Time flew quickly. I blinked, and Dad was getting situated in his new little apartment. The first time I visited, just two days later, I found him laughing with an old friend from the plant. They were living only one floor apart. My Dad was already more alive than I had seen in over a decade.
I blinked again, and Katia and I were cleaning out the house, and the new buyers were in escrow. Randy said he’d come help us, but I wasn’t holding my breath.
I had been there for a little over an hour when Katia arrived. I opened the door to my best friend, my ride or die, and then laughed. She held up two bottles of champagne and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. It was the t-shirt that made me laugh. She had obviously made it herself. It was bright purple and pink tie-died (because Katia was a unique person who randomly liked to tie-dye clothes).
Across the top read Congrats to my bestie for making partner! That’s right cyber spies, look out, because she’s got her cyber eye on you. The lettering got smaller and smaller as it went through.
Her husband bought her a Cricket last year. He and I both agreed it had not been the brightest of ideas. She loved it a little too much. And now they had their names and random phrases on literally every material in their house.
“Congrats, Fi!!!” Katia lifted her champagne filled hands in the air and moved in for a hug.
“Congrats on what?”
Katia stepped back from me, as we both turned toward the deep voice. Shockingly, Randy had arrived. And on time.
I cleared my throat nervously. I always felt a little bad that my dreams were coming true and his weren’t. “I, uh, got a promotion at work. It’s no big deal.”
Katia snorted and rolled her eyes at me. “They made her a Junior partner. That’s a big freaking deal, Fi.”
I blushed. It was a big deal, but I wasn’t used to being treated like that. I was completely blindsided when they approached me the week before, saying I was in the running. I had been a nervous wreck when I sat down with the Senior partners for a “talk.” I thought for sure they were going to pass me up, especially with how much time off I had taken recently. But no. They had seen it all differently. Not only was I family oriented, but I proved that I could still balance my work load, while taking care of my family.
Go figure.
It also brought to light how much of everyone else’s work I usually ended up helping with - cough, cough, Chris, cough, cough.
“Wow, Fi. That’s awesome. Congrats.” Randy wrapped me in a warm hug. “I’m so proud of you, sis.” He sounded like he actually meant it too.
“Thanks.” I croaked, making them both laugh.
We spent the next few hours packing up everything in the house, creating piles for storage, give-away, and what we would take with us. Even Katia was going to take a few things, mostly for her girls – and to pass onto me when I was ready. If I was ever ready for my own.
By the time we decided food was a necessity, we were all covered in dust and sweat. We sat around the dining room table, probably for the last time before it got put into storage for who knows how long, and munched on a couple pizzas, wings, and breadsticks. Katia, like the mother she was, would not let us have the brownie-cookies until we finished our dinner.
“So, what all is going to be different with the promotion?” Randy asked, taking a big bite of his Meat Lovers.
I shrugged, finishing my bite of the Hawaiian. “Not much really. I get a bigger office, which is kind of cool, since I’m moving up a floor. I will have a handful of people reporting to me, and I will report directly to a Senior partner. That part I could live without.”
Katia giggled. “Hopefully after being around them so much, they will stop freaking you out all the time.”
