Chapter 3 – Erin
“I am sorry Erin. I really am.”
“But me and my father lived here for years. Mr. Bishop, I have lived here all of my life. This is all I have left of him.”
The old man was softening, but I knew that my begging wasn’t going to make a difference. He had been offered a price that he couldn’t refuse, and he had given in. At sixty-five, he was ready to retire. He only came into the museum once a month to pick up paperwork, so I could see how the man must have been swayed by the temptation of a big pile of money all of a sudden. I knew that he wasn’t going to stop the sale. It was too much money. I was not only going to be out of a job, but also homeless. And the place wasn’t just my money and my home. It was the last place that I’d shared with my father. He had been gone a couple of years now, but I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. It was like part of him was still there, and that was always a comfort.
“I am sorry, Erin. You know how much the two of you mean to me, but I am getting old and I can’t do this anymore. The wife wants to move where it is warm, and my aching joints want the same. I just can’t hack it in New York anymore.”
I could have argued and told him that I would have done what was needed. I could have managed it, just like I had been for the last couple of years after dad died, but I didn’t. I knew that his mind was made up and I was going to have to figure it out somehow. I just didn’t know at the moment what I was going to do. I did know that I was going to have to do something quickly, because he was giving me a 30-day notice to vacate.
It was a shock to say the least. I thought he’d just stopped by for coffee, as he had done a few times a month in the several years since I had taken over. Even when my father was alive, Bishop was a normal fixture around the place. He said that he came for the conversation, but I was more apt to believe that he was there for the scones. Either way, it was hard to hear the news and even harder when it was coming from him. I could tell that he was as bothered by it as I was, so I decided I wasn’t going to make it harder on him, even if it was feeling hard on me.
Putting the most sincere smile on my face that I possibly could, I tried to think of something to say. In the end I just told him that it was okay, and for a moment the relief on his face made the blow from the news a little easier to bear. All I had to do was get upstairs without bursting into tears and I would be okay. It didn’t sound that hard, but I could feel the first tear running down my face when I was halfway up them. I moved faster.
My fingers squeezed on the banister as I tried to catch myself as I felt the stairwell around me sway. I didn’t know what I was going to do, and I didn’t know how I was going to figure it all out within 30 days. It just wasn’t enough time.
My resolve briefly took over from my nerves and I told myself that I was going to be okay. It wasn’t until I got behind the door that the waterworks really started. I couldn’t stop them and I didn’t really want to. I wanted it to somehow cleanse me of everything that I was feeling. It didn’t seem possible, but after only five minutes it started to ebb. I knew that I was just feeling sorry for myself and if I didn’t get it together, I was just going to make it worse.
Leaning against the hard wood, I looked around the apartment that I had grown up in. I had lived there for more than 24 years. It seemed like just yesterday that I was a kid, telling my father how much I hated the place. It was too small, too far from my friends and too old. Now I couldn’t think of living anywhere else. The very idea of having to give the place up was enough to start the tears anew.
This time, though, I didn’t succumb to the temptation to crybaby my way out of it. I had to think, and before long I remembered that I got a paper delivered and there would be places to rent. It was somewhere to start. I didn’t anticipate the prices, though. The museum had always been a perk that gave me a rent controlled option in a great location. It was considered part of my wages, and now I knew that I had gotten a better deal with that than I had first realized. I was starting to think that I was going to have to move out of the downtown area. There was going to be no way that I could afford to stay there.
I got up, trying not to let the information bother me, but it did. How could it not? It was going to be hard to find anything close to the sprawling two-bedroom apartment that I had now. Time was running out and I was feeling it more and more acutely. After a while I just lay down and tried to get some sleep. I had to remind myself that tomorrow was going to be better. It just had to be.
***
I went to work Monday morning knowing that everything was about to change. I now had a time limit of one month for my apartment and two months for the job that I loved. I couldn’t remember what all Bishop had said about either one by the time I got downstairs to work. I was feeling out of sorts and I didn’t even bother to do anything with my hair besides throw it up in a knot on the top of my head.
My brain was still a little fuzzy when the place opened, but before long I had a cup of coffee in my hands and I was looking through the calendar to see what I had to do that day. My plate was full and I was just not in the mood for anything. I was in the mood to go back to bed and wallow like a normal person.
I hadn’t gotten through the first cup when I heard a knock on the door. I had shut it so that all of the happenings didn’t disturb me and I hated to think of the look that I gave the mahogany wood. The last thing I wanted was to talk to anyone. I was feeling rather grumpy and coffee was the only thing that was going to change that in any way.
“Who is it?” I was taking no chances and sat up and straightened myself just a little bit.
It was Bishop. I was surprised to see him in the place. He had been there yesterday, so this was the most that I had seen him at the museum in years. He usually stayed away. It made me immediately think that something else was wrong. I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to take any more of his news. The last one had been such a doozy. I just knew that I was going to have to steel myself for whatever he was going to say.
“I thought you might like to meet the man who is going to be buying this place, Erin. Maybe if you get to know him, it won’t be such a bad thing. I really like him, and I think you are going to like him too.”
I kind of nodded my head, but I wasn’t really sure what I was going to say. I didn’t want to meet the man who was changing everything for me. I was under the impression that the museum wasn’t even going to stay open. One of the best and oldest museums in the city was going to be closed down and turned into another night club. It just didn’t make much sense, and I wasn’t really ready to celebrate that.
“I will if you want me to, but my schedule is pretty filled up for the next week. There is a lot to get done if we are going to have everything shut down and packed up by the end October.”
“Of course, Erin. I was just thinking that maybe you could see him this afternoon after you get off work? I could set something up. He is eager to meet you.”
I tried to keep the smile on my lips. The one that I knew wasn’t showing on the rest of my face. “I will see if I can push some things around, okay?”
Bishop kind of nodded his head, but I had a feeling that he was thinking of something else. I hadn’t agreed, but I had a feeling I wasn’t going to have a choice. It seemed the buyer was sparing no time in throwing his weight around the place.