The Countdown

The week is coming to an end and so is Svetlana's time with us. As I packed my messenger bag to head out of the office yesterday I stopped at her cube. "When is your last day?" I asked. "Tomorrow, actually" she responded with a coy flip of the hair as she quickly minimized the Yahoo Email window on her laptop. "Wow. Already?" I said. What I meant was more along the lines of "Wow, you were barely here." She nodded and adjusted her shirt around her midrif. "Well, I guess I will see you tomorrow then!" I exclaimed trying to achieve that tone that you are supposed to use when someone is leaving your working environment. I imagined any going away lunch for her would include not a cake, but vodka shots and heavy smoking.

She looked at me and glanced around, "Yes, but I'm not sure what time I will be able to get here." No surprise. "But you will see my sometime." And with a slight smile she returned to gazing at her laptop screen.

As I turned to walk down the steps I thought about how I was sure that she actually didn't know what time she would be able to make it here. After all, we had already established what an arduous trek it could be in a vodka induced haze with two packs of cigarettes burning their way through your lungs. And I was quite certain that when Svetlana said "sometime", that was sure to mean in time for her 3:05 cigarette break.