Serendipity (2 page)

“I love you, too, Pheebs.”

I slip into gym shorts and a tank top and my motivation to workout leaves me. I plop on the couch and flip through the channels until I pass by a show about a 400lb. woman, and suddenly my motivation is back. I pull my blonde hair into a high ponytail and slide a headband on to catch any stray hairs that may fall in my face while I run.

My heart rate is already quickening at the thought of releasing all the pent up frustration from my day at work.

I take the stairs, bouncing on each step, and stick in my ear buds, humming to the tune that fills my ears.

When I reach the gym, I look around to see only one other resident. Thank God, I hate working out around a lot of people. Not that I’m self-conscious, I just like this to be
my
time.

I pull open the door and smile at old Mr. Watson, peddling on the stationary bike and panting as if he’ll keel over at any minute. He smiles weakly as sweat pours down his face.

“Hi, Mr. Watson,” I wave and walk over to the treadmill and set my things in place.

He stops peddling and takes a drink of water before exiting the bike and wiping it down.

“Hi, Phoebe,” he says breathlessly. “Enjoy your run.” Taking the towel off the handlebars, he wipes down his face and rest for a minute to regulate his breathing before leaving.

I do a silent fist pump, thanking the heavens above that I have the place to myself for the time being.

Two hours later, I walk back into the apartment. My breathing erratic, I crash onto the couch and let the cool leather soothe my scorching body. Closing my eyes, I steady my breathing and relax my sore muscles. My legs always hurt after a good run but it’s worth it for the results. Once relaxed, I tear myself—literally—from the couch and jump into the shower. The warm spray washes the sticky sweat from my body and I feel refreshed and revived.

After I towel dry myself I slip into a pair of pajamas, pull back the covers on my bed, and slide in. Glancing at the clock, I notice it’s almost ten. My mom won’t be home for another couple of hours but that’s nothing new and I usually only wait up for her on the weekends.

Getting up and going to work at 6am during the week is draining and although my weekends don’t usually hold much excitement for me, I still look forward to the two days a week where I get to sleep in.

The next day, work carries on as usual until I get a call from Mr. Keiser asking to see me in his office. I take my notepad and a pen, because this is usually when we go through his schedule for the following day. In this case, as it is Friday, we will be looking at making adjustments for Monday’s schedule.

Opening the door to his office, I glance out the floor-to-ceiling windows that make up Mr. Keiser’s back wall. The panoramic view is stunning. There are large buildings all around but if you stand in a certain spot, you can see Lake Michigan.

I pull out a chair and seat, clicking my pen, I prepare to take any notes that he may have for me. I know his schedule by heart so there’s really no need for me to bring my planner in with me. Mr. Keiser is almost ready to retire so there isn’t much that he does anymore in the way of business. He still takes trips when needed for projects and meets with clients, but anything else, he simply delegates.

“Make yourself comfortable, Phoebe. Can I get you something to drink?” He scoots back his chair and begins to stand, but I hold up my hand and stop him.

“No, that’s okay. Thank you, I have water out on my desk,” I smile.

He sits back down and pulls in his chair. Resting his elbows on the desk, he clasps his hands together and smiles. “No need for the notes today, Phoebe. Right now I just need to talk with you. We can go over my schedule towards the end of the day.”

“Oh, okay,” I put the pen in my lap, cross my legs and sit up a little straighter.

“Relax, Phoebe,” he gives me a reassuring smile before continuing. “The reason I called you in here today is because we’d like to offer you the PR Representative position. It comes with a significant raise as well as many other benefits which I’m sure you’re aware of. If you choose to accept our offer, we would need you to start immediately.”

Bouncing up from my seat, I walk around the desk and wrap my arms around him in a hug. “Yes, yes. I’ll take the job! Oh, thank you, Mr. Keiser.” I look up and I’m surprised to find he doesn’t appear to be sharing my enthusiasm. “Is there something wrong, sir?” I look at him confused.

“No, Phoebe, nothing’s wrong.” He sighs, giving me a sympathetic smile.

“Are you sure?” I sit back down in my chair slowly, waiting for the ‘but’.

“Yes, nothing at all. You do realize that if you take this job, you will be starting the first of May which only gives you a week to prepare?”

“Yes, sir, I can handle it. This is a dream come true, and I won’t let you down.”

He shakes his head and chuckles. “I know you won’t. I just want to make sure you’re prepared.”

“Oh, yes! Mom is going to be so happy!”

“That’s the thing I wanted to talk to you about.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on the desk.

My smile quickly fades. Why would he want to talk to me about my mom?

“You see, Phoebe, the job isn’t in
this
office…”

“Oh, I knew there was a chance for a transfer with this job. Mom and I already talked about it and with the extra income, moving shouldn’t be a problem.” I pause for a minute while all of the possibilities race through my head. “So, where is it? LA? Detroit? New York? Miami?”

