been so distracted I haven’t scheduled the repair work on my car yet. I make a mental note to do that next week.
When I park and get out of the car, my heart sinks as I hear Tiger mewling from inside the house. I unlock the door and have barely pushed it open when he squeezes his head out to peer up at me. “Hey buddy,” I coo, trying to get inside without letting him out. Once I’ve achieved that, he stretches himself up, resting his paws on my knees. Then he launches himself upward, digging into my clothes as he tries to claw his way up my body. Dropping my purse, I grab at him, dislodging his claws from my shirt and turning him in my arms. “What are you doing?” I ask, looking down at him in my arms. He blinks at me and begins purring.
I put Tiger down and go about refreshing his water bowl and refilling his food dish. He follows me closely, wanting to look at and smell everything I’m touching. As I walk around closing the window shades for the evening with Tiger trailing behind me, evidence of his long solitary day meets me throughout the condo. Pillows from the couch are scattered on the floor. I replace them. Some notepaper I had sitting by the phone is now shredded and scattered about nearby. I pick up the pieces and throw them away. At least he found ways to occupy himself.
I spend some time playing with Tiger, eschewing my guilt for having left him alone so much. Hiding behind furniture, I wait to be leapt upon. Then I throw the small rubber ball up and down the stairs watching as he races after it. I’m far more tired than he is by the end of our playtime. But thankfully, we both fall into bed and drift right off to sleep.
ten
“Early this morning,” Joan comments. I smile at her and head to my cubicle. It’s Friday, and for a change I’m not glad about it. Tomorrow is the day I’m dreading. Tomorrow I will tell Katie that her fiancé is not exactly who she thinks he is.
I spend the morning hoping Katie will cancel. When I run into Karthik in the hallway later in the afternoon, I take the opportunity to ask him how the meeting with Tom went. I have heard from Rob that it was supposed to have occurred yesterday.
“It got cancelled,” he tells me. “All future product planning is on hold.”
“What?” I ask. This is news to me.
He nods in confirmation. “Everything already scheduled for this quarter and next is still on track, but beyond that.” He shrugs.
“So, this means that you get to keep working on only the features you indicated and not that crazy list Rob had.”
“Yeah, I guess it does.”
His lack of triumph worries me. “What do you think of the buyout?” I ask, stopping him before he can continue down the hallway.
He thinks for a moment before responding, which I appreciate. I’m half expecting a non-committal canned answer. “I think the fact that they want to put long range plans on hold means that they want to change or stop those plans. That may be good or bad or neutral for us.”
“But you suspect it’s bad?”
“I think it will probably be bad for some groups here. But there’s no way to know which ones at this point.”
I chew my lip, agreeing with his logic.
“Don’t worry Andrea,” he reassures me. “No need worrying when we don’t know if there’s anything to worry about. Besides, you’re very good at your job. You’ll be fine whether you stay here or decide to bestow your talents upon another company.”
“Thanks,” I say, worried now anyway. “You, too.”
I go searching for Rob. I have been avoiding him because I heard there had been quite a cat fight on the latest episode of The Bachelor, and the last thing I want to discuss with Rob is cat fights. But I have been hiding in vain, it seems. His darkened office and closed door indicate that he isn’t in today. I will have to table my blossoming anxiety until Monday.
In the meantime, I go back to my desk, locate the wrinkled paper in my bag with Ryan’s number on it, and return his call.
“Hey Andrea,” he answers, sounding a bit distracted.
“Is this a bad time?”
“No, just hold on a second, okay?”
“Okay.”
I wait, adjusting the volume up on my streaming music. “We Come Running” by Youngblood Hawk