On the drive back to Linda's place, Emily and David fell asleep in the back seat and Maddie replayed the day over in her mind. She needed to do this sort of thing more often. Maybe she could borrow the kids tomorrow.
But tomorrow she was supposed to be looking for work. If she didn't start soon, her resumé would have a glaring hole and no reputable company would want to hire her.
Maybe just one more day... She could start the job hunt the following day. Except that would be Saturday. Oh well, what did a few extra days matter? She could take a couple of weeks off, like Linda said.
I'm delaying it.
She thought about this some more then it suddenly hit her—I don't want to do this anymore. I'm bored.
Someone honked to her left and she swerved back into her lane, waving an apology at the other driver. Must concentrate. But it wasn't easy—her epiphany was getting in the way.
Science had been her life ever since high school. She loved it, sure, but there was nothing new in her work. In her life. Nothing to look forward to. She'd always worked hard but where had that got her? Unemployed. No wonder she was still a nerd. She hadn't changed since she was a kid. Her goals were still the same ones she'd had as a twelve year old and they were growing staler than week-old bread.
To hell with them. Hang science. Hang Miles and BioDerma and Pheramour. She didn't care anymore.
Okay, now all she had to do was find something she did care about. Something she wanted to do with her life. At least for a while until science became interesting again. Something fun, something creative...
CHAPTER 19
By the time Maddie arrived at Linda's place she'd tossed out several ideas including starting a pet grooming business, writing a best seller and joining the circus. The epiphany was the easy part, the practical side was proving more difficult.
Linda met them at the door. "How're my babies? Still alive?"
"I think so," said Maddie. "Although my feet are killing me and I never want to see ice cream ever again."
"Yeah right." Linda narrowed her eyes at her two elder offspring. "Were you two good for your Auntie Mad?"
"Yes," said David and Emily, racing out to the back yard, their second wind hitting them with the force of a gale.
"How was lunch?" asked Maddie, itching to tell Linda about her new direction.
"Great." They went into the kitchen and Linda filled the kettle. "Irene says hi and she wants your help."
"My help? Oh." Maddie sat heavily on a stool at the bench. "She wants me to tutor Riley, doesn't she?" Irene's thirteen year-old son had displayed early signs of delinquency last spring when he stole his father’s credit card and booked a flight to Mexico over the internet. Maddie couldn't imagine the kid sitting still to learn Pythagoras' theorem.
Cross tutoring off the list.
"No, she wants to redecorate." Linda passed a cup of coffee to her sister. "She asked me for advice and I said she should speak to you. You're better at that stuff than me." She glanced around at her Seventies' kitchen with its orange cupboards and linoleum floor and sighed. "I don't have time for creativity."
Maddie shrugged. "Look on the bright side, retro is back in."
"This isn't retro, Mad, this is puke. I think the previous owners were trying to decorate on the cheap and orange was the discount color that week." She sighed into her mug. "So, what do you think?"
"I don't know. I've never given anyone decorating advice before. If she asked me to develop non-allergenic cleaning products, I could help."
"You'll be great. Just do it." When Maddie didn't say anything, Linda added, "At least talk to her."
What the hell. She had nothing to lose. "I guess I can drop in tomorrow."
Linda beamed. "I'll call her later. This could be a whole new avenue for you, Mad. You can start a new business and you'll be so busy you won't even think about Sam."
Maddie groaned. "Thanks for reminding me."
Linda screwed up her nose. "Sorry, but it's not like you weren't thinking about him anyway."
True. Despite the distractions of the day, Maddie had still thought about Sam at least every five minutes, especially when watching the mating monkeys.
"Imagine shopping all day and spending someone else's money," Linda rattled on.
"Don't get too excited. Irene might hate my taste."
Irene loved her taste. And with her small inheritance from her recently deceased grandmother, money was no object. After a five hour consultation that included coffee, cake and gossip, they had a shopping plan for the next day.
Two nights later, Maddie sighed as she flopped into bed. She'd spent all day painting and hemming curtains at Irene's. Tomorrow she'd hang them and move furniture—a mixture of Irene's favorite pieces and new acquisitions—until the living room had the feel the customer wanted.