I’ve been out of work for 4 months. My boyfriend, Jimmy, took me in after I left my parents house. He doesn’t say it, but I can tell that not working has been bothering him. He’s in his first year of law school and has a lot on his plate. I’ve tried so hard to find a job, but no one has called me back. I see an open job interview for a bar downtown. I know for sure if I can get in front of the owner the job is mine, I was always better in person than on paper anyways. I schedule my interview for 5pm Friday. It works out because Jimmy gets out of school around that time and I can just catch a ride back with him. I get excited and tell him about the job. He tried not to show me his noticeable excitement. I check the bus and train routes and plan to arrive 30 minutes early. I can stop at the 7eleven downtown and grab a drink and some gum beforehand. Then, if I have time, I can stop by his school and freshen up in the bathroom before heading to the bar.

Friday comes around and I wake up. I grab my navy button up shirt, black jeans, and a cardigan. I purchase my bus pass for the day and toss my charger in my bag. Shower, brush my teeth, curl my hair, put on makeup, and off I go. I head to my bus stop and wait. I check the time, 3:26pm. Great, 4 minutes to spare. I pull up twitter on my phone and search around. I check the time again and it’s 3:51pm. Buses are always late in Dallas so I don’t think much about it. I do some more scrolling, 15 minutes have passed and still nothing. I start to panic but take a breath and replan my route. I wait for the 4:15pm bus and hop aboard when it comes by. I’m a little behind, but decide if I don’t stop it should make up time.

The bus makes it downtown and I dart to my train. I check my makeup as the train passes by stations, stopping and going, picking up and dropping off. I can’t help but check the time over and over again. I finally distract myself by looking out the window. I notice it’s getting a bit dark outside. I pray to God that the rain doesn’t start until I make it to my destination. I hear my station called and get off the train. I feel a drop of rain kiss my cheek on it’s way down, as if to congratulate me on this awful day. I check my phone and see that I have 15 minutes to make it to my interview. I start walking and check for the fastest route. I’m 10 minutes away on foot if I walk fast. The rain started to pour down. It was hot and sticky like right before a tornado. I pulled out my umbrella and turned my walk into a run. As I ran street to street my umbrella was slowly dying. I watched it turn inside out as the wind swept though it. I refilled the umbrella and shoved it back into my bag. I figured if I was a little wet the owner would understand. I finally made it to my final street. I waited for the walk sign to change and darted across the street. I made it to the sidewalk and felt my leg give out…then I felt nothing but cold. I had fell straight into a puddle. I huge, muddy, wet puddle. I tried to get up but the world had finally won and I just stayed there. A guy came up behind me like an angel and pulled me up. I said thanks and just stood there looking down at myself. I took a breathe and the rain stopped. I turned around and walked to Jimmy’s school. He met me outside smiling. I ran up and started crying and explained my day. He asked if I went to the interview and I lied and said yes because I couldn’t deal with disappointing him too. I told him the owner understood and laughed, but in reality I just couldn’t handle being someone else’s story. The story of the wet girl that came in for an interview and choked back tears the whole time. The icing on this bad day cake was having to walk through a law school soaking wet with smeared makeup. I could feel the weird looks from the people all around. When we made it to the car I undressed in the parking garage and put on Jimmy’s oversized emergency clothes. Shivering in an oversized blue hoodie and blue jeans, I placed my head on the window and let the tears flow down. I knew this was a day that I’d laugh about in the future, but right now it just stung.