I could never have imagined…

I could never have imagined a more emotional day.

Really it started out like most days. I was in a hurry to get to work, and traffic was horrendous. The smell of exhaust always made me feel sick to my stomach. Or maybe it was my nerves that morning.

That was the biggest day of my career. It was all on my shoulders to seal the deal with IBM.

We needed that deal. The bad economy had been brutal on us, and without that account we would have had to do some serious down-sizing.

We weren’t a large company by any means. And I had become good friends with so many of the women I worked with.

I didn’t want to see any of them, or myself, go.

A few of us grabbed a quick lunch, but I was too nervous to eat much. Once back at the office I looked over my notes one last time then started the proposal.

Things seemed to go well. IBM was very receptive to my ideas. And at the end of the meeting they accepted my offer!

That was huge! It was great for the company. And of course for me too.

After work several of us went out to celebrate. I loved having those women in my life. They were pretty much the only people in my life.

To be surrounded by such amazing friends at that point was too overwhelming to hold it in. As things sometimes went after a few drinks, I teared up & got emotional.

We continued to talk & laugh & have a good time.

Eventually most of my friends needed to get home, and it was just me and Janet.

Janet was older than me, 17 years older to be exact. But she was my best friend.

When my parents were killed 3 years earlier, Janet was the one friend I could call any time of day. We knew everything about each other.

As the two of us sat in the booth Janet got quiet. I asked her what was bothering her.

She was obviously nervous.

I reassured her that no matter what was on her mind, I would be there for her. Besides, I was still on such a high from making the IBM deal I could handle anything.

Janet took a deep breath. “I am your birth mother.”

Then the whole world shifted.

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This week’s prompt is to write a piece that begins with the line, “I could never have imagined” and ends with the line, “Then the whole world shifted.”

My immediate thought was to write about my BFF Lori who passed away 1 1/2 years ago.

But I wanted this to a happy “world shift.”

I also wanted to write fiction. It’s a bigger challenge for me.

I wanted to do something different than most people. I figured they would write about having a baby, 9/11, or getting bad medical news.

Tagged as: fiction, The Red Dress Club