I'm Looking at it as we Speak.

“Damn Grizzy, nice digs! But why did you have to move an hour away?” I asked.

“Just look around. That oughta answer your question,” he replied.

“I forgot my laptop at home and I am technically supposed to be working right now. My boss is expecting me to have a rough draft of a proposal to buy a local chain by Monday. I haven’t even started it yet.”

“You’ve got three days, just lock yourself away tonight and slave through the weekend to get it done. You're the invincible Itzkowitz, you’ve got this!”

“Come sundown, the invincible Itzkowitz will be devoting the 24 hours that follow to God. It’s Shabbat,” I reminded him. “No worky for me Griz. I have one day. Sunday.”

He attended many Shabbat dinners at my home so he knew this about me. That Friday was the only day I had free, which wasn’t exactly true since I had so much work to do and hadn’t started yet. But I grew up with Grizzy and he had no one else to help him move. We were practically brothers. I wouldn't dream of leaving him hanging on this one.

I could see why he moved to the sticks. His new house had more square footage than any family of eight would need, yet he lived alone. His property was backed by rolling golden fields of wheat while the front was hidden by a dense forest. The sounds of crickets chirping and birds singing were mesmerizing, not to mention the crisp smell of real air, something nonexistent in the city.

The tune for Hava Nagila broke me out of my trance. It was my phone. The caller ID read Big Boss Man.

“It’s my boss, Griz. I think I’ll let it go to voicemail” I said while trying to breathe through my anxiety.

“Maybe you’re in the bathroom. Let it go. If it’s pressing he’ll leave a message” he assured me. I waited, but no voicemail. I started working double-time to help Grizzy empty the truck.

  “I think this is the last of it. If I leave now, I can probably make it home by one o’clock, giving me a solid 4 hours or so to get the proposal started. You good if I go” I asked.

“Yeah, I think so. I'll just take an Uber home after I drop off” – my Hava Nagila ringtone started playing again. It was Big Boss Man. The green answer button was staring me in the face. Dodging him all day would be impossible. I readied my right pointer finger and took a deep breath and tried to steady my trembling heart. My finger tapped the answer button. “Dame Itzkowitz speaking,” I said.

“David Rosenberg speaking,” he said mockingly. “Why so formal on your private line? Don’t you have caller ID Itzy,” he asked.

“My screen is broken so I can’t tell who is calling me,” I replied. Grizzy held up his keys and motioned to me that he was going to take the truck back. I nodded.

“I wanted to touch base and see how the proposal was coming along. Are you working on it?” David asked.

“I am looking at it as we speak. I will have something concrete to give you by Monday for final approval,” I thought to myself, a little white lie never hurt anyone. “I’m eager to share it with you,” I said.

“Great! I have Remy here with me. We were thinking he might be able to have a quick look and help you finish it up today—" oh shit, I thought as my heart jumped out of my chest. “He’s got nothing else to do until you’re done with the proposal. Set up a zoom call.” Brainstorming for a way out of this, I was nearly shitting myself. Good idea, I thought.

“I was just about to head to the bathroom. I think I got food poisoning from Franchesco’s last night.” Now the white lie train is moving along. What's next, I wondered.

“We can get together when you get out of the bathroom then. Can you send me what you have so far?”

“I’ve been looking for my laptop charger. I’m at five percent, so I’ll try and get it to you before it dies.” Another lie. I still hadn't left Grizzy’s house. I had an hour's drive to look forward to. I was digging the deepest hole of my life at that point. “There it went. Dead. Let me call you back after I use the restroom and find the charger.” I hoped that would buy me enough time to get home and blaze through a proposal rough draft.

“If you’re on the company laptop, everything you do is backed up to the Z server. We can check there,” suggested Remy.

“That would be a great idea if only I’d been working on the company laptop. I was drafting it on my personal computer, just because it is more ergonomic and I am much faster on it.” Another bloody lie. This interaction was not going well at all. Worse yet, now I was a full-blown liar.

“Somethings fishy Itzy. Call me back when you get your shit together—” he ended the call.

Grizzy already drove off to get the rental truck back to the rental office in time. I remembered that I threw my keys in the truck so that I wouldn’t have to lug them around with me all day as I helped Grizzy unload the truck. My phone was almost dead. It could be charged in my car even if the engine isn’t running. In any other circumstance, that feature might have been useful. That day, however, I locked my doors. The nearest gas station was seven miles away and all of his neighbors were Amish. I was stuck. Grizzy also locked the doors to the house since he thought I was leaving. The rental office was about 30 minutes away by automobile. I started to dial his number when my phone died.

If he gets back here in about an hour, I can still make it home by 2:30 or so. That’ll give me a little time to prepare something to share. Ah, but Remy will probably have left after all the wasted time. David will head home around 5…WHAT DID I DO TO MYSELF? I have nothing to show, and they are ready to see something now. I am screwed, I thought to myself.                          

Hava Nagila, Hava Nagila— “Hello?”

“It’s Grizz, you awake? Today’s the big moving day!”

It was all a dream. The proposal was finished last night. I am happy that the nightmare wasn’t real, but I did learn that white lies have the potential to get me into a lot of trouble!

“You still going to help me,” he asked.

“Well, I think I got food poisoning from Franchesco’s last night—” I paused, the line went silent. “Just kidding brother, of course, I’m going to help!”