May 29, 2020
Review, Edit and Update
Most of us, in this Covid19 situation, have had our lives stripped bare. This is especially true for single people - women and men. Episode 23, Stock Taking, asks Emelina Beaufort to examine her own life in the midst of pandemic restrictions.
Improved sentence structure was the biggest repair job to be done. Detail was added or expanded. Some punctuation, and at least one typo was fixed.
Stock Taking
When Dez sat down on the sun dried wooden bench, she leaned against the wrought iron arm rest. Her only plan for the day was to drink her coffee, apply for employment insurance, contact her previous boss and go home. For now, she would sit in the cool air and warm sun. Her short list gave her the luxury of enjoying the birds, soaking in the rays and listening to the trickling of the stream. Staying inside was a big part of the precautions, but fresh air, sunshine and the world outside of walls were a big part of sanity maintenance when her apartment seemed to have shrunk to the size of a postage stamp. Dez almost felt guilty when she thought of Emmie’s place. Sure it was beautiful, in a glossy magazine manicured sort of way. Too tidy! Even though over the weeks of no gardener, grass looking a little ragged and weeds popping up in the usually pristine flower beds, it still looked manicured. Just in need of a manicure to polish things up. Draining the last of her coffee, Dez was about to get up and get going on her day when her phone rang. Dez had not chosen a typical ring for her phone. In fact it wasn’t a ring at all…… ‘Don’t stop believin’ ’…..her favourite song. Always got her humming and wanting to dance. Emmie's name popped up. She hadn’t heard from her big sister in a couple of days. Emmie had returned to The Mansion. Dez was only mildly sarcastic when she said The Mansion like that. In fact she was more than mildly jealous, but knew that their different life paths, had brought different things into their lives. Dez was still single, but had not been in short supply of male company. Emmie married into wealth. Exactly what she had always expected for herself. When they last talked, she seemed quite unsure whether she still wanted all the trappings of that childhood dream.
Dez checked the time. It was almost 9am when the EI office would open. Pretty early for Emmie to be making phone calls. After that silly bank fiasco thing and the jail time, they had been self isolated together in Emmie's kitchen. She often didn’t get up until noon. Her sister definitely was not a morning person.
“Emmie? Is everything ok? You’re up early!’
“Ok? Oh, yes. Everything is just fine. I’m coming into town this afternoon. Are you going to be home?“
“Sure. I’ve got a couple of errands this morning and then I’ll be home. You know the saying: Stay Home and Stay Safe! I'm using lots of hand sanitizer while I deal with this important stuff like my car and EI. Washing my hands as often as I can. Yes,I’ll be following orders. Emmie, you sound pretty serious. Are you sure you’re ok?”
“Yes, Dez. Everything really is just fine. I just have a lot on my mind and I need to talk with you about it. It’s about the house and what I want to do with …..what I might do with it.”
“Me? I don’t know anything about real estate except that I can’t afford to buy anything. I can barely afford rent.”
“Well, that’s part of what my plans are.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense. What are your plans?
“I’m not going to give you anymore details right now. Just be home this afternoon, I should be at your place around 2:30. Apply for your EI, but I hope you’re not making any other big plans.”
“I’m just going to track down my old boss to see if I still have a job, but I have no other plans in the works. Doesn’t seem much point in setting too much up right now anyway. I’ll be here when you get here. I hope you’re telling me the truth about everything being just fine.”
~~~~~
Dez did get her application in and she did track down her boss. He was actually quite glad to see her. An older man, Mr. Jorgenssen had run this business for almost twenty five years. But his small business was now jeopardized. He could keep it open for a limited amount of customers and his hours of operation also had to be curtailed. Mr. Jorgenssen and one employee would be doing a very thorough inventory, finding stocks of supplies that he would carefully ration. He was closing the Dry Cleaning and Laundry for a day so that he and one employee would do a deep clean of his establishment. Although, he could only pay very slim part-time wages, he was keeping two of his best employees on. Dez was disappointed in the pay, but glad that her job was still hers. The EI or the other relief money from the government would keep her afloat while this old world was in such a mess.
Emmie was waiting for her when Dez got home. “Come on, up Emmie. I’ve got tea, water and wine. Which one do you want? The wine isn’t fancy and it’s red. I don’t have any white wine.”
“I’d like some wine, but only a half glass. I will have to drive home tonight and I don’t need to be pulled over for drunk driving.”
Emmie seemed more relaxed since the morning’s phone conversation when she seemed tense and nervous. She had said everything was fine but Dez didn’t really believe her.
“So what is this plan that you may or may not have? Is it anything I’d be interested in?”
“I hope you’ll be interested in it. I still have to talk to Digby, Martha and Cook about it. Giles will probably have a place in it too. While I was home, I went through the entire house to see what was there, rather like an inventory. Not that I didn’t know what I owned, but I needed to see it again. Really see it. What I saw was a big empty house. Yes it’s nice, nice furnishings and decor, but no people. The only place I felt the warmth of people’s lives was in the Downstairs. You and I must have left our mark, but Cook, Martha, Digby…all of my employees… were imprinted in so many little touches. The way Cook owns the kitchen and not just with food preparation. She requests, very assertively specific types of pots and pans, whisks, ladles and carving knives. I own the walls, but Cook owns the kitchen. And then there’s Martha. Cook won’t let her put her grandchildren’s pictures on the refrigerator, so Martha has a frame on her door ~ you’ve seen it ~ for all their pictures and poems and cards. Digby, for as quiet as he is, has a presence felt in the way he hangs up his coat, the way he places his shoes just so when he has finished for the day, the books that he reads. I suppose because I stayed in his room for the couple of weeks you and I were in our ‘kitchen house’, I felt his presence just a little bit more. But Upstairs……empty. My bedroom had some hint of my personality, but otherwise it was empty. Has been since Mike died.”
“That’s quite a speech, Emmie! So what have you got in your head to put life back into the Upstairs? Did you seriously think of a Bed and Breakfast? No. There’s nobody traveling these days, anyway.”
“Well, you are sort of right, Dez. What I have in mind would operate more like a boarding house, but it wouldn’t really be a boarding house. And you’re right, no one is traveling these days. That’s where Digby, Martha and Cook come in. I - I mean we - if you want to do this - will need to talk with them first. For another reason, I talked with my fellow board members. Our conversations gave me an idea. The community needs more beds or places for people to quarantine, or have a place away from their families while they have to work. What do you think?”
Dez was quiet when Emmie finished. “I don’t know what to think Emmie? Except maybe you’ve finally really lost it? It might be a good idea? Or a real dangerous one. There’ll be a lot to do to get the Upstairs ready.” Dez wasn’t going to admit it, but she was more excited about this than anything else in the last many years.
