Something seemed off about the day, dry wind moved around the room as though in search of something. The last thing Philip wanted was to get up from bed that morning. The weather man had forecasted scattered storms around the city of Ohio. Nothing good could come out of going out he thought as he pulled the handle of the kitchen shelf to get his coffee grains. He had a job interview scheduled for 10 o'clock at a construction company that day. He got ready, put on the tie he liked to call his lucky tie and headed out. The skies were grey, his car was grey, Philip knew at the back of his head that the day was going to be a bad day but he chose to ignore it.
After three months searching for a job, he finally got an interview with Jack's construct, one of the leading construction firms in the city. He had always wanted to be an architect from very little, following his father's footsteps. The car refused to start. It never did that before. Philip started to get the feeling that the day was bad luck and some of that luck might rub off on the interview. He stopped to think for a minute and decided it would be wise to get a cab of he didn't want to be late.
It began to pour, getting a cab was harder now. He found shade under the roof of a bus stop.
"Today is not a bad day", he continued to talk to himself as he waited.
"Bullocks!!!", he yelled, an incoming vehicle splashed water on him without waiting to say sorry, soiling his clothes and his bag. He knew now that it was a bad day.
"It's 2021, who says bullocks?", a voice said behind him. He turned around to notice a woman. She had brown coloured hair, a tattoo on her left arm that spelt grace, she wasn't too tall, at least not as tall as him. She wore a tracksuit and white sneakers, "must've gone for a run and the rain stopped her".
"Well forgive me if I'm old school" he said trying to wipe off water from his bag.
"If you're at least going to say bullocks, do it with a dry face", she replied handing him a wipe she pulled from her bag pack.
"Thank you, I might as well go home now, can't go to my interview looking this"
"Oh sorry, I know a place you can dry off quickly"
What did he have to lose, he couldn't go to the interview looking like he just took a bath in his clothes. He followed her under the rain to an open restaurant two blocks from where they were standing. It had an outside tent and a glass windows where you could see the bar inside. Both of them sat down, Philip was still trying to arrange his papers.
"I'll have the usual and bring some wipes and cup of coffee for ....?".
"Philip, my name is Philip"
"That's my dad's name, no wonder you say bullocks. My name is Ruth"
He smiled at her. She was a great conversationist, they talked alot about the pros and cons of the city, as well as other things like music, dreams. He had forgotten all about his interview and the fact that he was still soaked. The beep on his phone jogged his memory.
"My interview!! It's now"
"Well what are you sitting here waiting for, go go go!!!"
"Will I see you again?"
"Only if you get soaked again now hurry".
"Thank you for the coffee!", he yelled as he ran away.
The raining had reduced, he got a cab and headed straight for the interview. People looked at him like a crazy person as he walked in, his clothes wet, with little bits of water dripping down his pants. He was told he was late but they still had the opportunity to take one more person.
"I would like to address the elephant in the room and I'm not talking about the picture of the elephant in the corner of the room" he said as he pointed towards the painting. He explained why his clothes were wet and told them why he was the right person for the job.
"You are definitely qualified, we'll get back to you"
"We'll get back to you? that's the type of thing to say when you aren't going to employ somebody" he thought, walking out of the room. He's wanted to go find Ruth and tell her the interview went bad. He got to the restaurant and saw her still sitting outside, listening to music and pressing her phone
"You're still here?"
"I was kind of hoping you'd come back, how did the interview go?"
"I don't think it went well, the whole day seemed off from the very start. The only sun in the clouds was meeting you today"
"It's just one interview, there'll be tons of others"
He sat down and they continued talking, he knew he liked her. There was just something about her nature, it was charming. A beep on his phone interrupted them again.
"Hi Mr Philip, you forgot your bag with us, my superior saw some of your work and he wants to meet you, how soon can you get here"
The clouds in the sky showed no sign that it had rained earlier. Blue skies with white clouds covered everywhere. His once gloomy day mimicked the weather. He got to meet Ruth and he stood a chance of getting his dream job at the construction.
"Maybe I should've water splashed on me more often", he thought.