One of the shops had a “help wanted” sign, so I grabbed an application to go along with my purchases. I wasn’t in a hurry to get a job since I still had plenty of money to live off for a while, but I also wanted to keep enough saved that if I had to bug out I could. If I didn’t get the job, I wasn’t going to stress it, but I hoped I did. It would make the transition so much easier if I had something to do with my days and had money coming in.
When I got home, I got a call to set up the interview in a few days, and I settled into decorating the house. Once the furniture arrived, I ordered another pizza from Sergio’s and had it delivered, figuring I could deal with a few extra stress pounds if I had to. I was sure I’d work them off with all the walking downtown I would probably be doing. Or shoveling snow, if the weather forecast in the newspaper was right.
I set up the television and connected it to the satellite that was already attached to the house. A phone call later and I had internet and cable. It was almost home.
I just missed Sammi.
We had texted a few times over the last couple of days. Though I hadn’t really updated her much about what was going on. I wanted her to have some time to monitor her phone lines and the people near her to see if she was being watched. Her dad was still “in the business” and would notice if something was wrong. But enough time had passed that I needed to hear from my friend, dangerous or not.
“Hey, Des,” Sammi said in her chipper, high-pitched voice. She was the happiest person who I had ever met. It was part of what drew me to her, that energy. I tended to be sarcastic and too sassy for my own good. Sammi evened me out.
“Sammi,” I said, elongating the last vowel. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too, lovey,” she said. “Are you safe? Can you tell me where you are?”
“I don’t know. Have you guys noticed anything strange?”
“Dad said nothing new, and everyone’s on super-high alert. They’re all worried about you, but they get why you would leave.”
“Good,” I said. “I think I should probably just keep my location secret for now. Until I know you would be safe.”
“Fine,” Sammi said with an exaggerated whine. “Are you at least somewhere cool?”
“Not cool by your terms,” I said. “Mountains mostly. Tiny town. It’s really nice, though, just slow.”
“Ugh. I couldn’t imagine being somewhere quiet on a regular basis. I hate going upstate for the weekends.”
“Your upstate is Buffalo. That’s still a city. I’m out in the middle of nothingness.”
Sammi laughed.
“I can only imagine how that’s going,” she said. “You have to send me pictures when you can.”
“I will,” I said. “I have a job interview in a couple of days. It’s just in a little boutique shop in town, but it’s better than nothing. I finally got the television working. I get the feeling when this storm hits, I might be out of communication outside of phone calls, though. This place looks like it gets hit pretty hard. They said blizzard, but I lived through New York blizzards. I’ll be fine.”
“My uncle lived in Colorado,” Sammi said, relating my situation to something in her life as she usually did. “He said from November to June, they are basically cut off from the rest of the world. I can’t handle not speaking to you for seven months out of the year.”
“It won’t be that bad. At least I hope not.”
“Just promise me if it does, you will come home. Dad said we could keep you safe,” she said.
“No, I can’t put you in danger like that. But I will go somewhere sunnier if that happens, though, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I hate that you’ll be alone for Christmas, Des. That’s not right.”
I sighed, trying not to let the weight of this particular thought settle in my gut.
“I know. It’s not my favorite thought either, but I’ll be okay. I’d rather be safe and know that everyone I love is safe. That’ll be enough of a Christmas gift for me.”
We continued to catch up on all the happenings since I left. It devolved quickly into the mundane. We talked about guys who Sammi thought were cute, interesting restaurants she had eaten at and posted about online,and a new pair of dancing shoes she bought. I disappeared into the conversation, allowing myself feel at home again for a little while. When it was over, I hung up, and the silence surrounded me.
I was alone. Very, very alone. I liked solitude, but this was a bit much. I missed my friend. I missed my home.