So, it’s New Year’s Eve. I’m working, of course. But, I’m supposed to be off at 5:30pm. Well, let’s be honest, I’m off whenever my boss decides he wants to leave the office. I’m hoping since it IS New Year’s Eve and he is going to a party, he’ll duck out early and I’ll be able to leave at a decent hour so that I can make the hour commute home. Oddly, I don’t live 60 miles from work, sadly, it’s a mere 16 miles, but I live in Los Angeles, which seems to have constant traffic, but more so during the hours of 6am and 6pm. Who am I kidding? There is traffic every day, all day long. I often wonder if anyone holds down a real job in this city….so there’s that.
I am patiently watching the clock tick tock down and working away. As usual, on New Year’s Eve, nobody is really working. I mean, most people are out-of-town, especially all of the Executives. They are with family or traveling or at home relaxing. I, however, have not had a day off in approximately 2.5 years. It is on occasions such as today, that my boss, somehow decides that he needs to organize and clean out absolutely everything in his “inbox” and office and I get to figure out how to prioritize and re-organize for him. He pulls me into his office and hands me stacks of papers, folders, envelopes, receipts and then starts spouting off something that I can barely understand. After about 10 seconds, I realize he is dictating a letter. For pete’s sake…a head’s up would be nice so I can put all of this stuff down and grab my pen and paper. So, I throw the stuff on the chair next to me and pick up my handy notepad and feverishly try to catch up with what he is saying. I think “Crap, who is this letter even to? What is this about? Did he want it to be emailed or sent snail mail or …?” I catch as much as I can, scribbling in my own “shorthand”. He finishes and I know better than to ask any questions. Asking questions is like a death sentence. You’re supposed to just know the answers and if you don’t know….you figure it out. So, I think he’s done talking and I pick everything up and slowly start toward the door. He says “Misty, do you think you can organize all of that and have that letter before I leave today?” Well, I have no idea what time he will be leaving, but I answer “sure, no problem” and walk out.
I re-read my scribbled letter and try to make sense of what he is trying to get across. I figure out WHO he is writing to so that helps, somewhat. If I send it out without asking him to look it over, he will be very upset. If I ask him to look it over before I sent out, he will be very upset and probably tell me he doesn’t have time “right now”. I put the letter in email form and then stare at the SEND button on computer for an eternity. Which is the lesser of two evils? It’s getting close to 4pm by now…tick tock, tick tock. I press SEND and hold my breath. As if on cue, he comes flying out of his office and says he wants to change something in the letter. Oh. Dear. God. I just lie. I just flat-out lie and say “no problem, I haven’t sent it yet”. He makes one tiny change, it’s just one word. I fly into my outlook and try to recall the email that was sent and replace it with the change. Thankfully, it’s not a big deal, so if it doesn’t work, hopefully no one will notice. My stomach turns in knots. Of course, he will probably notice, because heaven forbid they reply to his email and then what? He will look at the original. I brush this off and realize I don’t have time to worry about it. I have an entire “inbox” to organize.
About 35 minutes later, my boss saunters out of his office, jacket and briefcase in hand and says he has to get home to change and get ready for the party. YESSSSUUUHH!!! If I am lucky, I finish the organization in another 45 minutes and be out the door. About 3.5 minutes later, he calls from his call. He always does. Every, single day. And then this is what he says “so, what else is going on?” I don’t even know how to answer that. I never do, but I always feel as though it’s a test, so I have to think of something that makes it sound as if I’m busy, busy, busy and so is he. So, I ramble off a list of things on my plate. He says “okay, sounds good, well, you should get out of there soon, if you can”. Gosh, really? Thank you SO MUCH. He hangs up. He calls back a few minutes later “Hey Misty, my wife just called and she forgot that she has to pick up clothes for the kids and herself that are on hold at the design shop for tonight. Do you think you could swing by and pick those up and drop them off to our house on your way home?”. First of all, the design shop and his house are nowhere near “on my way home”. For the love of all that is good in this world. “Sure, no problem. I’ll head over as soon as I leave here”. I say through gritted teeth. “Great!” he replies.
5:52pm I head out, race over to the design shop that is closing at 6:30pm, try to grab the clothes and head to his house, but not before they tell me they need payment because his wife forgot to give it to him over the phone. I try to give him their credit card information, but he says he needs the actual card. Ugh! I take out my AMEX and hand it to him. That’ll be $742.50. Awesome. Let’s see how long that takes to get reimbursed. It’s now 6:45pm, I race to his house and make it by 7:28pm….because well…traffic. I arrive at his house and hand over the clothes, then try to sneak out. His wife comes downstairs and says “Thank you so much for dropping these off, you are a lifesaver!” I reply, “You’re welcome, it’s no problem at all”. Meanwhile, my phone is buzzing off the hook from friends wondering where I am? Why haven’t I called? I was supposed to meet them at 7:30pm for drinks. I haven’t responded. My boss comes down the stairs and stares at me for a split second, I think wondering WHY I am at his house. It clicks and he says “Thank you for doing that Misty”. I just smile. I then wonder if it’s safe to leave. Do I just say goodbye and walk out? Do I wait? Does he need something else? He turns and walks away with his wife, so I just stand there for a moment. I look at my phone. 7:50pm. Fabulous. I turn and walk away and head out the door.
I am clear across town from my house, about 26 miles. I get in my car and start driving in the bumper to bumper traffic. I arrive safely home by 9:12pm. I have already spoken to my friends who are inside the party, having a great time, drinking, socializing…LIVING. The party, by the way, is back across town, near my office. I start to change into my dress and realize by the time I get ready and get over to the party it will be almost 11pm. I throw on my sweats, grab a bottle of wine from the fridge and sit on the couch. The next morning, I have the day off of work, another loose term in my world. My boss calls and asks if I can find, order and pick up 2 bikes. Just find 2 bikes that I think would fit a 7 and 9-year-old who are coming over today to play. Just like that. Just find them on New Year’s day and bring them over when I have them. Well doesn’t this looks like the start of a fresh, new year…
Who’s Misty? 
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