My briefcase was abandoned at the door as I called out, “Where’s my handsome man?”
The black and brown striped tabby cat poked his head out of a bright purple flower-shaped cat tree in the corner. He let loose a joyful meow before stepping onto a giant furry petal and leaping to the floor. Charlie came barreling toward me, smashing into my shins when he couldn’t stop himself in time on the smooth hardwood floor.
I picked him up and scratched his head as I walked toward my bedroom in the back of the apartment. “Boy, I swear, you are the clumsiest cat I’ve ever met.” He responded by rubbing his furry face against my jaw.
“Now while I’m away, I’m countin’ on you to watch this place, all right?”
I walked through the multi-colored strings of beads that hung in the hallway, and into my bedroom. He leapt out of my arms, and onto the rainbow zebra-striped bedspread, making himself comfortable in the center of my pillow.
“I’ll only be gone three nights, but I have this nice lady comin’ by every day to check on you. So, you’ll have to get along with her, Charlie.”
Turning to my white and turquoise painted dresser, I took off my everyday formal clothes, and traded them for a white polo shirt and khaki colored capris. I tugged on a pair of sneakers and faced Charlie.
“I know how you feel about strangers, boy, but this lady’s your meal ticket for the next few days. It would be in your best interest to make friends.” With a glance towards the feline, I saw that I was being ignored and let out a sigh.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.”
My bag was packed, so I shooed Charlie off the bed and out of my room, closing the door behind me. In the kitchen, I made sure he had enough food and water for the day and took a quick look around the apartment. Everything looked neat, and tidy, and colorful, and interesting. Just the way I like it.
“All right, bubba, I’m leavin’.”
Charlie rubbed the length of his body against my leg, and I relented by giving him one more head scratch. With my apartment locked up tight, I got back in the car, and pulled up my GPS app. As I typed in the address of the cabin I’d rented, I was interrupted by an incoming phone call. I recognized the area code as being from North Carolina, but not local.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Elizabeth Montgomery? It’s Mabel, with the house rental.”
“Ah, yes, of course. I was just heading your way now.”
“Oh, perfect! I’m fixin’ to head over there and drop off the key. It’ll be in the box on the doorknob. We could leave the key there all the time, but sometimes we go weeks without a renter, and I just don’t like the thought of leavin’ the key just sittin’ there. I know you need the code to open the box, but they got all kinds of gadgets these days to steal just about anything, don’t they? I don’t trust it. Besides, I can take a look around while I’m there and make sure nothin’s gone wrong. Most of the folks we get are good people, but there’s always a rotten one in the bunch every now and again. Ya’ know, one time we had a man leave a bunch of needles in the kitchen trash?” She sounded scandalized.
“Maybe he was a diabetic?” I offered.
“Ya’ know what, honey? That could be true. The man did look... well fed. Ya’ know, I had a girlfriend who had a diabetes spell, and it took her foot! Poor thing’s hobblin’ around now–”
“Ma’am? What did you say the code was? I want to write it down.” I knew she hadn’t offered it yet, but I needed to get her to stop talking without being rude. There was no surer way to make an enemy in the south than by forgetting your manners.
“Oh, sure, baby. You ready now?”
I rolled my eyes but smiled. “Yes, ma’am. I’m ready.”
“It’s 0-8-1-3-8-7. Ya’ got that, now?”
“Yes, ma’am. I got it.”
“Okay, sweetie. You need anything, you call me, ya’ got it?”
“Yes, ma’am, I got it,” I repeated. In situations like this, it paid to keep it simple. Taciturn.
“Okay, honey. Take care. I’ll talk to ya’ later.”
“All right, thanks. You too,” I responded and quickly ended the call.
Dang, that woman could talk.
I typed in the address and headed toward the highway while the directions finished loading. I had a three hour and forty-three-minute drive ahead of me. At a red light, I plugged the aux cord into my phone, and selected the new Nicholas Sparks novel I was listening to.
The narration sounded through the speakers, and I dug out my sunglasses with a smile. This long-fought-for weekend away was just what I needed. The pressure to work harder, be smarter, stay longer than all my male counterparts wore on me. I didn’t let it show, but I felt what the stress was doing to me.
I’d lost a few unnecessary pounds for that reason. Between working through lunch and being so tired after work I sometimes fall asleep before dinner, it was no wonder my clothes were loose. I’d always relished being a curvy girl, and unlike most women, wasn’t happy losing those few pounds. Even my honey blonde hair was looking duller.
This weekend, I’d promised myself no work, and I thought that was exactly what I needed. A few days to read, nap, hike, and take pictures. All the things I used to love doing before work consumed my life.
Wish I’d known then how much I should have appreciated my blissfully simple life. Wish I could have somehow prepared myself for how
