LADYBUG

Chapter 5: The Rain

   Bright headlights. A broken phone screen. Flashes from a night that I could barely remember. 

The rain beat against my window, falling in thick sheets, driven by an angry wind. In the bathroom, I stripped down and ran the shower. Cold this time, because I’d been burning to a crisp in my sweat soaked shirt. My cheeks were deflated. My eyes were puffy. I looked like I crawled out of a cave. So much for beauty sleep. 

After my shower and a light layer of concealer, I threw on my gym uniform and drove to work. The rain thundered against my Beetle. The wind shifted the car, making it sway like a flag in the breeze. Nick sent a text that I couldn’t read without swerving in the rain. Whatever it was, it could wait. I stopped at a red light and opened the message. 

“See you tonight. Happy two month anniversary, btw. If you’re into that kind of thing.” It was hard to believe that two months had passed since our double date with Kayla and Eric, and the next night at Sonic. Nick and I texted every day without fail. He kept a toothbrush and a change of clothes at my apartment. Every day that we didn’t break up was a day spent growing more anxious that he would disappear without a word. That I’d lose him, the way I’d lost her. 

I don’t know how long I’d been staring down at my phone when the blare of a car horn erupted from the car behind me. I hit the gas and forgot about the text I hadn’t sent. 

When I arrived at the gym, it was eight in the morning, three hours after opening. The patrons of the gym were already wide awake. People swam laps in the pool, while a group of women huddled by the treadmills that looked over the machine area. A wild pack of high school boys attempted to outdo each other's squats in the shiny metal racks. Why my father allowed children to use the gym, I didn’t know. They scared the older people awa  and pissed off just about everyone else, especially the group of disgruntled women watching them from above.

I clocked in and got to work at the front desk. From there, I could see the desk of the new general manager, Jerry. On it, he kept a coaster with a picture of Joe Roga  and aleadershipp book by John Willink. Immediately, I knew he was one of those men. Jerry, from the looks of it, was a dud. A fat, albeit strong, white man in his early thirties, who ends team meetings with things like “Let’s get after it.” or “Let’s make this bread.” On his second week at the gym, he insisted that the sales team watch The Wolf of Wall Street. 

Hours passed. By one pm, the rain was nothing more than a sad drizzle. I jogged through the mist to the sandwich shop next door, Subs and Grubs.

“Hey, you!” Antonio said, from behind the counter. He was a skinny Italian man  with a white grease stained apron and a clean spatula.

“Hey, Antonio. Same as usual.” 

“I gotcha. Gimme a minute.” 

Antonio worked at the sandwich shop with his brother, Felix, who was never around–not anymore, at least. I wondered if that was a sore topic for Antonio. Felix was at the shop more often last year, but at some point, he started showing up late, then not at all. At first, it was a day or two, but after a while, I never saw him again. 

Antonio wrapped my usual turkey and ham sandwich. I paid, then jogged back to the gym. Water droplets dotted the shoulders of my uniform shirt.

“Hey, Liv. I know you’re at lunch, but I have a lady at the front who needs to speak to you. Something about canceling her membership.” One of the newer employees stood with my office door open. Lettuce from the sandwich hung from my mouth as I chewed. “I can tell her you're busy. But last time, I handled a cancellation on my own...”

“I yelled at you. Because you did it wrong.” I wiped my mouth.

“Yeah. Sorry about that. I could try again-”