Chapter one: The girl under the rain

How do most stories begin?

With the golden sun shining brightly in the sky. Its rays find their way through the window and to the face of a happy young girl. Eyelids flapping open, those cute eyes opening up to a world of love.

Well, the reverse was the case for Anna.

"She trudged down the rain-soaked street, her shoulders hunched against the downpour. Thunder boomed overhead, and the streetlamps flickered, casting her shadow across the pavement. She passed by empty shops and houses, their windows dark and lifeless. The only sound was the patter of the raindrops, which seemed to echo in her ears, a lonely rhythm that matched her footsteps."

She had just witnessed something that would send the train of her life in motion. In a direction that she had no control of.

Tears stream heavily down her cheek but you might hardly notice. Because each drop of tears mixes with the rainwater she was drenched in and just rolls down her red face.

Her once well-packed hair was now scattered. Her eyes were red, her lids dark with washed-off makeup. She tried to stop the tears from streaming down further down her cheeks. Wiping her eyes as she ran. She also tried so hard to keep herself from breaking down there and then on the road.

The thundered roared again and again, echoing down the street.

One might have wondered. Why a gorgeously dressed girl, clad in a red gown was running down the street under the rain, with her heels and her purse clasped to her chest.

She ran as fast as her tiny feet could carry until she got to her apartment.

She banged the door hard, ignoring the doorbell, which was just there in sight. She sniffled and tried to hold back the tears.

The cold sets in. just when she is no longer under the rain. The cold breeze made her shiver. She felt like he was just there behind her. His voice echoed in her ears, pleading for her to come back. She kept turning her eyes back around. Deep down, she was hoping to see him. Standing there, behind her, in the rain in a bid to prove his unfading love for her. But it was all nothing but a farce. All of it was a lie and she fell for it.

The door opened up slowly and then there was Kate, her roommate, and her best friend.

"Girl, what happened?" She asked on seeing her friend looking devastated.

"He did it again Katie." she let out, finally setting the tears free as they flooded down her face. "He… he!" she stuttered.

"Come here. Let's get you changed up before you catch a cold." Kate said and pulled her friend inside. She had always known that Allen wasn't meant for Ann. But she just could not understand what her friend saw in that jerk.

Kate got Anna into the room and helped her change up into something dry before they got curled up in the bed.

"He cheated again, didn't he?" Kate asked and she nodded softly. Wiping the tears that escaped the corner of her eyes with the back of her palm.

"Look, Annie, you can't keep doing this to yourself. Allen is a jerk; you have to move on. don't keep crying over some guy who doesn't deserve you nor the love you offer."

"Aren't I good enough for…"

"Shh!" Kate cuts her short with a finger against Anna's lips.

"You are perfect. Don't let some loser make you doubt yourself. Now go sleep," Kare said and patted her gently before covering her up with the duvet.

"You need to get your mind off things while I go to the kitchen and fix you something to eat. Too much heartbreak has made you skinny."

Anna closed her eyes, and for a brief moment, she felt at ease. Sleep came quicker than she expected. She was carried away soon, and when Kate came in with the hot soup, her friend was already fast asleep.

Anna slept peacefully for what seemed to be hours. She flapped her eyelids open. It was quiet outside; the rain had stopped falling and the sun had taken its rightful place in the sky.

She dragged herself up from the bed, her fingers making their way into her hair and scratching the itch she felt.

She tried not to think much about her heartbreak or Allen. She waltzes out of her room and then to the kitchen to fix herself a cup of tea.

"You're a mess!" Kate said from behind startling her a bit.

"Jeez, Kate, you almost gave me a heart attack," Anna said weakly as she picked up the kettle and filled it with water from the sink.

"C'mon, you looked like you got dumped!"

"News flash Kate, I was dumped."

"Okay, I have something that might help?" she said and I turned to her with a raised brow.

"Your help has always seemed to put me in a distressing situation. Remember I met alone because you helped cheer me up?"

"Don't accuse me about that, I told you he was a jerk, didn't I?" She said and walked over, dropping a file on the kitchen island.

Anna walked over to it, sipping her tea which was already getting warm.

"How does a job application help me out here?" Anna asked as she flipped through the pages. "You even filled out the application form, how did you come up with a CV and resume for me?" she muttered, the look of surprise written all over her face.

"I didn't only fill it, I even emailed it to them, and guess what, you were called for an interview!"

"No!" Anna blurted and flipped the pages close before walking away with her tea still in hand.

Kate couldn't believe her ears; "NO!" she heard herself exclaim.

"Yes, I can't do this, I'm a total wreck, my head is lost in the clouds. Allen, my mother, everything!" Anna complained and took her seat on the sofa, holding her cup of tea on her thigh.

Kate sighed and drew close. "Do you want Allen to look at you and say that you are nothing without him and your life hovers around him?" Kate asked and Anna nodded weakly;

"I want to be an independent woman, but…" Anna's voice trailed off as Kate cut her short.

"Then go for this interview," Kate said and handed her the papers.

Anna sighed and nodded.