Resolving resolutions

RESOLVING RESOLUTIONS

She started at the shrill sound of the alarm clock ringing. ‘Argghh…’ she groaned, “Not again”. It was another day of work. More clients to source for, more people to convince, more deals to land. In short, it was another round of brain tasking things to do. The hectic schedule that was her life. She shrugged, at least it was bearable.

Nahhh… that was a lie. She loved every bit of it. She got to be on the move always which had been her dream as a child, unlike most of her friends who were stuck in desk jobs all day long. A small smile broke out on her lips and with that, her day began.

“Hey, good morning, Miss Kayla”, her best friend cum personal assistant, Jane, called out. ‘Your retinue is on your desk, as usual”.

Kayla smiled at her longtime friend. They had been friends since her college days. “Thanks darling. You are the best”, she called back.

Sitting down in her office, she took a deep breath and began to attack her schedule with the ferocity she was known for. Today was more of paperwork and calls, her least favorite part of her job. It was past 12 noon when she decided to a break. Dang!!… She was starving. She had missed her breakfast, she realized. She had been so determined to beat down the pile before her that she forgot to order her usual.

Picking up the intercom, she dialed Jane. “Sweetie, I’m starving. Could you help me order some food……… Actually I would prefer some real food……. That would be nice….. Thanks a million, darling.” Replacing the receiver, she leaned back in her chair and thought of things to while away her time with while the food was on its way. Just then, her cell phone began to ring. Looking at the screen, she smiled on seeing the name written there.

“Hey baby. How interesting that you would call just when I took a break”, she said as she picked the call. A wide smile stuck to her face as she waited for him to speak. ‘I wanted to speak to my baby. I miss you so much.’ Kay said. ‘I hate that we have to cross into the New Year away from each other even if it was unavoidable’. “Yea, I hate that too but at least I get to still hear your voice every day, so it’s not that bad”, She replied.

She twirled the diamond ring on her finger while she smiled. She had gotten engaged to Kay not quite two months back which in truth hadn’t been surprising at all. They had been dating some two years counting and had been friends for longer than that. The bond between them was enviable as said by so many of their friends.

They had become so close that they almost had the same reactions for certain situations. Even their choice of vocabulary was not so different from each other not to mention their facial expressions. They were in summary “a power couple”. One couldn’t function so well without the other and as such had gone into business together. 2Kay Enterprise was their brain child and they had built it over the years to the level it was.

She gathered her thoughts and came back to the moment. “So how is it going over there?” she asked. ‘Quite well, actually. I’m almost done with the training process. So I’m working on my personal plans and resolutions for the New Year. You should have started yours by now.” He replied.

Kayla frowned. That was a subject she had completely put out of her mind. “Actually, no, I haven’t.” she said. “I haven’t even considered it in the least bit”. Kay was surprised. ‘That’s unusual… you are usually among the first to put work into it. Is everything alright?’ While she considered just waving the subject off or having to go into a long discussion as to how she really felt about the subject, she heard some noise on the other end of the line. Then she heard Kay’s voice say in a rush, ‘Babe, let me call you back. I have to attend to something urgently’. And with that, the line went dead.

Releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, she slumped further into the chair. It was a subject she had been nervous about broaching because she didn’t know how to explain it properly to him.

 Over the years, she had made thousands of resolutions if she actually summed them up. But exactly how many had she seen to fruition? And the guilt of unresolved resolutions just kept weighing down on her. It was not a pleasant feeling in the least bit. And dang!!… was she tired of feeling that way.

As she drove home, the subject still weighing heavily in her mind, she turned up the radio volume only to find herself tuned in to a channel where coincidentally, the host was encouraging people to make New Year resolutions about their lives, personal, social and financial. “What the …..” she exclaimed. “Does everyone just have keep talking about the same old topic?” She turned off the radio in annoyance and switched to playing music loudly.

Once she got home, she went through her stuff, searching for every plans and resolutions, made over the years. She compiled them and kept them besides her bed, as a constant reminder of failed resolutions, firmly determined in her heart not to make any of the popular New Year resolutions. With this, she breathed deeply and started preparing for bed.

As she lay down to sleep, her phone rang and as she rightly guessed, it was Kay. She picked up and answered in a very sleepy voice. “Hey, baby. How was your day?” ‘Very productive, I must say. How is my baby doing?’ He said. “Am all good. About to retire for the night. It’s been a long day. Have you eaten?” ‘Oh, sure. Very satisfied. I went out with some of my guys for a barbecue.’ “That’s great, baby.”

Then the expression on Kay’s face turned serious as he spoke, ‘I remember we have an unfinished discussion from earlier, sweetie. What exactly were you trying to tell me about your resolutions this New Year.’ She sighed realizing there was no way out of this one.

“I said that I hadn’t considered writing any.” ‘And that would be why?’ “Don’t you think the answer would be quite obvious? Come on, baby, look back at the past years. You know of every resolution I have made in the time we’ve been together. Just how many have I actually accomplished?” ‘Coming from that angle, I see. But it shouldn’t be a reason why you should give up on planning for your future. And in truth, we’ve actually a lot that were not written in those resolutions.’ “My point, exactly. We’ve planned over and over again and end up doing stuff outside the original plan. It leaves the question of why keep writing anymore. If I’m going to write anymore, I should at least try to achieve some of the stuffs I planned in earlier resolutions. So either way, it’s not necessarily a bad situation, ok. I still get to achieve things” ‘You know you drive a hard bargain. How about a compromise?’ “What’s that?” ‘Let’s try to accomplish at least a tenth of the old resolutions instead of writing new ones.’ “Sounds fair to me.”

He sighed, smiled and said, ‘it was nice arguing with you, Miss Kayla’. “Oh, the pleasure’s all mine, Mr. Kay.” ‘Sleep tight and dream of me because this guy here loves you to bits.’ “And I love you more, baby. Good night.” ‘Goodnight darling’.

With those final words, she slept peacefully, thankful that all had been settled and hopeful for the future.

JULES