Back in the Bathroom

-"Weird guy..."-

   It was late that night when Addilyn pulled into her apartment complexes parking lot.

   Before coming home, she had decided to run a couple of errands, one of which was going to the grocery store to pick up what she was making for dinner. She had been craving vodka pasta all day and was excited to make some when she got home.

    But then she remembered her current financial situation.

   So she picked up some McDonald's instead.

   "Why do you have to be so stupid..." She muttered to herself, dragging her hands down her face and slouching forward in her seat.

   Addilyn wished she had stayed in college. She wished day after day that she hadn't dropped out, that she hadn't spent almost all of her savings just to get this stupid apartment that was slowly starting to rot away.

   "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

   But she had to prove that she was worth something, that she could be something. Addilyn wanted to prove to her parents more than anyone else that her life wouldn't amount to nothing, that she could survive just fine on her own and that she wouldn't be living with them until she was in her 30s.

   She wanted to prove that she could afford her own place without having to rely on them, that she could get her own education and make something out of herself.

   "Pathetic."

   Yet, here she was. Living in her own shitty apartment with shitty food and no job.

   Fuck, she had to get that sorted out before her landlord found out and took advantage of her vulnerability.

   He was really good about doing that.

   Rain pounded on and around her car, the steady drumming attempting to drown out her racing thoughts, trying to provide her any kind of comfort it could give.

   But it wasn't working.

   Rain always used to calm Addilyn when she was younger, times when she used to snuggle up by the window with a blanket and a pillow and watch the downpour outside in her front yard.

   She missed times like that.

   When innocence was true, pure.

   The sudden ringing of her phone snapped her out of her trance, though it did scare the shit out of her.

   Addilyn reached over into her purse and fumbled around with the contents inside until she eventually found her phone, dragging it out and pressing the green button without even looking at the caller ID.

   She pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

   "Hi, is this Ms. Walker?" It was a man's  voice.

   Addliyn inwardly groaned. It was her landlord.

   "Yes, it is. What can I do for you, Mr. Murry?"

   It took a few seconds before Murry responded, the noise of shifting papers and muffled talking filling the other end of the line.

   The rain continued to pound down, getting harder and harder by the minute. A flash of lightning lit up the soaked concrete and asphalt outside.

   "I heard what happened today, at the library."

   Addilyn cringed, her face screwing up. "You did?"

   "Uh-huh, everyone knows. News travels fast 'round here, Addi." She wished that he would have some sympathy for her, even if she didn't particularly want it from him. She just hated how robotic he sounded.