Fly on the wall Oct. 19, 2012

  

I got calls from the owner and the former temporary boss this morning.

The owner left repeated messages which made me nervous and seemed confused when he finally got me on the phone, as if he knew something significant had occurred, but not why or what, or perhaps thought he did something wrong somehow, and figured maybe I knew what it was. He’ll never really know.

The former temporary boss had reached a new level of bitterness, still shocked about her leaving, still near tears a day after her goodbye party. He just couldn’t put two and two together to find out what it was that made her leave.

Both men seemed to think I could help them.

The former temporary boss actually called me his “old friend,” and I suppose I am. Of all the people involved in this affair, he’s the one I feel the most sympathy for.

Whereas I could give two shits about the owner, who may be feeling like he drove her away by not giving her the raise she asked for. In some ways, he did.

Neither man can understand just how she could walk out of their lives like she did; neither know the full story about RR which would explain it.

I’m nor sure either one would believe the truth if I told them, and frankly, they would probably be even more confused and bitter if I did. Best to leave it all a mystery

If she didn’t tell them about the Little Man and RR, I don’t see a point in my doing so.

There is a whole lot even I don’t know, such as how far back RR’s influence on her goes. I can only guess from the early puff piece she wrote about him, and the later follow ups, as well as the stories he continued to feed her about the mayor, and his nominee for the county prosecutor.

Even I didn’t suspect anything until Tom brought it up in July, and when she started to promote stories that seemed to coincide with RR’s agenda.

She was always defensive when I asked her about RR.

One of the gossips filled me in about the party, and how tender an event it was, and how emotional people got about her leaving, especially the owner and our former temporary boss. I never suspected she was so popular among the staff, and strangely, the whole affair – the way the gossip described it – came off something like a wake, everybody saying incredibly nice things about her as if she wasn’t even there.

Wishing to have witnessed all this made me regret I had not gone, or better yet, had been a fly on the wall to witness it without being seen.

Now, a day later, there is the immense sense of sadness.

 

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