Moving with the winds down the highways of goodbye

 Jake didn't want to be a procrastinator, but there was so much to do and think ahead. It felt impossible to get back to Chicago quick enough.

"I don't mean to keep putting you off, but I still have to train somebody for my job at the library," he said to Macy over the phone. "I've still got to get things packed in the apartment. And well, I'm trying to get my resume ready. I don't want you thinking I'm a freeloader."

Honestly, this whole upheaval was making him sick. He guessed he didn't like change any more than his brother Jonas. What was weird was that Jonas was doing his best to help him make this move.

It would probably be the middle of next month before he could move, but Jonas wouldn't hear of it. He came over to start packing his stuff. He'd even set up a time for him to use a U-Haul trailer.

"What is going on?" Jake felt so overwhelmed.

"Bro, you need all the help you can get," was Jonas' favorite line. Jake guessed he was right.

Back at the library, his supervisor was trying to help him get on at the University where he'd taken his library classes.

"You can teach online classes anywhere," she told him. This seemed too good to be true. 

"How long will that take?" Jake felt restless. Could he actually get through this? 

"Oh, I don't know, maybe by the fall." She said about the matter.

"THE FALL?" That was too far away. Jake needed a job now. He just couldn't think straight, but she went ahead and sent in a good recommendation for him.

"We'll have to wait and see."

Jake wasn't optimistic, but he did at least train a library clerk to take over his interlibrary loan job.

"I'm sure you'll find something." Still, he felt lukewarm about the idea.

For the first time, he'd never felt he was walking on a tightwire. Was this the right thing to do? Still, every night, Macy gave him hope that it would be OK. "We'll get by somehow, I promise."

Yet, he felt a little shaky as if the future wasn't as bright as he'd hoped.

One battle after another

 "We have to do something," Emmie decided about Macy's situation. L had told her all about Wade's stuff still at Macy's apartment. 

Emmie was happy that L could confide in her. She knew L cared about Macy. Yet Emmie found herself caring more about L.

Macy was just a crush, or so L kept insisting. Now Emmie sensed it was much more, because Emmie knew where L was coming from. After all, Emmie was fond of L these days. She didn't want to say anything about it. Not even to her close friend Diggs.

"I've got some boxes. We'll start packing his things." Emmie told L, who liked the idea. Emmie felt her best by doing something. Especially, doing things with L. It was a new sensation, and Emmie didn't think it would get old. She liked being with L.

"We should do it." L agreed. She just didn't know Emmie meant right now. Soon enough, they knocked on Macy's door, who was on the phone. 

Emmie thought she was talking to Jake, but it was her grandmother. "That's so sweet," Emmie said later when Macy realised what the two wanted to do.

"Oh, she can be, but usually she likes to tell me what I should be doing." Macy gritted a smile.

"Well, we want this move to happen," Emmie told her as she and L started getting the cardboard folded into boxes.

Macy looked at them funny, as if this was a surprise. Of course, Wade hadn't made an effort to get all his things. Emmie knew from that snicker of his at the dinner that he didn't have any intentions.

"Well, you two could always move out and find another place in the building," Emmie suggested if she wanted to leave Wade's stuff alone.

"Oh, right now we need every break we can get," Macy nodded. "Let's do it."

L went to open the closet. It was packed with Wade's wardrobe. Some of it looked like something from high school.

"I wonder if he's hiding anything," L looked to Emmie with a smile.

"Let's hope not," Emmie sighed, hoping this didn't mean trouble.

The two looked back at Macy, who was reading something on her phone. She looked almost distraught. Emmi winced while L's brows furrowed.

"What's wrong?" L asked.

"There's been a dust storm on the interstate in Colorado," Macy frowned. "I think I should just drive to Denver."

"NO." They said in unison. 

How am I gonna get through

 It felt so final, even if it was supposed to be a new chapter. Only, it would take a lot of thinking and doing before it could start. Macy had to admit she hated being alone. Oh, she knew Jake promised he would be back, but there were so many what-ifs.

"Don't do this to yourself," L said the day after Jake left at the airport to fly back to Denver to get his life in order. L made sure Macy knew where she was going. "Focus, you need this job."

This meant being present. This meant not being discouraged about not hearing from Jake every hour. He had a life, too.  But it was so overwhelming. Still, it helped to have friends. Even Winnie was on her side, and that helped.

"Look, it's so repetitive, you'll get this job down," Winnie looked at her wide-eyed. "I need you. I need you to be here, not in another world." It was as if Winnie knew everything about her, even if Macy didn't think that was possible. 

Of course, Winnie would go on a tangent about all the things she hated about Wade.

"Are you sure you want to marry him?" Macy wanted to let her know she had been listening. She wasn't being that selfish about Jake.

Winnie sighed back with a smile. "I know he's hard to like. He's a dufus when it comes to romance. Still, I have  my ways with him." The way she sounded, it wasn't romance; it was building a relationship that would last a lifetime.

Macy wasn't sure she understood her co-worker. Maybe she wasn't supposed to. It made her want to learn the ropes more. Still, it was hit-or-miss with the phones. It was so hard not to have a potty mouth. It felt as if she was back to tending to preschoolers. Of course, the ones on the phone always wanted to hurt her feelings as if she were the one who caused the problem. After a while, she understood she was only a receptionist, and she would be verbally abused. And no one really wanted to hear about her day, but Jake, who was doing his best to get back to Chicago.