4.14.17
5:33pm
I’m going to try to work on this right now but I don’t know how far I’ll get. I’ve actually been making notes in this draft entry since about 2 o’clock this afternoon. It’s easier to come in here and type up a paragraph based on a note than it is to try to come up with all the words I want to say.
It’s been quite the day! I’d be more enthusiastic about it if it weren’t for this headache pounding away at my mind. Also the sunshine is streaming in through the window and it is so warm today that it’s burning my face a little. The sun has been very strong lately even though the temp hasn’t gone above about 70. It probably doesn’t help that I sit right here next to the one window that doesn’t have a screen to at least block some of it. Oh well. Only four days to go! Sweet relief shall soon arrive!
One of our clients just dropped off two gift bags filled with goodies from Brazil. He’d told us back in February that he was going and would bring us back something, but I think he forgot. His sister actually came in to work with us this last week and Mom told her to remind him she was waiting. Funny coincidence he’s been “busy” and just showed up today. haha. Nice though regardless! I don’t know what snacks from Brazil taste like but all I’ve had to eat today is two pieces of toast, one with a little butter and the other with peanut butter, and just about anything would taste amazing right now. At least I only do this fasting thing twice a year. I’m not built for not eating.
Anyway, today’s top story! The sheriff made it back to town!
I got a little more nervous than I’d care to admit while I waited for him. The good thing was that I had plenty of distractions this morning before he got here and then it slowed down enough to where we spent almost two hours “working” on his paperwork. I’d taken another client this morning and there were a ton of phone calls so the first two hours flew by. It finally started slowing down about 20 minutes before 11 and I sat down and waited. I was glancing out the window when I saw this brown truck drive by [older chevy/gmc maybe? I hope it wasn’t a ford haha] and it had a big ol’ cowboy hat sitting up on the dash and I figured that just had to be him. I never did confirm it though. He parked too far away from the windows. He came strolling by a few minutes after that truck and I knew it was him the second I saw the camo sweater. haha. I knew he was a redneck!
When he came in Mom had just been standing next to me up front asking me questions. I can’t tell you what she said after he walked in the door though. We exchanged greetings, I think he said something about how “trouble’s here” and I stood up and reached for the handshake. It was a little bit awkward at the beginning. Like I said I’d be right with him but then he just stood right at my desk instead of taking a seat. So I kinda shuffled around and found paperwork, and asked mom if she had any other questions, and then headed back to my desk and told him to follow me.
I did get to confirm that the divorce was definitely finalized, before December. Later after we’d finished, Mom’s clients had left so he started yelling stuff across the office to her but she wasn’t paying attention. I finally called out to her and she came over to hear what was going on. He brought up the fact that it was so hard for me to get ahold of him last year and he mentioned that it was because his wife had never changed her name. She asked him how long he was married and he goes “for five very long years” and she started laughing. There was stuff about how come he didn’t know she’d never changed it and what not. I’d walked away to get something and I heard her ask him if it felt so long how did he last the whole five years. He said that that’s why he’d come out here for weeks at a time, to get away from it all. hah. Damn. But as I walked back they’d somehow gotten to a point where she suddenly asked if he’d gotten married again. He was saying no just as I walked back to my desk and I started joking about how I probably should have asked that before I’d processed everything. And there were jokes and Mom gave me a hard time about not asking. I think she must have said something to him about how he didn’t tell me, or about how I didn’t ask, because then he goes “oh she knows”. I think he repeated it like implying that there should be no question about him being single. The way he said it though was weird. Like it should be obvious to me that he wasn’t remarried by the way he was acting, or I don’t know? You had to be there I guess to hear the tone and the way he said it so quietly/seriously. She knows....
Mom also thought it would be fun to tell him how stressed out and worried I was about not getting ahold of him. She told him I couldn’t sleep at night and who knows what else. She’d also made a joke about sending smoke signals and we all latched onto it and there was a lot of teasing. He said that definitely would have worked. He would have seen the smoke and instantly known it was me that needed him. I laughed, and agreed, and made him feel terrible. hehe. I definitely played up how big of a deal it was. Saying things about how I couldn’t start my vacation until I got ahold of him. How I so look forward to that day at the end of the season where I can just relax. How it disturbed me so much to see that one little number sitting there in the box. He seemed shocked to be the only one and we told him that we hardly ever have rejects and never anyone that disappears for 2 weeks.
He’d said earlier, during the first part of our meeting, that he was working a lot of night shifts during that time and that’s why he wasn’t calling me back. I was like, “No you weren’t! You were on vacation!” He kept insisting that he’d already gone back home and was working overnights. So I said, “oh so you had cell service then and you were just ignoring my phone calls?” He said that the schedules didn’t line up or some bs. I knew he’d been on vacation though. That’s why it took him the two weeks to call me back because he never had signal for either his phone or his email.
So finally he said he was going to look it up. He started scrolling through his phone and I thought he was going to check the dates, like he’d written down when he’d been in town last year. Then he said something like, “Oh, you called me right after I left.” “And I got another message the next day.” [sidenote: I quickly verified that it didn’t record all the missed calls, because there were a lot of them! Idk exact numbers over those two weeks but I’d easily say it’s in the dozens. He confirmed it didn’t. phew] I think I must have looked at him funny, like how does he remember that?? And he ended up telling me that he still had the voicemails! gasp He saved my voicemails!! From an entire year ago! Should I read into that? Probably not, right? That’s how I get wrapped up in these things in the first place. haha.
