged. If you put your mind to it, I could see you doing my job easily."

As if she would want to be a Division Manager. All those people to take care of?

No thanks.

She felt the weight of her lucky earrings flopping side-to-side as she walked her little moocher. Maybe she could put the dog on Kijiji. Someone would pay her for this little beast. Then she could go to Traci's cousin's cabin on the weekend. He'd said he was going to have a banger, and Erica could use a good banging.

She smiled as she thought of how clever she was being. Maybe her boss was right. She was smart. But she was smart enough to know that the life she wanted had nothing to do with the life he was talking about. No, Erica was free spirit. She needed to follow the wind, see what the next adventure would be.

Her wrist vibrated, indicating that her smart watch had received a text. Looking down, she was it from her mom!

Hooked up with a new guy named Chad. He's got a cousin around your age. Looks ripped. Want to double?

Erica smiled. Exactly what she needed. Her evening was set. Now all she had to do was pop home, dump the pooch, and slut herself up a bit. Her mom had good taste in men, and if she thought this guy was worth it, Erica was damned sure not going to let him get away before she was done with him. That was exactly the kind of goal-oriented girl she was!