My Stories

The Hummingbird’s Companions

 

Angie relished her first cup of coffee as the warmth from the Arizona sun permeated the small side garden through the long arms of the majestic Queen Palm. Amid the fragrance of the honeysuckle vine, she sat in a wicker chair, her jeaned-legs entwined beneath the round table, watching the Black-chinned hummingbird nurse from the cascading water of the koi pond. From the corner of her eye, she caught the slow and steady movement of a black and white stray edging its way along the rim toward the waterfall.  In response, the panicky bird hovered momentarily, then, darting upwards, left the cat waiting for another chance.  “Ah, maybe next time, little one”, she said softly.

Five months ago, Angie could only dream of starting a workday like this, and it came at a cost.  She never regretted starting her own business but leaving her friends was a different story. Feelings of guilt and betrayal would crash into her consciousness at the most inopportune times and today she intended to put a stop to it. She poured a second cup of coffee and glanced at the stray cat watching the swimming koi before turning her attention to the opened notebook on the table. At the unmistakable sound of high heels against the moss-covered steppingstones, Angie looked up and beyond the koi pond.

Approaching the wooden bridge, Karen paused briefly to touch the French lavender hedge lining the path. At that moment, the black and white cat feverishly raced from the garden causing Karen to lean deeply to the left. Recovering her balance, she checked to verify the company phone was still secure in the pocket of her Rag & Bone blazer.

"Thanks for coming, Karen. I didn’t know if you’d be able to get away from the office." As Angie gave Karen a hug, she noticed the two parallel lines etched into her friend's forehead. Lines that weren't there before all the layoffs and bank mergers.

"I’m not exactly getting away.”  Karen said, lifting the black laptop case at her side.  “It’s been a hellacious night. Ops called at two this morning with a database problem that I worked on for about an hour. Then at four o'clock Bert Raddnor called and said to be at the five o'clock meeting ready to discuss all the system problems that occurred during the night. And since you aren't there anymore, they hammered on me for a while before raking poor Alan over the coals. Alan was a mess after that.”

A barrage of familiar irritants invaded Angie’s tranquility, recalling the chaos of her previous career:  Zero error tolerance. Fifteen-minute problem resolution. Everyone must re-apply for her job.   She looked around the garden, but the birds seemed to have abandoned her.

"Same old, same old,” continued Karen. “You know how it goes.  So, I was delighted to see your text to join you for breakfast, like we used to do on Fridays." Surveying the red-checkered tablecloth she arched her eyebrows in disbelief.  "Wow, this is a treat!  Irish scone with clotted cream, flavored coffee, and a basket of strawberries.  Is this the way you start every day?"

"Not every day, just on Fridays. I replaced my black and white designer attire for tees and jeans and headed out here to drink coffee and watch the wildlife play. I just can’t seem to break that TGIF mentality."

"Well, I guess you can’t change twenty-eight years of behavior in just a few months.   I still can’t believe you quit though. It doesn’t seem that long ago when the three of us talked about retiring together and living in Europe in the summers." Silence enveloped the two long-time friends as they succumbed to the memory of all those late-night conversations about renting a summer villa on the outskirts of Florence.

Three sneezes in a row, each ending with a high-pitched 'achu', alerted both women that Jessie had just walked into the back yard.  In a soft brown Christian Dior suit, the always-in-a-hurry, long-legged, forty-something almost flew over the wooden bridge. With her high cheekbones and slender body, Angie thought Jessie looked like an ad from Business Week, right down to the phone hugging her waist and the black laptop case securely fixed in her left hand.

"Wow, déjà vu, Karen. I was hoping you would be here. I was on my way to the coffee shop before seeing Angie’s text.  I’ve been missing our Friday morning breakfast breaks."  Greeted by hugs and the delicious aroma of hazelnut coffee, Jessie sank into the cushioned wicker chair. "This is heaven," she said after one sip.

