He felt the weight of it in his hands and a thrill went into his very bones. He passed it to me and smiled. Let me start from the beginning.
It wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t going to be there that night, but somehow we both ended up exactly where we really wanted to be…
It was almost a regular 9-12 hour work day. “Work, work, work”, Rihanna sang, but she had yet to come up with the “tired, tired, tired” remix.
I woke up feeling sick after the couple glasses of wine I had during last night’s meeting at Have Faith County. I used the bathroom multiple times before heading to the office. I couldn’t eat breakfast and I surely didn’t make it to my 6am yoga class. I was exhausted, I promise. Okay, maybe I could have at least set an alarm or gone to a later class… or just called it a day off, “aaayeee”. I promise I have earned these unplanned days-offs.
I ended up leaving home at 11am instead of 8am and I didn’t clock in till 12pm. Yes, I clock in, it’s called self-discipline. Usually, it only takes me 15 minutes to get to work, but you see there was this group of women from the Find Urself association protesting for equal pay, equal job opportunities, and recognition of women in the workforce and in sports, so I parked.
I parked my Cadillac Escalade and joined the protest in my Dolce & Gabana suit and my Gucci heels. I always told myself during the process of envisioning and working for my ideal life that no matter how far I went, I would always remember where I came from.
And there you had it, Dr. O walking down the You Got This avenue screaming at the top of her lungs “Fuck The System! There will be no light in our future, if we continue to be slaves of the past.” It was a bunch of fuck this and fuck that, but you get the point…I HOPE.
It doesn’t matter how successful, rich, poor, educated, lost, misunderstood, underprivileged or privileged you are, always find the time to stand for what’s fair, not right, but fair. What’s right isn’t always fair…
“Dr. O, I am not sure if you remember, but the Annual Evaluation meeting is tonight and, honestly, you do not look prepared for it”, said Natasha, my left hand.
“Natasha, first of all…I’m not ready and second of all, I am losing iiiiiiit!”
“Dr. O, take a deep breathe and improvise, you do this all the time, you might as well accept yourself for who are and work with it.”
“Natasha, I guess… I am just nervous about tonight. I’m not ready. I don’t think I will go.”
“Here we go again. Last year you did the same exact thing and regretted it!”
“Natasha, please excuse yourself out of my office.”
“Of cooourse”, said Natasha while rolling her eyes and purposely stomping her feet on her way out.
What a day! I really manage to do everything and nothing at all at the same time…
“Dr. O?”
“What, Natasha?”
“So, what are you wearing tonight?”
“Whatever I feel like wearing, okay? Now, leave me alone!”
“Awesome, you are going! Love you too Dr. O”, said Natasha with a smile so wide that you could see all the new diamonds she had added to her recently purchased grill.
Dr. O strode out of her office, walked by Natasha with a straight face, said goodbye to everyone else, and smiled on her way out. This year she was fearlessly going to attend the Annual Evaluation meeting at Have Faith County.
“Work, work, work, work, work, work, you see me I be work, work, work, work, work, work” Rihanna was playing in the background, while me and Smith were sitting outside the Grand Wish Hotel.
The AE meeting was over and all that was left was the letter; that letter that stopped me from attending this meeting last year.
He was holding it in his hand and I was terrified. It was a letter from him, my father; a man that left me, when I was only 3 months old.
I could see it in Smith’s eyes that he knew something I didn’t and I was ready to find out. I reached out for the letter.
He looked deeply into my eyes. He felt the weight of it in his hands and a thrill went into his very bones. He passed it to me and smiled.
I opened it: “Turn around, I am here, and I am sorry…”
Thanks for sharing, beautiful writing.