It could be possible that he saves basically all his voicemails but there can’t be that much space in his phone. He did repeat this fact to me several times, including later in front of my mother, and made sure I heard that he was saying he still had them. At one point near the end he’d brought it up again and I go, “how do you still have those? That was so long ago!” He said that he saved them and he saves all important messages. Clearly implying that my old rambling voicemails were important enough to save. I didn’t really know what to say though. Thanks? haha. I think I just laughed and said that I’d take that as a compliment. I didn’t hear him say anything after that and I was having trouble making eye contact at that point so we moved on.
Do you think he listened to them though? Like here and there throughout the year he remembered me and poked through his messages. That seems crazy!
Anyway, we confirmed that he had in fact been on vacation that whole time and that’s why it took so long to call. Proved my point thank you very much!
This guy is very…what’s the word…reserved? Or maybe even kinda stoic? I’m guessing it has a lot to do with the job. Like not being able to show a lot of emotion. He sat there pretty quietly and yet still making conversation. There were a few times where he was staring at his cell phone and once I totally called him out on it. I mean, it’s sorta annoying. So I asked if he was playing games, as a joke you know, and he said no. Then I said, “oh so you’re just not paying attention to me then?” and I think he laughed and put his phone away. It’s so easy to tease him. I definitely hit it hard. I gave him a really hard time about pretty much anything.
Later he told my mom that I was very “quick witted.” That’s a good thing, right? I mean that sounds like a good thing. I took it as a compliment. I’m not sure my mother knew what he meant by that or even heard him. But I’m kinda proud that he thinks that about me. Like I said I was throwing out a lot of sarcastic remarks. It’s rare to meet someone I can mess around with like that. Most people don’t get my sense of humor or I have to play it really safe.
We were definitely a lot more comfortable around each other this year. Of course. I mean it was our second meeting. We already sorta knew things and could gauge limits and what not. He doesn’t say much but he can take a joke and I like that about him. He remembered quite a bit about me from last year. Every once in a while he’d throw something out there that I’d said, which was kinda cool. I didn’t expect that.
So we finally decided to wrap things up after like an hour and a half. I went up front to process the payment. He started showing me pictures on his phone while I ran it. Not sure why he hadn’t shown me before. There were a couple of his buddy, the guy’s gf, and him with a pig she’d killed. Her first apparently. Then he showed me a couple of the mountains in the distance that we’d talked about earlier. There was one really beautiful one of the moon right after sunset.
After it was processed, I told him I was going to make sure that everything went through before he left. I knew there wasn’t really any reason for it to get kicked back but I told him I wanted to be absolutely sure so I wouldn’t have to chase him down again. I’d walked back to my desk but he’d stayed up front so I poked my head around the corner and told him he could come sit instead of just standing there. I’d used the excuse that I had to check a different program, but I could have totally used the one up front. Shhh. =]
He actually sat at the chair closest to me this time and kinda stretched out. We talked some more. About a little of everything. I made a joke about how he could just watch me put paperwork together because he wasn’t allowed to leave. I actually was able to put it together while we waited and watched for the number on the grid to change. It honestly didn’t take that long. I saw it clear and then poked at things and pretended to be waiting. [We’re keeping all this quiet as well!] He did make a joke about my hitting refresh a lot. haha.
I couldn’t really keep him any longer though so I told him it looked like we were good to go and we stood up to walk him out the door. I hate to think I only imagined it, but it definitely seemed like he wanted to go in for a hug! We were in a really awkward place though, stuck between the chairs and a wall and I had all his paperwork in the arm on his side so I couldn’t even side hug. It all seemed too complicated so I put my hand out and shook his hand. I would have totally gone in for the hug if we weren’t in such an awkward position.
As we walked to the door he said something again about hunting lessons and I said yeah. Then I said, “I’m serious. I want to learn.” And he said ok, but still no plans were set. Mom happened to be up front making a copy and said, “hey, she’s supposed to be working.” And he quickly said, “she wouldn’t let me leave!” hah. He walked out the door after that and I looked up to see him glancing through the window but I’m not sure he could see me.
I did find out that he comes to town more than once a year. He said he comes quite often. I guess he’d been back in December and January to help his grandmother out. I wonder why he never considered getting in touch?
Honestly, I’m not sure this is going to go anywhere even now. Like I have my hopes up that he’ll call, or come by, or try to contact me in some way while he’s here, but I kinda doubt it. I felt the same way after he left last year and he never came back.
He did say that he’d be back this time next year to do paperwork again. He thinks I do a good job. =) Even told my mom that I did a really good job and that I deserved a raise. I didn’t even have to prompt him. He brought it up himself! And I said, “I like this guy! You can come back any time!” haha.
After giving him such a hard time about not calling me back last year I actually ended up calling him again after he left yesterday. I thought for sure he’d left a check here and then I couldn’t find it anywhere. Seriously. I’m not just using this as an excuse. =] So I called in the late afternoon and it went straight to voicemail, of course. I left a message - “Hi Sheriff, guess who? It’s me Rose from (business). I had a quick question about that check you were going to send, if you could please call me back [lots of emphasis on call me back] at (number). Thanks.”
It’s now almost 7 o’clock on Saturday and I have yet to hear from him. The sh*t I’m going to give him for this is going to be out of this world.
It’s close to midnight now. I had to run to make sure we got a parking spot for Easter mass. I spent the next three hours there, came home and had dinner because I never did have lunch, ate the salsa our client brought, and now I’m on the couch watching live pd and trying to get this posted so I don’t drag it out any longer. There’s so much more I want to type out as a memory but this is way over its word count already.
rose.
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