The Last Leaves of Autumn
Jarrod Barker left his home in the early hours of the morn as he has for the past thirty years. It was late November and he was greeted by an icy cold that quickly sucked the warmth from his body and sent him into shivers. His car felt like a freezer and he immediately turned on both the heater and defroster seeking warmth but instead was greeted by an arctic blast of cold air from the heating vents that continued until the vehicle's engine got properly warmed up and sent welcomed heat into the cabin. He drove silently down his street, turned the corner and then headed into the early morning rush hour traffic. He felt a bit under the weather as he drove toward his office and the pressures of the day. He had been working tirelessly on a huge project for his company, and if successful, he was promised a promotion to vice president of his entire division, since his boss was retiring.
Jarrod went to work at Stetson Industries right out of graduate school. He had his freshly minted MBA in hand and set off to climb the corporate ladder. He could see the light at the end of the tunnel and he looked forward to not only the end of the project, the early mornings and late hours, tons of take out and lack of quality time with his wife, but also the chance at last to supervise while others did the grunt work. At 55 he felt he had come to the end of being the lackey that did while others reaped the rewards of his heard work. Now, it was his time to reap what he sowed and let others supply the elbow grease.
He had opportunities for promotion over the years; yet each opportunity at his home office had gone to others who met the criteria for the company's diversity objectives. Two women, though similarly qualified were promoted with less time than Jarrod had and one African American male who had been there a year less. Jarrod knew they were either equally or nearly equally qualified and all the successful candidates deserved their promotions. Jerrod while disappointed, wasn't jealous of the three promoted over him although he was envious. For Jarrod Barker to remain in the home office, it was, sit and wait for his turn to come.
He could have been a vice president ten years prior and was offered several opportunities that required relocation to another city or another state, however, his wife Angela refused to even entertain the idea of leaving her family and friends behind. Angela Barker nee Sanderson spent her entire life in Albany. She didn't want to live in a big city nor did she want to leave New York State. That was why she nixed moving to New York City and as well as San Diego or Milwaukee. Angela was always a bit spoiled by her parents and was used to getting her own way. Anytime a chance at a promotion came around she refused to budge and denied Jarrod sex until he capitulated and turned down the offers. Yet, she complained about the periods where Jarrod had to work longer hours and blamed him for not being "good enough" to get promoted within the home office in Albany.
Jarrod always pointed out to Angela that he wouldn't have to work all those late nights if he had accepted any of the promotions offered over the past decade. This always made Angela livid and things in their bedroom became as frosty as this morning was whenever the subject came up. This was Angela's modus operandi throughout their marriage. Whenever she wanted something to go her way, she weaponized their sex life to get what she wanted. Jarrod loved her so much he always capitulated in the end. Sometimes the dry spell lasted a few days and other times, a few weeks. He wasn't a complete patsy. Sometimes it was better to stand on principle and go without than to cater to her every whim, at least, for a while.
Jarrod had a quick and quiet commute as traffic was light and moved along without incident. For the last few weeks Jarrod had not felt particularly well. He blamed it on the stress and longer hours he had been putting in. He arrived a half hour early and as was the norm his executive assistant Pamela was already at her desk and had the coffee brewed. Jarrod walked over to the coffee maker and filled two cups, one black for him and one with two creams and one sugar for Pam. He brought the coffee over to Pam. She looked up at her boss and noticed that he was pale, nearly ashen. He looked like death warmed over. Concerned, she looked him in the eyes and said, "Jarrod, you look terrible. Do you want me to take you to urgent care?"
Jarrod took a sip of his coffee as he saw the worried look on Pam's face and he tried to reassure her and himself as he replied, "I'll be okay Pam once I get this coffee in me and I get this damned project wrapped up in a nice tidy package. Two days, maybe three at the most and then we'll move upstairs to the executive suite and out of this middle management office forever." He forced a smile on his face, trying and failing to calm her fears for his health. He headed for his office as he felt he needed to sit down and get off his feet. He had been skipping breakfast for some time as he seemed to feel nauseous quite a bit in the morning and if truth be told at lunch and dinner as well.
He plopped down in his chair and he felt a dull pain in his arm and some pressure as it seemed like his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest. He had been freezing this morning and now he felt overly warm and had beads of sweat pouring down his forehead though the temperature was a comfortable 74°F. He felt a wave of nausea overtaking him and he vomited into his wastebasket. The sound of her boss retching sent Pam running to his office. She immediately noticed that his face was completely drained of color and he was sweating profusely. Once he finished throwing up, she felt his forehead. His skin was clammy and he felt like he was burning up. She shouted, "Jarrod that's it, I'm driving you to urgent care!" Jarrod knew that he needed to rest and thought he could do that best at home rather than sitting in a waiting room and possibly ending up in a hospital being poked and prodded.
He looked at Pam and told her, "Pam, you're right, I don't feel well but all I need is some rest and a day or two away from the stress and long hours. So, I'm headed home and plan to take the next two days off. That will give me a nice four-day weekend to rest, relax and recuperate. I promise, no work, just rest and plenty of it." Pam looked at her boss, uncertain that just rest was enough.