Kevin mentioned something about Rosie’s job; I don’t want to call her until I’ve heard from you about it. Let me know.
FROM: Mum
TO: Stephanie
SUBJECT: Re: Kevin and Dad
You’re absolutely right. I think your father has a lot of thinking to do and enough time in the day to do it now. I love having him home! He’s not rushing off all the time or thinking about a problem at work that needs to be solved while I’m trying to have a conversation with him. It’s like he’s all here with me now—body and mind. I felt that way too when I left my job but I suppose it was slightly different for me. I already went part-time at work when Katie was born to help Rosie cope. It didn’t seem like such a drastic change for me when I eventually left the job completely. But your father is trying to find himself again.
Didn’t you hear about Rosie’s job?? I thought you would have been one of the first people she’d have told (apart from her darling Alex of course), but perhaps she wasn’t ready to discuss it yet. That girl has me so worried at times. Honestly she kept telling me all week that she was going to lose her job, finally she calls me to tell me that she had a meeting with her bosses and she tells me she got a promotion!
Oh Stephanie we were so thrilled for her!! It was only a few days ago! I’m surprised she hasn’t told you the good news yet. Anyway I’ll let her tell you herself or else I’ll be in trouble for spoiling the surprise. I better go now; your father’s calling me. We’re about to go down to the garden center. If he plants any more flowers or trees in that garden, we’ll have to apply for planning permission they’re so high!
Take care love, and hugs and kisses to baby Jean-Louis from Grandma and Granddad!
CHAPTER 25
FROM: Stephanie
TO: Rosie
SUBJECT: Job promotion!
I know you’re at work so I won’t ring you. Received a letter from Mum today, what’s this I hear about a job promotion??! E-mail me ASAP! So excited to know!
FROM: Rosie
TO: Stephanie
SUBJECT: Re: Job promotion!
Can’t believe Mum opened her big mouth!! YES!! The news is true!
FROM: Stephanie
TO: Rosie
SUBJECT: Re: Job promotion!
That’s all you’re going to tell me??! Aren’t you excited?! What’s the job? Come on, give me info! I’ve taken time out from my busy schedule of breast-feeding, burping and . . . eh breast-feeding to find out the news!
This is fabulous! Congrats!
FROM: Rosie
TO: Stephanie
SUBJECT: Re: Job promotion!
Thanks Steph, sorry, thought Mum gave you all the info. Yes I am excited! The job title is “Hotel Host” and before you get overexcited like our beloved parents did, it’s not the manager’s job! I will be the primary source of information for guests to ensure maximum client satisfaction! (Or so they tell me . . . )
It was the surprise of all surprises! I literally had to drag my body into the long conference room, where I had my first interview years ago, with my head hanging and my body slumped, feeling like jelly. My body language was all wrong, my palms were sweaty, my knees were knocking, and I just kept having visions of Randy Andy and me working together until we became old-age pensioners. I really had convinced myself that they were going to ask me to quietly and calmly return to my desk, gather my belongings, leave the premises, and never return. I don’t know why, but I just had one of those feelings.
Bill and Bob were so generous to me. They pumped me full of confidence as they went through what the job would entail. They said that they were delighted with my performance within the hotel over the past few years (and I really hope they weren’t referring to the time when I lay across the piano and sang Barbra Streisand songs after all the residents had gone to bed. Well you can’t blame a girl for trying to live out a fantasy when she can, but the opportunity just seemed to present itself . . . ). There they were telling me I had an abundance of charm and confidence when deep down I was just waiting for the moment they would break into a smile, look at me as though I was a fool for believing them before telling me the promotion was all a joke. One big funny ha ha practical joke. I kept looking around for the hidden camera.
But there wasn’t one, unless you count the security camera in the corner of the room and then the joke really is on me. So it seems that I will be moving to a new hotel that’s going to be built (hence all the secret meetings with men and women in dark suits, leather briefcases, gelled hair, and no smiles masquerading through the hotel lobby, there was some sort of bizarre Matrix-y thing going on). But if they are serious, then my job is to be solely responsible for the running of all aspects of the resort and I’ll have to liaise with the head office and provide weekly reports. I’ve never had to “liaise” before. It sounds sexy and dangerous. Any job that tells me that I have to “liaise” with the big boys in the head office is a winner to me. I can picture myself all dolled up in a cocktail dress at a work “do” standing in a circle with the other “suits” speaking in hushed tones about graphs and pie charts and financial reports. If people ask us what we’re doing, I can say dismissively, “Oh don’t mind us, we’re just liaising . . .”
Apparently I have a flair for organizing and have good communication skills. Anyone who has seen me rushing to get all my Christmas shopping done in the last hour on Christmas Eve knows that I ain’t a good organizer. And I hardly count loud cursing, swearing, and lots of physical abuse while trying to grab the last item of absolutely everything off the bare shelves of stores from other panicking Christmas Eve shoppers, good communication. Although, we all have our different ways of seeing things.
FROM: Alex
TO: Rosie
SUBJECT: Congratulations!!
