All persons are over the age of 18, and all characters and locations are totally fictional.
None of these parts or chapters stand alone. The narrative picks up where the previous one left off.
Sunday, continued:
Alan needed to think about how to broach the subject of his impending departure with his team at work. They knew he was looking; they just did not know that he had found and accepted something else. He knew several of them would want to follow him to his new employer. He did not know how to address that. He did feel he owed it to his current boss to leave the project team in a good place. He thought about who he would recommend being promoted to the project manager position. Running through the list of the team, he realized there was nobody on the team who would like to step up. Sighing mightily, he set those worries aside.
The item he kept coming back to was where would Rose and the girls live. It was too bad that his house had only three bedrooms, and there was not room in the basement to fashion another bedroom. He just felt bound up by the circumstances. He so wanted Rose to move in and share his bed on a nightly basis, but he had to balance that with the need for Maggie to have her own space, at least until she went off to college in the fall. And what to do about both David and Tom coming home on breaks? He just kept circling the drain and not making any progress.
When you can't think your way out or through a situation, then just do something. Alan got up and headed to the kitchen to investigate the refrigerator for what to do for supper and lunches during the week. He could cobble together some leftovers for that night and Monday, but the selections for meals after Monday's supper were slim pickings. He really missed Laura. She would have had a plan and would have been working it already. He could not live on take-out; he needed to "plan his work, then work his plan". Sometimes the Scouting stuff applied to real life, too. Fine. Pasta and Meat Sauce usually worked well to provide lunches and suppers, and it was simple to make. He'd start there and see where the wind blew him.
* * * * *
The Lawsons' return trip to Centreville was uneventful (the best kind), and they stopped at the grocery store to lay in supplies for the week. Maggie and Rose had talked nearly the entire trip from Middleburg and had covered several topics in their discussions.
"Ok, love, we need to do some thinking," Rose began. "On the fortunate side, our lease on the apartment is up at the end of January. We might as well just pay the January rent and be moved out before then. It will give us a little more time to properly clean the place after moving."
"But where do we move to, Mom?" Maggie asked.
"That's the rub, Mags. We need to find a place to move into and get you transferred. I'm so sorry about taking you out of Centreville in the middle of your senior year."
"Pffft! I'm more attached to some of the teachers than I am to most of my classmates. They'll probably cheer when I'm not there anymore to wreck a grading curve. It may even make things more special when and if I get together with old girlfriends from Centreville later in life." Maggie broke into an ear-to-ear smile. "Besides, I've got a cool boyfriend who is 'into' me!" she said in a sing-song voice.
"Yes, yes you do, Magpie." Rose could not help but grin at Maggie's joy. "Do you have a preference about what kind of place we get? Not that you get to decide, but I do want to know what you are thinking."
"If it's an apartment, then a ground floor one, please. If it's a house, one near to the Harrisons' home would be preferable. No trailers or not-so-mobile homes, please, though."
Rose nodded her head in agreement. "First things first, then. You need to find out from the office what we need to do to get you transferred to Middleburg High School. As far as where to live, we can do some research online this week then go look in person next weekend."
They chatted about inconsequential things the rest of the way back to Centreville.
* * * * *
David's return trip to school was the best kind -- uneventful. He sent a text to Alan informing him of his safe arrival, to which Alan responded with a "thanks". Then he sent one to Maggie of his safe arrival, and he set about preparing for the last week of classes before finals next week. He acknowledged to himself that he could not go back home next weekend, right before finals, even though he thought it likely that Maggie would be back there with Rose.
The food service's meal for that night was fried chicken, a pleasant change from the mystery loaf that often was offered on Sundays. He was enjoying the food when a text came in from Maggie. However, his fingers were all greasy and he did not wish to smudge his phone to respond. He looked to the napkin holder, but it was empty, as was every other one in the dining room. Stymied, he rationalized that they would talk at 7:30, so a response to her message was not high on his priorities. Then another text from Maggie which he also could not respond to. Five minutes later, another text from her. He began to get a bad feeling in his stomach. Opting to cut his meal short, he returned the tray and dishes to the window, then headed for a restroom to wash and clean his hands. With his hands now cleaned of fried chicken grease, he unlocked his phone and saw the messages from Maggie.
Magpie: * Did you get there ok? *
Magpie: * David, please let me know you got there safely. Your phone just rolls to voicemail *
Magpie: * If I don't hear from you in ten minutes, I'm calling the state police *
Oh shit. He noticed that his message to her from his arrival had not been received. Double crap! David dialed Maggie's mobile phone, but it rolled to voicemail after ringing only once. So, she was not using her phone, but she could not answer a call. He left a message.
"Maggie, my call rolled to voicemail after ringing only once. When was the last time you shut down and restarted your phone? This happened to me once, a long time ago. Please try it and call me back!" he pleaded. "I'm safe at school. I sent you and Dad a text before I even got out of the Jeep. Call me, please!"
Maggie called him about ten minutes later and she was profusely apologetic for her ire. Once she had restarted her phone, she could see the text David had sent much earlier, along with texts from other girlfriends there in Centreville. She'd also been alerted to his voicemail waiting for her. Once she heard his panicked voice, she felt horrible about threatening to contact the state police. For his part, David was touched and gratified that she cared for him so much. Perhaps this could be a topic for discussion, later. They agreed she would call him a bit later and he promised to be available. Parting with soft 'I love you's, they disconnected. David then rebooted his phone, just to be safe.
Walking back to his dorm room, David's thoughts were whirling about in a tornadic frenzy. "Is this what usually comes with having a girlfriend? Drama, panic, ultimatums? Is the juice worth the squeeze?" The times of physical and intellectual closeness had been very pleasant. Watching 'Dogma' together on Saturday had been quite a nice time. They had had some discussion about points raised in the movie, which had led to even more closeness. But the manufactured crisis about communication tonight was far from pleasant.
David reached his dorm room to find his roommate, Robert, who had returned from wherever he had been earlier.
