Not without him

1.

Cleo

My name is Cleo, I'm currently 20 years old and I live in New York, in a rundown apartment that I can barely afford the rent because I'm on a job hunt.

It's been a year since I finished college and I haven't been able to hold down a job for long. If I'm not mistaken which I know I'm not, I've been fired from eight different jobs already. You'd think I'd have given up already with such bad luck but I've refused to give up. I admit that with such bad luck giving up would be sparing myself the disappointments but Life is a bitch. It's always been that way.

Today is going to be different from every other day, today is the day I'm hoping to get my dream job. The keyword is hoping.

Buzz buzz

I groaned as I reached for my phone, what time was it? Looking at the screen I saw it was 7 a.m., I swiped the snooze button on the alarm and sat up on my bed.

After staring into space for a while, I got up and made my way to the balcony doors, the cold morning air blew across my face forcing me to wrap my hands around my body. I loved the cold, I loved it because it made me numb, made me horny and it was good for thinking, and right now though I just woke up I needed to think.

I needed to think about how I'd get the job, I wanted. The tech company I wanted a job at was one of the best tech companies in the country and I managed to get an appointment for a job! That was good but how will I impress the boss? He was certainly very hard to impress from what I've heard, getting an appointment alone was extremely hard. God must have been on my side for me to get it.

I thought about what I'd wear... Should I dress slutty? Nope, not my style and it'd attract unwanted attention. Ughhh, how am I going to impress him so that he'd give me the job I want? The fluffy hairball that came in between my legs jilted me from my thinking back into reality.

"Jace! Go inside, you'll get sick" I said as I shooed away my brown Lhasa apso with my foot and closed the balcony doors behind me.

Turning on the faucet, I decided to soak in the hot bath for a little while, I put some shampoo on my hair and massaged my scalp for a little while I did that I resumed my train of thought from earlier that was interrupted by Jace but it was short-lived when I realized I hadn't gotten my outfit together yet.

Hurrying out of the bathroom, I wrapped the towel around my hair and put on my robe then I opened my closet doors. I ended up wearing a blue female suit, I put my hair up in a bun and applied a little bit of makeup.

After petting Jace goodbye, I hurried out the door with my purse, file, and coffee in hand. I'll need the coffee, this is going to be so hard but it doesn't mean I won't try my best to get my dream job. The bus ride took longer than I expected maybe it was because I was extremely nervous and I couldn't stop fiddling with my fingers. I was a wreck.

"Hey," I heard a male voice say beside me, "h..hi," I replied with my shaky voice. Normally, I'm usually the one that starts conversations with strangers I think are friendly but at this moment I didn't find myself in the mood to have a conversation so I continued playing with my hands. "You seem nervous and you're dressed up. Let me guess, you're going for a job interview?" The man continued, and I simply nodded. He laughed, "Well, miss. I think it's important to also be confident when you're going for a job and not just qualified" He said as he stood up.

"Good luck with your interview. This is my stop" He added and with that, he left the bus, I screamed at myself mentally for not thanking him for his advice. Well at least I'm almost there, maybe I should call Mimi, she always knows what to do in a situation like this, Mimi is my older sister. Her name sounds a bit weird, right? Well, it's her nickname and a shorter form of her name.

She likes being called that though so I respect that. "Hey, Mimi," I said as I put my hand on my forehead, I was so stressed right now. Fingers crossed that she'll have some advice, "heyyyy sis. You sound stressed? Oh right, today's the day you go for your interview" Mimi said as I heard music in the background, "yup. Are you at a club already?" I asked as I smiled to myself, Mimi loved the grab life by the horns so if she was at the club or a party this early, I wouldn't put it past her. "Well, it's not a party, though today's my housewarming party remember? That's the DJ making a selection of songs tho I won't have the party unless you get the job" She said.

"No no no, Don't do that. You've been wanting this since we were kids" I said, I didn't like the idea of her canceling her housewarming party for me. "Plus Julian also wanted this too" I added as I bit my lower lip hoping I'd have convinced her not to. "Julian also agrees with me that I should cancel it if you don't get the job- " she said as she was cut off by her fiance, "yh Cleo if you don't. We're not partying. Your pain is our pain" Julian said as he handed the phone back to Mimi.

"I'm at my stop, Mimi," I said getting ready to hang up, "ok don't forget to smile, be confident and strut your way into their fucking hearts okay? Love you" Mimi blurted out, "love you too" I replied as I got up from my seat and hung up. Another thing my sister had that I didn't, she found love.

She's been engaged to her fiance for 5 months now. She has a well-paying job, and so does Julian. Right now, they bought their second house together while I haven't. I must be cursed or something. I wanted to cry as I thought about it a lot more than I should but I decided not to, there'd be time for that later, for now, I needed to get myself together and go get it.

After getting myself set, I walked into the large glass building, the interior seemed to shine like the sun. It was painted all white, and the furniture like the receptionist's desk and the chairs were not excluded. The only thing that wasn't white was the rug which was black and spiral. The receptionist looked to be in her late 40s, her hair was in a neat bob cut, her nails were neatly painted with a purple floral design, and her skin color showed she was African.

Thank God! That means this company isn't racist, that was an early concern of mine. I'm mixed, though I wasn't as dark as the receptionist, my skin was tanned brown and that alone was enough to show I was an African but a mixed one. When I got closer to the receptionist, she smiled at me and it calmed my nerves a bit. "Do you have an appointment?" she asked as she looked at me giving me rapt attention and her smile never for once wavering.

"Yh um, I'm Cleopatra Hart. I'm here for the job interview" I said as I tried my best to sound confident, "oh yes Cleopatra, take a seat amongst the other candidates. My name is Ella and I'll be here to help you with whatever you need until you're called in for your interview" She stated as she showed me to the waiting area where other candidates were seated.

"Would you like some coffee?" She asked sweetly, I shook my head and returned her smile as I walked into the waiting area where other candidates were seated. I scanned the area for a place to sit to not draw attention to myself.

"Hey, you can sit next to me," a girl said as she fondly patted the seat beside her. "Oh thanks," I said as I smiled awkwardly, "I'm Sarah," The girl said as she extended her hand for a shake, "oh I'm Cleopatra" I replied as I shook her hand firmly.

"This is my last attempt to secure a job, if not I'm going to live off my parents" She stated blankly, "oh well I want this job if I don't get it. I'll probably be bummed" I said.