Her phone vibrates on the nightstand next to her bed. She picks it up and flips it open.
"Hello?" She says weakly.
"Are you Ms. Dean?" A female voice says over the phone.
"Yes ma'am. What can I do for you?" She says sitting up in her bed and brushing a piece of brown hair out of her eyes.
"I have some bad news for you. Your friend Nathan Brown, passed away last night in a car accident. This is the funeral home and I wanted to let you know that the funeral will be on Tuesday. And the family has requested that, since you two were close, for you to possibly prepare something to say at the service. I'm sorry for your loss," The woman says, ending the call. Dean lays on her back and starts to cry silently. Her dog, Socks, climbs up and curls into her side.
A memory of the day she got Socks with Nate flashes through her mind. That had been about a week after her last boyfriend had broken up with her. Socks had been the last puppy in the puppy room, and was the runt of the litter. She had a slight limp in her step from being abused before she came to the shelter, but that was completely gone from her bounding steps. Socks was a huge lab and happy as can be.
The rest of the morning moved at the speed of a sloth. She changed for work, did her best to cover up her red eyes. The coffee machine beeps and Dean grabs a cup, fills it up and fled her apartment.
About half way to work, a wave of grief hits her and as she pulls the car over tot he side of the road, she starts to ball.
As the crying stops, she puts the car in drive and continues the journey to work.
She sprints into the lobby, before hitting the button for the fourth floor.
"I'm going to be late!" She mutters to herself. The elevator dings and she rushes in. Inside she fixes her pencil skirt and blouse. Her brown hair was a wavy mess, so she pulls it into a tight ponytail and lets a sigh.
The presentation room door was about to close as she comes jogging up.
"You were almost late Ms. Dean," Her boss scolds.
"I'm sorry, Jack. Personal life crisis," She says as she sits down in her chair. The lights dim and the projector turns on.
"Um today, we will discuss the rise of product in the clothing business," She says. The presentation draws on for about an hour before Jack finally lets her go.
"Thanks Jack," She says.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Jack asks.
"A friend passed away last night and the funeral is on Tuesday," She answers.
"That's tomorrow," he says as we both enter the elevator.
"I know. Is it OK if I take tomorrow off?" She ask.
"Yes you may," he says as we exit the building.
"Thank you," She says.
She walks to the car alone and drives back to her apartment.
"Hi Socks. Did you miss me? Huh? Did you miss me?" She baby talks to her dog when she opens the door. Dean changes into gray sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt before sitting down on the sofa in her living room. Socks climbs up to sit by her.
She takes out her laptop and opens it up. Opening power-point, she starts to rifle through pictures on her computer. About three hours later, she was done with the slide show and on to the speech.
"As a friend of Nathan's, it will be hard to let him go. He was there with me for almost everything. It pains me to say..." She says to herself. Socks whimpers and rests her head in Dean's lap.
"I know, sweety. I'll miss him too," She says rubbing Socks in between the ears. About 11:32, she gets up and walks out the door to the apartment. She walks down the hall to her friend Brit's apartment. Brit answers on the on the first knock.
"Hey Dean," Brit says, brushing a lock of red hair from her face.
" Hey Brit. Can we talk?" Dean asks. Brit nods and invites her in.
"I heard about Nathan," She says as they take seats in the living room.
"You going to the service tomorrow?" She asks.
"I can't. Zoe has dance class,and Toby has parent teacher conferences," Brit sighs.
"I understand," Dean says, nodding.
"Do you want a beer?" Brit asks. Dean shakes her head.
"Nah I want to be sober when I right my speech," Dean smiles weakly.
"Do you need help writing it?" Brit asks.
"No thanks. I want this to be just from me," She says.
