Chapter 16: Monday, July 25, 2016 (Morning)
It was 7:45 AM when I walked into the office suite. I actually did a double take of the numbers on the door to make sure it was, indeed, the correct one. Everything was in immaculate condition. The walls were repainted in a light shade of khaki, a far sight better than the original, dull gray. There was different, more casual furniture in the reception anteroom. There was a stranger at the desk.
"Can I help you, sir?" he asked.
"Yeah. I'm Will Richards. This is my office, or at least it used to be."
The man rose from the desk and came around to greet me with an offered hand, which I shook. "No sir, you're in the right place. I'm Thomas Rhodes."
"Hi, Thomas. Are you …" I hesitated.
"Yes, sir, I'm covering for Ellena while you're still in town. Since you only need coverage for another week and a half, they put this newbie in that chair."
His self-deprecating nature was contradicted by his more-than-able appearance.
"No worries."
I looked around again, enjoying the newness of my surroundings.
"So, facilities repainted and everything just for little old me?"
"I wish I could say yes, sir, but a senior vice president from the Seattle area is transferring here in two weeks. This will be his suite. His staff sent specific requests."
I was a touch crestfallen but decided it didn't matter. I had less than two weeks remaining.
"Follow me and tell me about yourself," I said as I unlocked the door to my office. Of course, the window between the two rooms had been re-glazed and the blinds replaced. Though it had also received a new coat of paint and different wall hangings and plants, everything else was pretty much as I'd left it the week before.
"I've been at Extecha for two years," he began.
"What about before?"
"I served twelve years in the United States Marine Corps as military police, most recently at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. I transitioned to Marine Reserves two years ago and was hired by Extecha."
"That's fantastic. What's your rank?"
"Gunnery Sergeant."
"Outstanding. Can I call you Gunny?"
"Yes, sir, but I would prefer you didn't. Please, just call me Tommy."
His directness was atypical of a "newbie," and I liked it.
We conversed for ten minutes or so where I gave him the long and short of my expectations and tasked him with my first request.
"Can you check with employee logistics to make sure everything's been arranged and on track for my relo back to Dallas next week?"
"Of course, sir. I'll get right on it." He turned to walk back to his desk.
"Hang on a second." I had an internal debate for a few moments. "I think I want to change the plan if it doesn't gum things up too much. I want them to arrange transport for my car and book me a flight. I had originally planned on driving to Dallas, but I'm motivated to get back as soon as I can, and I don't want a fourteen-hour drive with an overnight in the way."
"Understood, sir. Let me see what I can do."
At 8:30, Andrew came in to fill me in on his coverage for the end of the prior week. It turned out to be a fairly quiet few days, and no surprises were encountered. We chit-chatted for a half hour before he left for a meeting.
I spent the next hour and a half sorting through a mile-high inbox of email, most of which was spam.
What are you up to?
I texted Dawn.
Nothing. Nothing at all. Watching paint dry. Watching water not boil. Seeing if the grass is growing. I'm bored.
Wow. Productive day!
😁
I'm actually about to leave for the Galleria. Want to get some clothes before I start the new job.
Sounds fun! (not)
I might go to Victoria's Secret while I'm there.
I'll be there in a few minutes!
You wish!
😂
How's your day?
Just brisk enough to keep me busy. Office is all straightened up. It's even been revamped and refreshed a bit because an SVP is transferring here from Seattle. The facilities team here is better than back home, apparently. There's a new guy staffing the office. He's a Marine.
Nice! Glad it's all been sorted out.
Have fun shopping. And don't you dare go to VS without me.
"Sir, I have some information for—" Tommy came in but stopped when he saw me using my phone.
"Give me just a sec."
He quietly nodded in acknowledgment.
Can't make any promises! I love you!
😘 Dawn replied.
Love you too!
I sat my phone on my desk face down. "What'ya got?"
"Logistics has you confirmed for the packers and movers. Packers will come at nine on Thursday morning. They estimate two to three hours to pack your personal belongings. Since yours is a small move, you're the first on the truck, and the last off. The movers are now slated to come that evening at 16:00 and be out by 18:00. They have two other clients to load the following day. They expect the truck to be on the road by 17:00 Friday. Their first drop is in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Saturday morning. Their second is in Rowlett, Texas, on Sunday morning. Yours is their last drop which is scheduled for Sunday evening as soon as the Rowlett delivery is completed.
"I arranged transport for your car. The transport service will need you to drop it off at the Lexington depot by 23:00 next Tuesday night if you want to have it available for pickup at the Dallas depot when you arrive.
