MAYA
I stood under the narrow overhang at the entrance of the company building. Rain had never been my favorite. It always felt like the sky was grieving something I didn’t understand. And tonight, of all nights, it decided to come down in sheets when the forecast had promised clear skies. Of course I’d left my umbrella at home.
The streetlights shimmered on the wet pavement, turning the city into a blurred watercolor painting. I pulled my coat tighter. The buses would stop running soon; the last one to my neighborhood left in twenty minutes. Miss it, and I’d be sleeping on the office couch again; something I’d done once and swore never to repeat. All I wanted was my warm apartment, a steaming cup of chamomile, and three blankets pulling me into sleep.
I debated making a mad dash for th
