Ch.18
Ann's Last Day
Lee woke up next to Ann’s body and try as
hard as he could to not wake her as he needed to get out of bed to relieve himself.
It didn't work to well as she had a
sleeping grip on him that when he tried to pull her hand off her hip she hung on selfishly until it startled
her awake as she lost her grip. This didn't last long as she never even
acknowledged Lee, instead just flipped over in bed, assumed the fetal position
and held on to herself as she wrapped her arms around her legs and immediately
fell back to sleep. Lee thought she looked out of it but would let her
sleep till the alarm rang, and then she would ask for 10 minutes more when Lee
turned it off because of the irritating buzz. So she would get that 20 minutes
and want 20 minutes more, and then jump out of bed and rush around like a fool because
she was late and hated it. She was so predictable that Lee never offered her
that cup of coffee till he tried to stir her up the third time and then would
meet her at her bedside to offer it to her. Ann was getting use to Lee being
there all the time. Susie would also wait by Lee at her bedside to get her
morning ‘hello’s’, from Ann and it was off to the rat race.
Something was different for Ann today as it
was her last day at Gunnite Corporation. So it was time to take the money and run,
so to speak. Practically her lifetime spent at Gunnite working at one job or
another and now it was time to do something else as the buyout was happening
today and Ann would sign papers and receive a check and it would be all over
for her . She was cleaning her office today and saying her good byes to the
staff that supported her so well.
She rushed around the upstairs apartment
like a fool trying on a couple of blouses then settling for a conservative business
one, then ran around looking for shoes to match her outfit and then she
realized , screw it if I am late. All the time she had worked at Gunnite,she
had been on time to everything or tried to be. Back to back meetings sometimes
took longer than they were supposed to. But one thing her uncle said to her and
her brothers was it was important to never be late in business s it is the
owners that set the example for all to follow. So Ann was always in the office
at 9 am , every day since she started working there except for time off like
everyone else. She never tried to take advantage of her position or family ties,
and in most cases one would think she was a regular employee there. Ann had a rapport with her fellow workers and they did
it out of respect and loyalty and because they liked her as a person. She wasn't
a boss but more a friend. So today she was going to be fashionably late and
told Lee so. Lee suggested they go back to bed and make it official but Ann
laughed at that suggestion, but would secretly think about it all day long.
Lee was much more relaxed since he started
selling his carvings at the old gas station. He could imagine the place with
its retro look of an old full service gas station where old pop would come
waddling out of the garage with his wrench shoved in his pocket smoking a tobacco
turd he would chew on at time and smile through yellow worn teeth and say ‘filler
up sir’, as tobacco juice would dribble out of the corners of his mouth and
then he would grab a squeegee and wash your windows making sure he got all the
bug shit off and making small talk . This was the place where leaded gas fumes
would seek your nostril’s as you sat in your car and waited to see if he asked
to “check yur oil’. It seemed only fitting Lee would take and transform it into
a carving studio. It had a large bay on the garage with a hydraulic lift that
was handy for lee to set his carvings on and then he could raise and lower it
as he wanted to. At times he missed the farm but at the same time he was
secretly enjoying himself after losing a load of worry. Worry weighs you down
faster than anything and sometimes you have to shed that weight, sometimes you
choose how and sometimes it chooses for you as it did with his dad and mom. The
farm was still a farm for now and appeared to be bought as part of a local farmer’s
estate so it wasn't lost to the Realtor. Lee was glad for that. His brothers
and his sister were happy to have received anything and Lee finally got a life
with Ann. He couldn't be happier. He felt for Susie though as no longer she
would run in the fields chasing him as he would run this piece of equipment or
that around the field. She would run and follow as long as she could and then
sit and rest and run again. She just loved being out there with him. But Susie was
getting old and maybe all that running was finally catching up with her. Still every
morning when Lee would say ‘let’s go’ and then she would be right there waiting
to hop in the truck and drive from the apartment to the old gas station or as
it is called now’ A Cut Above’.
Ann finished dressing and wore a black skirt, black hose and white semi open blouse with a
flap over the buttons giving it a seamless
look very professional looking blouse to be matched with a black blazer that
matched the skirt. This along with a small handbag would serve her today. Having
said good bye to Lee earlier as he tired of waiting on her and was eager to get
to his shop, Lee left when he realized his advances to her would never realize themselves into anything. So he was
going to get out of her way as her mind was somewhere else as it should be. She
had a lot to think about.
Ann looked around the apartment and to
see if everything was as it should be and that the coffee pot was off and she
had her car keys and put all her makeup that she needed in the small handbag along
with her purse. She was all there but not really. Her mind was elsewhere as she
felt a knot in her stomach as she was now going to be unemployed yet rich
beyond her wildest dreams, to never want for anything no matter how big or
small. Yet what a responsibility is being rich beyond your wildest dreams ,to
be able to spend money recklessly all day long flying here to there and yet never being able to spend it all in one
day if you so desired . Ann thought about it but she also had in the back of
her mind images of her father and how he worked tirelessly to get his business up
and moving. Once he had money flowing in he would again reinvest in something else
diversifying his portfolio and never letting a business just sit on a shelf. But
instead her Dad would learn everything about that business and at times would go
out and do every job of every business he owned. This kept him busy and that
was the reason for the small plane that he was piloting was that he could fly
from place to place sometimes meeting with 5 plant managers in a single day. He
felt he needed his presence seen in all plants to inspire his workers.
Her dad took it upon himself to always pay
prevailing wages for whatever type of work was performed and was able to stay
ahead of the unions as his employees were satisfied. But eventually he had to
accept the unions and so he used journeymen in the trades only when he needed
them and they knew that. He wasn’t keeping them any longer than needed. His other
faithful employees not skilled that way or were in management were taken care
of also with steady work. This drive to always expand his business and to
always be on top of things landed him on a hilltop in West Virginia dead along with Ann’s mom in that plane crash .
Then it was up to Ann’s uncle to make it
all work, plus raise her and her brothers. He had his hands full but was
already working for her dad in a management capacity and was privy to most
goings on and soon slipped into the role of president easily. Leaving in place
a lot of what her dad had already established as a working profitable business
and all he did was tweak the model and expand. At the proper time he passed it
down to Ann and her brothers when they come of age. But the offer to buy was to
good and couldn't be passed. Everything comes to an end, for some it is a little quicker, and some a
little later , but there is one thing
you can count on in life and that was change , and Ann’s life was about to
change .she was hesitant and thankful at the same time.
She locked the door and climbed in her car
snagging her hose on the corner of the door. She would stop at the convenient
store and buy another pair she thought. She could change later in the bathroom
at work. She thought so much about things she didn't realize she never had the
radio on as she drove in silence listening to the voices in her head, and
sometimes answering. (to be cont.)
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