Story-A-Day #74: Wind Down

WIND DOWN

Everything was quiet. Everything was still. He could hear the soft ticking of the clock on the dining room wall, and upon closer inspection, the dull hum of the refrigerator. It was blissful, and just what he needed after the craziness of the day.

He had gone from one meeting to the next all day long, mourning the fact that the stack of paperwork on his desk was left unattended. Some days it seemed like there just weren’t enough hours in the day. Not nearly enough on a day like today and a quick flip through his day planner didn’t show any sign of things letting up.

His final meeting had been a dinner one, so at least he had gotten a good meal out of it. A nice piece salmon served on a cedar plank with rice and steamed vegetables. The meeting had been a long one and his mind was already shutting down by the time he greeted the client, but they had managed to cover a lot of ground and the results had been worthwhile. He secured the contract, worth just shy of $20,000, and dinner had been on the client.

He grabbed a half finished bottle of red wine from the counter and poured himself a glass. It had gone a little pungent since the weekend, but it was by no means off. He took a sip and sat down at one of the barstools that abutted the marble countertop in the kitchen.

The small spotlights above illuminated the counter and he took a moment to freshen up the plant with a bit of water. The clock on the microwave flashed out a pulsating blue 12:00 into the kitchen. He would reset it before bed.

A big gulp finished off his wine and he drained the rest of the bottle into his glass before pulling out his iPhone. He slid his thumb across the bottom of the screen and tapped on the email icon. For the next ten minutes, he got caught up on what had been going on at the office today. It had been a busy one, but there were very few fires to put out. That was a bit of a relief.

He set the phone on the counter and watched as the screen flicked over to black. He felt like he should be doing some catch up work. Maybe even having a bath or reading the newspaper. There was a long list of things he could be, and perhaps should be, doing, but for now, he was happy just quietly sipping on his wine and staring into the kitchen. It was perfectly serene and the ideal way to wind down after a long day.

He eyed an opened bottle of wine on the counter. One last glass and he would call it a day. The clock on the wall ticked its perfectly timed agreement.