Spirits in the Material World Pt. 11

All persons are over the age of 18, and all characters and locations are totally fictional.

None of these parts or chapters stand alone. The narrative picks up where the previous one left off.

Sunday, continued:

Alan needed to think about how to broach the subject of his impending departure with his team at work. They knew he was looking; they just did not know that he had found and accepted something else. He knew several of them would want to follow him to his new employer. He did not know how to address that. He did feel he owed it to his current boss to leave the project team in a good place. He thought about who he would recommend being promoted to the project manager position. Running through the list of the team, he realized there was nobody on the team who would like to step up. Sighing mightily, he set those worries aside.

The item he kept coming back to was where would Rose and the girls live. It was too bad that his house had only three bedrooms, and there was not room in the basement to fashion another bedroom. He just felt bound up by the circumstances. He so wanted Rose to move in and share his bed on a nightly basis, but he had to balance that with the need for Maggie to have her own space, at least until she went off to college in the fall. And what to do about both David and Tom coming home on breaks? He just kept circling the drain and not making any progress.

When you can't think your way out or through a situation, then just do something. Alan got up and headed to the kitchen to investigate the refrigerator for what to do for supper and lunches during the week. He could cobble together some leftovers for that night and Monday, but the selections for meals after Monday's supper were slim pickings. He really missed Laura. She would have had a plan and would have been working it already. He could not live on take-out; he needed to "plan his work, then work his plan". Sometimes the Scouting stuff applied to real life, too. Fine. Pasta and Meat Sauce usually worked well to provide lunches and suppers, and it was simple to make. He'd start there and see where the wind blew him.

* * * * *

The Lawsons' return trip to Centreville was uneventful (the best kind), and they stopped at the grocery store to lay in supplies for the week. Maggie and Rose had talked nearly the entire trip from Middleburg and had covered several topics in their discussions.

"Ok, love, we need to do some thinking," Rose began. "On the fortunate side, our lease on the apartment is up at the end of January. We might as well just pay the January rent and be moved out before then. It will give us a little more time to properly clean the place after moving."

"But where do we move to, Mom?" Maggie asked.

"That's the rub, Mags. We need to find a place to move into and get you transferred. I'm so sorry about taking you out of Centreville in the middle of your senior year."

"Pffft! I'm more attached to some of the teachers than I am to most of my classmates. They'll probably cheer when I'm not there anymore to wreck a grading curve. It may even make things more special when and if I get together with old girlfriends from Centreville later in life." Maggie broke into an ear-to-ear smile. "Besides, I've got a cool boyfriend who is 'into' me!" she said in a sing-song voice.

"Yes, yes you do, Magpie." Rose could not help but grin at Maggie's joy. "Do you have a preference about what kind of place we get? Not that you get to decide, but I do want to know what you are thinking."

"If it's an apartment, then a ground floor one, please. If it's a house, one near to the Harrisons' home would be preferable. No trailers or not-so-mobile homes, please, though."

Rose nodded her head in agreement. "First things first, then. You need to find out from the office what we need to do to get you transferred to Middleburg High School. As far as where to live, we can do some research online this week then go look in person next weekend."

They chatted about inconsequential things the rest of the way back to Centreville.

* * * * *

David's return trip to school was the best kind -- uneventful. He sent a text to Alan informing him of his safe arrival, to which Alan responded with a "thanks". Then he sent one to Maggie of his safe arrival, and he set about preparing for the last week of classes before finals next week. He acknowledged to himself that he could not go back home next weekend, right before finals, even though he thought it likely that Maggie would be back there with Rose.

The food service's meal for that night was fried chicken, a pleasant change from the mystery loaf that often was offered on Sundays. He was enjoying the food when a text came in from Maggie. However, his fingers were all greasy and he did not wish to smudge his phone to respond. He looked to the napkin holder, but it was empty, as was every other one in the dining room. Stymied, he rationalized that they would talk at 7:30, so a response to her message was not high on his priorities. Then another text from Maggie which he also could not respond to. Five minutes later, another text from her. He began to get a bad feeling in his stomach. Opting to cut his meal short, he returned the tray and dishes to the window, then headed for a restroom to wash and clean his hands. With his hands now cleaned of fried chicken grease, he unlocked his phone and saw the messages from Maggie.

