Love At First Lie | Herophine Fic

Cutting It Fine

JOSEPHINE

The Following Week

It's been a long week. Especially for someone who's got nothing to wake up for apart from trudging around their flat or going for a walk in one of the local parks. Those two things have been the highlights of my week. In between the growing, autumnal rainfall I've taken myself out for a walk just to escape the four walls that I live in. It's much easier to get cabin fever than people think. But if it's been too rainy, I've stayed inside watching terrible daytime TV while perusing available jobs. I really wouldn't wish unemployment on my worst enemy at this rate.

Of course, after my and Mia's epic night out we both woke up really feeling the effects of all the alcohol we had sunk. My head felt like it was ready to drop off and I know Mia was feeling the same too. I was up before her and had to wake her up in fear she'd be late for work. One of her most hated pet peeves.

So, being the friend I am, I woke her and helped her get ready before seeing to myself. And by helped her, I mean I helped her get dressed, brushed her hair and walked her to the front door before passing her bag to her and holding her while she took those first few steps outside in the corridor. She was more unsteady on her feet than I was so I was more than surprised when she made it to work in one piece. I was fully expecting a phone call or text telling me she was coming home and pulling a sickie. But she didn't she pushed through and collapsed onto the couch once she arrived home.

I, on the other hand, did absolutely nothing that day. It's one of the few days I'm thankful that I didn't do anything since my redundancy. I didn't even get dressed or brush my hair. I stayed in my pyjamas, wrapped up in my fluffy robe and drank hot tea all day. My laptop and job search definitely wasn't part of my day either. My eyes and head couldn't deal with the crisp, coloured screen but I had my phone if anyone needed me and of course, they didn't. I spent my day in front of the TV, questioning why I'd drank so much. Always the way though, right?

When Mia arrived home, we ordered pizza. Hoping some stodgy carbs would help to soak up the remaining alcohol circulating in our systems. There's nothing like some greasy food to help recover from a hangover. A hangover that took two and a half days to fully recover from before I felt like myself again.

On the day I started to feel like myself again, I finally heard something from one of the million jobs I've recently applied for. When the notification landed, anyone would have thought I'd won the lottery or something. But my excitement was short-lived because the email wasn't really what I wanted. Far from it, in fact.

All I received was an email simply acknowledging my application to one of the many Marketing Executive or Marketing Coordinator jobs I've spent my time on and applied for. It wasn't even personalised, just a churn message that was probably sent by a bot and not even a real person. I think that annoyed me even more, at least personalise the damn thing. My name being on there would have been nice.

I'd obviously hoped for it to be an interview invite but I'm still in limbo, awaiting something. I'm starting to panic now too. Companies hate hiring in the autumn and winter. The new year is looming and I can't afford for a job to come up then. It's too far away and I don't want to rely on my bank account being randomly topped up because of my parent's retirement fund. As lovely as it was and as grateful as I am, I don't want that to happen again. I want my money that I've earned to be in there. As it should be.

Needless to say, I've not heard from anyone else. No acknowledgement emails - personalised or bot-churned - and certainly no interview invites. My patience is wearing thin and the panic increases every day. I'm doing my damndest to hide it from Mia because I know she's silently worrying too. And I don't want to be the cause of anyone's worry. I'm hoping - no, praying - I hear something soon. Anything will do.