Page 2 of Abdominal Snowman

Sage released a sigh as she walked back into the main area of her one-bedroom apartment and spied her camera bag.

“I don’t have a job.”

Sage stood in her living room and stared at her bag as it finally sank in. She’d quit.

It was hard to ignore the burst of giddiness at the thought of not waking up at the crack of dawn to work at a local paper who didn’t give a shit about what she reported. Never having to see Dick again?

“This calls for a council meeting,” she decided.

A council meeting was a lot less serious than it sounded. It required wine, her cell phone, and… well, since she didn’t have any cheesecake, popcorn would have to do.

Dialing a number she’d memorized since high school, Sage took a seat on her cushy couch, bowl in hand and wine on the table.

The phone rang a few times before a familiar voice answered.

“Saaaaage!” Gabi’s voice rang through her empty apartment.

“Hey, girl.” Sage felt the weight of her earlier decision settle into her chest, unable to answer her best friend’s enthusiasm.

“What’s up, buttercup? You sound sad.”

Gabi and Sage had been friends since, well, forever. It was almost impossible to get anything past her, and Sage knew it.

She blew out a huff of breath before starting. “I yelled at Dick and quit my job today.”

The line was silent for a minute, and Sage pulled the phone away from her ear to make sure the call was still connected.

“Gab?”

“I’m just processing. Do you have another job lined up?” Gabi would go there first, since she was always the mom of the two.

Sage sighed again, leaning her head against the back of the couch, studying the whorls and swirls on the ceiling.

“No. But something will come up. It always does.”

“You were too good for that place anyway. And with the shit Dick pulled about the beach cleanup story? I’m honestly surprised you didn’t leave earlier.” Gabi chuckled down the line. Sage could hear traffic in the background, so Gabi must be on her way home from work. LA was notorious for horrible traffic, but they usually called each other to pass the time.

“So since you have a free schedule, how does a vacation sound? Do you remember the guy from my last semester? Jimmy?”

Sage whipped her head up. “Yeah, the guy you’re replacing me with?” Long-distance friendship was hard.

“You’re irreplaceable, bitch.” Gabi laughed over the line. “Anyway, he gave me this voucher for a vacation through this company his sugar daddy owns. Either a Bahamas cruise or some mountainy place called Berrysburg in Vermont.”

Sage worried her lip between her teeth, glancing out the window. Living in Florida had effectively put her off heat for the rest of her life, but a vacation to some nowhere town in the mountains?

“I don’t know, Gab. I really need to find a job—”

“Sage, you are twenty-seven years old and have never taken a vacation,” her friend interrupted. “Go get your laptop. Live a little! We’re booking you a cruise.”

“No! I hate the heat,” she cried. “How have you forgotten?”

Sage could hear the grin in her friend’s words. “I didn’t, just making sure you were you over there. I mean, I’ve never heard of you walking out of a job.”

“I’ve never worked with Dick either.”

“Okay, enough said. It’s vacation time.”

Sage grabbed her laptop. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“It’s a free vacation. Like a breath of fresh air. You need some time away, and you can come back all refreshed and ready to job hunt.”

Gabi wasn’t really giving her a whole lot of room to argue. It wasn’t like Sage depended on the paycheck from Dick to make her rent. She was a couple months ahead, which Gabi reminded her was a totally weird thing. But... hell. With her best friend all the way in California, it wasn’t like Sage was spending her weekends at the bars or going out. Those had been the things Gabi would drag her to.

So even though it sucked that her best friend lived so far away, maybe it was better for her savings account. Now she could take this much needed break, just like Gabi said.

“You have the best ideas, Gab.”