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“Mom, stop. I need to do this.”
“You’ll leave me here all alone? With no one to look after me? You would do that?” Jeez, she’s not taking any prisoners.
“I am not leaving you, I’m moving to the city. You knew it would happen eventually.”
“I didn’t think it would be this soon. It’s because of that boy, isn’t it?” she accuses. This is ridiculous.
“No, Mom. It’s not because of Chase. I’ll be working in the city and western Nassau. I don’t want to commute for hours a day. This is what I want, what I need.”
The tears start to run down her cheek. “But I need you here,” she sobs. I sit down next to her on the couch.
“Mom, I’m not leaving you. I’ll be by on the weekends, and there’s always the phone.”
“You promise, you’ll come by?”
“Yes, of course.” I sigh. “I’m not moving out of the country, Mom, it’s just Manhattan.”
She tries to smile, but it’s a halfhearted attempt. I give her a hug. “I promise.” I know she’s hurt, but I need to start my life and I can’t do it here.
“You don’t have any furniture,” she says, releasing me. “Or a bed,” she sniffles.
“I’ll worry about that later.” I brush off her change in topic. I don’t need her worrying about that too.
“At least let me buy you a bed. You need a bed.” Yes, that will help her transition.
“Okay, but just a bed. Nothing else.”
“Do you need help packing anything up?” Helping me pack would be good for her. I could use that time as a bonding moment.
“Sure, but I don’t have much to pack.”
“Of course you do. Everything in your room is yours,” she says softly.
“I thought I’d leave that stuff here, in case I want to stay over.”
“Oh, okay.” She smiles as though the thought didn’t occur to her. “Yes, that’s a good idea.”
“I thought I would start packing some of my clothes tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’ll be home later in the afternoon.” A faint smile blooms on her lips. Well, that went better than I expected.
“Okay Mom, thanks.” I give her a quick kiss on the top of her head and go back upstairs.
Crisis averted. At least she can help me and maybe use that time to transition to an empty house. I can use the help. I’ve always hating packing. At least I only have clothing and maybe some bathroom accessories. Otherwise, all the furniture will be staying here. I should look online and see if I can find some cheap furniture, maybe on Craig’s List before I need to get ready for work.
I get to work just before six and decide to wait to tell Anthony about my quitting until after the rush. I don’t want to tell my regulars yet either, for fear they might try to talk me out of it. Or worse, have Anthony talk me out of it. My regulars are like friends. I’ve known them for years. So, I put on a smile, suppressing my anxiety, and get to work.
The bar is busy, keeping my mind on the task at hand. I’m enjoying myself and will miss this scene when I’m gone. Maybe I can find a bartending job in the city one or two nights a week.
The restaurant starts to slow down so I begin my clean up routine. I decide to wait until most of the staff have gone home so Anthony and I can have a private conversation.
I approach him as he locks up the front doors. “Anthony, can we talk?”
He looks over at me as he’s rushing by and seeing the panic on my face, stops mid stride. “Yeah, of course.”
“Can we sit?”
He walks over to one of the tables by the bar and motions me to sit. “What’s up?” he asks puzzled.
