Unwanted Heat

With that both men walk away from me, cutting me off midsentence as I’m left standing on the sidewalk with a handful of money that I was trying to give back. The first man opens the back door for the second one, who turns and smiles at me before getting into the car. It’s only then that I realize they both came out of the car without an umbrella and are now probably just as soaked as I am. I shake my head at the irony, given that they were the ones who splashed me and yet ended up getting soaked themselves.

I quickly shove the money into my purse, not wanting to stand in a crowd openly holding money and risk drawing attention to myself. I glance at my watch, realizing I barely have enough time to grab my coffee before I need to head back to the store. I’ll never have time to eat my dinner, although it’s probably not a bad thing, since I realize in the chaos of everything my lunch bag had fallen to the ground and was now lying in the offending puddle that splashed me.

Despite everything, I return to work in a better mood then when I

left. The fact that there are still decent people in this world makes me smile. The driver of the car that splashed me could have easily kept driving, yet he stopped and physically got out of his car to apologize. He didn’t simply roll his window down and yell an apology like most would. Instead he and the person he was with, both took the time to get out of their car and walk over to me. As if an apology wasn’t enough, they insisted on paying to replace my outfit that again was beyond what I expected from.

“Oh Kenzie! What happened?” Nancy rushes towards me as soon as I open the staff entrance.

“A car swerved to miss hitting another car but instead hit a large puddle right next to where I was standing,” I shrug.

“Take as much time as you need to get cleaned up,” she checks the schedule. “It looks like you have a little while before your next appointment. You’ll probably need to purchase something else to wear, though. I don’t think you’ll be able to clean those pants enough in the restroom.”

“I know,” I sigh, not really wanting to spend money on something I really don’t need. “I’ll find something and change quickly.”

I clean up as much as I can in the staff restroom before heading onto the main floor of the department store. When you work in a place like this, image is everything. We’re expected to wear clothes from the store we work in and our physical appearance is said to be a direct representation of the store. Therefore, I need to be quick in grabbing an outfit and getting off the main floor before too many people see me in my grime covered pants.

Unfortunately time is not on my side, therefore I can’t bargain hunt like I normally do when I shop here. The first section outside the personal shopper area is career/professional which thankfully works for what I need right now. I grab a tan skirt and stockings before ducking back into the staff restroom. My shoes are soaked, but after wiping them down with a paper towel you can’t notice anything, so I choose to wear them rather than spending even more money on a new pair. I pull the tags from the clothes, throw my wet pants and socks into a bag in my locker and head out to meet Nancy for her to ring up my purchases.

“Much better, Kenzie,” she smiles taking in my new outfit. “I’m sure you must feel better to be out of those wet clothes.”

“I do,” I agree. “There’s nothing worse than walking a few blocks in a pair of wet pants.”

“I can agree with that,” she laughs. “When I first moved here I left to get to work in a hurry and forgot my umbrella. The weather report said there was only a fifty percent chance of showers so I took a chance. I ended up walking six blocks in a pair of soaking wet jeans after getting caught in a sun shower.”

“Oh no!”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Ever since then, I carry an umbrella, even if they’re not calling for rain.”

“Well, hopefully this will be the last time I get caught like this. Here are the tags for my skirt and pantyhose that I need to purchase.” “With your discount, your total is $73. 98.”

I reach into my purse for my wallet, when my hand finds the cash that the man in the black car gave me. Hoping it covers at least half of the cost of this outfit, I pull the bills out and begin counting them. I force myself not to curse aloud when I realize the man gave me $200… me a complete stranger on the street, and he hands ten $20 bills like it was nothing to him.

“Kenzie?” Nancy pulls me from my thoughts.

“Sorry, here you go,” I give her $80 in cash, hiding the rest in my purse until I’m able lock it back up.

“Here’s your receipt, I’m sorry I can’t give you any more time-”

“No, it’s fine. I’m going to put my stuff away and then I’ll get started pulling selections for my next appointment.”

Thankfully the rest of my day doesn’t get any worse and by the time I leave, the rain has completely stopped and my shoes have dried. Half an hour later, I’m home, completely exhausted, but home. I consider making something to eat, but the need for sleep quickly becomes a priority. I lock the front door, set my alarm on my phone and fall asleep still in the new clothes that I bought earlier today, having no energy to change.