“Mary?”
†
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m okay,” I say. “I need some fresh air, so I’ll see you right outside?”
Jochem does not wait a second and immediately walks outside with me.
“A little stuffy up there,” I say leaning against the garden gate. Jochem looks at me concerned.
“Was it too dusty?” he asks. I nod because I can’t bring myself to say that he himself is the suffocating factor.
“I’ll just go home, okay?” I say, and I get up. Jochem is left a little stunned.
Can I call you? I text to Miranda. She calls me right away.
“You don’t have to ask, honey, you can always call me. Always. How is it going?”
I tell about the faintness in the house across the street, about Jochem who doesn’t feel it at all and say that it’s all right now.
“Go and relax for a while. Grab a cup of tea and a book and I’ll come and visit you later.”
“No dude”, I act tough, “I’m really fine.”
“Yes, I know that,” says Miranda, “but I just want to see you and hold you.”
It makes me feel warm.
Maybe I should really take a break, I think as I hang up the laundry. It is always a meditative moment. Just some clothespins, the wet good and me. It has been so busy at the office in recent weeks, with a lot of requests and a vacancy in my own team that I still have to fill. Maybe I should ask Lies again if she wants to come back. It was always so fun with her and she is really good at what she does. Or I’ll just close the tent for three weeks this summer. No, no you really can’t. What I can do is ask Lies to replace me for three weeks, then I’ll have some time off and maybe make her excited to come back. She’s doing something administrative somewhere now, but I’m sure she’s still really into recruitment.
I decide to call her right away, even though I haven’t even calculated everything. I really want to do something now.
Liesbeth doesn’t answer, so I send her my – if I do say so myself – brilliant plan in text. If I can also come to an agreement with Jochem about the children, I may even be able to go away for a few days. On my own!
ding dong!
Miranda’s cheerful head beams at me. She brought me a bunch of gerberas.
“Honey!”
She puts her arms around me and I immediately relax. It can be that simple sometimes.