Ellie knocked on the office door.
“Hey! Come on in, how are you?”
“I’m fine. How about you?”
“I’m doing well. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company? I mean, not that it isn’t good to see you, but…”
“Have you seen Gloria lately?”
Peter smiled, he thought that was probably what this was about, because he had been thinking about calling Ellie to ask about Gloria as well.
“Not for a while, honestly. But she doesn’t have anything this semester that really needs my help. Just wrapping up her requirements before student teaching. Though…”
“Though…”
“I don’t know, I just, it doesn’t seem like she was all that excited about it. The next step. The last time we talked she said all the right things about it, but there just seemed to be something missing.”
“That’s what I’m worried about, I think there’s something really wrong. And I don’t know how to ask her about it. And I was hoping that it was just my own worries about what happens after this year. So, I wanted to talk to someone else who knows her well and…”
“And you think that’s me?”
“Yeah. I do. I mean, aside from me, you’ve spent the most time with her the past few years.”
“And Adele.”
“Her boss? Yeah, I guess.”
“I think Adele is more to her than just a boss. When she talks about her, she seems more like she’s talking about a friend.”
“I guess, maybe. Do you think I should ask Adele if she knows what’s going on?”
“Maybe you could just ask Gloria?”
“You could as well.”
“I would, but she’s cancelled every session we were supposed to have in the past month. I get notes from her updating me on her progress, but she doesn’t have time for meetings, between work and school she’s just too busy. So, I haven’t had the opportunity. In fact, I was going to call you and see if everything was okay. You aren’t the only one wondering what’s up.”
“It just feels like she’s not being honest with me about something, and I hate when people aren’t honest.”
“Yeah, you’ve always been like that, but…”
“I know. I’m here instead of talking to her directly. Which is not something I’m really comfortable with. It’s completely against my nature. Except…well…I’m worried. Like really worried that…. never mind this is so stupid.”
“Go ahead and tell me. You might as well now, or I will be imagining all sorts of really stupid things. How stupid can it be?”
“I feel like maybe she doesn’t want to be my best friend anymore. Like she doesn’t want to hang around, she doesn’t want to do the things we’ve always talked about. She just has outgrown me maybe.”
“You’re right. That is so stupid.”
“Gee thanks!”
“No, I mean it. You’ve been through a lot together over the years and you’ve always had each other’s backs. There is no way she’s outgrown you or doesn’t want to be in your life anymore. I don’t know what she’s going through, but I can guarantee it’s not that. Look, I’ve got back-to-back sessions this afternoon and I’m starving. Did you want to go grab some lunch with me and we can talk about what’s worrying you, or maybe talk about anything else to get your mind out of its spiral?”
“I am sort of spiraling. You’re right. And some junk food sounds great.”
“Hey, I didn’t say junk food!”
“You didn’t. But I did.”
Peter laughed, “Fair enough, let’s go get some burgers and fries, vegetables are for non-spiral days.”
No comments:
Post a Comment