Monday, February 9, 2009

It Was Time To Move

It was late afternoon when the hum of the computers had faded and the irritating buzz of the telephones had become lifeless and unthreatening, only the gentle sound of keys being stoked by those dedicated few who could be heard – seniors, co-ordinators and managers, the ones who seemed to somehow appreciate responsibility. I looked around my desk, piles of paper, junk which I failed to discard and an assortment of coloured highlighters. My feet were cramped in the small space where I had hidden files of work that wouldn’t fit on my narrow desk. I was uncomfortable, irritated and ready to move. The Boss was still in. I had been watching his office keenly anticipating a practical time for my announcement.

“I’ve decided I’m leaving” his eye’s thinned out suspiciously.. “Where to now” he asked genuinely. “I think I’ll head to Darwin a little while before my Thailand trip” I lied, I knew exactly when I’d be leaving, we had already booked the tickets two nights ago, when Carly, the Drop Dead Redhead travel companion called “You ready to book, I have the details on the screen”, “yeah sure” I replied, “Do you want my credit card details and we can hook it up now”. And that was that. This idea, this crazy stupid idea of just leaving, midnight express, all happened one day when my brain once again failed to differentiate between reality and my dreams, a sad yet real truth. I called Carly during a routine building inspection. Her voice was full of anxiety as she contemplated the offer I put forward, “Don’t worry about work, something will come up, and you said you wanted to leave the job you already had”, I must have been convincing. The Boss looked at me contemplatively.. “It’s no wonder they thought you were a half-cast. Going walk-about all the time, as it pleases you”. It wasn’t in a harsh tone, but I knew I wasn’t building concrete relationships with the City and I tried to ignore the blaringly obvious fact that it hadn’t even been two months sense I started working here. I had offered a genuine commitment of up to six months.. ‘Up to’ I argued in my head as I left the office, worldly belongings strapped across my shoulder.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, such a wanderer at heart :)

E said...

Sounds like you have some exciting adventures ahead of you! Thanks for the comment. I will be following your travels.

Jay Ferris said...

Everything is better with redheads -- world travel included.

Erica said...

Good for you...way to quit that job and follow the trail that fits you better. No seriously - I mean it!

Unknown said...

You are an amazing writer...

Juice said...

Thanks for the comments guys.

Jay, i think you are onto something!