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Emily rolled her blue, almond-shaped eyes and opened her mouth to respond.
“Stop,” laughed Anne as the girls began the familiar argument. “You know that both of you are my favorites… except for Gandalf, who’s always number one.” She smiled with contentment to see her girls at home together, but her breath caught in her throat as she realized this might be one of the last opportunities for them to be together in the home where the girls had grown up.
“So, I may be selling the house. That is, I might sell it in three months. But only if I decide to stay… Or if he decides I can stay… If I stay in New York.”
“What?” shouted both girls simultaneously. Charlie appeared gleeful, while Emily looked shocked.
“Tell us, Mom, tell us.” Charlie danced in circles, prompting Gandalf to join the frolicking with excited barks.
“Yes,” said Emily with a stern frown and crossed arms. “Tell us what on earth you’re talking about.”
“Wait.” Charlie pushed her mother back to the comfy couch. “Come sit down and tell us the whole story—don’t leave anything out.” Grinning, she grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her along. “I’ll share my Cheetos.”
Anne sat down and looked at her daughters, sitting on either side of her with intent expressions. Suddenly, she felt nervous about explaining her wild plan to them. She’d never thought it would actually happen, so she never worried about having to explain the decision to leave their home in Texas and move across the country to New York City where she didn’t know a single soul. Her throat went tight, and she blinked back tears.
“Don’t cry, Mom,” sniffed Emily. “You know we always cry if you do.”
“Yeah, Mom, no fair.” Charlie snuffled in agreement.
“I’m sorry.” Anne swiped her sleeve across her eyes. “It’s just very emotional, now that it’s actually happening. When I first talked to the recruiter—”
“You called a recruiter?” Emily’s eyebrows arched high on her forehead.
“Let her finish a sentence.” Charlie g
ave her sister an elbow to the ribs.
“No, actually, this recruiter called me. I didn’t even know what a recruiter was, and I thought it was some kind of scam.” Anne shrugged. “I guess she got my name from Alice—you know, my old college roommate. She’s been encouraging me to get a new job and move into Fort Worth. So I put together a resume and sent it to her. She must have given my resume to that recruiter.”
She looked at Emily. “I thought it would be fun to be closer to you, and I thought it would be a nice change to live in the city, maybe get an apartment or one of those cute little Victorian houses they’ve restored.”
Charlie scowled. “What about me? Don’t you want to live closer to me?”
“Even though you’ve lived in Colorado for a whole year now, I’m not totally convinced you’ll be staying there for long. You do have a record of changing your mind frequently.”
“But New York?” Emily chewed on her lower lip. “Now you won’t be close to either one of us. How did you end up interviewing in New York?”
“It’s funny, really…” Anne shrugged. “When the recruiter called, she said it was unusual, but they’d offered to pay all expenses for the interview trip. I thought she said someone named Margaret made all the arrangements. But it was actually Katie who set up the interviews. And when I got there, the room was filled with job applicants, all for this same position, and everyone else was in their twenties.”
“That’s so weird,” Charlie said. “I wonder why they contacted you, if all the others were so young?”
“That’s what I asked Katie after the interview.”
“Who’s Katie? Is that your new boss?” asked Emily.
“No. Katie’s the current personal executive assistant for my new boss. She’s been working there for four years, but she’s getting married and moving in a few months. She said this was the third round of interviews she’d been through with her boss, and he wouldn’t consider any of them, even though there were lots of qualified applicants. She didn’t explain why I was in the interview group. She was just so relieved he’d finally hired someone. She said her boss kept muttering about how she couldn’t just desert him and run off to get married, even though she got engaged almost a year ago. She warned me he could be a little demanding.”
“So, anyway, you got the job? For sure?” Charlie looked incredulous, and Anne didn’t blame her. She couldn’t believe it either.
“Yeah, you said something about ‘if you decide or he decides’ or something.” Emily narrowed her eyes.
“I got the job on a three-month trial. Who knows? I might decide I hate it and quit just to save him the trouble of firing me.”
“Mom,” Emily folded her arms. “You can’t just go live in New York for three months. It’s very expensive, and they’ll make you sign a yearlong lease. This just isn’t practical. I don’t think you’ve thought this through.”
“Emily, you’re such a wet rag,” Charlie said. “She can figure something out. I think you should go for it, Mom. It’s so exciting.”
“No, actually Emily’s right. I’d never be able to find a place I could afford to stay for three months.”
