Word Count 4211

Madeline got ready for work quickly and while she ate breakfast and watched the Today show, she reminisced about what was going to be her last day at the apartment on Murray Avenue. But then Madeline noticed the time was slipping past a little too quickly and stuffed the last bite of her bagel into her mouth. She grabbed her bookbag and ran to catch the bus downtown.

Her last day of working part-time the library at St. Mark’s was fairly uneventful. Madeline was understandably distracted and spent quite a bit of time staring at the map of the United States that hung above her desk. She had never really contemplated where Baltimore and Maryland were located before. It wasn’t that far away from Wisconsin.

“Madeline?” Her boss asked, standing over her desk.

“Oh, hi, Donna.”

“You seem a little distracted today. Is every thing okay?” she asked with a concerned look on her face. “I know you’re moving home soon.”

“Actually,” Madeline said, pulling her thoughts together, “I’m moving back to Cedar Grove tonight. Since it’s Friday and everything. My lease isn’t up until Sunday, but I thought it would be easier to just move back home on Friday. Plus my parents have already brought most of my stuff home and everything.”

“Okay. That’s good to hear.”

“Actually, I need to fill out a vacation request for next week. I forget where we keep the forms.”

“Wow,” Donna said. “I thought you were never going to use your vacation!”

“Well, when I was a student I didn’t really have a need to go on vacation. Or funds! I’m going to visit a friend from grad school in Baltimore. It was a last minute decision, but they were having a good deal on flights there.”

“It sounds like it should be fun,” Donna said. “I don’t think anyone else is out on vacation that week, so it shouldn’t be a problem. The leave slips are in the supply closet. They’re the magenta ones on the middle shelf.”

“Great!” Madeline exclaimed. “I should probably be getting back to work though. These requests won’t fill themselves,” she said, gesturing to the pile of interlibrary loan requests stacked next to her computer.

“Too true,” Donna said. “But we’ll have you full-time starting next week, so don’t worry too much about getting these in before you leave. It’s Labor Day weekend. Why don’t you leave a half an hour early so that you can beat the traffic home to Cedar Grove?”

Madeline smiled. “That would be fantastic! Thank you so much, Donna.”

“No problem,” she replied. “Have a good weekend and I’ll see you on Tuesday. Make sure that you leave your vacation request on my desk before you leave.” Donna walked into her office, leaving Madeline alone in the Interlibrary Loan office. Everyone else had either taken the day off or left early.

Madeline quickly logged off her computer and neatly stacked the unfilled interlibrary loan requests in a pile on the corner of her desk. She quickly pulled out a leave request slip and began to rapidly fill out the relevant information. Madeline felt a little guilty about fibbing about her reason for needing the days off, but she also wasn’t one-hundred percent sure that she was going to be taking the job at the Baltimore Free Library. Honestly, she was going to see a friend from grad school. It’s just that she happened to be touring the library there too.

After salving her conscience with these thoughts, Madeline signed the slip with a flourish and popped into Donna’s office. She dropped the slip onto the overflowing in-box and said, “Have a good weekend, Donna. Thanks for letting me leave early. I really appreciate it!”

She caught the early bus back to her apartment on Murray Avenue and quickly began hauling all of the remaining things in her bedroom down to her car. In the middle of her last trip, Suzanne came bounding up the stairs. “Hey Madeline,” she said. “How are you doing? Have you made up your mind about the job yet?”

“No, but I’m going to be flying out there next weekend to check things out. I just got it okayed with my boss – although she doesn’t know that I’ve been offered a job. I don’t want to jinx things by quitting my job right now before I know if I want to take the new one!”

Suzanne looked thoughtful. “That’s probably a good idea. Plus you can look for an apartment while you are in Baltimore. I bet your friend Kelly will be helpful for that.”

Madeline laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping for. Well, this is my last trip down to the car. I finished cleaning everything yesterday before I went to work, so it should be ready for your new roommate to move in whenever they want to.”

“I think Brian is going to be moving in on Labor Day,” Suzanne said. “He’s kind of up in the air about it, but I figure as long as he pays for half the rent check and utilities, it’s fine with me!”

Suzanne accompanied Madeline down the stairs for the final trip. “Oh, I’m going to miss having you around,” Madeline said. “It’s been a fun year living with you.”

“Ditto -- although I haven’t been around that much. Law school is just such a drag,” she said wryly. “Let me know how things go with your job search and where you end up. Maybe I can come see you sometime over spring break.”

“And we can email, definitely,” Madeline said. She popped the trunk of her car and stuffed in the last box. She held out her arms and the two girls hugged. “Let me know how law school is going. You never know, I might need a good lawyer in the future!”

“And for helping me get through my first year of school, I’ll give you a reduced rate,” Suzanne joked.

“What, I don’t get free service?” Madeline asked in mock dismay.

“If you’d stayed for the full three years that I was in law school, maybe. But you only managed to survive one year with me.”

“I can’t help it that I managed to finish my master’s degree in one year instead of the usual two,” Madeline protested.

Suzanne smiled and said, “Go on, get out of here. You’re going to get stuck in rush hour traffic.”

“Okay. Here’s my apartment key,” she said, slipping the apartment key off of her key ring. “I’ll miss having you around! Have a good Labor Day weekend and I’ll talk to you later.”

“See you!”

Madeline got into her car and made her way out of the apartment parking lot. She cranked up her music to celebrate and was greeted by the melancholy stylings of Travis and “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?” I like this song, she thought, but it totally doesn’t celebrate the fact that I am moving away from Milwaukee. It’s not even raining today! She rummaged through her CD collection and came up with a mix CD that her friend Bean had made for her before moving to Boston. The CD started with Simon and Garfunkle’s “Homeward Bound.” Well, it’s not exactly celebratory, but it’s oddly appropriate! she thought to herself.

The trip home to Cedar Grove took longer than normal, but Madeline grooved to her music as a distraction. She finally pulled into the driveway at home and began unpacking her laden car.