“I can’t make any promises.”
“Dad!”
“Ok, fine. Love you, Syd. Bye.”
“Love you too, Dad” I said, but he had already hung up.
I could learn a little bit about resiliency from my dad, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to. I honestly wasn’t a big believer in self-improvement.
The rest of my workday was uneventful. As I was leaving, I saw Chris and Robert talking in Robert’s office, I waved to them, and Robert gestured for me to come over.
“We were just talking about you,” Robert said.
I looked from one guy to the other, “Really? What’s up?”
“Our clients loved your presentation and referred us to another company that is very eager to expand their corporate social responsibility programs. “
“Oh, isn’t that more up Chris’ alley?” I asked.
“Yeah, but you know operations better than anyone. What do you say to a quick trip?” Chris said, catching me off guard.
“Umm...now isn’t a good time. My dad’s recovering, as you know. He might need me.”
“My mom said your dad is hanging out with his girlfriend out of town.”
I wanted to tell him to mind his own business and that he spoke to his mom too much. Instead, I said, “That might be true, but I don’t feel comfortable leaving him so soon.”
“Come on, Syd, I could really use your help.”
I sighed, “Fine. But what are we talking about here? Like an overnight trip?”
Robert nodded, “Just a couple of days. In and out.”
“Ok, I’ll do it,” I said, avoiding Chris’ eyes. I was angry with him now for even suggesting this.
“So where are we headed?” I asked.
“Cincinnati,” Robert replied.
I rolled my eyes, “Exciting.”
Robert laughed, “Not every work trip can be to the beach. See you when you get back. Let me know if you need me.”
He turned back to Chris, and they began discussing another project. I saw myself out secretly pissed at Chris for suggesting I go with him. I planned to tell him just how angry I was when I saw him again. I didn’t want to make a scene in front of Robert.
The next morning, I arrived at the airport, cranky and grumpy, which seemed to be my usual nowadays. I alternated between cranky and grumpy to frustrated and worried. I wasn’t a very pleasant person to be around lately, not that anyone was hanging around me. Mark, thank God, had taken a hint and left me alone. Starr was getting back to work and the girls were now in school. Even dad’s cat was scarce nowadays.
I hadn’t heard from Chris, so I wasn’t sure if we were meeting at the hotel in Cincinnati or what. When I got to the airport it was insanely crowded. I wondered where everyone was going on a random Thursday morning.
I had already checked in online and only brought my carry on, so I made my way to the security line. In my opinion, I didn’t fly often enough to use the fast passes, so I stood in line with what felt like the entire city and waited my turn to pass through security.
When I was done, what felt like hours later, I made my way to the gate and saw Chris sitting there with a cup of coffee in his hand.
“How’d you get through security so fast?” I asked then said, “Never mind. It’s obvious, don’t answer that.”
I sat down next to him and pulled out my laptop and started working. He surprised me by doing the same. I thought I was going to be the one ignoring him, but it turned out he was the one ignoring me. I didn’t know how I felt about that. After all, he had asked me to join him on the trip, not the other way around.
We boarded soon afterwards and to my surprise we were booked in a business-class seat right next to each other. Chris didn’t seem to care. He turned to me and said, “Window or aisle.”