Talking to Anna and Continuous Rumors

“My arms are getting too tired,” Anna stated as she let her hands drop to her side in a dramatic fashion.

I took a bite of my apple as I shrugged. “It does take some arm stamina,” I replied. I was sitting on a stool in my little kitchen as I talked to Anna via webcam. She had asked me to teach her how I do my French braid, but I now had the feeling that she’d be too impatient to try it.

“I have no arm strength ever since I stopped going to CrossFit,” she said as she stood up and opened her refrigerator door. “I know I should be in like, full wedding diet mode, but I’m so busy with the planning and everything else that I barely have time to work out, never mind also prepping healthy food for the week!”

“There’s always an excuse,” I replied before taking another bite of my apple. At this point, it had been a couple weeks since I had the talk with Tom and while I hadn’t brought it up to him again, I felt like there was only so much time that we had left. Neither of us vocalized it, but I think we were both pulling away a little bit. I mean, how could I continue to give so much time to a guy who couldn’t commit to me? He said a few sweet things that night, but the more I went over and over it in my mind, the more I realized that he was simply making excuses. He didn’t want to be my boyfriend and that probably wasn’t going to change.

So, even after Anna heated up some pasta she found in her fridge and began eating it, I felt satisfied with my apple. Since I needed to distract myself, I had been eating really healthy and amping up my workouts. I was definitely getting more toned and felt like I had a lot more energy. If I was going to be getting back in the game, I should at least look good when I did it, right?

I had told Anna all about the Tom debacle and of course, she advised me to immediately drop him. “You want something serious, right? So, don’t put up with his garbage.”

“I mean, I want something serious eventually, but right now, I’m so preoccupied with work that maybe this situation is okay.”

“Caroline, listen,” Anna began as she took a deep breath. “I’m just going to give it to you straight. If he doesn’t want something serious now, he’s not going to suddenly change his mind.”

I looked down and nodded. I knew it was true, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. “Well, for now, I’m not going to think about it.”

“Girl,” Anna responded with a much lighter tone to her voice. “I think you should just enjoy the man for what he is and date around in the meantime. The way I see it, you have permission to do whatever you want without feeling any guilt. Maybe you should even jump on that hot boss of yours. Then, tell me all about it, obviously.”

I laughed at Anna. She had told me a few times that she missed her ‘slutty’ days before she met her fiancé. I found it really ironic that she wanted to live vicariously through me, while I would love to meet ‘the one’ already and fall madly in love rather than date around.

“I’ll definitely keep your suggestion in mind and believe me, I’ll report on any fun sex having I engage in. But I doubt it’s going to happen with Pete. If it was going to happen, it would’ve happened a long time ago.”

“Okay, fine,” Anna said as she sat up with her empty plate. When I saw her grab an ice cream cone from the freezer, my mouth began to water.

“Well,” I began. “I’ll let you get to your ice cream. I want to get some shut eye anyway.”

“Okie dokie,” she responded as she began peeling the wrapper off. “Don't be a stranger. We need a video chat at least once a week.”

I agreed before blowing a kiss at Anna and closing my laptop.

The next day, I was up early to do a quick work out at home and grab a smoothie for breakfast before heading to the office. Upon walking in, I saw Peggy sitting at the front desk with a gloomier than normal look on her face.

“Hey, girl,” I greeted as I lifted up my sunglasses. “What’s the matter?”

“Hey,” she responded in a tone that matched her facial expression. “I don’t know. There are just some rumors circulating this morning already.”

I could feel myself getting a headache and I wasn’t even at my desk yet. “What kinds of rumors?”

“You know, the usual stuff,” Peggy replied as she waved her hand and leaned back in her chair. “There are going to be more layoffs. The company is doing terrible. Some people might get relocated.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. People had been laid off and the rumors continued to fly around this gossipy office, but I hadn’t heard of people getting relocated. Why would they?

“Well, hopefully they’re just rumors,” I responded as I attempted to comfort Peggy with a smile. Mr. Larson seemed to really enjoy her bubbly presence, at least the facade she displayed when he was around, so I was sure her position was safe.

Peggy shrugged and I walked back towards my cubicle. I didn’t see Pete that morning. Lately, he remained isolated in his office and we really weren’t talking. It didn’t make me feel better about the rumors. Were there going to be lay offs? And if Pete were avoiding me, would I be a casualty?

That night, Pete and I were supposed to stay late and work on a quarterly report. Maybe this would be my opportunity to get some answers.