Bill spent the night at his parent’s last night so he could vote this morning. It is Election Day. Did you vote? You’d better have if you’re able. I voted in Hoboken after deciding to go to work today. No text from Felicia and I thought about not going in but decided to go in, if only to see how the chemistry would feel like with Felicia, Terry and possibly Linda all working in the office.

I was put off this morning by Terry requesting that I ready a conference room in the afternoon for a meeting that she was arranging. Last week she would’ve been setting up the room alongside me, this week she’s telling me to do it.

Oh I simmered. I didn’t like that at all. Linda was out again with a bad throat and Felicia had something going on. She was very distant, not very communicative at all. She was in but not really there. Sort of like a light’s on, nobody home scenario. I ran a few errands outside the office with her blessing of, ‘Sure. Go ahead, it’s a nice day.’ It was a very nice morning as I wandered around Soho for a short while.

Things got fairly busy in the office, lot’s of meetings, messengers coming and in and going out and since we are directly across the hall from the New York City Board of Elections there was a lot of foot traffic in the hallway. Around 1:30 I went out for my usual salad while Felicia ran some errands of her own. I asked Terry to watch the phones while I was out. I came back with the salad about a half hour later to find Felicia eating a sandwich at my desk. I said ‘What a surprise’ as I sat down.

She turned and looked at me with tears in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong and she shows me a text on her cellphone. It basically said that she was going to get fired tomorrow and that she should be prepared, and that if she asks the sender of the email the sender would have to play dumb. That’s why she was acting the way she was acting this morning. I asked her who sent the text and she showed me that it was signed by Paul, the IT guy. Sure enough, she cornered Paul and asked if he sent it and he said no. She came back to me crying.

She ran down a list of people who could’ve sent it. No phone number turned up since it was sent to her cellphone at 6AM from an email account. It was obvious it was Paul. He played dumb like the text said he would. She told me that the errand she ran around noon was about her bringing her things home. She knew the writing was on the wall. I had to run an errand up to Times Square so I left that scene and took the subway uptown. I called up Julio who had called me earlier and told him what was going on in the office. He asked if I was going to get her position.

I told him I doubt it. It might be nice to move up that way, to get a promotion and a raise, but I don’t think I’ll be offered the position. I also called Juan and told him and hung out with Bill for a few minutes since I was across the street. I jumped on the train downtown and Felicia was nowhere to be seen. I asked her supervisor, Mark who told me she had stormed out and left. That’s all I know so far. Quite a day, eh?

It just felt so right just laying in bed this morning. Bill kissed me good bye as he was off to work. I told him that I wasn’t going in today and if he could give me my cellphone, since I was laying there half asleep. Sure enough, a text message from Felicia. Her boyfriend’s sister had a set back from her coronary last week and they were wherever they were. Middletown NY? That was where she said she had to go last week, when we were discussing her boyfriend’s sister’s heart ailment. I asked if she had a good cardiologist and what hospital she was in. Felicia didn’t know the name of the hospital.

Girl, if you’re gonna lie big, you have to get all the details down. So at 2:00AM, when the bars close, I got a text message that read, “Pats sister had a set back. Going 2 catch a bus. Barf! Hoping 2 b able 2 help P settle in and b in the office by eleven or twelve. Mwah to u and Terry.” So she was going to catch that 2:00AM bus from Middletown to New York City, help her boyfriend settle into her apartment and then come into the office. It turns out that Felicia sent another text message, “Oy vey. Exhausted. Gonna work from home. Xo.” Terry who was my co-pilot last week was no longer my co-pilot. She had been co-opted by various directors who need help booking cars and making travel arrangements.

Once again it was lonely old me at the front desk, various co-workers walking by, barely grunting. I was thisclose to playing hooky today, but my conscience won out. Stupid conscience. Linda sent me an email saying that she wasn’t going to be in due to the fact that her throat was shot and she sounded like a man. Thisclose I tell you. I do believe Linda’s story though. I do have to thank Amiable Alan for hanging with me for a little while today, not wanting to see me so morose. I also forgot my vitamins today so that could’ve added to my Monday malaise.

And my teeth. That’s really bumming me out. And the elections tomorrow. After the defeat in 2004 I am hesitant to be hopeful about the democrats beating the republicans. The republicans are so dirty, full of dirty tricks and hypocrisy. I have no feeling for them whatsoever. Which in a way is taking the upper road since they’ve demonized gay people, and no one can do that except for me. Or another gay person, but with the way they republican party is stumbling out of various closets, I suppose they’re doing just that.

Tomorrow I urge all that can vote to do so. All of the five of you. Sorry Song, you’ll have to sit this one out. Meanwhile I’ve alerted some employment counselors that I’m looking to move on, specifically Lawrence who I’ve never met yet promises to help me find a job. I got in contact with Lawrence when I tried getting a job at the law firm where Bill works. I didn’t get the job because of the relationship of Bill and myself, despite me pleading that at the time of the interview, that Bill and I were separated. Well, we were at that time. The woman I interviewed with liked me enough to forward my resume to someone else, someone named Lawrence. Hopefully in January I’ll be out of McMann and Tate. That is the plan so far. I think it’s a nice plan, don’t you? I thought you would.