Roomies

365 Gratefuls - Impromptu Sleepovers

One more sleep.

I walked out of a meeting yesterday feeling pretty good about how things went. I really liked the company and the people who worked there. As I made my way back to the car with a spring in my step I tried to call G. I wasn't sure what time it was in New York but I knew it was early in the morning. He was out walking when he picked up the phone.

"How was your meeting?"

"Yeah, it went well, I really like them. I think they've got a really good grip on what people face when they move to Qatar. They had some good ideas".

As I closed my car door I looked in the rear view mirror and realized I'd spent the entire meeting with a healthy smoodge of mascara under my eye. I was halfway to an Alice Cooper impression. Professional Kirsty, nice one.

"It's bloody cold here. I've just walked past the Frick, on my way to the Guggenheim. You forget how big this city is".

Sunshine streamed into my car as it popped up out of the underground car park.

"Are the bars and clubs still open?" My question was more about safety and less about entertainment. Was he walking through Central Park in the dark?

"No, it's six o'clock. My fingers are freezing. How was Lizzie's parent/teacher?"

The traffic was bumper to bumper. Mosque traffic combined with a road that is half of its former self. I smiled at the woman in the Abaya in the car next to me, raised an eyebrow in mutual solidarity to the craziness of the man behind me, beeping his horn in the gridlock.

"She's doing really well. How did you go with the baseball pants? Any luck?"

"Wrong end of the season, they look at me like I'm crazy when I ask. I'm going to try another place when I'm finished with the lawyers tonight. Jeez its cold. I might be catching a cab back to the hotel I think."

We both laughed.

This week we've texted our way through parent teacher conferences, baseball/softball practice and Halloween costumes.

G has provided a digital map of his travels, the airplane, the apple store, the hotel room.

"Mum, there's a text on your phone from Dad, it says sitting in a room with 16 lawyers, it's being video taped - too scared to fart".

We all giggled. I wondered what they saw in their minds when they pictured G in an office building in New York. Four different offices, four different decors, four different views. One father.

I drove the eldest little traveller to a last minute sleepover. As we drove across town in the dark the second little traveller made a request.

"Can we have a sleepover Mum? You and me? You know, because we're both kind of in the same position. We've both lost our roomies."

One more sleep until G gets back. Until then, the impromptu sleepover was a pretty good fill in.