Recently I started this new job which requires me to carry a
Blackberry around when I’m not in the office. Should the Blackberry ring, I am
to listen to whatever troubles our IT specialist can’t solve, and figure out
the solution myself. Finding a solution is a very time-sensitive issue, as lots
of data has to be cranked out before a certain time each day. It was my first
week.
One morning when my girl was visiting, we went out for
breakfast. During the drive to the local Burger King, I was explaining to her
all the intricacies of my job. For some reason she didn’t want to talk about
it, I think it was because of the part where I said I have to be ready to solve
problems at a moment’s notice, even if I was having breakfast with her. I told
her just to warn her that I might have to take a call, and before I know it,
she’s left the passenger seat of my Miata, and is sitting Indian-style on the
car’s hood, right where my left pop-up headlight is.
I instantly become worried. It’s not that this teleportation
is out of place, but rather I am driving in the middle of a six-lane road going
35mph, and my girl is on the hood. I don’t slow down, but I ease into the right
lane and come to a stop at a red light. I am taken aback at how stubborn my girl
is and decide not to tell her to get off the hood. She’ll get off once the car
starts moving again.
The light turns green and I start moving, but she doesn’t
budge. The Burger King is coming up, so I slow to a creep and turn into the
parking lot. She doesn’t even budge from her headlight seat during the turn,
arms crossed in anger. After parking, she gets off the hood and we walk into
Burger King, I haven’t said a word to her since she teleported.
After ordering food and before we pick it up, my mom and
grandma walk in the door. This is no coincidence, because I live in Illinois
and they live in Georgia. I haven’t seen them in a while either, so we sit
together and have our meal. Midway in, my Blackberry rings.
My girl eyes the phone and gives me a look that says, ‘don’t
pick it up’. I answer it, and my boss and the IT specialist are on the other
line. They tell me xx has happened and it would be good to sit and watch how
the specialist deals with this issue, in case I run into it. Furthermore, I am
to meet with the specialist sometime this week and have knowledge transfer. He
just sent me a link where I can follow all the proceedings.
I tell him that I am at breakfast now, and not near a
computer. He tells me not to worry, that he’ll just walk me through it using
his voice and we can go over it again sometime when I am in the office. As I am
listening in on monologue of altering command files to rerun procedures, the
ladies walk out of Burger King. They come towards me, my girl unhappy and my
mom and grandma smiling. Following them is a chipmunk.
They stop at one of the trees surrounded by a concrete
barrier in the parking lot, not saying anything to me but watching the chipmunk
run circles around the tree. We go our separate ways, and my girl is back on the
hood of the car. The chipmunk is close too, I just don’t know where.
Occasionally my girl looks back at me, never uncrossing her arms.
I always meet her eyes when she looks back at me. She tells
me that I betrayed her; I tell her that I still love her, all while my left
hand is pressing the Blackberry against my left ear and my mouth doesn’t move.
The chipmunk is sick and will die soon, but my girlfriend is never going to get
off my hood.
Long after we have parted ways, she still rides on my hood,
occasionally looking back at me. Her eyes still tell the same story of betrayal
and mine of sadness. I drive slow and am
careful taking turns, so she doesn’t fall; but I don’t tell her to get off.