The Black-chinned hummingbird engaged in its morning feeding ritual migrating from waterfall to flower, flower to waterfall, in cadence with the rhythmic flow of feminine voices.  Angie watched the hummingbird's antics while Jessie and Karen filled their plates with breakfast delights. When the conversation regressed into more work-related issues, she escaped to the kitchen for additional coffee and scones.

Returning to the garden she heard Jessie's voice, filled with laughter just moments before, now echoing the hostility of her everyday work life. Angie instinctively recoiled from the harsh tone, then saw Karen, placidly sitting there in her jean skirt enhanced by her blood-red silk blouse, seeming so impervious -- except for the constant twitch in her left eyelid.

"Time out girls.", Angie commanded. "You're mucking up the koi pond."

Karen smiled and leaned farther back in her chair. But Jessie, never one to let anything drop, added in closure, "What a bunch of idiots we work for.  Most of those yo-yos couldn’t find their way out of a closet with the light on and the door open." Angie and Karen chuckled at the seditious statement, avoiding the intense stare blazing from Jessie’s eyes.  Angie moved the plate of scones closer to Jessie, hoping to placate the storm within.

Jessie closed her eyes as she took another bite of the scone smothered with cream.  She sat calmly before continuing in a less agitated fashion.  "Last night was a nightmare.  In fact, the last few months have been even harder than normal.  I know I’m being selfish, but I wish you hadn’t quit, Angie. I still can't believe you just walked away like you did.”

Angie stared at the waterfall as it seemed to shimmer into an image of a man with coal-black eyes dressed in a pinstriped suit, proclaiming, "If it is necessary to layoff a single mother with three small children then I will do it.  In fact, I have already done it.  Business isn’t personal."   She cringed at the memory.

"It was time, Jessie.  When the CEO said, 'Business isn’t personal', I said 'Adios' and took my skills elsewhere. The only downside is that I don't see you two every day. It's hard to leave family.”

"Angie, that sense of family doesn’t exist anymore. It can’t survive all the traveling we're doing and all the layoffs going on.”  Sadness slipped into Karen’s tone as she continued, “I used to know everybody around me and now I barely know the name of the person in the next office. What would be the point?  Chances are one of us won’t be there next week." 

"We'll get used to it, Karen", Jessie snapped. "But Angie, the higher-ups really liked you. You could have had it all, girl.”

Angie laughed despite the reproach in Jessie’s tone.  "Jessie, I do have it all.  Once I realized I had more faith in my abilities to run a business than I had in their abilities to manage one, well, then, I had to quit. At that point - it's a no brainer.”

Karen held up her hand and commanded, "Stop it, both of you.  You’re --."

"No, Karen, I won’t," Jessie replied. Fastening her gaze on the trials of a nearby ladybug she continued, "I thought we were all going to work together until we all retired.”

The soft fluttering sound of the anxious hummingbird beckoned Angie’s attention, but the disappointment in her friend’s voice prevented her from watching the bird as it angled through the garden.  We all thought that she said to herself.

"Jess, what's really going on here? All I did was walk away from one successful career in order to start another one." Trying to lighten the mood, she added, "Just think of it as restructuring. That’s a concept we’re all pretty much used to by now.”

"Well, if this restructuring doesn’t work out, there is an open position in one of your previous areas. I interviewed with Leslie for the director position in Audit last week, and she asked if you would be interested in returning to the Compliance area.”

"What? I'd be crazy to do that.” Angie’s tone was harsher than she wanted, so she took a deep breath to calm her internal rage before continuing, “But now I understand the root of your anxiety. You don't want that director job; you just want out of the current madness.  Jessie, you're the best technical person I've ever worked with, and you'd be wasted in that position, and you know it. You're in a tough spot, Jess.  I get it.”

"Hmm," was the only phrase Jessie could mutter as she pulled the laptop onto the small round table effectively ending the discussion. Keying frantically in a dismal search for lost data, Jessie fumed as the other two refilled their coffee cups.

