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Scanning our surroundings to make sure the coast is clear, she then turns back to ht be cuts” My stomach drops

“What rumor?”

This ti on speakerphone to a friend the other day”

Job cuts? Have I assumed tooa backup plan in place?

She stands with the papers tucked to her chest “Don’t worry We run out of money every year, so I’m not worried Not yet”

“Because you’re retiring”

She perks up “Jersey Shore, here I come”

Mr Meisler was right—sounds like Jersey is the retirement hotspot

“I need to talk to Lowell,” I say, “so maybe I’ll ask him directly”

Peggy laughs “You do that You do that, honey, and report back to me”

I laugh nervously “I don’t think I have the guts”

“Well, neither do I I guess ait and see what happens”

When she goes to the back roohts Lowell is full of a lot of stuff, but insider infor nonsense

Hopefully

But if he’s not, the thought of locking uarantee of a job adds a new concern to thepile

I walk down the hall and knock lightly on my boss’s door Lowell’s kicked back with his feet on the desk, and his personal phone is pushed to his ear like he’s soh-powered attorney with an incredible view of the Manhattan skyline, basically Rad, instead of working in a governet the hype like the DUMBO area near the bridge

Annoyance crinkles the right side of his face “What is it?”

“As you know, I have to be out of my apartment—”

“I know this” He rolls his hand in front of him “Everyone knows Get on with it”

I recoil His rudeness and impatience smack of Steve, andto do”

“Hold on”

I wait, but then he drops his face to the linoleum and shakes his head “Not you You need time off? You can use your lunch at the end of the day If you need more than that, fill out the time-off request form, and I’ll consider it”