I was startled awake by the annoying sound of my stupid alarm. I hit the snooze button, pulled the covers over my face, and drifted back to sleep. Five seconds later and the alarms starts screaming at me again. No way ten minutes could have passed by already. But I was wrong. You win again clock, you win again... or do you? Goodness, that snooze button looks amazing. Like a little shiny grey button sent from heaven. One more time couldn't hurt, right? NO! I bolted upright, threw the covers off, and stood to my feet. Today is the day! The interview. The interview that ceases all need for future interviews. No more wondering, no more hoping, no more rejection. Today I get the job. After today I'll be able to stop telling people, "I'm between jobs at the moment." or "I just haven't found my passion yet." Not anymore. Today is the day.
Oh dang it. It's raining. So much for "Clear skies and warm rays throughout the day." Weathermen are such liars. Weather women too. Weather people? Outside you can see the grey clouds just spitting their grey droplets all over the grey trees covering the grey people walking on the grey street. That's a lot of grey. I seem so glum. I'm actually a pretty happy go lucky person. I just can't see colors. Nobody can though. Well, that's not true. "They" say, whoever "they" are, that once you look into your "soulmate's" eyes, that you'll be able to see the world in all its true, vibrant, and beautiful color. But, soulmates? Really? Let's think about this logically; who's to say your soulmate is alive right now? Couldn't your soulmate have been alive in the 1700s? Or maybe they won't be born until the year 2563. What if they're an alien living on some far off distant galaxy? But let's say, that somehow, against all odds, that you and your soulmate are alive and around the same age at the same time. Well now all you have to hope for is that you live in the same city, or state, or country, or even continent. Maybe its thefact that I don't know anyone that has ever met their "soulmate", but I really don't put too much thought into finding them. No one really does.
After I got dressed and ate breakfast, I apparently time traveled into the future, because according to the clock, I was already supposed to be at the bus stop. I snatched up my belongings and bolted out the door. I was halfway there when I realized two things: one, I forgot my umbrella, which you would think would be the first thing I'd notice since it's raining. And second, there goes my bus driving away from me. Dang it. Think Jane, think. Uber? Hmmm. Is that safe? What if they're actually kidnappers looking for their next prey like mom keeps yapping on about? Then again, mom thinks the government listens to her phone calls. I don't know. I can't just walk there. It's over five miles and these heels, although ranked 10 in cuteness, they're a solid 1 in Track and Field.
After a few minutes fumbling around with the Uber app, I was finally able to contact a driver who said they'd be here in just a few. Please don't kidnap and murder me. True to their word, a few minutes passed and voila, a dark grey car pulled up. It was the kind of dark that doesn't quite look black but couldn't be described as simply grey. The driver couldn't even bother to get out and open the door for me. Why no sir, allow me to get the door. You stay there warm and dry like. Aren't you just the sweetest. Farewell chivalry. I hopped in and we were on our way.
Traffic. Could anything be worse than sitting in traffic? The simple answer is, yes. You could be stuck in some random stranger's car, already late for an interview, and be stuck in traffic, not to mention being sopping wet and forced to listen to what I would describe as the most "gangster-ish rap" I have ever heard. Trying to tune out the, "music", I focused on how I'll wow my future employers. But as luck would have it, they wowed me first with a text. "Ms. Collins, we regret to inform you that due to your tardiness, we have decided to move onto other applicants for this position. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors." My head dropped in defeat. And that's when traffic decided to let up.
Getting closer to what was supposed to be my future employers, I started to panic... just a little though, not a big panic, more like a baby panic. Do I tell the driver to stop? There's no need to go to there anymore. But, then he'll know I got fired before I was even hired. Wait, he doesn't know why I was going there. He could think I'm meeting a friend. One of many friends I have. My friends and I could be-- oh, we're here.
Wet, cold, jobless, and let's face it, a little pathetic, I stood on the sidewalk thinking of what to do next. At least the rain let up. Thanks universe. BAM!
Bike messengers are dumb, for these three reasons: they bump into people, they're stupid, and they bump into people. Have you ever been knocked over by a bike messenger? Let me tell you, it's not fun. In fact, it hurts.
There was a chain reaction: the bike hit me, I bumped into a stranger, he dropped his umbrella, and then I fell to the ground. The only amazing thing about this situation was that the messenger didn't even look like he slowed down. Wow. That's talent. The stranger and I both got up and grabbed our belongings; me, my bag full of useless resume and interview notes, and he, a pair of glasses and an umbrella. Are those baby dinosaurs printed on it? This is a grown man right? What kind of grown man has baby dinosaurs on his umbrella? I mean, he knows people can see it, right? Then again, I'm sure I have some sort of baby dinosaur umbrella equivalent. I'll have to think on that. Wow he's tall, and he's kinda cute too, I hope I see him again someday.
So I decided not to go home and wallow in my occupational misfortune and thought a nice toasty beverage would do me good. I walked to this cute coffee shop nearby and was relieved to see that it wasn't too busy. Hey, things are looking up. THUD!
A coffee patron exited while I entered, there was, you guessed it, a thud. And his freshly brewed coffee spilled up onto me. And though not what I had in mind when I said a nice toasty beverage would do me good, spending most of the morning cold and wet, the coffee felt pleasant splashed on my skin.
Finally at the counter, ready to order, and in dire need of, a green tea is when I noticed the sign next to the register, "Green Tea unavailable at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience." You have got to be kidding me. How do they not have GREEN TEA? I walked out; defeated, jobless, and now, for the icing on the cake, tea-less.
I don't know when I decided to go to the park, or the walk getting here, but I do know my feet hurt. Cute heels: 1, Jane Collins: 0. I sat at the nearest bench I could find and shifted my feet out of the shoes. I love the park. I love watching the kids ride their bikes, swinging on
swing sets, fly kites. Or seeing families have picnics and create special bonds with one another. It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside. But today, empty. I should have figured, it was raining earlier, heck, the grey grass is still sloshy. Although, no people are here, nature is still beautiful. Thanks nature, you never seem to let me down. PLOP!
All birds should die.
I couldn't even bring myself to wipe the bird poop off my shoulder. Heck, I couldn't even look at it. I stared straight ahead. No emotion. Huh, I think I'm dead inside. And then it started to rain again.
After a while I couldn't tell the difference between the rain and my tears. This was the last straw. Today is officially the worst day of my life.
Bent over, I let the rain continue to batter my head and back. What next? A bolt of lightning? I wouldn't be surprised at this point. I should just go home. If bad stuff is going to keep happening, at least I'll be in the comfort of my own bed. Oh man, I can imagine the headlines, "Woman suffocates on the softest pillow in her sleep."
Then the rain stopped, or at least stopped hitting me. Droplets kept falling on the ground, just not on me. Confused, I looked up expecting to see the sky but instead I saw a familiar sight. Baby dinosaurs? And that was when I saw the man holding the umbrella. He had the most beautiful not grey eyes I had ever seen.
The End
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Hi, this was my very first short story! I had to write one for school and I wanted to do something based off of one of the soulmate au's I've seen. I hoped you all liked it as much as I did writing it! Thank you for reading! Please share, vote, and comment!💕