ELENA TORRES
It was devastating how much a call from Joe ruined my day.
First, I cried a lot after ending the call, because I felt trapped and out of options. All I had wanted was someone to love, and Joe had acted that part out well enough. Was it not enough for him to simply leave me and let me heal? He and my mother were proving to be cruel, evil directors, refusing to let an already gruel scene come to an end for me, their star actress.
Then I lost my enthusiasm for a job too.
The ping-ping-ping notification sound on my laptop announced that my applications were getting replies, and yet, I felt no desire to even see them, to allow the dopamine that my little successes should have shot through me, or the determination that the failures might have provided.
I was terrified that th
