Closing time...

Hello friends!
It seems my old-fashioned fear of deadlines has finally abated. Here it is Monday, and a holiday at that, and I'm just getting around to posting. When I started this venture, I strictly posted each Wednesday and Sunday. But then again, all good things must end... like Patti and Jane's jobs at mortgage company Thompson, Bell and Johnson.  
 Come on, you knew it wouldn't last for long... Jane's luck has a bit farther to go to fully "turn around." But in the meantime... don't ask me why this text is so small, I have no idea.

Take care and enjoy this snippet.-Jane

***

My texts from Patti read:

Landlord is letting me out of my lease early. Starting to pack already. Want to help me pack? I’ll buy you lunch!

Call me! I need to talk about this!

  I replied to Patti’s texts with my own:

  Words cannot express the joy I feel that I do not ever have to go to that office again.  I’ll head over to your apartment after I get some more sleep.  Lucky you, moving away and getting engaged! Take me with you!

  Patti texted back: Awesome. See you soon.

  I showed up at Patti’s apartment around 10:30 a.m., wearing a t-shirt, a pair of overalls, and some sneakers. Patti’s hair was up as usual, but in a ponytail instead of her usual updo. It was the first time I’d seen her in clothes that showed any kind of wear, and sneakers.

  We collected boxes from a nearby liquor store, bought more boxes and packing material, and worked as long as the caffeine in our lunch drinks allowed. 

  “Thanks for keeping me company for all of this, and helping out,” Patti said as we sat in her living room, surrounded by boxes, after we’d run out of steam. “It’s good to have someone familiar around with all the changes coming up.”

  “You’re welcome. I am glad to do it, because I know someday it will be me who’s leaving, so it’s almost like rehearsal, you know? Getting ready for the real thing.”

  “It probably sounds cliché, but change really can sneak up on you.  Even if you’re not ready for it, you have to deal with it.”

  “Do you need a drink, Patti?” I asked, half-joking.

  “No, but I am just a tad bit nervous about all of my life changing so quickly,” she said. “Well, maybe I do need a drink,” she added.

  “I could use one too.  You don’t want to pack that mostly-empty bottle of rum, do you?”

  “Heck no, bring it over here. There’s got to be something to mix it with in the fridge.”

  We had one last drink together and toasted our friendship and the changes to come.  We toasted the demise of TBJ and never having to deal with bar a$$holes like Jim and Alan again. After all, our lives had had an instant feng shui makeover in the span of just a few days. Out with the old, and in with the new uncertainty.

  I applied for unemployment after that. I figured I’d had enough for a while and needed a good drying-out period.