Seems like I walked numbly through the next several months. Or strutted numbly. After all, I did love those CMFM pumps. Work was constant and unbelievable. Twenty two customer service representatives is a huge number of people to make as happy as possible. Customers were either completely unreasonable or we had made their lives so miserable we deserved every ugly thing they could say or write. The corporate bigwigs had again decided to change the name of our Center. No More Customer Service Center. Now we were the Customer Care Center and again it made no difference. Gosh I wanted them to pay me the big bucks to make decisions like that. Expensive and ineffective. They expected me to produce results.
We had a new hire on our team I just adored. Isabella was a first generation American with both parents being from a country in Central America. Her dad was a doctor, her mom was a matriarch and she was a walking, breathing beauty who had no idea she was luminous. Isabella was smart as a whip and picked up on the complexities of her job quicker than many long term employees. She was a talker, very animated and as was her culture she touched you when she talked to you. Not in a flirtatious or weird way in a human and friendly way. Everyone loved her. Nomercy found her fascinating. Yeah, maybe WMB stood for Women Must Bendover. Isabella and her family went to their homeland for a two week vacation. She returned with rolls of film of the landscape and 900 relatives. She came to my desk and told me Nomercy had asked her to come to his office so he could see her photos. Right. "Isabella", I said, "he does not want to see your photos". "He seems lonely and like he could use a friend. He seems very interested in my trip". She was so innocent. "Isabella, be careful. The man is NOT lonely. He is married and can afford to buy friends".
I didn't think too much about Isabella, she could handle herself. She probably had men lined up asking if they could buy her a car or take her away to someplace exotic on a regular basis. WRONG. Isabella didn't know how to say, "you're creepy". But I did. Xerox held another teamwork day where we all proved how clever and smart we were to have brilliant and creative ideas to help run our business that our executives profited greatly from. We peons were still happy to get a two percent raise in a good year. Isabella's apartment was close to the facility for this year's really big show. She and I left early to drink and smoke and talk bad about every one. Her phone rang. It was Nomercy per her caller ID. "Oh let me answer", I giggled. "OK", she giggled back. "Isabella's apartment, she isn't available at the moment, Nomercy, I will tell her you called. I will also tell her NOT to call you back". "I must have cacacacalled the wrong number". "No, you didn't. Buh bye". Damn that was funny. Damn, that was my career. Not really, what could he do? He already made my life miserable as possible. I hoped he was sweating and his testicles had returned to their pre natal position.
At home things were odd. I wasn't financially able to move in a huff. I had to move in a while when I could afford it. We had things to divide. He got the stereo. I got all the CDs I wanted. He got the house. I got to help pay for the house for eight years. I got a new washer/dryer and a mattress. He got everything else that I didn't bring with me. I took all the Christmas decorations. I got the almost paid for Blazer. He got the New Mazda SUV. We shared custody of the dog. He would keep her and I could visit.
We were OK roommates except I still wanted to kill him sometimes and he wanted me to get lockjaw. I finally found a roommate I thought I could stomach, an apartment we could afford and had enough money to pay deposits. I could not afford the actual move yet. It's expensive to hire people with a truck to move your meager belongings across the metroplex. I was finally going to live closer to the job I now all but hated. Yay. Life was not at all what I thought it was going to be. Surprise.
One morning on the way to work I had a major meltdown. One tear led to a flood. SHIT. I hated being a wussy and now I was going to have to wash my face and reapply my makeup so I could be professional and listen to people whine about a hangnail making it impossible to answer the phone. Teaching kindergarten has to be easier and the people more reasonable.
I reached the elevators all Tammy Faye streaked and Current was just hitting the button. "You OK?" he asked? "No, but I will be. It's personal crap from home. My husband and I are divorcing and I just had a moment." I stuttered. "Go home", he said, "you need a mental health day". "My husband is off today, I don't want to go home". "Come to my office, I'll get you a diet coke".
I went to his office. We talked. He understood my mental state. He and Mrs. Current were separated too. I thought he looked thinner and haggard. He also didn't have on his wedding ring. We talked about how hard it is to start over. He could not find an apartment because he made too much money. That made me laugh. I told him I had an apartment and couldn't afford the actual move.
The next morning Current came to my desk and asked for my Fort Worth address and the address of my new apartment. He had called in some favors and had trucks and men ready to roll on Saturday. Done. "I can't pay them, Current, that's the problem. I have no money to even say thank you if you know what I mean". "Taken care of", he said. "What time on Saturday?'
"Will you marry me?" I said.
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