The Call

        "The fact you came to this meeting means you want to keep working here, right?" Jack the District Manager said looking at the 30 year old shift leader seated beside all the while the General Manager, Ruby gave her a smug look.

        "T-The w-way this meeting has gone h-has helped me ma-make my decision," Katie stuttered as she shook but held Jack's eye contact, "I quit."

        "Alright, do you have your store keys?"

        "Of course," her hands shook as she pulled her keys out of her pocket and placed them along with her name tag on the table in front of her.

        Jack slid the keys over and gave her a nod, "We'll start your separation notice and that you are willingly quitting."

        She thanked him for his time and went to fetch her bag from the office. She passed her coworkers who had never seen her have a conversation with those two before. No one knew what was going on. She kept her feet steady and her head held high. She left the building with confidence but as soon as she got to her car the tears started to well up.

        Her car was her safe place. It was the scene of many breakdowns over the past few days. She had finally reached a breaking point. Katie had put up with Ruby's bullying and for long enough. It didn't mean anything when Ruby was the Assistant manager because she could go to Andrea, the previous General manager, and it would be recorded and she felt like she mattered. But Andrea left and Ruby took over, so her protector was gone.

        Katie knew that meeting was going to be an absolute train wreck and no amount of affirmations was going to make her keep that job. While Jack wanted to let them each say their piece, Ruby couldn't keep her snide comments to herself while Katie explained her side. It was comments that tore her down all the while Katie was using as much of her courage to be professional and not tear her a new one. Jack hopefully saw what Katie was bringing up, but the fact he admitted he didn't read her message let her know he didn't care at all. All he saw was that there was a "grievance" between two "managers".

        What really hurt Katie was the comment Ruby made about her not being part of the management team. Katie had been forced to be the one to close the store 5 days a week for over a year now. The title was Shift leader, but to anyone outside of the store she was the night manager. She closed the store, counted the tills, counted the safes, made sure all the money was deposited and that the night paperwork caught up. Plus she was the safety coordinator and had been since she took the position over a year ago. She only had 3 people to run the lunch and evening shifts and that included herself.

        Ruby also admitted to saying that Katie “did whatever she wanted in that store”, due to her asking Jack a few days ago what to do when she only had one closer. It wasn't safe to leave 2 people in the store or even fair to expect them to do the work of what should be a crew of at least 4. Ruby accused Katie of not doing anything but staying over later for the over time. When anyone who knew her knew she wanted out as soon as possible. But she was the lazy one. She was stretched so thin, and suffered through depression for so long that even neon colors were muted. But rather than having conversations or even trying to come up with solutions, she just demonized Katie.

        Thankfully, Katie only lived two minutes down a straight road from that place. She parked her car and the anger and pain finally flowed out of her with her tears. This time it was the hurt of disrespect, but it didn't last long. She didn't have any more tears to cry.

       With a deep sigh Katie pulled herself together and shuffled into the house. She dropped her purse beside her well-worn chair as she collapsed into the soft cushions. She laid her head back and all the powerful clap backs and things she wished she said ran through her head. Her heart rate was kicking up again, the adrenaline hadn't dispersed yet. Her hands started to shake again.

        Suddenly there was a plop of warmth in her lap. Katie's big black cat made himself comfortable in her lap. He didn't know why his human was home so soon, but he purred happily. A purring cat helps an upset human right? Katie tiredly chuckled and gently scratched his chin.

        "I'll be home until I find something else for work. So soak it up, fuzzball." Katie said softly and figured she should let her husband know what was going on.

        Katie pulled her phone from her well worn purse and sent him a message. He would be on break in a few hours. She sighed and stared at the phone. Should she open up Indeed and start looking again? Honestly, she wanted a nap and some food.

        Her phone buzzed with an alert. It was an email. She had subscribed to a writing prompt newsletter some time ago, but never had the time or motivation to try them out. And she was too nervous to ever post her writing. But the prompt caught her attention. Turning over a new leaf. How Ironic.

        "Write."

        Katie stared at the prompt for a moment. A song came to mind. “The Call” by Regina Spektor. She could feel it. It starts out as a feeling.

        "Write."

        Her heart gave a thump. Not an anxiety or adrenaline thump. Sure prize money would be nice, but that wasn't it. The thump was a hope.

        "Write."

        That singular word was what she craved. Katie unconsciously opened up a web document on her phone. The words flowed so easily. She had been burnt out for so long and stuck in a depression. She wanted to write, but the harassment took all her energy.

        "Write."

        Now it was her battle cry. Her call to arms. Her voice. She wanted to write blog posts and write books. That was her dream job. To be an author who could enjoy her life while crafting stories. to entertain people with her creative mind. Her voice had felt silenced for so long in the burn out, but not anymore.

        "Write!"

        Before she knew it, she had a short story. It was rough. It was raw. It was her. Katie finally could hear her own voice again. The frenzy of writing caused her to pant. But a furry head firmly bunting her elbow brought her back to earth.

        Her cat was now sitting on the arm of the chair and meowed defiantly. Katie laughed and set the phone down for a moment. She squished his fuzzy face between her hands and kissed on his trapped forehead. She bunted back by placing her forehead to his and he gave a happy purr.

        She looked at her cat's bright green eyes twinkling up at her, "Come on you, let's get some chores done before Dad gets home."

        Cleaning the house felt lighter. She walked down to the mailbox and even though the day was dreary and over cast she could see the bright decorations down the street. It felt so colorful. Even the few tiny green leaves hiding from the December chill across the street felt bold to her.

        Katie was happy and hopeful. She made up her mind. She was planning this next year with writing in mind. She wasn't going to hold herself back any longer. She now had a battle cry. She had her writing voice back, and she was determined to love herself again.

        Katie updated her husband again before his break. Telling him how everything is brighter all of a sudden. And what made her smile was his reply to the messages.

        "You're happy."

        Yeah, she was.