Colin smiled. It was obvious that she’d wanted to consult him before making such a big decision. But she didn’t say that. In fact, she didn’t ask him a single question.
“I want to see if I can get the same amount of money from Briggs. I’ll play them against each other. I’ll let them conduct an auction over me and the highest bidder wins. Oh! I have to call Mom about this. She’ll be out of her mind with excitement.” Jean patted his leg as she got off the couch, wineglass in hand, and went to call her mother.
Colin had sat there in silence, and it was as though his whole life suddenly became crystal clear to him. He was working at a job he hated and living where he didn’t want to—all to please other people.
He knew that Jean was thinking of taking another job without consulting him because she was so sure he’d go with her that she needn’t bother to ask him.
And why should she? Colin thought. He could go anywhere. He had no doubt that his father would love a reason to buy a car dealership in D.C. If Colin wanted to go to Italy, his dad would probably buy a showroom there.
When Jean returned to the room, she was even more elated—and was completely oblivious to the fact that Colin was saying nothing. They ordered in some Chinese food and she talked all through the meal. It was only when they’d finished that she slowed down.
“You’re awfully quiet. Don’t you have anything to say about this wonderful news?”
“I’m going back to Edilean.”
“That’s a great idea. Your parents will be thrilled that I’m getting such a promotion. I’ll make partner in another three years.”
She went right back into talking about her plans, and her life.
As Colin cleared away the meal, Jean got on her phone and started calling people to tell them her good news. When he finished, he went to the bedroom and got his suitcases out of the closet.
She didn’t come into the bedroom for over an hour, and by then Colin was packed.
“Could I use your phone?” she asked. “The battery on mine gave out and I’m too excited to want to talk while plugged in. What are you doing?”
“I told you. I’m going home.”
“Okay. I’ll see you this weekend. I guess you’ll need your cell?”
“Yeah, I’ll need it,” he said as he picked up his two suitcases and walked out the front door.
By the time Jean showed up in town with her fabulous news that she’d accepted the job and would be moving to D.C. in two weeks, Colin had rented an office in town. And he’d already had the showdown with his father.
Colin had politely listened to every argument his father came up with as to why he had to return to Richmond.
“We need you!” his father had pleaded.
Colin never came close to losing his temper or his resolve. He’d at last made up his mind, and he wasn’t going to change it. “You don’t need me, but the people of Edilean do,” he told his father.
When Jean showed up in Edilean, she was angry. She burst into his newly acquired office and started in on him right away. “What the hell are you doing?” she shouted. “I’ve been left alone for two whole weeks, and I’ve had to make all the arrangements for our move by myself. Damn! But you can be so selfish!”
She looked around the place. Over the fifty or so years since the building was constructed, it had been many things. Its latest incarnation had been to sell sandwiches and sodas. Colin had donated all the fixtures to a retirement home, bought a couple of old desks, some chairs, and an old filing cabinet at an auction. He hadn’t yet painted the three rooms.
“What is this place?” Jean asked, her upper lip curled in a sneer. “It’s disgusting. And filthy.”
“How about if I buy some mops and buckets, and you and I clean it?”
“I don’t have time for your weird sense of humor right now. Are you packed?”
They hadn’t seen each other or even talked on the phone for two whole weeks, and it looked like Jean thought Colin had been busy packing to go to her new job.
When he didn’t move, she sat down on the old wooden chair across from his desk. “What is it this time?” she asked in the tone of someone who put up with a lot from him.
Colin marveled at how different he felt about her, about life in general, now that he no longer had a job he hated. In just two weeks he’d achieved more soul-satisfying accomplishments than he had in years of working for his father.
“This is my office,” Colin said with a calmness Jean had never heard before.
“I don’t understand. How can you have an office here when we’ll be living in D.C.? Do you plan to come down here on weekends?”