|
no more nicole The other day I was explaining to my friend Jen that besides my family only a handful of people in my life have known me for more than five years. Due to changing jobs and moving, people seem to drift in and out of my life. For me I see that as a normal progress of things even though I do try to stay in touch with some people as circumstances change. Well, it seems that I've reached that time limit with Nicole. Early this morning her boss turned to me and told me that she had called into work saying that she had quit. Sigh. He asked me if I already knew that she had quit and I said that I had had a feeling that she would. Obviously he knew that I was close to her and he let me go with that answer. When Nicole and I had talked on Wednesday, I don't think that she had made up her mind yet. If she had, she didn't let me know then. In fact she said something about going back to work. This change of events has left me with more than a few mixed emotions. On the one hand I am proud and happy for her. She kept her word and followed through with her plan. For months she had said that she would quit in March. She had been at the company for five years and her 401K plan was fully vested. Once she quit she was going to cash in that money to pay off her bills and start over fresh somewhere else. I am guessing that that is what she is going to do next. However, in my mind there are more than a few negative parts to that plan. Her no longer having a steady paying job, makes her even more dependent on her fiance. To me that is not a good scenario in any relationship. It gives him a hold on her although some might argue that most couples have an uneven income flow between them. Personally I feel that this new arrangement will put a greater strain on the two of them and may break them completely apart. Then I fear she will be worse off than she was before she quit. With all that has been going on in her life, I truly doubt that she has another job lined up and it may take her a while to find one that meets her needs. Not having a job will make her even more isolated than she was when she worked where I do. Now she has no reason to leave the house. Maybe things will get better for her sooner than I can imagine, but I have no idea how I will find out what is happening with her. Getting any information from her fiance about her is not an option. I can see him keeping her completely out of my life and I have no intention of trying to be his friend after the way that he last spoke with me. From an outside perspective I am guessing that all of this sounds very selfish on my part, but I can't help it. I realize that she no real commitment to me and that she has one with him, but that doesn't make it any easier on me. She made me happy and was a very important part of my life. Now all of that seems to have come to an end and that is not something that I want to happen. The problem is I have no idea how to stop it from taking place. |