What’s a real job?
Previous episode
Celia just arrived home from the sports bar; Rob is a couple of minutes behind her.
Current episode
Celia dropped her bag on the floor, exhausted after a long and stressful day, and wished she did not have to tell Rob her news. They had just started their devotional routine, and her telling Rob what she had to tell Rob would just make him anxious and way too serious; then the whole routine would fall apart just as they really needed it. She headed to the kitchen, regretting drinking a margarita on an empty stomach. Her stomach was rebelling, so she found some bread to put in the toaster. Toast would calm it down.
It had just popped when Rob came in. Celia heard him drop his bag next to hers and follow the kitchen light to find her.
“So did you enjoy the game?” Celia asked, buttering her toast. She did not want to share her bad news yet because to share it meant she had to think about it, and she was already too sad.
“We lost, but other than that it was a good game.” He stood there, looking at her, and she focused on buttering her toast. “So?” he said.
“So?” Celia said, though she knew he wanted to know why she had needed a drink earlier.
“What’s going on?” Rob said. “You tossed back that margarita pretty damn quick.”
Celia sighed as she took her toast to the dinette table and sat down. “Paul called after we talked. He just found out that our grant isn’t going to be renewed for next year.” She let that sink in for a minute, before adding, “So my job is kaput as of the end of June.” She took a bite of toast even though she was now quite the opposite of hungry. It was something to do as she tried not to cry. She loved her role creating and teaching the music curriculum at her church’s afterschool program, funded by grants and run by their intern, Paul. Every day reminded her why she had studied music education in college. The children were so engaged, and she was sure that they did better on their homework after she had started their neural pathways firing through her music training…
Rob sat down across from her. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you were making that much money anyway,” he said. “Now you can go back to looking for a real job in a school district.”
Celia knew Rob was sincere in his admonition not to worry, even though Rob worried about money all the time. He was trying to be helpful. She gave him credit for that even though he had just insulted her passion for the program and had completely missed why she was upset.
What happens next?
