Seth lie face down on the bed as he blindly felt around for his phone. The gentle tropical music of marimba was sounding for the third time in the past 15 minutes. The alarm that would follow was the fourth and final and wouldn’t be as considerate. He sat up just in time to turn all the alarms on his phone off to avoid the panic that accompanied it. The clock read 7:35, the same as it did every other morning. He stumbled out of bed and into the kitchen, walking past his computer, glancing at the unavoidable sticky notes that were placed on the keyboard. He walked over to the coffee pot and emptied the damp clump out of the filter and into the trash. He scooped a quarter of a cup of grounds into a fresh filter and slid it back into the coffee maker. He filled the pot up with enough water to make five cups and hit start.

The water from the shower rained down on him as he went over his day in his head. He didn’t have class until 10 so that gave him an hour and a half from the time he was ready to the time he had to leave his house. He had a big presentation for a class early wednesday morning that he had to finish during the gaps in his schedule because he worked at 5 o’clock. He would work on that until class, go to class until 11:15, drive back from campus, make a lunch, work on his presentation, and drive back to campus for class at 2. He would then drive back home at 3:30 and try to finish up his project, make himself something for an early dinner, and leave by 4:45 for work. He wouldn’t get home from the restaurant that night until almost 1 am.

“Seth?” his girlfriend’s voice came from outside the bathroom door. She cracked the door and poked her head in, “I’m leaving for work. Don’t forget you have to deposit the money for rent and drop off the check after class,” she reminded him.

“Yup, have a good day at work Kate,” he said as he recalculated his lunch break in his head.

Seth got out of the shower, dried off and got dressed. He walked out into the kitchen where Kate was still scrambling to pack a lunch.

“You won’t be home for lunch today?” Seth asked.

“No, one of the ladies in the office is sick so we have to work through lunch if we want to get out by 5.” Kate replied.

“Ok, well I’m working late tonight so I guess I won’t really see you until tomorrow.” he said disappointed.

“Please look for another job today”, she responded “You need one that fits better into your schedule.”

“I know, but at least I have a job. I have too much going on to try and look for another one right now.” Seth was becoming stressed as he began to think about the next couple weeks.
“Ok, well I have to go,” Kate said as she gathered her things. “I’m already 5 minutes late.”