It was hard to believe she was in Tokyo. She may as well have been on Mars. Just last week she was temping at a mortgage office answering phones. The week before that she had been at a doctor's office. When she showed up for these entry level jobs, she was cautious not to be too efficient or too knowledgeable because it brought on questions. The last thing she wanted to do was explain that she was actually an MBA, a CFA as well as an attorney licensed to practice in four states who up until a few months ago was managing a portfolio where the minimum deposit was five million dollars.
Madli had taken a six week long Compassionate Leave after her father's initial diagnosis so she was under pressure to go back to work the day following the funeral. In her year at the private bank, she had grown the portfolios of her clients as well as performing for the bank's bottom line. The pressure wasn't just coming from senior executives, there was also the pressure created by her competitive colleagues who had spent the last month and a half vying for her accounts.
On the morning of her first day back at the office she was overcome by the same sensation she had after the adrenaline of the funeral had worn off. Sitting in an early morning markets meeting, Madli listened to, Bonnie Marshall-Freeman - the Senior Vice President, deliver some grim news. Their brokerage division had received yet another multimillion dollar civil fine for misconduct. As Madli listened to Bonnie's silky voice, she felt the conference room table swaying as if she were on a boat. Madli did her best to stay focused and not betray the spinning she was feeling.
As the topic shifted, she closed her eyes and took a deep, long inhale through her nose. She snuck in another between the words of one of her colleagues, an expert in Biotechnology stocks, who shared news of a pact between a leading protein engineering company and a pharmaceutical giant which would send the stock of the former soaring.
Madli thought her moment had gone unnoticed but as the meeting concluded, Bonnie made eye contact with her across the conference room table. Bonnie was a fiftysomething mild mannered Canadian known for quietly getting rid of strategists who were not, as she liked to say, "earning their bread." Bonnie had paid her dues. She started her career in banking as a teller then becoming a bank manager before moving into wealth management when women were not welcomed into the club with open arms. When the meeting concluded, Bonnie made direct eye contact with Madli.
"Let's walk and talk."
"Sure."
Bonnie had a signature look - Chanel cropped blazers and jackets in every shade of pink with skinny jeans and designer shoes. Madli's colleauges joked that Bonnie's preferred color palette was a calculated and deliberate attempt to soften her formidable personality. Today, Bonnie had accessorized her tweed jacket with a strand of knotted pearls that made a clacking sound as she led Madli to her corner office which was enclosed by three glass walls. This modern architectural feature was unique, but unfortunate for anyone who was called to sit in front of Bonnie.
Madli felt like she was climbing into the dentist's chair as she took a seat across from Bonnie's desk. Bonnie stood with her back to Madli, simultaneously looking through files on her credenza and firing off texts on her cell phone. Madli's mind wandered to the movers who were arriving at her apartment any minute now to pack up her belongings and transport them to her new condo in Wicker Park. She hadn't been to her new home since the day of the inspection. Tonight, after what would undoubtedly be at least a twelve-hour day, she would pick up Chicken, her English Bulldog from the boarding facility where Luke had dropped him off. Luke was serving as an expert witness in a voter fraud case and had flown to New York on the morning of her father's funeral.
Bonnie finally set her phone down and took a seat behind her textured Shagreen desk that resembled sharkskin.
"So. How are you doing?"
Bonnie's concern was accented by a sharp tone. Her faint Canadian accent was still perceptible.
"I'm hanging in there."
Madli didn't sound convincing, even to herself. She fought the urge to purse her lips which made her face contract awkwardly. Bonnie seemed to look right through her.
"I remember when I was about your age, a lot of sad life things started to happen."
Madli knew instinctively this wasn't a bonding "girl talk" so she let Bonnie continue without interjecting.
"We all have obstacles in our life. How we overcome them or work around them defines who we are as people. We need to be able to cope and survive."
Madli knew Bonnie was right but it was too soon for her boss's workplace platitudes.
"Don't you agree, Madli?"
Madli's mind raced as she searched for a response absent of feelings. She took Bonnie's words for the warning that they were: adapt and perform or be replaced by a more resilient cog in the wheel.
In an effort to give Bonnie the response she was seeking, Madli put in a fourteen hour day. She ordered sushi and ate it at her desk while she pored over data and analyzed it.
It was almost midnight when she and Chicken crossed the threshold of their new home for the very first time. Madli felt a small smile spread across her face as she watched Chicken lumber through the entryway and into the living room sniffing the labelled, packing boxes.
"What do you think big guy? It's our new home."