He shakes his head after each location I rattle off and my heart drops. That leaves only one possibility.

“Hick—I mean Nashville?!” I nearly choke on my words. I’ve always wanted to go to LA and live amongst the celebrities… well kind of. Detroit has so much culture and a great downtown area. New York, well, no explanation is needed—same with Miami. I would have no problem lounging on the beach almost all year long.

“Yes Phoebe, the vacancy is in Nashville. It’s not what you think. Nashville is a great city with lots of life around. There’s never a dull moment and I’m sure, that soon enough, you won’t even miss Chicago.” He smiles.

Not miss Chicago? What is this guy smoking? There is no way I’m moving to Nashville. Mom said she would be willing to move if we had to, but I never even considered that the position would be in Nashville.

I swallow past the lump in my throat that seems to be growing with each passing second. I nod my agreement, because forming words is next to impossible. I brush back the blanket of blonde hair that lies heavily on my neck where sweat starts to form. I fan myself with my hand and blow out a couple of breaths.

“Are you going to be okay, Phoebe?” Mr. Keiser asks with concerned eyes.

I nod again and stand to leave when he calls to me. I glance over my shoulder and see his round, jolly face light up.

“You’re going to knock their socks off. I have complete faith in you, Phoebe.” He’s always been a big supporter of mine. He’s the one that took a chance on the scared girl that was fresh out of high school, giving me a job that some people in their twenties would be envious of.

I smile. “Thank you, sir. This is such a great opportunity.”

He nods and I make my way back to my desk. I slump in my chair and stare at the blinking red light on my phone, alerting me to my messages. Picking up the phone, I’m prepared to listen to my messages but my mind races with thoughts of the move. I slam the receiver back down and walk back to Mr. Keiser’s office. I knock on the ajar door and peek in. “Yes, Phoebe?”

I stick my head in and clear my throat. “You said I start in a just over a week?”

“That’s correct,” he says, without looking up from his computer.

“And the job is in Tennessee?” I bite my lip nervously.

“Also correct.” He stops typing and rests back in his chair.

“When is my last day here, sir? I need to train someone for my job.” I push the door open and wait for his response.

“All of the logistics are handled. We have someone coming from the Detroit office to take over your job.” He crooks his finger in a ‘come here’ motion. “Have a seat, Phoebe. I didn’t get to finish what I wanted to say. I saw the look on your face and I wanted to give you a minute to let it all sink in before I continued.”

Continued? What the hell?

“Phoebe,
today
is your last day. You have plenty of vacation time banked so we thought we would let you use some of that so you have time to pack and move before you have to actually start working. If you’d like to continue working that’s fine too, but we need you down there as soon as possible. There are some boxes in the print room if you’d like to use those to gather your things but other than that, I need you to take next week to prepare for the move. There’s a hotel set up for you that has a kitchenette and everything you may need to feel at home. You’ll have a spending allowance for food, just like any company trip, and there will be a rental car waiting for you at the airport,” he says.

My head is swirling from all of this news. What if Mom doesn’t want to come with me? What if I get down there and I decide that I made a big mistake in accepting this offer?

It would be nice to have a little bit of a break. I never use my vacation time. There was never any real need to and I hated taking time away from work. There is so much to do. I don’t think I can make it there in a week and what about my apartment? I still have rent to pay and I can’t pay that off right now. There is no way I’m breaking the lease and paying all that extra money.

As if reading my mind, Mr. Keiser speaks up. “As part of your benefits, we’ll pay off the remainder of the lease on your apartment. It’s only for another year and I thought that maybe your mom could stay there. If not, then we’ll pay any early termination fees and you can use your extra money to establish a permanent residence near Nashville.”

I’ve always lived in the Chicago area and I thought that’s where I’d always stay, but if I want this then I guess I’m going to have to break away from the only home I’ve ever known and follow my dreams.

I shake Mr. Keiser’s hand and thank him again for the opportunity. In a haze, I leave his office and head to the print room to gather boxes to pack up the last six years of my life.

As the day progresses, the news spreads like wild fire. By the end of the day, I was receiving farewell wishes from everyone I passed and someone even brought in a cake and threw me a small party. I tried hard to keep the tears at bay while I hugged and thanked each of my co-workers.

On my walk home, my box of belongings resting against my hip, I thought about how I was going to break the news to my mom. On Fridays she works a later shift so I’ll have more time to discuss the move before she has to run off to work.

I climb the steps slowly, one at a time, and breathe in and out trying to calm my nerves. I open the door to the apartment and set my box of things down by the door, glancing around at the things that make this place home to me.

“Mom?” my voice echoes through the apartment.

I plop down on the couch when I hear the shower running. I have probably five minutes before I have to tell my mom that our lives are about to change, and I’m not sure how well she’s going to take it. I’ve been dealing with change since I was young so I’m used to it, but not my mom. She did what she had to do but I could always tell that it bothered her.