It had been a long day. She was assigned an early shift in her store and her friend had asked to cover an extra shift for her. So she had clocked in before the sun came out. It was the day new inventory was delivered. She had been holed up in the windowless room cataloging all day. Apart from her manager, annoyingly checking on her every fifteen minutes, she had had no human contact. It was almost the end of her shift when her manager came along and told her that she had catalogued the wrong inventory and she had to do this all over again tomorrow. She took a deep breath and softly hummed ,”There will be days like this….” . She hung her vest up. She walked around the store and shopped for the groceries. After putting all her bagged groceries in the cart and pushing it toward her car, she realized her car was in the garage. She had to take the bus. She picked up four bags of groceries and walked over to the bus stop.
It had started to drizzle. She was feeling cold as the zipper of her coat had broken and she was meaning to get it fixed but did not have the time. She suddenly got a call. She looked at the caller almost not wanting to pick up. She heaved a sigh and picked the phone up.
She said, “Hello! Yes, Mrs. Robinson. I am so sorry you had to wait. Yes! I am on my way. I hope she was not too much trouble. What? She hasn’t eaten anything. It’s ok I’ll take care of it when I come back. I’ll be back in 10–15 minutes. Yes, I’m sorry again. Thank you! ”
The bus finally came. It was full. She managed to get in but there were no seats. For the next 20 minutes, she stood quietly waiting for her stop. The bus stop was not very far from her apartment. But she had to set the grocery bags down several times. She was about to enter her building when someone opened the door. It was Dave. He was with someone. He offered to help me with my grocery bags. I let him, it was a long day.
He asked her, “How are you? It’s been a while since I saw you. Why have you stopped attending evening classes?”.
She replied, “It’s been crazy off late. I had to pick up extra shifts to pay for my car repair. I’ll be back soon enough.” Looking at him, she suddenly forgot about her crappy day.
He said, “I can’t wait to be your study partner again.”
They had come to her apartment. He set down her bags at her door steps and took her hands and patted it consolingly.
He said, “Let me know if you need anything else.”
He turned around and walked away. As soon as she thought he was gone, he popped back and asked, “I hope everything is all good with Mary.”
She replied, “She has her good days and bad days. I think your friend is waiting. You should leave.”
He nodded and then rushed out. She opened the door to find Mrs. Robinson on the couch. She was all ready and it looked like she had been ready to leave for quite sometime now.
Mrs Robinson said, “I have to leave. My husband would be waiting for me. I am not sure if I can keep doing this. You are always late. I think you need to think about other options. You are so young. You cannot take care of her all by yourself.”
She was not going to confront her. She just thanked her and told her this was the last time she was going to be late. After she locked the door, she looked around and Mary was sitting on the floor. She went up to Mary, brushed her hair .
She said, “I am so sorry I am late. This will never happen again. I heard you didn’t eat anything. I’ll make your favorite Mac N cheese.”
As she lifted Mary off the floor and helped her to the dining table, she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door, it was a salesman.
He looked at her and said,” Hi! Can I talk to your parent?
She replied, “You are talking to her”.
He was taken back and said, “You look like a high school kid”.
She said, “I am and I am not interested in what you are selling”.
She shut the door. She looked around and said, “Mom, it’s dinner time.”
