"I'm taking the morning off."
"Reason?"
"Buying a car."
"Did you tell Elise?"
"No need."
By the time the call ended, I was already in a cab headed to the dealership.
Look at the cars, test drive, sign, pay, pick it up.
It all wrapped up in less than half a day.
When I pressed the key and the car that was finally mine answered with a soft beep, it still didn't feel real.
That was when Elise remembered to call me.
I picked up.
"Toby Henson! Buying a car is a big deal—you couldn't run it by me first?"
"It's my own money."
"That's not what I meant. Do you even know what to look for? Get back here, I'll go with you when I have time."
"You've been saying that for two years."
"And I still rode the subway for two years."
She went quiet.
I parked at the office, and Elise was waiting in the lot.
"You drove it back by yourself? How long has it been since you've driven? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
The way she looked at me, like she was actually worried, almost made me laugh.
When the heavy rain flooded the subway station and I walked two kilometers home, she hadn't worried.
When I twisted my ankle and limped to catch the subway every day, she hadn't worried.
When I worked past midnight and took a cab home alone, she hadn't worried.
Now that I had my own car, she was suddenly worried about my safety.
"Elise, I hired an instructor. A few laps and I had it down."
She blinked.
In the past, when she went after me like that, I'd have fired right back.
I'd have kept her up half the night just to settle who was right.
But now I answered as calmly as if she'd asked what I'd eaten for lunch.
Her face darkened further.
"Toby Henson, you... seem a little different lately."
A delivery guy cut off whatever I was about to say.
She stepped over quickly to take the order.
"Rudolph skipped lunch. Took me forever to coax him into even drinking a coffee. Kids these days."
She shook her head, helpless, fondness all over her face.
"Not like us back then..."
I finished it for her. "Not like us back then, when we couldn't even bring ourselves to buy a single coffee."
The smile froze on her lips.
This time I didn't stop walking. I went straight to the office.
At four in the afternoon, I was in the middle of the handover with Rudolph.
Elise brought over two coffees.
I frowned.
Eight years, and this was the first time she'd ever set something down on my desk.
I knew it was only because of Rudolph.
He jumped up and threw his arms around her.
Elise hugged him back on instinct, then pushed him off the second she caught my eyes.
"I just didn't want you... you two to run out of time for dinner."
Rudolph took a grinning sip and let out a satisfied sigh. "Thanks, Elise! You're the most thoughtful person ever!"
"With you covering all three of my meals, I'm saving my whole food budget!"
Seeing I hadn't moved, Elise asked, "Why aren't you drinking it? Try something the young people like for once."
I pushed it away.
"No thanks, Ms. Fox. I've been cutting sugar lately. I don't drink sweet stuff."
Her face soured. She checked that no one was around, then dropped her voice.
"This is exactly why I don't like getting you things. There's no emotional payoff at all."
"Have you ever gotten me anything?" I asked.
That stopped her cold. In the end she left with one line, "I bring you a coffee and even that turns into a problem," and walked off.
I'd thought the handover would go fast, so I could file my resignation paperwork early.
But Rudolph was far more difficult than I'd expected.
I sorted all the clients by industry standard and packaged every design draft with its corresponding follow-up.
He said, "Your file formats are a mess. I can't make sense of them."
"And this is all digital only—what happens if it gets lost later? Hand-write the source of every project and the client contact info for me, right now."
