Carol juggled briefcase, purse, and paper cup of tea as she hurried through the convention center. She didn’t sleep well last night, a combination of strange bed, strange room and city street noise. The convention center was in the middle of the city. So of course, she fell asleep about 3AM.

She had to work her way through the crowds of people wandering between booths before their seminars started. Naturally, she thought. Three people were standing in front of her space when she arrived, all staring at the graphic on the back wall and looking around for help.

“Hi. Sorry I’m late.” She dumped her stuff on the chair in the corner and pulled open the cabinet sliding door. I don’t know why they give me a chair. I never get to sit in it. She pulled the candy dish of chocolate kisses out and with the other hand, the brochure stand and put them on the counter. “Thanks for stopping by.” She pasted on her brightest smile. “What can I do for you?”

Things slowed a little while the attendees were in class but that’s when the exhibitors went booth to booth. They checked out the competition and collected the freebies each booth had. Since she was alone at her company’s booth, she couldn’t walk around but occasionally a vendor rep would wander by or better yet, a company rep that was interested in buying her company’s product. She garnered four sales leads during the day.

After 5PM she put the candy and brochures away. It was time for the dinner and bar scene. She put extra business cards in her suit jacket pocket and headed for the hotel bar. She stopped in the restroom and freshened her makeup, brushed her hair and checked her teeth. I don’t know why I’m bothering, she thought. I haven’t had anything to eat since the free yogurt the venue provided since supper last night. I’m going to have to order an appetizer if the bar doesn’t set something out. Her stomach growled.

By 9PM she was exhausted and her feet felt like bloody stumps but she had eleven more leads. Carol slumped against the elevator wall on the ride to her floor. One more day, then I can go home. She massaged her temples, a hangover from the three glasses of pinot grigio was already forming. Drink more water tomorrow, she thought as she unlocked her room door.

After her shower she called home. “Hey, Honey.”

“Hi, Babe.” Rick’s voice sounded tired. “How ya doin’?”

“I got fifteen leads today. My feet feel like stumps. Otherwise I’m fine. Kids in bed I guess.”

“Yeah, they have half a day at school tomorrow then it’s Thanksgiving break.”

Carol sighed. I should have called them at five before I went to the bar. “That’s OK. I have a 4pm flight. I’ll be home about 10PM. Everything else OK?”

“Mandy and her best friend are fighting,” Rick told her. “And Nick scraped his knee when he wiped out on his skateboard this afternoon.

A wave of guilt swept over her. Mandy will be heartbroken. “Oh no, How’s Mandy doing?”

“She’s mad. I suspect you’ll get an earful at breakfast day after tomorrow.”

“That’s fine. We’ll talk it through. These things happen with ten year-old girls. And Nick?”

Rick laughed. “He has a big band aid on his knee. He can’t wait to go to school tomorrow and show it off.”

She sighed again. “Thank, Hon. I’ll be home tomorrow night. Kiss the kids for me.”

After he said good-night, she clicked off and sank back against the pillows. Hope I can sleep tonight. She turned out the light.

The next day she got to her booth on time but otherwise it was a repeat of the previous day. She confirmed eight of the leads from the night before and gathered six more by the end of the second day. That puts me ahead of the rest of the sales team for November, she thought as she packed the booth up. That pretty much makes me November’s lead sales rep. Nothing is going to happen between now and December unless someone gets very lucky.

On the taxi ride to the airport she stared out of the window at the grim industrial area they drove through. Looks like every other industrial area in any other city, she thought. Mystery warehouses, factories with pipes running all over and steam escaping. She took a deep breath. Carol was tired, tired physically and tired of the constant travel to cities she never really had a chance to see. She wondered why she was doing this.

It was closer to eleven at night than her estimated 10PM when she pulled onto her street. The leaves had fallen from the neighborhood trees in the three days she’d been gone.

Rick came out to the garage just as she opened the trunk. Carol rested her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. She inhaled his scent, warm and familiar, and immediately felt at home. He carried her suitcase into their bedroom while she checked on the kids. Nick was sprawled across his bed, blankets tangled around his little body. She pulled his extra blanket over him and kissed him on the forehead. In Mandy’s room Mandy whispered, “Mom?” as Carol kissed her head.

“Right here, Sweetie.”

“Becky isn’t my friend anymore.” He blue eyes looked up at her mother, full of sadness and betrayal.

“I heard. We’ll talk about it at breakfast, OK?”

The girl nodded and snuggled into her blankets. She was asleep again by the time Carol closed the door.

It’s good to be home, she thought as she stepped into her bedroom. I missed it. The deeper question of why she ever left would be considered another day.

 

 

The End

971 Words

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