The voice on the other end of the phone seemed excited at the reply. I told her of my qualifications and what I was looking for, and she asked when I was available for an interview. I informed her that I would be in Calgary the following week and was available any time. Excited, I called my mother to tell her of the good news and my new job prospect with a salary that amazed me, $170 a day. I was ecstatic.
Later that day, I began to talk with my ex-girlfriend. It didn’t last long, she told me that she missed me, and that she wanted to try again. I felt like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders. We re-united, just in time for her to leave on vacation and me to leave for Calgary, again.
A consistent theme in recent history is my trail of poor relationship decisions while in Calgary. I thought I would be able to break this trend during my next trip. My first night back changed all of it. Once again I found myself alone with my best friend. Our feelings still somewhat fresh, we seemed to gravitate together again. I didn’t know what to do.
Over the following week I proceeded to find myself in even more trouble with women, adding a third to the mix of lovers. I had crafted a strange love triangle, but little did I know the dangers of my actions. My girlfriend and my best friend began talking, and then the truth all came out. It was a train wreck of emotions; anger prevailed above all, with me being the target. I couldn’t even escape my own anger, ashamed of what I had done, I slunk off into the darkness of a Calgary night to try to regroup myself.
While the pot of emotion was still angrily boiling, I attended an interview with a potential employer, the one I had spoken to over the phone. In a coffee shop in a South Calgary bookstore, we discussed the position, the pay and the requirements. After a half hour, she told me that she would inform me when I was needed to start. For a few moments, I saw light through the darkness. I had forgotten the hornet’s nest that I left brewing.
The hornet’s nest was quiet when I returned to my parents house, it wasn’t that it was forgotten or forgiven, but nobody was talking to me. It seemed almost peaceful. The peace was superseded by anxiety however, waiting for a phone call to be sent off to work.
A week went by after the interview; I was beginning to lose hope, no words from my girlfriend, nothing from my best friend or even from the third girl in the mix. It was just myself, alone in a city, broke and downhearted. My luck changed that evening at the dinner table. A phone call asking me to be in Grande Prairie Alberta interrupted our supper. I was excited and ready to take on the world, but decidedly unprepared.
When morning came I was dropped off, at the house of the owner of the company. She greeted me again, and passed me the keys to a brand new Dodge Durango, briefly introduced me to the gear inside the back and handed me 2 cheques to pay for my accommodations. After some directions and happy send off, I was ready to depart for my first posting.
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