I am so proud of you! If I was there, I would twirl you around and give you a great big sloppy kiss! You see Rosie, things can happen for you, all you need is a lot more faith and self-belief and to stop being so negative all the time!
So where is the new hotel? Are they opening a second Two Lakes Hotel in Dublin? When they say “resort,” what exactly do they mean?
Tell me all.
FROM: Rosie
TO: Alex
SUBJECT: Job promotion
Well I’m not quite sure of the location of the hotel just yet but I have a sneaky suspicion it’s along the coast. Can you believe that I will finally get to work in a hotel by the sea? It will take longer to commute to, but it’s worth it to be able to leave the city behind for a few hours every day. I should be out there within the next few months. When they say resort they are referring to the new eighteen-hole golf course they are building. There will be a gym and pool and more leisure facilities, unlike here which is in the heart of the city and has nothing but bedrooms, a tiny gym, and restaurants. I’m a bit hazy on all the details because they haven’t fully informed me of everything yet, they just asked me if I was interested in this new job and of course I couldn’t turn it down!
But this entire experience has taught me something. It’s taught me that I’m ready to move on from this job. I’m ready to accept a new challenge and without having any sort of game plan at all, I seem to be moving closer and closer toward my dream. Whoever thought those childhood dreams of running a hotel weren’t quite beyond my grasp after all? It’s funny because when you’re a child, you believe you can be anything you want to be, go wherever you want to go. There’s no limit to what you can dream. You expect the unexpected, you believe in magic, in fairy tales, and in possibilities. Then you grow older and that innocence is shattered and somewhere along the way the reality of life gets in the way and you’re hit by the realization that you can’t be all you wanted to be, you just might have to settle for a little bit less.
Or perhaps a variation of what you once wanted.
Why do we stop believing in ourselves? Why do we let facts and figures and anything but dreams rule our lives?
But now my mind is changed again. Nothing
is impossible Alex—it was there all the time, I just wasn’t reaching out far enough, that’s all.
Nothing is impossible.
Not a bad statement to come from the pen of a cynic.
Thank you for your faith in me Alex, I would love to return that hug and kiss to you now! But then again perhaps some things just might be beyond our reach after all.
FROM: Alex
TO: Rosie
SUBJECT: Dreams
Again Rosie, you’re just not stretching far enough. I’m right here.
You have an instant message from: ROSIE
Ruby: What on earth is Alex’s last message to you supposed to mean?
Rosie: For god sake Ruby, stop reading my e-mails!
Ruby: Sorry I can’t help it but I can assure you that I will continue to read them until you decide to change your password and until I find a job that interests me at all.
Rosie: Well it looks like I’ll be changing my password then . . .
Ruby: Ha ha so come on, I’ve seen it now, what’s he talking about? What’s this about stretching far enough?? Sounds kinda dodgy.
Rosie: What do you think it means?
Ruby: I’m asking you.
Rosie: And I’m asking you.
Ruby: I asked first.
Rosie: Oh Ruby, don’t be so childish
Ruby: OK then, he’s teaching you some new exercise techniques—reaching and stretching . . . to help the abs, the biceps, the triceps, and the whatever-ceps. Am I close? No probably not. I give up. What’s your interpretation?
Rosie: A friend telling me that he will always be there for me no matter what and that he’s not that far away at all from me and all I have to do is call and he’ll be here.
Ruby: Oh right, OK.
Rosie: Oh there you go again Ruby with the sarcasm! What’s your theory now then?! I suppose you think it’s his secret way of telling me that he loves me and that he will always be there for me and if I just reached out to him then he would drop everything, his new life in Boston, his family life, his great big amazing job to come rescue me, whisk me away to live in a beach house in . . . oh I don’t know . . . Hawaii where we would live happily ever after away from all the stresses and complications of the world? I suppose that’s what you would interpret it as. You and your sick mind always twisting things, trying to make out as though the two of us—
Ruby: No Rosie, I really meant “Oh OK.” That’s fine, I believe you.
Rosie: Oh.
Ruby: Are you OK with that?
Rosie: Yeah sure . . . I just thought you might have read into it a bit more like you usually do that’s all . . .
Ruby: No, that’s OK. I believe that he meant it in a supportive friend kind of way.
Rosie: Oh . . . OK.
Ruby: Why, did you want it to mean something else?
Rosie: Ha ha god no, I was just expecting you to go on a rant that’s all . . . You know you usually do, don’t be silly!
Ruby: Are you sure?
Rosie: Of course!!
Ruby: So you’re not disappointed?
Rosie: No why should I be?
Ruby: So you’re OK with him being your friend?
Rosie: Of course! That’s all he ever was to me! I’m perfectly happy!
Ruby: And you don’t want to be rescued and whisked off to Hawaii?
Rosie: NO! Off course not!
Ruby: Good then . . .
Rosie: Yep it’s great . . . Everything’s great . . .
Ruby: Good.
Rosie: And the new job will make everything better!
Ruby: Good.