Magpie: * Did you get there ok? *

Magpie: * David, please let me know you got there safely. Your phone just rolls to voicemail *

Magpie: * If I don't hear from you in ten minutes, I'm calling the state police *

Oh shit. He noticed that his message to her from his arrival had not been received. Double crap! David dialed Maggie's mobile phone, but it rolled to voicemail after ringing only once. So, she was not using her phone, but she could not answer a call. He left a message.

"Maggie, my call rolled to voicemail after ringing only once. When was the last time you shut down and restarted your phone? This happened to me once, a long time ago. Please try it and call me back!" he pleaded. "I'm safe at school. I sent you and Dad a text before I even got out of the Jeep. Call me, please!"

Maggie called him about ten minutes later and she was profusely apologetic for her ire. Once she had restarted her phone, she could see the text David had sent much earlier, along with texts from other girlfriends there in Centreville. She'd also been alerted to his voicemail waiting for her. Once she heard his panicked voice, she felt horrible about threatening to contact the state police. For his part, David was touched and gratified that she cared for him so much. Perhaps this could be a topic for discussion, later. They agreed she would call him a bit later and he promised to be available. Parting with soft 'I love you's, they disconnected. David then rebooted his phone, just to be safe.

Walking back to his dorm room, David's thoughts were whirling about in a tornadic frenzy. "Is this what usually comes with having a girlfriend? Drama, panic, ultimatums? Is the juice worth the squeeze?" The times of physical and intellectual closeness had been very pleasant. Watching 'Dogma' together on Saturday had been quite a nice time. They had had some discussion about points raised in the movie, which had led to even more closeness. But the manufactured crisis about communication tonight was far from pleasant.

David reached his dorm room to find his roommate, Robert, who had returned from wherever he had been earlier.

"Hey, dude," Robert greeted David.

"Hey back atcha," came David's reply. "Have you had supper yet?"

"Yeah, me and Miranda had Taco Bell. You?"

"Fried chicken from SAGA (the food service). Greasy as all hell. Do you have a little time to talk now?"

"Yeah, I can give you ten minutes or so. Got that paper due tomorrow, you know."

David smirked, as he had already turned it in before going home on Friday.

"Ok, so I've got this new girlfriend at home, a high school senior who's going to State in the fall."

"Uh-huh. That's why you were gone for the weekend, again?" Robert deduced.

"Yeah, and to give you and Miranda some safe space. Well, does she want to know where you are and what you are doing almost every minute, or am I just special? She about freaked out when she did not get my text that I'd made it here safely. Threatened to call the state police."

"Oh, you've got yourself a Klingon, eh? No, Miranda's pretty cool about when we're not together. Thank you for the space and time this past weekend. Any chance of a repeat this coming weekend?"

"Dude, we've got finals starting next week! No, I'm here until finals are done. Sorry, amigo. Give me some advance notice and I'll go haunt the library or something for a few hours, though. Maybe the issue with Maggie is that we're so far apart, physically. Or it could be a high school thing that she'll grow out of. Guess I need to talk to her about it."

"I'm sorry I can't be much help for you. Are you two gonna talk tonight? I can disappear for a bit, but I've really got to get that paper done."

"Thanks, but I think the discussion will be pretty tame. Stick around and work on your paper."

"Aren't you going to work on your paper too?" Robert asked.

"Dude, I finished it last week and turned it in before I went home. Like my dad says, 'it wasn't raining when Noah started building the Ark.' Sometimes ya gotta plan ahead a little."

"Well, can you let me see what you turned in?" Robert cajoled.

"Not gonna happen. You copy too much and we both get an 'F'. I'll try to help you organize your thoughts if you get stuck."

"Fair enough. You got that damn Scout stuff deep inside you, don't you? Gotta do what's right."

"Only way I know how to be, Robert. Only way I know how to be."