"I took the liberty of booking you on the first flight to Dallas on Friday morning. Barring delays, you'll arrive at DFW at 08:18.
"Next, I've booked you a rental car here in Lexington on Tuesday. An agent will bring the car to the transport depot. You'll return it at Blue Grass Airport. I've also arranged for a car service for you from DFW to the Dallas depot where you can pick up your own vehicle.
"Finally, sir, since your possessions will likely be out of sorts as you get ready to move, I've booked you a room at the Hyatt for Wednesday and Thursday nights, as well as at the Courtyard in Plano for Friday with a Monday checkout.
"I think I've saved you two days. If these arrangements are agreeable, sir, I'll store the vouchers, passes, and confirmations in an ESFS folder."
The man had recited it all from memory. He wasn't reading from notes.
"Thanks a ton, Tommy. I really appreciate it."
"It's no problem at all, sir. Glad I can help. I've seen the signs."
"Signs?" I warily asked.
"Sir, my wife has put up with me being all over the world since we've been married. You said you were well-motivated to get back to Dallas. I've been where you are. I assume you have someone waiting for you there."
I was flabbergasted. "You are absolutely correct. Tommy, do you like Tennessee whiskey?"
"I'm a Marine, sir."
I stared at him blankly.
"That means yes, sir."
Tennessee whiskey is considered an epithet in Kentucky bourbon country, but no one had ever turned it down.
"Well, then, I'll bring you a little thank-you tomorrow."
"Understood, sir." He smiled and returned to his desk. I put a reminder in my iPhone to put a case of Jack in my car the next morning, then relayed the news to Dawn.
Yay!!
🤣
Your day counter went from thirteen to eleven!
😘 😜
Chapter 17: July 25 – August 4, 2016
Dawn and I spent time almost every evening when we could enjoy intimacy and closeness even though she was almost a thousand miles away.
Technology is so easily taken for granted. Dawn and I both recalled our early years when, on international assignments, it took a whole lot of tedious button-pushing on landline telephones and dollars per minute to make a call back home. Instead, a few taps could connect us together via high-definition video, and different taps could induce an orgasm. It could all be done anywhere there was decent Wi-Fi available.
During one FaceTime call, she mentioned she'd had her appointment with her aesthetician and revealed the results. It appeared to have been an uncomfortable hour. I asked if I could kiss it to make it better. She chuckled at that and put the camera close to her bare labia as I made smooching sounds.
On Friday, Drew and I attended the company leadership's "Extecha Range Day," an event attended by all the senior management and their direct reports as a charity benefit.
I managed to knock down only 122 of my 200 targets using a borrowed shotgun and $80-worth of dove loads. It was a fun day, but I got a bit sunburned, and my right shoulder was tender and bruised from the two hundred recoils. My division racked up a total of $17,990 in employee-sponsored per-point contributions which would be donated to the charity.
For my final Sunday in Lexington, I spent the afternoon botching a round of eighteen holes with my golf buddies because my heart just wasn't in it.
Not once since graduating college and moving to Texas had I ever considered myself homesick, but I considered my current condition as qualifying. Plus, the bruised shoulder didn't help my swing. I shot a dismal twenty-one over par, which earned me the privilege of buying sliders and the first round of beers at the clubhouse.
Moving day was getting nearer. On Tuesday evening, I dropped my car at the vehicle transportation company's Lexington depot. I drove the delivered rental back to my condo where I started inventorying and labeling the items that were to remain as I vacated it, all to prevent accidental "theft" if the movers were to mistake something as my property.
Wednesday was my final workday in my Lexington office. It took most of the morning for me to do a proper hand-off to Drew, who would be overseeing the final steps of the transition. All in all, the whole year-long endeavor was viewed as a phenomenal success.
Later that afternoon, celebratory cake and coffee were offered in the café with all of the other members of the transition teams from other departments. Most of the four thousand or so employees of the Lexington campus came and went to celebrate the milestone of the completion. I made it a point to say farewell to the two dozen or so folks of which I'd become fond, including Marcus and Jean, then packed two boxes of personal belongings and papers which the company would ship back to my Dallas office.
The day was surreal in some ways. It wasn't like I was leaving a job as Dawn had, but having worked in Lexington for a year, it felt like it. At 4:00, I pulled out of my favorite parking spot in the structure for the final time.
I drove back to the condo complex and stopped at the leasing office where I signed the exit paperwork and was given a temporary gate security code the movers and packers could use to gain access to the property. I drove the few hundred yards farther to my building.
I stopped at my neighbor's and retrieved my spare key and returned his to him. That poor guy arrived six months before I had and expected another year on
