Page 3 of Real Forever
“Love you, bitch.” She gave her sister a peck on the cheek and headed back downstairs to grab her socks and jacket.
2
Jake
Jake rolledover and tapped the alarm notification on his phone. Five-thirty a.m. He pulled the charging cord out of the bottom of his phone and swiped the screen up. No new notifications. He placed the phone back on his nightstand and pushed the white sheet and solid gray duvet down as he sat up on the edge of his bed. He pulled on his gym clothes and headed to the washroom.
Jake hit the gym by five forty-five a.m. daily. He spent forty-five minutes working out, twenty-five minutes cardio, twenty minutes weights. Condo buildings with gyms were rare in Silver Creek, the small city Jake had moved to a year earlier, so when he found this place, he was thrilled. The only unit available was a three bedroom, and more than he had budgeted to spend. While he could have swung it on his own, the extra expenditure felt irresponsible, so he’d found a roommate to help cover the mortgage. At first, Jake worried about how he’d handle another person in his space, but for all his faults, Zach had turned out to be fun to have around. They shared a love of mountain biking and getting out on the trails every weekend, which translated into a tight friendship in no time.
After his workout, Jake headed back upstairs to shower, shave, brush and floss his teeth, and get dressed. He had ten suits and ten dress shirts. He wore one each workday for two weeks and then delivered them all to his dry cleaner on his way home Friday evening. Jake prided himself on the various organizational routines he had developed and credited them for the efficiency he was so often complimented on. But if he was being honest, it wasn't the efficiency he was after in creating these routines. He simply felt calmer when he had a plan.
Next up was breakfast—a green smoothie with protein powder—and when Jake entered the main living area, he chuckled to find Zach passed out face down on the couch in nothing but his boxer briefs. Zach had tried to talk Jake into going out with him last night to see a friend’s band playing at the local bar, Rita’s, but Jake rarely socialized in the evening during the week. He needed to be clearheaded and at his best every day to meet his goals on the timeline he had laid out for himself.
He considered waking Zach up but figured he could let the blender do it. Jake’s parents had given him a fancy Ninja brand blender for Christmas the prior year, and it was perfect for whipping up his morning smoothies, but it was also loud as hell.
ZWRRRRRRRRRRR!
“What the fuck?” Zach bolted up on the couch at the grating blare of the blender pulverizing ice cubes. Jake held back a snicker as Zach rubbed his face and glanced around, trying to orient himself.
“Dude, that thing is loud as fuck,” Zach said, yawning and running a hand through his nest of tangled blonde hair.
“What’s on your chest, man?” Jake squinted, trying to make out the small mass of beige and red gunk on Zach’s chest.
“Huh?” Zach panned down to his chest and laughed, peeling the gunk off, and popping a piece in his mouth. “I ordered pizza last night.”
Jake shook his head and laughed. “Dude, you are truly disgusting. How was Rita’s?”
“Ah, not bad. The usual crowd. Ben’s show was pretty good though. Thank god they replaced their drummer, man. The last guy was such a dipshit.”
“Well, I’m heading into the office. Clean this shit up today, yeah?” Jake said, motioning around the open living area.
“Yeah, bro. For sure,” Zach replied through a mouth full of cold cheese and pepperoni pizza.
Jake’s office was only a ten-minute bike ride from his condo, so Jake rode every day the weather allowed. The fresh air, exercise, and exposure to morning sunshine helped him start the day feeling calm and focused. The cold winter days were depressing, and he dreaded the shorter days which would be arriving in the next few weeks.
There was a fantastic coffee shop right across the street from Jake’s office, The Silver Creek Grind, and a large, black cup of their Indonesian blend had become his favorite way to start the day. As he waited in line, he noticed the pretty brunette barista who worked Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She was always friendly with him when taking his order, and a few times he had thought about asking her for her number. Marriage wasn’t in his plans, but a date now and then would be nice. But he brushed the idea off again. He had to stay focused on his business. Besides, what if she said no? It would be humiliating, and he’d never muster up the courage to show his face in the coffee shop again. No, it was better to smile politely, order his coffee, and get back to the office.
At 7:50, Jake settled down at his desk and started with his emails from the previous night. Three new inquiries from potential clients. Seven follow-ups from clients he had requested send additional documents. One alumni message from Queen’s University. Not bad. He replied and filed the emails with five minutes to spare before his first client of the day was due to arrive.
Jake was a licensed insolvency trustee. He helped people when their debt had reached the point they could no longer make their payments and were considering filing for bankruptcy. Jake had chosen this career path after carrying out a careful review of expected job market conditions over the next twenty-five years and comparing it with the results of the three different career aptitude tests he had completed. He wouldn’t describe the work as his passion, but he excelled at it, and had a strong chance of achieving the level of professional and financial success he expected of himself. He just needed to stick to his plan and continue to work hard. Silver Creek was the perfect place to open his first office. The population carried high debt levels and there were no other trustees in the area. As a bonus, it was a full seven-hour drive away from his parents.
Jake decided to put his extra five minutes to good use and opened the meditation app on his phone and selected one of his favorites, Five Minutes to Tranquility. He closed his eyes, rolled his shoulders back, and followed the prompts as the calming female voice instructed him to breathe in and out.
“As you breathe,” the soothing voice cooed, “remind yourself that life is like an ocean wave. As the day swirls around you, choose to ride the ups and downs. Choose to remember that highs and lows are natural, and each moment is only that—a moment. Choose to ride the moment you are in. If you find yourself ruminating on yesterday’s mistakes or tomorrow’s worries, I want you to stop, breathe, and bring yourself back to this place of gently riding each moment of your day.”
After a final thirty seconds of listening to the sound of waves lapping at the beach, a gong sounded, indicating the end of the meditation. Jake opened his eyes, took one last deep breath, and stood up from his desk with purpose, ready to greet his first client of the day.
* * *
“Hi, Mom.”Since his first year at Queen’s University, Jake’s mother, Adeline, always called him at seven-thirty p.m. on Tuesday evenings.
“Hello, dear. How are you?”
“I’m good, Mom. How are you and Dad?”
“Oh, I’m fine dear. I finished pulling the garden out this week. No help from your father, of course. He’s been busy with work. I keep telling him it’s time to retire, but he’ll never listen to me.”
Jake’s father, Eric, was well past sixty and could retire with a full pension anytime now. Jake suspected he kept working to avoid spending all day with Adeline.
