And so it begins…

Chapter 1

Myrtle Willoughby was fairly certain that this day couldn’t possibly get any worse. She’d broken a nail at work where she was still waiting to hear word on her transfer request, so she decided to take a half day and leave early, not because her nail was broken but because she just didn’t feel like working anymore after that. On the way home she’d run into Will. Willets Point was Myrtle’s ex-boyfriend. Their break-up had not been easy for either of them and Myrtle was still unsure exactly why things had fallen apart. It had been a month and her feelings were still tender. The break-up was what pushed her to request a transfer to the New York office of the company that she worked for, Baum Inc.
To top it all off, when she’d gotten home there was a message on the answering machine from her aunt Astoria. “Myrtle, honey, I hope you’re indoors. I was just watching the Weather Channel and it looks like there’s a storm up your way.”
Myrtle loved her aunt, and her anger was completely irrational but how was a person supposed to live on their own if their family wouldn’t leave them alone? She’d told her aunt repeatedly that she could take care of herself but thus far, no one seemed to believe her.
She flopped down onto her bed and threw her shoes in the general direction of the closet. She pulled the nail file out of her bedside drawer and went to work reshaping her fingernail.
“I just had my nails done, of course I broke one. Isn’t that the way that works?”
Myrtle sat on her bed nail filing and talking to herself for about 20 minutes before she realized what she was doing. “Seriously, I need a pet.” She made a mental note to go buy a turtle. She would name him Awkward and spend her time talking to him instead of herself.
She stood up from the bed and went into the bathroom to take a long bath and drown her sorrows in bubble bath and scented candles. As soon as she turned off the water and took off her robe to step in, the phone rang. She rolled her eyes and put her robe back on.
When she answered she was certain that whoever was on the other end of the line would be able to hear the exasperation in her voice. Fortunately, it was Howard Beach from her company’s HR department and Howard was a completely oblivious idiot.
“Myrtle? Hi, it’s Howard. Your transfer’s been approved, but they need you in New York tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow Howard? Are you crazy? I can’t be in New York tomorrow.”
“Well you put on the request form that you wanted to go ASAP, and they happen to need you ASAP. The woman who you’ll be replacing was just fired today for apparently stealing employee information. Something about her uncle wanting to blackmail people. Honestly, it’s like a story from a book and I don’t really care enough about it to ask for details. All I know is that they need you tomorrow.”
“I know I wanted to go ASAP, but I expected at least a week to pack everything up and get ready. I’m not packed Howard, I have nothing ready to leave.”
“Not my problem Myrtle. Perhaps next time you request a transfer you’ll remember to leave the ASAP part off of the request form. Your flight leaves at 7:30am and your tickets will be waiting for you at the airport. You can take a taxi to the company apartment building across from the office.”
“Howard there’s no way! I can’t just leave!”
“Sorry Myrtle, that’s the way it has to be. It’s been nice working with you and good luck in New York.” The line went dead and Howard was gone.
“Howard! Howard!” Myrtle couldn’t believe that that conversation had just happened.
“There is no way they want me in New York tomorrow. How could anyone be ready to go in one night?”
Myrtle decided to quit talking to herself and go back to her bath. About 10 minutes into her fabulous soak, the phone rang again. She picked up the cordless without even bothering to get out of the tub.
“Myrtle! New York tomorrow? How can they possibly expect you to be ready that fast?”
“Pelham?” Myrtle asked.
“Who else do you think it would be, jerk?” Myrtle’s best friend replied.
Pelham Bay-Park was a feisty red head who had been Myrtle’s very best friend since she had been just Pelham Bay in high school.
“You have fantastic timing, I’m taking a bath.”
“Good, you smell. What the hell is this nonsense about New York tomorrow?”
“I thought it was bad joke but I was confused because I didn’t think Howard had a sense of humor. Apparently, I was right.”
“Howard’s an idiot, of course he doesn’t have a sense of humor. Your supervisor stopped by and chatted with me about it.”
“Gossiping harpy.”
“I am not!”
“Her, not you.”
“Oh. Well that’s true, she is a gossiping harpy.”
“I just said that. Pay attention.”
“Would you quit being a bitch and tell me how you plan to be ready to go by tomorrow?”
“Well I guess I’ll have to pack a suitcase tonight and come back next weekend to pack up the apartment. My landlord is going to nail me with all kinds of fees for leaving with less than 30 days notice, but I’ll include it in the moving expenses. I can’t believe they want me there tomorrow. It’s ridiculous.”
“Did Howard tell you why they wanted you there so soon?”
“Apparently the woman I’m replacing got fired today for stealing employee information.”
“For what? Was she deathly curious about the real age of the mailroom boy?”
“Blackmail or something. Don’t ask me. Howard said it was like the plot to a novel and he didn’t care enough to get details. So yeah. I’m on my way to New York in the morning at 7:30.”
“That’s a horrid time of morning. You’ll have to get up before the sun comes up. Gross.”
“Pel, you’re not in high school anymore. You can’t say things like ‘Gross’.”
“Who made that rule?”
“I did, just now.”
“Fine. You want me to come over and help pack?”
“It’s just a suitcase so I’ll be fine. Plan to come over next weekend and bring wine. We’ll have a packing party, get trashed and pass out on the floor.”
“Fantastic plan! We should do that more often.”
“Only if you move to New York.”
“Or you move back.”
“I don’t know Pel. This thing with Will is icky and New York will be a fresh start. I can’t imagine coming back here and living in the same town with him again.”
“This town’s big enough that you can’t really use that excuse. Besides, maybe he’ll smarten up and want you back.”
“Since I don’t know why he ditched me in the first place, I can’t really imagine something changing.”
“He’s just scared, Em. You said yourself that you guys had been talking about marriage. You freaked him out and he took off, but he’ll figure out soon enough that you’re the best thing for him and come crawling back.”
“I’m not holding my breath.”
“Well good. You’d pass out in the bathtub and end up drowning.”
“Thanks Pel.”
“What? I don’t want to lose you just yet. Then I’d only have the gossiping harpy to chat with.”
“I thought you liked the gossiping harpy.”
“She’s a walking bag of crazy.”
“So are you. Maybe she could be your new best friend.”
“Don’t even joke about such things.”
“Can I go back to my bath now? My bubbles are popping.”
“Alright. I should probably get back to work anyway.”
“I’ll call you from the city when I get to the company apartments.”
“OK. I love you girl. Just because you’re heading off to the big city doesn’t mean you can forget your old friends.”
“How could I ever forget about you Pel? You wouldn’t let me.”
“That’s true. Enjoy your bath Sunshine.”
“Sunshine? It took me 10 years to get used to Em and now you want to spring a new nickname on me?”
“New city, new nickname. Now go! Soak!”
“Bye Pel.”
“Bye Sunshine.”
Myrtle rolled her eyes and hung up the phone. New York city tomorrow morning. Thank heavens she was escaping. Kansas City wasn’t small, but it wasn’t big enough to avoid Will either. Their run in today had proven that.