Day 9 - 1276 words in 2 hours - see my main blog for notes

Jessie rolled over and hit the snooze button without thinking. About 2 minutes later, her brain caught up with what day it was and Jessie jumped out of bed. Jessie was excited, tomorrow was the day! No more sleeping in the sleazy motel & taking the bus to work. No more begging for rides to the library to check email and set up the flight information. Jessie was so happy to be moving on, but she still had quite a bit to do before moving out and moving on.

Jessie gathered up some things and went to take a shower. As she turned on the water to let it run until it was hot, she could hear the pipes creaking and knocking. Jessie thought about how this was going to be the last time she had to get ready in this place. She was so glad to be upgrading, but she was going to miss this place. Even though the tiles were discolored, the shower took a long time to heat up and even longer to drain & you had to jiggle the handle to get the toilet to stop running, the place still had a little charm left.

Jessie quickly jumped in the shower & let the warm water run over her for a few seconds before starting her shortened bathing routine. When she was finished, she got out of the shower and stuck her hand down in the murky water to check that the drain was still open. Jessie decided that she would not miss that part of her morning routine. Jessie rinsed her hand and forearm off in the sink and then Jessie started toweling off. After she was sufficiently dried off, Jessie slipped into her underthings and started working on her hair. This was going to be her last day at work and she wanted to go out with a bang. As Jessie finished her hair and started her makeup, her cell phone rang. Checking the caller ID, Jessie hit the talk button and placed the receiver to her ear.

“Hey, Bri!” Jessie answered. It was Brian, one of Jessie's closest friends from work.

“Hey, Girl!” Brian responded back. “So, are you ready to leave that hell hole you've been sleeping in and move on to the big time?” Brian sounded so excited. Jessie tried her best to keep getting ready while on the phone.

“I am so glad to get out of here. Between the mystery neighbors that are different every night and the creepy child molesters down the hall, I am fed up with this place.” Jessie found it difficult to but her face on while talking on the phone, so she stopped for a second. “Hey, Bri, I'm gonna have to put you on speaker phone so I can finish getting ready.” Jessie stated as she started to root around in her makeup bag.

“Hey, that's in-be-dee. I've got to finish getting ready myself. I was just calling to see if you were awake and getting around.” Jessie could hear Brian opening an shutting doors while he was talking to her. She could picture him in his fluffy blue “dressing gown” and bunny slippers shuffling around his loft apartment. Jessie had always envied Brian's living quarters, but she was glad that she had chosen to stay in a motel while she was transitioning from one place to the other. Jessie like Brian, but working with him eight hours a day, five days a week along with hanging out a couple of nights a week was already as much of him as she could handle. Even if she wasn't going to see him for a few months, Jessie still didn't want to be sick of him before she left, she felt like that would be a tragedy she couldn't afford.

“Well, I am,” Jessie responded, cheerfully. She could barely contain her excitement. “What time are you getting here?” She questioned.

“Well, hon, you know me. I never leave with things half done. I'll be walking out the door in another couple of hours, minimum. That should put me there around, umm, about 9:30ish?” Jessie chuckled. Brian had never been on time to anyplace but work for the the entire time she had known him. Jessie made a mental note to expect him around 10.

“OK, that's cool. That'll give me enough time to finish packing and grab a snack from the “buffet” in the lobby.” Brian laughed.

“Hey, don't fill up on too many donuts while you're there. We have something special planned for you when we get to the office.” Jessie knew what to expect. Whenever someone left the company she worked for, they always had brunch followed by a cake and a whole string of people who would stop by the person's desk to drop off going away gifts and cards. Usually, the person who was leaving took a half-day and really just spent the day packing their stuff. They only had about 2 hours to do that in anyway, because of all of the other goings on. Jessie had already spent most of the day before getting ready to leave for good. She had spent the day going through files and tossing away scraps of paper that had notes she had written about what she was doing. Jessie had culled her things down to the bare minimum. She just had a few personal items to pack and she would be ready to go.

“OK, Bri, I've GOT to go, though. I need to finish getting ready and then pack. I'll see you around 9:30.” Jessie stated, adding rushed tones to her voice.

“Alright, hun. See you then. Kisses!” Brian exclaimed.

“Kisses!” Jessie replied, chuckling. She would definitely miss him when she left.

After Jessie got off the phone, she continued fixing her makeup and then went to get dressed in her “breakfast clothes”. Jessie had learned to dress down when going to retrieve her breakfast. Between the whistles and the cat-calls, Jessie was tired of being hit on by the creepy people she shared her living quarters with. Jessie quickly rushed down the stairs and grabbed two donuts and a couple of small cartons of milk. The spread was never much, but at least it was something. Jessie stopped to talk to Bianca, the girl at the desk, before returning to her room to eat. Jessie looked at the clock in her room. It was 8:30. Jessie quickly finished her breakfast and gathered up the rest of her things and placed them by the door. Finally, around 9, Jessie changed into her work clothes and touched up her makeup. Looking over herself in the mirror, Jessie took a deep breath. Everything was perfect.

“Yee-haw, boys. Let's git-r-dun,” Jessie whispered to herself as she took one last look in the mirror. There was a knock at the door. Jessie looked at the clock. It was 9:45. “Just a minute!” Jessie yelled as she slipped her shoes on and started walking towards the door. Looking out the peephole, Jessie unfastened the latch and opened the door. “Brian!”

“There's my famous opera singer!” Brian exclaimed as he gave her a hug. “Are you ready to go?”

“I sure am!” Jessie squealed. “Help me with this stuff, will ya.” Jessie handed Brian a couple of suitcases. Brian started towards his car while Jessie went back in the room to grab a couple of other things. Just as Brian got the suitcases arranged in the trunk, Jessie showed up with her other suitcase and a hanging bag. Brian helped load all of the things in the trunk.