When it rains in the desert

Stealing on the subway.

I woke up that morning of the sound of Aaron begging me to turn off my alarm until I finally got up, went downstairs and made a cup of coffee.

Aaron would most likely stay in bed until 3pm but my interview was in an hour so i had to shower.

I let the hot water hit me as I took refuge in the warmth for a few minutes until I had to face the world. I put on the only suit I had and made my way to the subway.

I won't bore you with the details of my interview but it went better than most interviews go and to be honest I was feeling confident about it.

As I began to make my way home I found myself walking with a smile on my face. I'd decided to take the subway back instead of walking and as I was waiting I felt a tap on my shoulder.

" Hey mister can you help me..." she cut herself off as she recognized who I was from the day before but it was too late to run.

"Hello again" I said grinning like someone was holding the corners of my mouth up.

"Hi, sorry, I'm a little lost" she said as she held her map up. "I'm trying to get here, do you know which train I'm supposed to get?"

"Yeah it's actually where I'm headed, its the next train and you get off in three stops" I said and I was actually surprised I said it so confidently.

"Thanks" she said as she held her hand out for me to shake. " Celia" I shook her hand " Jacob" idiot you told her yesterday.

"So are you new around here? " I said,  regretting it the second it came out of my mouth.

"Pftttt no, whatever gave you that idea" she said in a mocking tone waving her map around.

"Yeah stupid question I'm sorry" I muttered, wanting to walk away.

"Hey I'm just joking, yeah I just moved here from England a couple of weeks ago " she said nudging me with her elbow.

She was close, a little too close for us to be strangers
"That's cool cool" I said. God why did I keep saying shit like that.

We stood in silence for a second until the train came and we said bye and stood on opposite sides of the train and this time I was so sure I'd messed up my chances with her I'd probably never see her again. As soon as I reached home I got the call.

"Hello"  I said, answering the phone hoping it would be what I'd expected it to be.

"Hi, Mr Mendoza?"

"Yes that's me"

"Great I would just like to inform you that we would love to offer you a job working for Jackson and Jackson, if you'd like to come back in so we can discuss salary and working arrangements"

YES YES YES. I can't believe I did it, finally. I couldn't wait to tell my mother ,God she was going to be so proud.

" yes that would be perfect thank you, would tomorrow morning be okay?" I said with a surprising amount of calmness.

"Yes, does 10am work for you?" The woman who had just offered me my future asked.

"That's great, I'll see you then" and I ended the call.

A little back story. I had wanted to become a lawyer just like my parents ever since I knew what one was. I saw how people treated my parents, the respect they got. They were good people. They helped people everyday.

I wanted a part of that. They were so proud the day I got into law school, my mother cried. My father hugged me for the first time since I was maybe 7. My parents weren't necessarily cold parents they just believed in tough love.

It was hard for them to show affection and it had always been like that. So when they told me that I should go and find myself I knew they thought they were doing it for my own good, and in some sense they were right. Jackson & Jackson wasn't a leading firm but I was 23 and it was a start.

As I took my phone out to dial my mothers number I felt something fall from my pocket. When I went to retrieve it I read "I'm sorry, you seem like a nice guy but I kinda had too- Celia "

I stared at it in confusion until realization struck me and I begun to pat down my pockets. Shit. She'd taken my wallet. Shit shit shit. Literally all my cards and all my money was in there. It wasn't a lot but it was all I had. Shit. I had really misjudged this girl. I was on such a high from my interview and the fact that I'd run into her again I hadn't even noticed her take it out of my pocket. Shit.

Well there wasn't much I could do apart from call the cops but I only had her first name it was useless. My best bet was to go back to the subway to see if anyone had seen her or knew her or maybe even run into her again. But I was too happy to actually care right now so I proceeded with calling my mom. I Dailed the familiar number and waited for her to pick up. "Jacob ?" She said in that worried mom tone.

"Hey Ma" I said feeling shy all of a sudden. The feeling of happiness I felt only minutes ago disappeared as I felt embarrassed that it wasn't a bigger firm.

"Hey sweetheart, is everything okay?" It was so comforting to have someone be that concerned for me. I loved my mom , more than I cared to admit and when she called me sweetheart it felt like a little bit of home.

"Yeah Ma everything's fine I was just calling because I have some news" she was silent on the other end of the phone waiting for me to reveal the news.

"I got a job Mom, at a law firm. Now it's not a well known firm but ..." I started and she cut me off
"You did. Oh Jacob honey that's great I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it my darling wait until your father hears about this. And don't start with a but. A job is a job and whatever it is, it's a start."

And just like that, all the embarrassment I had felt a moment ago vanished and all of a sudden I wanted a hug from my mom. I felt like I was 9 years old again after losing to our rival school in soccer . I cried for an hour until my mother gave me a hug and everything felt fine again.

"Thanks Mom. I'll talk to you soon okay. Love you" I said before I started crying at the memory.
"Okay sweetie, take care okay? I love you."