Mindful of the patch of herbs lying by her feet, Karen bent to caress a cluster of creeping thyme, releasing its fragrance into the air. Angie knelt beside Karen examining the tiny-leaf structure while explaining plans to enhance the herb garden.  Within seconds their conversation segued into the dangers of their workplace, speaking in tones audible only to the truly attentive.

"Wow.  Hey girls, listen up.  This email is from Drew." As Jessie read the email, disbelief slowed her voice: Brace yourself for this, Jessie.  Joe Saber was found dead Monday night with his brain shot out. No shit. Craigger saw Saber’s obituary in Wednesday’s paper and asked George Hanson about it this morning.  I don’t know if you know Hanson, but he came from the Texas site and has been their manager for the last three months.  Anyhow, Hanson said upper management told him that the police are calling it a suicide. You know Jess, when Joe missed that meeting on Monday, I thought it was strange but everyone else thought he must be on vacation or else at one of the other data centers. Man, we just don’t know each other anymore."

A semi-circle formed as the women crowded around the laptop, in silence, staring at the black lettering. A tremor rippled through Angie's body as she read each word slowly to herself. Jessie sat motionless; her long fingers poised above the keyboard.  She was the first to speak. "I didn’t really know that guy. He always kept to himself.”

Then Karen in a church-like voice asked, "Was that the guy who sat in the office next to the blind programmer?”

"No," replied Jessie softly, "That guy is Ross, something or other from our Texas Center. Joe sat in the aisle where all those empty offices are. He came from Seattle about two years ago when we closed that data center. He was a die-hard worker.  I worked with him over the phone on a few problems, but I never really talked to him.  Like I said, he was pretty much a loner.”

After a deep breath Angie stated, "Yeah, he seemed pretty distant to me also. I worked with him briefly on that Mortgage Loan project. I remember that one by one the other members of his team were either laid off or found other jobs. By the time I quit, Joe must have been doing the work of at least three people.”

Time passed without notice as they each squinted at the small letters. Finally, Jessie glanced at the time on the screen and started putting away the laptop.

Karen, her eyes downcast while gazing at the swimming koi said, "I guess I’ll start reading the obituaries every day now, just in case somebody doesn’t show up for work and nobody bothers to tell us why." The women stared at each other, acknowledging the reality of Karen’s statement, before nodding in agreement.

In a single formation they slowly crossed over the wooden bridge.

Karen chuckled as she saw the black and white stray poised in a wait-state atop the gray stone, "We’ve disturbed your furry friend this morning.”

Looking at Karen, Jessie said in a sympathetic tone, "Wait until that cat realizes our escape to the garden is going to be a weekly event."

They stopped by the gate long enough to hug and make plans for the following week.  Before she opened the car door, Jessie paused as if evaluating a critical issue, then turned to Angie.  "I’m sorry Angie.  Don’t let me spoil anything for you."

"Don’t worry, Jess.  In fact, our discussion helped me to make a few decisions I’ve been avoiding. So, thank you.” She hugged her friend again before saying, “And good luck on deciding about that job.  It's a risk, but that's what life is all about. Right?"

"I don't know Angie. What's that saying about when you get to the end of all you know to be true?"

“Fly”, said Angie.

Jessie chuckled. "Or something like that."

Angie shouted to both woman as they pulled out of the driveway, "Hey girls, next week let's talk about touring the castles of Ireland or renting that villa in Florence. It's still possible, you know."

Even without hearing them laugh at that comment, she knew they did.  She also knew that a villa in Florence was in their future. 

The morning passed quickly after her friends left.  Energized by the garden conversation Angie called Rudnick Remodeling to set up a meeting to consider forming a partnership.  Hiring additional staff and creating a working relationship with AJ Rudnick would solidify her position in the commercial interior market.  It was time for her company, Design Details, to take off.

At three o’clock Angie glanced out the window of her home office, looking for her furry friend. As expected, the stray had claimed her place by the pond watching the koi swim back and forth.  And although the hummingbird was not in sight, Angie knew she was not far away.