Carl sat on the edge of the couch, his head in his hands. His controller laid at his feet, and the TV scrolled through the stats of his latest round of PUBG. Kat sat next to him, sniffling, her face blotchy and red. In her hands she held a series of crumpled tissues stained black from her mascara.
She had spent the afternoon applying to jobs, calling various sketchy recruiters, and scrolling through entries on LinkedIn and Indeed. By mid-afternoon, she was drowning in a pool of her regret. After experiencing a brief panic attack, she trudged her way home through the snow. Sobbing, she delivered the bad news to her boyfriend, who was now in a state of shock. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t comfort her.
“Kat, why in the hell would you do that?” Carl was exasperated, tousling his hair over and ov
