Someday

“Jane!” The petite woman called out from across the coffee shop. She then began flailing her arms excitedly, beckoning her dear friend over. “I have so much to tell you,” she announced with a smile so wide it barely fit her face. 

“Just a minute Amelia.” The blunt remark was followed with a singular index finger that landed in front of Amelia’s face, a face that was no longer smiling. The call went on long past a singular minute, yet Amelia sat patiently and waited for her friend to finish. She listened as Jane spoke in a stern voice and pronounced words beyond her understanding, words that caused Jane’s eyebrows to tense as she tried not to yell into the phone. “Sorry,” Said Jane. She hung up the phone and snapped her fingers in the air to gain a server's attention. Amelia felt her stomach turn at the action. She had never known her friend to be disrespectful to the wait staff. The two friends had met many years back as hostesses at a small diner, they knew how hard of a job it was even without inconsiderate customers snapping their fingers. “Some asshole at another firm is trying to poach my client.” Jane scoffed. “But you were saying you have news?” 

Amelia decided against calling her friend out, she was after all, excited to share her news. “Yes, so you know John and I have been talking about our future together?” She said awaiting Jane to nod, audibly confirm, or at the very least acknowledge the question. “Well,” Amelia continued anyway, “I found a ring in his underwear drawer! I believe it’s an eng——“

Amelia found herself being cut off by a distracted Jane, “Where the hell is the server.” 

“Jane!” Amelia shouted loud enough to gain the attention of the entire shop. She looked around feeling slightly embarrassed and then cleared her throat and opted for something closer to a whisper, “You are not even listening to me.” 

Jane let out a sigh that came across as annoyed. “I have a lot on my plate alright, and my cell broke so now I’m stuck with this awful work phone because I have no time to get a new one. I can’t even order my intern to do it for me, something about labor laws blah, blah, blah. Now, I have about five minutes before I need to get back to the office and I am dying for a coffee.” 

“Did you honestly come here to talk on the phone for a half hour, order a coffee, and then leave? What is the point of our monthly coffee dates then?” 

“Honestly I do not know. I came today because I feel bad for you.” 

“You feel bad for me?” Amelia stood and then continued. “I feel bad for you. I don’t even recognize you anymore, what happened to the girl who had dreams of traveling the world with me, the girl who could not wait to go home for holidays because she missed her family so dearly? I miss the version of you that was not so goddamn miserable all the time. You cannot seriously tell me you are happy?” 

Jane looked up at her friend, eyes wide with disbelief. She felt anger, yet she also felt shame. Amelia was not wrong, Jane was terribly sad almost all the time. She hated her job and hated that she let herself stray so far from her values. This, however, was not something she was willing to admit. “I am perfectly happy. Look, we can revisit the whole thing of traveling the world someday when I make enough money to do so.” 

Amelia rolled her eyes, “Someday?” She laughed. “You missed my point completely. In fact, I fear you are missing the point of life completely.” She grabbed her purse and stormed out of the coffee shop. 

The following days were filled with stacks of paperwork so high Jane could barely see over them as she sat at her desk. Her sunken eyes stared out the office window down at the coffee shop where she had met Amelia a few days back. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and started into another stack of files. “Ms Flaring,” Jane’s young intern called out in a mousy voice. 

“Jane, just call me Jane.” She yelled back. 

The intern's head then popped in the doorway, “Right, I am so sorry, Jane.” Her blonde hair was pulled back in a slick bun that sat at the nape of her neck and she had humongous circular glasses that Jane often mocked her for, but the intern swore they were the latest trend and wore them every day despite the teasing. 

“Spit it out,” Jane said. 

“You have a call on line one, the woman said her name is Mrs. Liron, she also referred to herself as Amelia’s mom.” 

“Oh, okay tell her to leave a message and I will get to it later.” 

Jane went back to her files, but within five minutes the intern was back standing at the doorway. This time she did not make a sound. Jane felt herself grow hot with annoyance. “What?” She barked through gritted teeth.

“She left a message.” 

“If you want to keep your job I suggest you do not bother me again. I said I would get to the message later.” 

The intern pursed her lips and then disappeared back to her desk where she remained silent for the rest of her shift. It soon became time to head home and so the intern quietly packed up her bag and headed out without making so much as a peep. 

Two days had flown by and Jane had now ignored three phone calls from Amelia’s mom. “Jane?” The intern squeaked over the intercom. 

“Yes?”

“Mr. Ruthers is requesting to see you in his office.” 

Jane felt her heart begin to race, she had been waiting for what felt like years for this moment. The infamous call to Mr. Ruther's office meant it was time for a raise. Her tireless long nights and unpaid overtime had finally been recognized. She stood from her desk and pulled tightly on the cuffs of her suit until she looked crisp and proper. As she made her walk down the hallway, she thought of her friend and how desperately she would want to celebrate with her. It was then she let in some honesty about how rude she had been to Amelia. But, by the time she reached Mr. Ruther's office she had managed to put the guilt aside. 

“Good morning sir,” She said. “You requested to see me?” 

“Yes, Jane, no need to sit, this will be only a moment.” The oversized man in an undersized suit did not bother to look up from his work as he spoke to her. “Mrs. Thompson has been fired and I need you to take over her files immediately.” 

Jane felt at a loss for words, there was no promotion, only more work that she did not have the time for. “Why was she fired?” Jane felt defensive but she tried hard to hide that from her tone.

“Officially she did not complete a number of assignments on time. Unofficially, between you, the employee nondisclosure, and me, I could spot the early baby bump a mile away.” The man scoffed and Jane felt faint. What kind of company would let such a horrendous man sit atop it? 

She managed to find her way back to her office where someone had dropped her fired colleague's work and she felt the air get thinner as she surveyed all the paperwork in front of her. A loud buzz began underneath the mound of papers and it took her a few minutes before she located the work cell. She glanced at the name-calling and nearly threw the phone in frustration. It was Amelia’s fiancé John. She felt the act inappropriate and dramatic, so she and Amelia had a fight she thought. The two have been friends forever and in Jane’s eyes, they would make up on their own without intervention. She pressed decline and sunk into her chair. Unable to fathom the work that lay ahead of her. Jane called out to her intern who appeared at the doorway at terrifying speed. “Bring me my messages.” 

“There is only one.” 

“Okay,” Jane rolled her eyes, “Then bring me my message.” 

The intern stood staring at Jane for a moment and then finally went to retrieve the folded posted note. “Here.” 

Jane waited for the intern to leave, but she didn’t. When it became clear that she was not going to leave Jane simply shook her head and opened the message anyway. She immediately looked up at the intern whose eyes were filled with tears and then she looked back down at the message. 

My dear Jane, our sweet Amelia has passed away. 

It had been nearly a month since Amelia passed. Jane sat at their monthly meet spot, in the same chair she last saw her friend in. “Hi Amelia,” She spoke quietly to the empty chair. “It was quite the lovely funeral. I believe you would have loved the flower and song choices. The driver who hit you showed up. I nearly attacked them, but your mom talked me out of it.” Jane paused a moment to hold back her tears. “I quit my job. Yup, I found a new job at a non-profit just like I had originally planned all those years ago. Get this, I told them I can’t start for two months because I will be doing some traveling. Gonna see what’s so great about this world you kept telling me about.” Jane laughed. A server walked past and Jane politely caught her attention with a smile and a nod. “Two coffees for here please, my friend and I have a lot to catch up on.”