this, Jules?” Bethany asked as she fiddled with her salad, shifting it more than eating it.
Since Juliana had dropped her bombshell, it seemed Bethany couldn’t do anything but repeat the same question until Juliana wanted to scream her frustration.
She’d expected some reticence, but not outright catatonia. It wasn’t like she was moving to Siberia or something that drastic. She was simply changing jobs.
“Absolutely,” she replied. “I’m
absolutely
sure this is the best thing for me. It’s time. It’s been time for longer than you know. I have to do this.”
“It’s just so fast,” Danielle retorted. “You were only going to a seminar to check things out. Now you’re leaving?”
“Not all that fast.” Juliana tried again to explain it to her best friends. At least Mallory was still firmly on her side. “You know I’ve been unhappy here.”
“We all feel that way from time to time. But we’re not running away.”
“I’m not running away, Dani. I’m making a change. Yes, it’s a big change, but this is more than being unhappy. It’s me having to force myself to get out of bed every morning. It’s about how I spend every single minute here feeling as if I’d give anything to be somewhere else. It’s just time to go.”
Bethany gave up the pretense and put down her fork. “Look at this from our point of view. You’ve been a fantastic special education teacher for almost fifteen years, and now you want to quit and—”
“I don’t want to quit. Not yet. Not entirely. I’m only taking a year’s leave of absence. That’s all. We’re allowed to do that, you know. Lots of people have.” Although she could only remember two. One took a year off for medical reasons—a heart attack. Then she retired. The other left to follow her husband to a new job and never came back.
Bethany tossed her a worried frown. “And you suddenly want to sell real estate. Where is all of this coming from?”
Since they probably wouldn’t want to hear about her uncle Francis or how awfully long she’d been exploring the possibility, Juliana kept things simple. “I’ve been thinking about a change for a while, but it was Robert who helped me make the leap.”
“Wait’ll I get my hands on him.” Beth twirled a few more leaves of lettuce, scowling at her plastic bowl.
“All Robert did was give me a nudge. I’m the one who ran with it. A good agent can make a lot of money. I worked in sales in college.”
“That was women’s clothing,” Danielle said.
“But selling is selling, and I was damned good at it.”
“You’re leaving a job that’s steady and safe,” Bethany insisted. “Why would you want to take this kind of risk?”
“C’mon, Beth. You eat lunch with me every day. You know how unhappy I am, how frustrated I’m getting.”
“We’re frustrated, too,” Beth countered. “It happens in this job. We all have good kids, but the bad ones are a drain. Parents aren’t supportive a lot of the time.”
“
Most
of the time,” Mallory said with a smirk.
Beth pressed on despite the interruption. “Administrators don’t back us up. Yada, yada, yada. But this is who we are—it’s
what
we are. We’re teachers. How can you walk away from your vocation?”
“Because it’s not my vocation anymore. It’s nothing but a regular old job. Clock in, struggle through the day as time drags, then clock out. It’s time for me to get off this merry-go-round.”
Danielle leaned back in her chair—as always, waiting to hear all the arguments and then serving as the Ladies’ voice of reason, their self-appointed moderator. “I know you’ve got some challenging kids this year, but they promised to look at getting you a new aide next year. Won’t that take some of the pressure off you?”
“It’s not that…” Juliana took a deep breath and tried to find the words to make Bethany and Danielle understand.
Since she and Mallory were so close, Mallory “got” her. Always had, always
Since Juliana had dropped her bombshell, it seemed Bethany couldn’t do anything but repeat the same question until Juliana wanted to scream her frustration.
She’d expected some reticence, but not outright catatonia. It wasn’t like she was moving to Siberia or something that drastic. She was simply changing jobs.
“Absolutely,” she replied. “I’m
absolutely
sure this is the best thing for me. It’s time. It’s been time for longer than you know. I have to do this.”
“It’s just so fast,” Danielle retorted. “You were only going to a seminar to check things out. Now you’re leaving?”
“Not all that fast.” Juliana tried again to explain it to her best friends. At least Mallory was still firmly on her side. “You know I’ve been unhappy here.”
“We all feel that way from time to time. But we’re not running away.”
“I’m not running away, Dani. I’m making a change. Yes, it’s a big change, but this is more than being unhappy. It’s me having to force myself to get out of bed every morning. It’s about how I spend every single minute here feeling as if I’d give anything to be somewhere else. It’s just time to go.”
Bethany gave up the pretense and put down her fork. “Look at this from our point of view. You’ve been a fantastic special education teacher for almost fifteen years, and now you want to quit and—”
“I don’t want to quit. Not yet. Not entirely. I’m only taking a year’s leave of absence. That’s all. We’re allowed to do that, you know. Lots of people have.” Although she could only remember two. One took a year off for medical reasons—a heart attack. Then she retired. The other left to follow her husband to a new job and never came back.
Bethany tossed her a worried frown. “And you suddenly want to sell real estate. Where is all of this coming from?”
Since they probably wouldn’t want to hear about her uncle Francis or how awfully long she’d been exploring the possibility, Juliana kept things simple. “I’ve been thinking about a change for a while, but it was Robert who helped me make the leap.”
“Wait’ll I get my hands on him.” Beth twirled a few more leaves of lettuce, scowling at her plastic bowl.
“All Robert did was give me a nudge. I’m the one who ran with it. A good agent can make a lot of money. I worked in sales in college.”
“That was women’s clothing,” Danielle said.
“But selling is selling, and I was damned good at it.”
“You’re leaving a job that’s steady and safe,” Bethany insisted. “Why would you want to take this kind of risk?”
“C’mon, Beth. You eat lunch with me every day. You know how unhappy I am, how frustrated I’m getting.”
“We’re frustrated, too,” Beth countered. “It happens in this job. We all have good kids, but the bad ones are a drain. Parents aren’t supportive a lot of the time.”
“
Most
of the time,” Mallory said with a smirk.
Beth pressed on despite the interruption. “Administrators don’t back us up. Yada, yada, yada. But this is who we are—it’s
what
we are. We’re teachers. How can you walk away from your vocation?”
“Because it’s not my vocation anymore. It’s nothing but a regular old job. Clock in, struggle through the day as time drags, then clock out. It’s time for me to get off this merry-go-round.”
Danielle leaned back in her chair—as always, waiting to hear all the arguments and then serving as the Ladies’ voice of reason, their self-appointed moderator. “I know you’ve got some challenging kids this year, but they promised to look at getting you a new aide next year. Won’t that take some of the pressure off you?”
“It’s not that…” Juliana took a deep breath and tried to find the words to make Bethany and Danielle understand.
Since she and Mallory were so close, Mallory “got” her. Always had, always
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