Gate C, No Boarding

A recruiting system calls after the flight has already landed. The song stays with the small humiliations that follow: a suit bag carried through terminal carpet, a bathroom mirror, a coffee cooling in one hand, the strange politeness of a machine that can cancel a future without knowing it did.

The airport never becomes dramatic. It stays lit, ordinary, open all night. That is where the ache sits: in having crossed the country for a room that was never going to be held, and in replaying a message because the proof of what happened is sometimes the only thing that will sit beside you.

[Spoken] This is the voicemail the recruiting system left after she landed at Gate C.

[Intro]

[Verse 1] The carpet kept the same blue bruise From the jet bridge to the phones I had your office in my pocket And a suit bag full of folds

The screen said welcome, Charlotte rain The wheels still warm below Then a voice that wasn't sorry Told me not to come in tomorrow

[Pre-Chorus] Press one if you can make it Press two if you cannot I stood there with my boarding pass Like it was something I had bought

[Chorus] No need to call us back No one will be at the desk We appreciate your interest We regret the inconvenience I crossed the whole country For a room they never kept And I laughed because the robot Said my name like we had met

[Verse 2] I changed beside a mirror In a bathroom by the gates Tried to smooth the sleeve my mother said Would make me look my age

I had answers for the question About failure and repair I had three good reasons ready For why I should be there

[Pre-Chorus] Press three for other options There were none I understood A coffee cooling in my hand A resume I made look good

[Chorus] No need to call us back No one will be at the desk We appreciate your interest We regret the inconvenience I crossed the whole country For a door they never meant And I cried because the robot Had a kinder voice than them

[Bridge] Outside the glass, the runway lights Were little stitches in the rain Every plane was leaving somewhere Every mouth forgot my name

I called home, then I hung up Before the ring could start Some bad news is so small It has nowhere to fall apart

[Final Chorus] No need to call us back No one will be at the desk We appreciate your interest We regret the inconvenience I crossed the whole country With the last clean shirt I had And I kept the voicemail playing Just to prove it had been bad

[Outro] Gate C went quiet slowly Then the cleaners came around I slept beside my suitcase With the volume turned all down