A NEW YEAR... new beginnings? (Part 103h)

It was the following Wednesday when Stasia didn’t come in. I had to smile to myself because it was the day of the monthly Board meeting. One of her jobs was to prepare the meeting room and with her gone the job fell back on Mona. She started complaining soon after it had become obvious that Stasia wouldn’t be in. It had been one of her jobs before she’d been promoted and to have to do something as mundane as that was, in her mind, beneath her. I also found it interesting that she would choose a Board meeting day what with her grandfather on the Board. I just hoped the trip would go well for her.

When it came time to go home I made a side trip to see if Judith’s car was out behind the drug store. It wasn’t. I can’t describe how anxious I was to find out how it all worked out. I had to wait until Elle was putting the baby down to sleep before I could call Judith. I knew Elle would ask who I was calling if I did it in front of her. I’d told her very little about Stasia and didn’t want to start. Judith’s husband answered the phone which was something I’d hoped to avoid. He didn’t ask who I was which helped but Judith seemed uncomfortable when she got on the line. She told me that the ”plan“ was still working but that she couldn’t talk right then. She told me to meet her at the store around 8am. I’d never been involved in anything like this before so I was both excited and nervous at the same time. In bed I lay awake going over the different scenarios that might play out.

I had to lie to Elle to leave so early. I’ve never been good at it and when I drove away I had the feeling that she knew something was ”fishy“. I pulled up behind the store where the car was sort of hidden from view. Judith actually looked a bit worried when she answered the door. Basically, she hadn’t told her husband of the ”plan“ until just before she took Stasia to meet her brother and he wasn’t in favor of it telling her that if it backfired it could hurt their business. She told me that she put "female pressure“ (I loved that term) on him and he, reluctantly, went along with it.

As far as the trip went Judith told me that Stasia was very nervous the whole way in and when they got to her brother’s office she was shaking. When they walked in the brother’s partner and wife were there to greet them. Stasia didn’t ask many questions about the work but when the partner’s wife took them to her home to show her the apartment they had for her things changed. Cutting to the quick, Stasia was really concerned about her son and who would care for him while she was at work. The lady, who did not work in an office, took in neighborhood children after school. Once that was out Judith said Stasia ”warmed up“and she and the lady seemed to get along. Before they headed back Judith drove around the area trying to give her an idea what it was like since Stasia was truly a ”country girl“. Judith told me that she was overwhelmed by all the people, houses and lack of grass. When they headed back Stasia was quiet and Judith waited until they were almost back into town before she ”pushed“ her on how she felt about the offer. Frightened was the answer. Judith said they sat in her car behind the store for a while and she went over all the ”pluses“ stressing that it was, truly, a chance to have a life of her own. The end result was that Stasia would ”sleep on it“.

There wasn’t anything I could really do so headed off to the bank. Stasia arrived right as the bank opened. I looked at her hoping to get a ”read“ on her but it was more of the blank look that I usually saw. I went to the drug store at lunch time. I hadn’t been into the store itself in quite a while. There were some people at the counter so I had to wait. When Judith finally saw me she had her familiar smile and gave me a ”thumbs up“. It wasn’t until I was leaving that she could really speak to me and was able to tell me that Stasia had told her that she was going to do it. She told me that she’d get the details to me as soon as she had them. Walking back to work I felt better than I had in quite a while.

As it turned out there were a lot of fluctuations in the ”plan“ as the following week played out but Judith drove Stasia and her son in on Friday soon after the noon siren. Stasia had her pay (we got paid in cash) and they went to her son’s school and took him out and then were off. The day was very stressful to me and yet I wasn’t really involved. It was a strange feeling. Judith stayed overnight. One of the things she desperately wanted to do was to get Stasia to a hairdresser and to give her new look.  She also wanted to get her some new clothes that were in style.

I was very tempted to call Judith on Sunday but was able to resist. When I got to the store Monday morning the first thing Judith did was to put both her hands up in front of her with her fingers crossed. I remember smiling. But I also remember how excited Judith was telling me about Stasia’s ”new look“. She told me that if she were to walk in the store right then and there that I wouldn’t recognize her. She told me that she’d gotten her husband ”fully on board“ and he'd written a letter for Stasia to sign that explained what she’d done without giving her family any clues as to where she was. She also told me that she’d be talking with her every day and would keep me posted. I remember asking Judith what happened when she got in her car to come back. She told me that Stasia surprised her and gave her a big hug. That surprised me as well.

At work, it took a few days for the word to filter down that Stasia had “run away”. I went along with it, smiling inside as I listened to the old biddies come up with their theories. I was never asked by anyone about her which made me very happy. By the end of that next week they had hired a replacement for her... another Trustee’s relative.

To be continued...