Andre smiled despite himself. Leah adjusted the knot one last time. You don't need to become somebody else in there. Just let them see what you're actually good at. Andre wished confidence could be borrowed as easily as money.
Marlo Dynamics had invited him to interview for an operations coordinator position at 8:45 that morning. The company operated freight technology, warehouse systems, and distribution networks across several states. It was exactly the kind of place Andre had always wanted to work. Not because it was glamorous, but because scale fascinated him. At every small company where he had worked, he had seen little inefficiencies that nobody thought were worth fixing.
A schedule copied from one year into the next because changing it felt inconvenient. A data form that forced employees to enter the same information three times. A delivery route everyone complained about, but nobody analyzed. Andre had submitted suggestions for years. Some had helped, most had been ignored.
One supervisor had written in a review that Andre had useful observations outside assigned responsibilities. Andre had read that line enough times to understand what it meant. Good idea, wrong chair. 4 months earlier, the transportation company where he worked had cut nearly a third of its staff. Andre was among them.
Since then, every week had made the apartment feel smaller. Marlo Dynamics could change that. The salary would cover the rent. Keep Leah's college plans alive and give Andre something he had almost stopped expecting, a chance to move forward instead of merely staying afloat. There was no money for a taxi, and the bus route near their apartment had been late too many times for Andre to trust it on a morning like this.
He rolled his secondhand bicycle out of the building. He had paid $65 for it 2 years earlier. It was not pretty, but he maintained it carefully because replacing it was not an option. Marlo Dynamics was about 5.4 miles away. He had 37 minutes.
Andre rode hard through the morning traffic. A delivery van blocked the bike lane on Trade Street, forcing him into the road. A city bus sat through nearly an entire signal while passengers boarded. At every stop, Andre checked the time. 8:21 8:26 8:31.
He was still fine. At 8:34, the glass tower of Marlo Dynamics came into view several blocks ahead, reflecting the morning sun. Andre felt the tightness in his chest loosen for the first time all day. 11 minutes he was going to make it. Then he saw the papers scattered across the sidewalk.
At first, that was all he noticed. Sheets of white paper lifting in the breeze near a stone planter. Then he saw the woman crouched beside them, one hand gripping the edge of the planter for balance. She was dressed in a fitted coat and expensive looking shoes, though one heel had snapped sideways. Her handbag was open on the pavement.
She pressed the button on her phone again and stared at the dark screen with growing frustration. People moved around her without slowing. Andre reduced his speed. He looked at the woman, then at the tower ahead. He checked his watch.
11 minutes. He kept riding for several yards. Every practical part of his mind told him that continuing was the responsible choice. Leah needed that job almost as much as he did. Their rent was overdue.