Chicken wandered over to their sectional by the chaise and sniffed near the spot where his dense body had left a permanent depression. His curiosity was short lived. Madli watched as Chicken went from sniffing the packing boxes to a state a confusion and then anxiety. He started panting and in an instant he was on the floor convulsing. His mouth twisted painfully as his muscular body spasmed.
Madli shrieked as she climbed over boxes to get to him. She scooped up his 68-lb body as best as she could and held him in her arms. Finally, his body relaxed. She looked into his eyes and stroked his wrinkled face, trying to stay calm. She used her blouse to wipe the foam off of his mouth. He had lost control of his bowels but she didn't care. She needed to get to her phone so she could find a veterinary emergency room that was open.
Lifting Chicken was a struggle. The muscles in her lower back tensed up painfully as she hefted him off the hardwood floor then carried him down the hallway to the elevator. She bent her right leg at the knee and held it against the glimmering elevator wall to support his body as the elevator descended to the lobby. When the doors slid open, she groaned as she carried him into the lobby, peering out the windows looking for her Uber. Finally, she saw a pair of headlights slowly approaching the building. She used her fingers to pull open the front door. She wedged her foot in at the bottom then used her whole body to throw the door open completely.
Madli's feet crunched in the snow as she approached the car. Her breath frosted the air as she yelled to the driver.
"Can you please open the door for me?"
The Ethiopian driver looked over his shoulder and rolled down the window.
"Is that a dog?"
"Yes. Can you help me with the door?"
The driver's tone was sharp.
"No dogs in my car."
She felt her grip on Chicken's body loosening. He grunted a little as she bent her knee again and leaned him up against the cold car.
"He'll sit on my lap. Please. I need to get him to the emergency room. I'll give you a hundred dollar tip."
"Okay, but he cannot be on the seat."
Madli nodded emphatically. The driver jumped of the car and came around to open the door for her.
Once she was in the car, Madli immediately dialed Luke. It was the middle of the night in New York but she was hopeful he would answer. She wasn't completely surprised when he didn't. She looked down at Chicken's vacant eyes and kissed him on the forehead. His breathing was labored but she took comfort in the fact that he was breathing at all.
When she arrived at the animal hospital, Chicken was placed on a gurney by a veterinary technician and taken to the back to be examined by a vet. Madli texted Luke as she stood at the front desk of the austere lobby filling out forms. When she was done, she took a seat in an uncomfortable chair. After a few minutes, a stocky, bearded man in scrubs emerged from the back. He was carrying an iPad.
"Hi, are you here with Chicken?"
"Yes."
"Hi, I'm Dr. Stumpp. Why don't we go talk in a room?"
Madli took this invitation as a bad indication. Her mind raced as she followed the doctor into a small exam room decorated by a portrait of a happy, healthy dog. Madli couldn't help but jump in with a question.
"Was that an epileptic seizure he had?"
"No. It was a grand mal seizure."
"Grand mal?"
"Yes. Grand mal seizures are typically caused by abnormal electric activity in the brain."
"Oh…"
The doctor switched the iPad from one hand to another without looking at it.
"In any case, while we were examining Chicken, he suffered another seizure. I'm imagining it was like the one that you saw at home."
Madli had to stop herself from falling apart.
"Without taking X-rays or doing an MRI, I can't tell you for certain what is causing the seizures. It's most likely a brain tumor but the bottom line is, Chicken's brain is most likely very swollen and as a result he is severely incapacitated."
"Can you treat him for that?"
"We can but honestly his quality of life will be severely compromised." The doctor's words sunk in like an anchor hitting a rock under water. Madli could taste her own warm, salty tears as they ran down her face.
"I feel so bad. He's been at the doggie daycare a lot lately. Could that have stressed him out and caused this?"
The doctor shook his head. "Not to this degree."
Madli could barely speak.
"I can't believe this is happening. I don't want him to suffer."
"I'll have the techs bring him out to a room where you will be more comfortable?"
She nodded in acknowledgment.
A few minutes later, the doctor escorted Madli to a dimly lit room where Chicken was wrapped in a towel and laying on a naugahyde couch. He was barely conscious as Madli crouched down to kiss his face and touch his leg where they had inserted a catheter.
Madli shuddered and sobbed when Dr. Stumpp returned with two syringes full of drugs that would bring Chicken's life to an end. Madli knew that when it was all over, she would not spend the night at her new condo or return to the office in the morning. She knew Bonnie was right about people being defined by how they handled adversity. Madli didn't know what exactly this meant about herself, but right now she didn't care.