Overwhelming

Josey left the tall metal and glass windowed building feeling defeated. Her interview didn’t last more than 5 minutes. Feeling awful, she stopped to sit at a bench outside the building. The bustling of morning traffic still filled the air as she gathered what to do next. 

“How’d it go?” Cece asked, coming up to her, holding two to go cup carriers full of coffee.  

“Oh, hey! Yea, don’t get me started, I am forever destined to be a part timer I guess.” Josey answered as Cece handed her a cup of coffee. 

Cece laughed as she sat next to her friend. 

“How come you aren’t inside?” Josey asked her, eyeing the carriers of coffee. 

“I had to drop off some forms to one of our distributors early this morning, and grabbed coffee on my way back. So, what happened?” Cece asked Josey softly. 

Cece had known Josey for almost ever, and knew when Josey was feeling down, you had to prod her brain until she would spill it all out. 

“Well let's see. I almost died, but was saved, and then treated like a stray dog. I was late, not on the list of interviews for today, for some reason. Then I was saved by Jared, who thank God had an appointment there today. I was almost abducted by security if it wasn’t for him. Then in the interview I was questioned by your insolent CEO, who happened to be the one that saved me the first time, and treated me like a dog. I think that covers everything.” Giving a halfhearted smile to her friend, Josey closed her eyes and lowered her head. She wanted to cry, but didn't want to appear weak. 

“Wow! You got to meet our CEO? I’m so jealous!” Cece suddenly perked up beaming at Josey. 

“Huh? Are you crazy? Firstly, the man has no respect for anyone, and certainly can’t take an apology. Second, he botched my interview, asking me senseless things, not even pertaining to the company.” Josey spewed the words out, getting more upset as she thought about it. 

She noticed Cece smiling big at her, not even paying attention. 

“What's with the dreamy look Cece? He isn’t your type! Cece, are you listening to me?” Josey poked her shoulder, trying to bring her out of what ever thought she was attached to. 

“Oh, he’s definitely good looking, but it’s not him, it’s his girlfriend. She is something else, like, if I was ever robbed, or kidnapped, she would be the one to bust in, and take down all the bad guys. She’s so dreamy!” Josey was lost in a mental image with Cece’s description briefly. She didn’t know the CEO had a girlfriend, nor did she care. 

Laughing, Josey shook her head. Her friend Cece had always liked women, especially the strong type. It had caused Cece heartbreak though, on countless occasions, making Josey feel bad for her friend. 

“Okay, okay, you better get back in there, before they send out a search party!” Josey ushered he friend off as they stood. 

“Oh, crap, your right! Well, hey, keep your chin up, I am sure you did fine! Tell Em I said hi!” Cece rushed out her words, running to the building. 

Throwing a wave at Cece, Josey started her walk back towards home.  

With her head hung and feeling defeated, Josey decided she would just play it off in front of her sister as it went great. Why should she make Emily feel down also, after all the support her young sister had given her? 

Grabbing a few small items to cook dinner at the neighboring market, Josey headed towards home. She had taken the entire day off from her part time jobs, so she would cook dinner for her and her sister tonight. Before that, though, she needed an outlet for her frustration and decided a deep clean of the apartment was in order. 

Coming up to the apartment, she could see a thick manila envelope sticking out of her mail box. Assuming it was the new contract for the apartment take over, she decided she would start dealing with that first. 

Getting comfortable again in her normal day cloths, Josey grabbed some water and sat at their two seater little table. Plugging in her phone to charge it, hopeful to hear back from the company, she figured she could at least delude herself into being positive.  

Inside the envelope was the basic contract, which after scanning through it, nothing had really changed other than the name of the complex. The signature page is what caught her attention though. At the bottom, it listed the new owner and the scheduled time in which she had to come sign the new lease. 

The new owner’s name was extremely familiar, but it had to be just be a coincident. Tarrin Stormway couldn’t possibly be the same Mr. Stormway who is the CEO where she just had her interview.  

Heaviness appeared in Josey’s heart, not from seeing the name so much, but from the amended cost noted below.  

“All residents listed in the following apartments are necessitated to a 8% rental deposit increase due to cost of maintenance needed for the building. Such repairs are required to be paid for at the renter's expense. 30 days hence, for the deposit difference of 8%, is required to be paid in full.” Reading it out loud didn’t make it any better, especially after seeing her apartment number on the list. 

“Are you fricken kidding me? What else could possibly go wrong today?” Tossing the paper down and muttering to herself, Josey felt tears well up. She was feeling bad for Emily more than herself. If the deposit was increasing, that meant even with her part time jobs, she wouldn’t be able to buy food for almost a month in order to save up enough to meet at least half of what’s required. 

Pulling the puddle of tears from her eyes, she deciding that she would have to just talk to whomever the new owner was and ask for an extension or payment plan. 

 Josey gathered and straitened her mind to start cleaning. It was only 10:30 and Emily wouldn’t be home until 7 at the latest. This gave her plenty of time to clean, look for another part time job, meet with the new owner, and get dinner started. 

Glancing at her phone before she went to start in the bathroom and seeing it was finally charged, she turned it on. There was a text from Jared saying he heard her interview was brief but had high hopes for her. Josey lost it. The tears broke through her restraint and she plopped back in the kitchen chair laying her head on the table. She decided the cleaning could wait. Right now, she had no choice but to cry out a bit of frustration first.