“Speaking of painless, I suppose I should post a few tweets just to say I’m still alive… while I am.” He pulled up his list of quotable music quotes, logged on to his @TheTaoOfJerr Twitter account, and posted a couple quips he hadn’t used before, including his favourite one from Frank Zappa. He considered working on his blog, but it could wait until he dropped by the station. With Ana gone, he really needed to see some friendly faces, especially Mika’s. “You know, Sushi, it’s probably time I do that Last Will & Testament thing. If I leave everything to you, will you just blow it all on one of those bubbling scuba divers for your tank?” He really did need to do a will, though there was something troubling him about the idea. Something needed doing or… had already been done! He opened up the desk drawer and there was the will kit, all filled out and ready to be notarized or whatever the lawyer had to do. “Shit. Two wills would have been as bad as none. Easily fixed.” With a quick phone call he set up a five-minute appointment with Manny’s lawyer, and with a second call, ordered a cab to pick him up in an hour. “Time to shit, shower, and shave.”
MANNY FRESHENED JERRY’S decaf and leaned back in his chair. “I hate the idea of a young feller like yourself even having to fill out a will, but I’ll honour whatever requests you’ve made, provided you do your best to hang around as long as possible and make it all unnecessary.”
“Deal. I’m not really asking you to do much, really. Just take a little of my ashes and sprinkle them in the Pacific and send the rest to my mother. There’s a list of my possessions that my sister and mother get first dibs on and then the rest goes to Mika.”
“Mika? Not Ana?” Manny raised his considerable eyebrows.
“Ana’s gone. She never really expected to be here that long anyway.”
“Why Mika?”
“She’s been great to me. She’s probably the smartest one you’ve got on staff, and that’s saying something with this staff. I want her to have a copy of my digital music collection and anything else she wants after my family has picked over it. If there’s any meat left on the bones after that, maybe open it up to the staff or donate it to a women’s shelter.”
“I like how you think, mate. Since that’s not going to happen for some time, what have you got on that cost analysis you were so keen to talk to me about?”
“I found three immediate ways you can trim your overhead without anyone losing their jobs, and a couple that might require some reconfiguring of job descriptions as well as letting one of the part-timers go, or convincing one of the full-timers to shift gears to part-time.”
“Close the door, Jerr, and show me.” Manny reached for the printouts Jerry had brought into the office with him. Jerry nudged the door shut with his foot and leaned over the reports his boss was spreading across the desk.
THE TWO MEN went through the figures and then Jerry’s proposals line-by-line, and only quit because Jerry could feel his frustration and anger building quickly, and knew that he was going to snap at any moment. Part of it was probably the tumour’s interference, but he also knew his blood sugar was low and he needed to eat. Mika nearly jumped out of her chair when he suggested the two of them go for Vietnamese subs.
“I was afraid you weren’t going to talk to me, Jerr. I sort of crossed a line last night.”
Jerry shook his head. “Not at all. We both stepped to the line, but nothing was crossed. I didn’t do more than wave at you when I came in because I didn’t want to get distracted from the task at hand, and with my shot-to-hell attention span, your smile would have been too much of a distraction.” He held the lobby door open for her and followed her out onto the chilly street. “Let’s just relax and get a bite to eat and not worry about all that other stuff for now. Deal?”
She squeezed his hand quickly and released it. “Deal, Boss.”
FOR TWO PEOPLE in the radio industry, they were both unusually quiet while enjoying their sate beef or vegetarian subs. They split an order of fresh salad rolls and washed it all down with a pot of green tea. Jerry smiled across the table as he folded up his empty sub wrapper.
“I’d forgotten how nice it is to eat with someone.”
“What about Ana?” Mika wiped a bit of sauce from the corner of her mouth.
“She loved to cook and was terrific at it, but she didn’t eat.”
“I suppose she wouldn’t have to, really.” She took a moment to gather her thoughts. “That must have the most surreal experience, having a ghost in your life. I mean, I was both freaked out and intrigued for the short time we were over at your apartment, but that was just for a few hours.”
“I gotta admit that it was the strangest experience I’ve ever had happen to me, but after a few days it just seemed normal.”
“You’re a lot more open-minded than Danveer, that’s for sure. All he wanted to do when we got home was run back over and get Ana to do it all again so he could film it and put it on YouTube or Instagram. The true miracle of it all completely escaped him. That was the breaking point for me.” She finished her tea and moved the cup and saucer to one side so she could lean her elbows on the table and move closer to Jerry. “You should write a story about it. Use only the facts, but tell the whole thing as fiction so people don’t try to lock you up.”
“Maybe I should. I could do it on the blog.”
“Or an ebook. That’s what Uncle Palak does. He’s written ten books so far and made a few thousand dollars for the spiritual institute he founded. He’s even recorded the first two as audiobooks.”
“I’d love to read his stuff but would have to go with the audiobooks, since my eyes are so bad now. I have to magnify Manny’s spreadsheets by 400%, just to squint at them. I don’t think that would work so well for books. Besides, Uncle’s voice is so soothing and calming that it would be like having another session with him.”
“Speaking of which… he emailed me his court date schedule and would love to come by and see you next week sometime, after your family has left. I think he was hoping to speak with Ana again, but when I explained that she’d finally moved on, he was excited for her. He really will help you see the big picture with all of what’s happening to you, Jerry.”
“Will he help me to understand where you fit into all of it?”
Mika laughed lightly. “I’m your friend, your assistant, and your shoulder to lean on. Anything else can evolve as it’s meant to be.”
She was rewarded with a big smile. “Then I am the luckiest man in Victoria.” Mika blushed, but at that moment their waitress arrived to top up their teapot and so they were both rescued from saying anything awkward. They took turns refilling their cups, and sipping the brew.
“When does your mother arrive tomorrow, and where have you got her staying? Not the sofa in your apartment, I hope.”
“They land about noon, and I’m putting them up at the Empress, smart ass.” A cell phone rang three tables away with the retro real-bell ring so popular with tech users, and when the woman answered it her voice was so loud that it felt like she was sitting right at their table. Jerry’s temper surged and he was about to turn and say something snarky, but Mika grabbed his hand and distracted him.