My vision begins to get blurry due to my eyes becoming teary, I don't think I would be able to read any further even if I try.
"No…" I say in a breathy way, and I sniffle.
I just had my entire hopes and expectations dashed to the floor and stepped on. I feel so sad that I close the lid of the laptop, looking at the email isn't changing the response. I was not accepted, and the company encourages me to try again next term when they are looking for more applicants.
That would next year, I can't wait that long, and what if I get denied next year too?
I hear a sound at the front door and it opens, it's Liz. She is sweaty and has a smile on her face that fades the moment she looks at me.
"Oh my god, are you hurt?" She rushes to me and leaves the front door open. I am currently sitting in the chair in front of the desk. I can't stop the tears from flowing from my eyes, I feel so disappointed.
"I wish I was," I reply to her as she hugs me. She finally connects the dots when her eyes land on the laptop on the desk.
"No, no. Do not say that," She pulls away from the hug and says to me. I gulp and then I try to wipe the trails that the tears left on my face.
"Now tell me, what's wrong? Did you get the response from the company?" She inquires, and if it was anyone else, I would have felt so ashamed to tell them the truth, but it's Liz. It's freaking Liz and I can tell her anything, no matter what it is.
"I got the response, but just not the one that I wanted," I say to her as I smile sadly. I am no longer crying but I still feel really crappy.
"Okay, can I see it?" She asks and I shrug as I mutter, "Yeah, sure, whatever."
She reaches for my laptop on the desk and she opens the lid. As soon as she does, the opened email appears on the screen. She takes almost two minutes to read it, nodding slowly as she does.
"You see?" I tell her when she is done reading it.
"Yeah, I see. But I also see that this email is not for you," She says and my forehead wrinkles in confusion.
"What–what do you mean?" I stutter as I look at the screen of the laptop, trying to read the email once again.
"I used your laptop last night to check my email," Liz explains and I am still left confused.
"Does that mean that–" I start to say but she completes my sentence for me.
"Yes, I also applied to the company. I wanted it to be a surprise to you, so surprise!" She says as a weak smile clings to her lips.
So that means that this email is not mine, I don't know if I was accepted or not yet! But it is also sad, this also means that Liz was not accepted.
"So what I am going to do," She begins to say as she types on the laptop in a fast motion.
"Is that I am going to log out and just log you in so we can check for your response," She adds.
We know each other passwords for almost everything, and that is only a glimpse of how we trust each other.
"I am so sorry, Liz," I say to her, she has a good job at a hotel as a manager but working at the company would have been an even better job.
"It is okay," She says slowly and then stops typing for a moment and gives me a smile.
"Okay, here we go," She clicks a new email among the other many unread emails that I have in my email account.
"Would you mind doing the pleasure?" She asks me and then she pulls away from the laptop, giving me the opportunity to open the email for myself.
I let out a loud sigh as I click the email open. Liz and I both read what it says and I hold my breath, waiting to see what their decision is. What we are reading right now is just them thanking me for my interest in their company and giving other information.
"Sh*t," Liz says and I scold her.
"Language, Liz," I say to her and she rolls her eyes playfully.
"They accepted you!" She says, but I still have not read in the email where it says that. The email is a bit bulky, much different from the one Liz got in her inbox.
"I don't see–Oh my god!" I say once I read what she was talking about. Liz is a speedy reader, so that explains why she read the part of the email that says that I am accepted before I did.
I stand to my feet, I don't need to read any further. I am accepted, I am freaking accepted!
"Sh*t! They accepted me!" I say excitingly and Liz laughs as she hugs me, congratulating me.
"Language, Iris," My best friend teases me and I continue to laugh. I can not contain how happy I am right now, I am smiling so much that my cheeks hurt.
"Gosh, but you didn't get in," I pull away from the hug and I say in a low tone as I pout.
"Oh, that's fine, I already have a job that pays well. And now is not about me, it's about you, it's about your victory!" She waves it off as if it is nothing and then walks away toward the cabinet.
I know what she is going for, it is our wine collection. Our apartment is not very big so we have an open concept kitchen, anyone can easily walk right into the kitchen because it shares the same space as the living room and workspace.
She opens the cabinet once she reaches it and then she pulls out one of the most expensive wines in our collection. When she has it in her hand, she closes the cabinet and puts it down on the marble countertop.
"I think we need some music!" I say loudly as I take my phone from my pocket. As soon as I try to connect the phone to the speakers to play some music, a call comes in abruptly.
"Who is it?" Liz asks me and I shrug.
"I don't know, it's an unknown number," I reply to her as I answer the phone on the fifth ring.
"Hello?" As soon as I hear the person's voice, I immediately recognize who it is and I am left speechless. No freaking way!