Ford Escort

5 - Downpour

I scowled the entire drive home. I had my Uber pick me up down the street, refusing to stand there on Mr. Fords porch. The trip back to my dorm took just under fifteen minutes, which was more than enough time for me to have a quarter-life crisis in the back seat.

I replayed the last hour over and over in my head, unable to truly convince myself it had actually happened. A significantly older man had gotten me into his house with hardly any effort, and had propositioned me for a "mutually beneficial friendship".

I was reeling, likely in some stage of shock. He was a world-famous actor and director, to make matters worse, one my mom was pretty much obsessed with. I cringed at the very thought of having to listen to her swoon over him, unable to tell her that he'd tried to buy me once.

I deleted the Money-Do app from my phone, vowing to heed the lesson I was taught as a child and never meet a stranger from the internet again. I wanted nothing more than to call and tell someone the ridiculous story, but I had signed the damn NDA. I couldn't tell a soul. I decided somehow that was the worst part of it all.

As the Uber driver pulled up on campus, I thanked him, and climbed out onto the sidewalk. It had started to rain during the drive, and I stood on the curb, motionless in the downpour. The icy, clean water was refreshing as it soaked through my clothes and saturated my hair. It felt as though it was washing away the crawling, dirty feeling from my skin.

Once I was thoroughly drenched I trudged my way up the two flights of stairs to my dorm room crept inside. For once, Ava was home for the evening, and she stared at me as I undressed in the middle of the room.

"You alright there?" She asked, her expression was one of genuine concern.

"Fine." I lied, having stripped down to my underwear. I slipped into a pair of twice-worn sweats without so much as a sniff test.

"Decided to take a leisurely stroll in the pouring rain?"

"Just a walk from the cab to our door." I shrugged, wringing some of the excess water from my hair into the carpet. She nodded solemnly, accepting my half-assed answers, and going back to typing up an essay on her laptop.

I stared at my pile of clothes on the floor, which I had pushed off the bed the night before. I considered picking them up and putting them away, but ultimately I stepped over the pile and plopped down on my mattress.

"Hey, don't you work today?" Ava asked, glancing at the time on her phone.

I felt my heart drop as she faced her screen toward me, it was after 4. In my excitement for the potential job I had been so excited about just two hours ago, I had completely forgotten about my current job.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck."

I jumped off my bed and started digging through the clothes strewn all over the floor for something work-appropriate. I had worn my nicest, cleanest blouse to meet Mr. Ford and it was now soaked.

My phone started to buzz from my purse, slumped over next to the door. I knew without checking that it was my boss, calling to ask why I was late again. I could feel Ava's eyes on me as I crawled across the floor and fished it out of my bag. "Boss Lady" glowed up from me on the water-streaked screen. I closed my eyes and answered.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" Her tone was the very definition of fed-up.

"I'm sorry, I totally spaced." I kept rummaging through my clothes with my free hand, looking for something clean and business casual, "I'm leaving right now, I'll be there in-"

"Don't bother, Veronica." She interrupted, "This is the 3rd strike. I need dependable, responsible employees and that very clearly is not what you are. I'm hardly one for giving second chances, much less a third. Consider this your termination notice."