Back When It Was Easy Breezy

There was work, and then there was WORK. That much she knew for sure. She didn’t really mind the hot sun, sweat slicked skin, calloused hands, put your body into it kind of work; she actually kind of loved it. It made her feel purposeful. And the layer of salt on her skin, tired muscles, collapse into bed at the end of the day feeling let her know that she truly accomplished something.

But WORK, that other kind... Wearing expensive constricting clothes, tottering around in uncomfortable shoes, having to waste hours every morning and night to make sure she looked and smelled presentable only to spend her days navigating complex social structures in overly air conditioned offices, and then at the end of the day left with nothing but a headache from emotional exertion and internalized anxiety? No, this she would never understand, this was exactly why she had run away. But none of that really mattered now because she had no choice, this life she had been born into was her duty, now she was obligated to stay.

She knew it was dumb to hate her life, most people would kill for it (she often entertained the idea of killing to get away from it, but not seriously). Anyway, she shouldn’t joke about death, because that was part of the reason she was here. After her father died she was the only one that could run the empire, it would collapse without her. But on days like today, when someone had accidentally left her five minutes of time between meetings, and she found herself alone with her thoughts, well, she always drifted back to those times, out in the desert, when life was so simple.

Today was one of those days. Five minutes to think. She picked up the phone and slowly dialed the number. She allowed it to ring for a full  minute before she hung up. A moment later there was a knock at her door and then cautiously Bobby, her well-meaning but kind of befuddled assistant, shuffled in.

“Uh hi, excuse me? There is a call for you”

She tried hard not to roll her eyes, wow this girl was awkward!

“Great, who is it?” She really didn’t feel like taking a call.

“They didn’t say, just that they received a call from your number a minute ago?”

“Oh, well I guess that’s okay, send it through.” She was trying hard to sound nonchalant, but the second the call was transferred she snatched the phone from the receiver.

“Hello, Manny?”

There was a pause on the other end that felt like it lasted 5,000 years.

“Uh, no, sorry, uh…”

“Is this the Rustic Kitchen Café? I was trying to reach Manny?”

Another impossibly long pause.

“Hello?” Why hadn’t the person on the other end responded yet?

“I’m sorry, he passed away last week.”

She didn’t say anything else; she just held the phone to her ear and listened to the silence until the line went dead.