Of Time and Place by B. R. Freemont

Author:B. R. Freemont
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hillcrest Media Group, Inc.

XXVI

New York, 2058

ON A TEMPORARY BASIS, I had rented a furnished studio apartment in the area south of Houston Street. I figured that during my first month in the city I could look for a more permanent address. I brought very few things from San Francisco. Most of the furniture that Jane and I had bought was sold. Only a chest of drawers, a TV, and kitchen utensils were shipped. There were no memories from the California apartment that I wanted to preserve.

I sent a message to about a dozen people, including Kate and Allison, giving my new address. Only one person immediately reacted—Jane's mother. "Why in the name of God did you leave California?"

"I was transferred," I responded blandly.

"But you have a wife and son somewhere in California."

"How do you know that?"

"You told me."

"But you doubted the report."

"Let's not play games."

"Remember, your daughter ran out on me. I didn't leave her. She could even have moved on elsewhere. I have to get on with my life. And that's that. If I hear anything about your daughter, I'll let you know." There was nothing more for either of us to say.

The New York office had not changed a great deal since my brief tour of duty there eight years earlier. About two-thirds of the staff was the same. Such is the way of a government bureaucracy.

The office was responsible for a region covering most of New York State, all of New Jersey, and the western half of Connecticut. To fulfill these responsibilities, my staff was fifty percent larger than the one I had had in San Francisco, and I had two assistant managers. One was a man about my age who had moved up in the organization only one notch since I was last in New York. The more capable person was a fifty-year-old woman, Carla Pettone, who had been on disability during my first tour. Within the first two months, I found that I could rely on Carla to manage both her projects and her staff effectively. I wondered why she hadn't been put in charge of a small region, since she had over twenty years of service in the department. At some point, I heard the rumor that she was an alcoholic. I, however, saw no evidence of this.

Kate called me a week after I assumed my new duties. She congratulated me on my new job and said we needed to get together. I asked Kate to name a date, but she begged off, declaring that she was way too busy to schedule anything. A month later, we made an appointment, but she ended up cancelling.

During my first month, I found an affordable one-bedroom apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey, and moved in in April. Directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Hoboken had a mass transit link directly into the city. It took me only twenty minutes to get to the office. I bought a cheap, second-hand bed, and a folding table and chair for eating. After a few weeks, I added an easy chair, again second-hand, and a small side table.

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