* * * * *

Alan called Rose at 8:55 that evening. She was a little surprised, thinking she was supposed to call him, but she answered the call with joy in her heart and her voice.

"Alan, my love! I thought I was supposed to be calling you tonight."

"I just couldn't wait any longer to hear your voice, Rose. I love you. I don't know why I'm being such a fool to ignore what is right in front of my face. I miss you so very much already."

"Oh, Alan, I miss being wrapped in your loving embrace, protected from everything around me. I love you too, so very much. But I understand where you are coming from about where to put everybody. It's your cool reasoning that helps me stay focused on the main things."

"So, what did you and Maggie talk about on your return trip?" Alan inquired.

"She doesn't care if we move to a house or an apartment, just no trailer or mobile home." Rose snickered. "I think she's afraid of living in a tornado magnet."

Alan snorted. "I don't think that's her leading concern, Rose. So, aside from the no-trailer rule, what is your preference?"

"My preference, Alan dear, is to sleep in your bed next to you. Barring that possibility, I want to be physically near to you, so perhaps a house in your neighborhood could work for us. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?"

"Not off the top of my head right now, Rose. But let me work my network. I keep coming back to it, but my church family has a wonderful way of manifesting things, like your new job for instance. Maybe somebody there is looking to rent out their home for a while or knows of something."

Rose then derailed the conversation with her description of what she was doing with her fingers, and soon Alan was playing along until the unavoidable conclusion was reached by both of them.

* * * * *

Monday

"Manic Monday" by the Bangles woke Alan at 6:00 am on Monday. The DJs were at it again, tying music choices to the day of the week. The song and the memories attached to it brought a smile to Alan's face and he practically leaped out of bed to get the day started. Not needing to alleviate any backlog after Rose's husky and raspy voice coaxed him to replicate her actions, Alan quickly showered, shaved, and got dressed for the first day of his last two weeks at this job. He received a "good morning" text from Rose as he was parking his car at work. He responded in kind and promised to talk that evening.

Alan was at his desk by 7:15 that morning and wrestling with how he would inform his team of his decision to move on. The formal notice of resignation did not take him long at all to compose. "It is with sincere emotion that I hereby tender my resignation of employment to be effective no later than the close of business on Friday, 18 December." This would allow management to walk him out earlier if they so desired. He signed and dated the paper and placed it on Bob's desk squarely in front of his chair. Emerging from Bob's office, Alan looked around the office at the few other early birds. Alan began to have a sense of detachment from the place and the people. Maria's actions and lies had really done a number on his loyalties, reflecting now the loyalties shown to him by the company, that is to say, none.

Alan kept his head down and profile low as the rest of the office shambled in from their weekend. He generally enjoyed going to work and could not relate well to those for whom work was a burden or a chore to be "gotten through with". Reflecting on this, he could see how his cheerful personality could be unappreciated by some, but that was their issue to deal with, not his. He remained true to his core values, especially the ones of Friendly, Courteous, Kind, and Cheerful. He was early to the daily 9 am stand-up meeting and he pleasantly greeted his team as they made their way into the small conference room. When everyone had arrived, he gestured for the last one in to close the door, which raised many eyebrows as he generally did not close the door for their meetings.

"First up, stand-up meetings will not occur on Tuesdays or Thursdays," he announced. "Plan your work accordingly and keep the communications flowing among the team. Quickly now, around the room. Issues and blockers only. Email me with your successes so they may be shared with the team and with management." Ten minutes later, everyone had shared their issues and/or blockers. As he was about to end the meeting, Julie raised the question on many of their minds.

"Boss, what's going on with you here? Are you leaving?"

"I was waiting for someone to ask. You all know that I will not lie or stretch the truth. I have tendered my resignation effective the 18^th unless management desires my departure sooner. And that is all I have to say on that matter for now. Now, go do that voodoo that you do so well!" Alan dismissed the team and others in the office noticed their downcast expressions as his team departed the conference room. By 9:30 most of the office knew Alan was leaving and overall attitudes did a nose-dive. The company generally had a very low turnover rate, and eyebrows were raised all around the office.

