KaseE
Dancing into Dreams
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2015
- Posts
- 3,387
Becoming the Boss’s Boss
Karen O`Connor Thornton held a B.A. in Art History, and would have earned a Master’s Degree if she had finished her thesis. Instead, she had her first child, Henry Thornton. Jr. Three years later came a daughter, Helen. Helen started as a breach, and while Karen’s excellent obstetrician avoided doing a cesarean, the damage done to Karen’s uterus meant her family would grow no larger.
Now, with both kids away at school — Junior a senior at MSOE; Helen a freshman at Marquette — she wanted to finish her degree. Unfortunately, on her husband Hank’s comfortable but not extravagant salary, a third tuition expense remained out of the question. Besides, Hank opposed it, almost as much as he opposed her taking her current job to start saving money to return to grad school.
“I’m the breadwinner of this family!” he’d protested. “People will think you’re working because I can’t afford two kids in private colleges.”
“Well, we really can’t,” she’d reminded him, making it worse. “They both had to take loans this year. If it wasn’t for Junior’s internship and Helen’s scholarship....”
“Well, we really can’t,” she’d reminded him, making it worse. “They both had to take loans this year. If it wasn’t for Junior’s internship and Helen’s scholarship....”
And so it went, escalating until they started screaming at each other. They’d had a similar fight last night, sparked when he said something about needing new pants and she’d pointed out it would help both his waistline and their budget if he would cut back by a couple of beers each night. She’d ended up crying and he’d spent the night on the couch, his choice, not hers.
“Darn-it!” she hissed under her breath when she realized she had entered data from the same invoice twice into the computer. Her new job proved easy for Karen, probably too easy. Her mind tended to wander, especially on days like today, when she had gotten little sleep and remained upset over the prior night’s row with her husband.
Karen deleted the duplicate entry, rubbed her eyes, and quickly covered her mouth as she yawned. She glanced at the clock. A bit early for a break, but her often strict employer — who nonetheless introduced herself as simply “Angela” but whom almost everyone in the office instinctively called “Boss” — had already shown an understanding that peak productivity sometimes required some flexibility. Karen rose from her desk, picked up her faded Phi Beta Kappa insulated coffee mug, and headed for the small kitchenette that served as the employee lounge.