Late Warehouse Shift, Phone in the Vending Machine

Late Warehouse Shift, Phone in the Vending Machine

I was late for my shift at the warehouse and couldn’t find my phone, which I needed for the door code. I was on the 7 bus but it kept stopping inside the mall food court, rain on the windows even though we were indoors. Everyone had those cheap neck lights from the kiosk, pulsing ads for payday loans. My old roommate from college was the driver and also the security guy at work; he scanned my face twice and said my badge was expired even though I just got it. I kept running down the hallway behind receiving and it just stretched, same fluorescent lights, same wet floor. I finally found my phone in a vending machine, screen cracked, showing my mom’s number looping. I felt embarrassed and a little sick, like I’d missed the whole day already.