“Well, I have plans to sell it. Everything should be wrapped up by June, July at the latest.” The words sounded strange coming out of my mouth, like a baby falling overboard a ship.
“And then you’re coming back to Seattle?”
“That’s the plan.” I realized I sounded a bit dismissive, so I added, “It’s been great being back. I miss all the sights and sounds of the city. Plus, I’m staying with a friend who is still on campus, so it’s almost like I never left.”
“Still, it must be nice working from home, right?”
“Well, I don’t have internet, so I go to the library. I have to get everything online done before the gamers show up after school. Still, it is kind of fun. There’s a lot of the same stuff as here in Boise, like coffee shops, markets, good book stores, pho and sushi. It’s just there’s fewer options to choose from, and I have to drive a while to get to it all.”
“Well, I grew up in San Francisco, and I can’t even imagine living someplace where there’s no Wi-Fi.” She laughed. “I mean, that’s what we’re protecting.” She pointed at the packet. “I think it’s neat to get snowed in at a lodge, but I can’t imagine having to live and function in a place like that.”
“No, I get it. Believe me, I’d rather …” I had no idea what I was going to say. At that moment, Alma’s assistant called her over and she left to answer a question.
“Hey, girlfriend!” Chloe, a rep from Colorado who I spent a lot of time with at last year’s meeting, tapped me on the shoulder and bent down and gave me a hug. “Guess what?”
“Hey!” I stood up and put my knee into the chair. “I don’t know, what?”
“I’m moving to Seattle! Isn’t that cool?”
“Yeah, that’s supercool.”
“Yeah, I’m going to head the grant writing team, and Alma helped me find a place in Wedgewood! Yay, I get to see the ocean all the time now! I was late getting in from the airport. I’ve been sitting in my rental car, listening to the tail end of the meeting.” She laughed and caught her breath. Time was up for us to go to our department meetings. “Hey, we should go do something tonight. You got plans?”
“Not really, just hanging with friends. You want to come with us?”
“Sure, I’m in. We may run late. If so, I’ll meet up with you.”
When I got out of my meeting, Chloe was still busy with hers, so I caught the bus up to Capitol Hill and went to a coffee shop to kill time until I met Camela, and possibly Chloe, for dinner. I PM’d Chloe the address of the restaurant near the bar, then absentmindedly tooled around the internet for a while. I found myself on Google maps, zeroing in on my dad’s property. The photo was new! I could see the roof of my little green car sitting in the driveway. There was no little peg man to set down for street view, but I could see the fake well still in place, so it wasn’t within the last couple of weeks. The driveway gate was open and the goats were farther out in the field, so it wasn’t feeding time. I’m guessing about mid-day, so what was I doing?... I scanned over the chicken coops and saw little shadowy dots on the ground. I scooted over to the dog run, and I’ll be damned if there weren’t two figures standing inside the gate. It had to be me and Jodie. Damn! I could see her laughing at me and the tender way she approached Frodo. Hmmm. I tried not to drool.
Camela bailed on me for the evening, but Chloe made it and we had some tapas before going to the bar for a drink. You’d think one of the oldest lesbian bars in the Northwest would be a little, I don’t know, bigger, have more features. But at least there is a good DJ, and I usually run into one or two people worth seeing. I think we were there about twenty minutes, total. We danced once and mostly people-watched. I didn’t see anyone I recognized. I tried to picture Jodie in the club, but it only made me laugh. I envisioned her dancing for about a minute before hopping on Sheila’s horse and riding it around the dance floor, lights flashing. In the scenario, she had a lariat like Wonder Woman’s. I wonder what I would tell her if she roped me like that?
Since we both had to go to the office for closing meeting tomorrow, Chloe invited me to stay with her in her hotel room tonight and tomorrow night. Totally platonic, we’re just friends. Plus, she could give me a ride to the airport on Sunday. We swung by Camela’s to pick up my bag, and on the way back, we passed by my old apartment building. I felt a twinge of sadness, knowing that part of my life was completely over now. Some masochistic part of me was tempted to let Ton-Ton know I was in town, but I think, just maybe, that part of me is shut off now.
“Wasn’t that your building before you left?” Chloe slowed her rental car down. “We can stop, if you need to. Do you still have your place here?”
“… No, there’s nothing left there.”
“Oh, okay.” We drove on in silence for a while. “I didn’t mean to bring up anything bad.”
“No, not your fault. I think I’ve
