Amber
Their home was fully furnished and most of my stuff was the neutrals of my old life, so I donated them, packing up only my grandmother’s dressing table and all my clothes and most of my kitchen items. Which didn’t amount to much. But Shaman was teaching me to cook, and it turned out I liked it.
Only a half hour away, I supposed I could have stayed at my job, but then Juven asked me straight out if I wanted to. He was concerned about the drive in the winter when there would be snow at their elevation, but he said if it was something I wanted to do, they’d drive me when the weather was bad.
I started to tell him that of course I wanted to keep working at the library.
Honestly, I liked it very much but when I considered how it tied me down, I realized that it was time to make a full change.
So, I turned in my two weeks’ notice, and my boss was appalled.
I hadn’t even known she was aware of me in particular.
I worked with my clients and didn’t raise any kind of fuss, blending right into the walls.
“Amber, you can’t leave.”
I blinked at her. “I can leave. In fact, I am going to. I’m moving.”
“How much of your work do you do with the actual books?” she asked. “Versus the internet?”
“Why are you asking?” Information for my replacement maybe?
“Because you do the work of three other employees, and people constantly request you. So, how much in the stacks?”
“Over the past few years, it’s really been shifting. I do almost everything online, now. I hope that was all right.”
Miss Pierce stood from behind her desk and came to sit next to me. “You are our most valuable researcher, and if you do most of your work online, would you consider working remotely?”
I was shocked. “Is that allowed?”
“It never has been before, but things are changing. If I can arrange it, would you consider staying on and working from home?”
I thought about it for a moment. “How about part-time until we see how it all works out,” I said.
“Yes.” Miss Pierce nodded. “As an experiment, and then maybe we’ll do more.”
We were never going to do more. I had other things to do, but it was a great start.
“Thank you, Miss Pierce.” I reached for her hand and shook it.
“It’s good to know my work is valued here.
I’m not going to be too far away, so I can come in if I really need to every now and then. I’m moving to the mountains.”
“What prompted the change?” she asked. “If you don’t mind telling me?”
“I’m in love, and we’re going to live together,” I told her. “Changing my whole life.”
My mates were waiting outside when I got off work, and we went and picked up the last of my things and headed off to the mountains and our new home.
While I was at work, they’d cleaned the apartment for me, so I’d get my whole deposit back.
Not that I was messy, but things always looked dusty with the furniture gone.
When I locked the door behind me for the last time and left the key in the mailbox, I thought I’d feel sad or something, but all I felt was happiness.
And anticipation. We not only were going to start a new life; we wanted to have a baby right away. We were going to be a family.
Moving to their home and they want to have a baby right away.