Rosie: And my marriage has been saved and I truly believe Greg loves me more than ever . . .
Ruby: Good.
Rosie: And I’m going to be paid a lot more than before which is good. They say money can’t buy happiness but I’m a fickle person Ruby . . . I can get that new coat I saw in the Ilac center yesterday . . . I’m thrilled!
Ruby: Good.
Rosie: Absolutely! So anyway I’m going to head off now, got a bit of work to do . . .
Ruby: That’s really great Rosie . . .
Rosie has logged off
FROM: Rosie
TO: Stephanie
SUBJECT: It’s a wonderful life!
Life is wonderful, life is great! I have a good job, just got promoted to an even better one. I have a daughter who talks to me, a husband that doesn’t! Only joking, have a husband who loves me! I have a wonderfully supportive family, mum, dad, brother, and sister. I’ve two brilliant friends that would do anything for me and who I love with all my heart. I remember telling you years ago just before I started my new job at reception that phase two of my life was beginning . . . well this appears to be the beginning of phase three! Things are looking up for me and I am so happy! I am in a deliriously giddy mood today, high on the excitement of life I suppose!
FROM: Ruby
TO: Rosie
SUBJECT: Cork??
What do you mean the bloody hotel is being built down in Cork?! And they only tell you now? Are you moving down to Cork? I thought you said it was along the coast of Dublin?! Did they think that piece of information was irrelevant to you? For Christ sake Rosie, how are you going to drag your family down to the other side of the country?
Do you even want to move? Oh my god, I think I’m going to have a heart attack!
E-mail me back ASAP!!!
FROM: Rosie
TO: Ruby
SUBJECT: Re: Cork??
Oh Ruby, right now I have a headache, I don’t know what to do. I know that I want this job but there are two other people to think about. I’ll have to have a chat with Katie and Greg about it tonight. Pray for me! Please god if you’re listening and not busy sprinkling gold dust on all the lucky people of the world, please do me this favor and brainwash my family into thinking of what I want for once. I thank you for your time and patience. You can continue gold-dust sprinkling now.
FROM: Ruby
TO: Rosie
SUBJECT: God
Hello Rosie, this is God. Sorry to bring you bad news but life doesn’t work like that. You must be honest with your family and try to convince them yourself. Tell them of your lifelong dream to take the job that you have been offered and if they are unselfish people they will understand your desire to move to Cork. My popcorn’s ready so I better leave. I’m already missing the first of this evening’s entertainment. I’m watching your friend Ruby’s life tonight. Good luck with the family.
Dear Mum & Greg,
Don’t worry about us Mum, me and Toby will be OK. We have run away because we don’t want to be away from each other. He is my best friend and I don’t want to move to Cork. Please don’t make us leave Mum.
Love,
Katie and Toby
FROM: Rosie
TO: Ruby
SUBJECT: Re: God
I couldn’t help noticing that God logged on under your name yesterday. If you see him around please tell him that if he’s looking for drama, he should tune into my family today.
PART 3
CHAPTER 26
Dear Alex,
I was so happy when I finally got around to shutting the door on this horrible day. “It’s only a job,” Greg said. Well if a job is so unimportant then why is he so adamantly refusing to leave his own? It’s not only a job though. So they offered me a promotion, but with it they offered me confidence and a little bit of self-belief. To believe that my hard work was being rewarded and I was seen as competent and smart.
But this time I wasn’t even given the choice to screw it up myself. That decision was made for me. Katie won’t leave Toby and I’m not quite hating Greg enough to storm off to Cork in a huff on my own. Although, I’m pretty close to it. God does that man make my blood boil! Everything is always so black and white to him.
In his opinion, he has a great job here that pays well and I have a good job that pays OK. Why on earth would he want to move to a city where his wife will have a brilliant job and earn
great money? Oh of course, I forgot they don’t have any banks in Cork so there’s no way he could ever find a job or be transferred. People just save money under their beds in shoeboxes there.
Plus everything (well a lot of things, like houses for one) is cheaper down there than it is here. Katie would be able to begin her first year of secondary school in a perfectly good school so it’s not as if she’s being taken out of school midway here. It could all be so perfect.
On the other hand, I can honestly say that her friendship with Toby is possibly the most important thing to her. He’s a great supportive force in her life; he makes her happy and keeps the innocence in her eyes. Children need close friends to help them grow up, to discover things about themselves and about life. They also need close friends to keep them sane, and due to Katie’s little disappearing act I now know that her being without Toby, at this stage of her life anyway, would lead to incredible insanity.
Do you realize that they had actually booked their flights to you over the Internet with Greg’s credit card? They were in the queue to check in at the airport when the gardai found them! I can just picture them: a little girl with jet black hair and vanilla skin with no luggage except for a cuddly teddy bear bag on her back. Beside her, a little boy with messy blond curls, in charge of the tickets and passport details. A miniature honeymoon couple. Someday I will look back on this experience and laugh. After I get over the shock, horror, bitterness, and resentment. Probably in my next lifetime.