Not that Alan wished any ill to befall anybody (not even Maria), but he allowed himself a small twitch of a smile at the quiet furor he observed in others' behaviors. He just maintained a quiet presence with a low profile and he allowed others to scurry about in their discomfort at the coming changes. He did agree to serve as a reference for three others when they quietly IM'd him, giving them his phone number and non-work email address. He did not respond to anybody's questions about where he was going or what he was going to be doing.

He was just getting up to put on his coat to head out the door at the end of the workday when Bob, his immediate supervisor, stopped in his cube and asked to speak with Alan in the large conference room. Alan agreed and shut down his computer but left his coat on his chair back and followed Bob. All the other project managers were already seated plus Bob and Bob's boss, Sam, the local Vice President. The seat at the near end of the table was vacant and Bob indicated for Alan to have a seat. Sam cleared his throat, then took a big drink of water, and began.

"Alan, your resignation appears to have caught most of us," he said, looking sideways at Bob, "quite unprepared. I am given to understand that this change may be due to some miscommunications, and I would like to get to the bottom of this."

"Miscommunications, Sam?" Alan asked with a slight lilt of incredulity in his voice. "I don't believe anything was mis-communicated, sir. I'm leaving the employment of this company a week before Christmas. I can't see anything mis-communicated about it."

"Please permit me to restate. Would you please tell us why you have tendered your resignation?"

"Circumstances have arisen in the last two weeks which have led to the re-examination of my employment here. Directly resulting from that re-examination, I have been presented with an alternative employment opportunity which I have subsequently considered and accepted. As I wished to be fair, I have supplied the customary two weeks' notice and have said very little about it to anyone else."

"This all seems 'coincidentally' sudden, Alan," Sam pressed, this time looking sternly at the ladies in the room whose company included Maria. "Were there any external contributing factors for this re-examination of your position with us? You've been with us for over twelve years, is that correct?"

"If there were external contributing factors, they were exactly that: external. Yes, my 12th anniversary was on October 1^st. Sam, I know what you're trying to get out of me, but I am not the type to throw anybody under a metaphorical bus." Alan's glance flickered to Maria, then back to Sam. "I have already demonstrated my 'disloyalty' to the company, and I would be the first one on the chopping block if it ever came to personnel cuts. I never accept a counteroffer, not that I've had too many opportunities to do so, but in short, it's too late to do anything to keep me here. If I was so valuable to the company, shouldn't something have been done prior to now?" Alan allowed the silence to go on for about ten seconds, then asked, "Is there something else I can do for you tonight, or may I get my coat and head for my empty home?"

Sam just sat there, mouth agape, in surprise. Bob was not surprised at Alan's unwillingness to raise the real issue about his departure, but he was a little taken aback at his directness and bluntness. He felt a slight dig at Alan's comment about an 'empty home', though. He had not eased up on Alan much after Laura passed away, and he felt a little guilty. Maria had been counting on Alan's nature to be kind but feared a confrontation about her lies. The other ladies who had originally flocked to her side when she told her tale of woe and betrayal had been steadily backpedaling in their support of her. Everyone else present in the room for the hour-long discussion before and for the five minutes of Alan's presence was just keeping their eyes focused on the notepads before them. A couple of twitches of mouths might have been noticed had anyone been looking. With a nod of his head, Alan quietly exited the room, collected his coat, and headed out the door.

* * * * *

Rose awakened that Monday morning to the tapping on her bedroom door. She looked over at the alarm clock, which had not been activated and so, consequently, did not go off at the desired time coordinates. Said clock displayed a 7:05 am time, and the knocking on her door sounded again, this time a bit louder.

"Please come in, Maggie. Do you happen ... oh." Rose's voice trailed off as the question she was about to ask was answered by the presence of a coffee mug in Maggie's hands. "Thank you, dear heart." Maggie handed off the coffee mug to Rose, then sat on the corner of the bed to talk.

"So, Mom, did you forget to set your alarm last night?"