Long story short, my boss has been contemplating going out on her own for some time. Within the last two months, it became more of a reality and we had actually been working “behind the scenes” (i.e. in secret) trying to find a new office and whatnot. We had a specific date in mind that we were thinking of leaving—timing was of the essence as my boss would take a HUGE pay cut on any properties that closed after we left, so we tried to time it so that the majority of them would close before we left.
Well, we left a little early. As in this afternoon. It was just a few days earlier than planned, but it still came as a major surprise. Here’s what happened.
The owner of Coldwell Banker scheduled a meeting with my boss and her partner for 1pm today. We were all curious as to what exactly was going to happen at said meeting, but we knew it surely had something to do with us leaving. Not that anything was ever said out in the open, but you know rumors… So, about 1:15, they came out and said “Start packing. We need to be out by 5:00.” WHAT?!?! Long story short (sorry, I like that saying!) I guess the owner had heard some rumors or was making a logical guess and she basically said “You need to leave today.” Sue said okay, we’ll leave after hours so we don’t make a big scene and the owner said “No, the locks have already been changed. You need to be out before the end of business.”
Oh my. That wasn’t quite how we thought it would go. The owner—who up until this point had been friendly and had even asked my boss at one point when she was going to go out on her own—was quite bitter and rude about everything and it just was. not. good.
Needless to say we were thrilled to leave… but oh my god, where do you even start? Computers had to be unhooked, files packed, furniture moved… I immediately called Tom to see if he could come help (he knew he’d have to help whenever it happened, so the call came just a few days earlier than anticipated). Luckily he was there and could leave work.
So we started packing and moving. We had no boxes or anything, so it really was a scramble. And, interestingly, we were moving everything to my bosses garage! Why there? Well, we did have a lease at an office across town…but long story short (!) this morning my boss received a call from a local businessman saying he had someone who wanted to break their lease…in the very office building she dreamed of relocating to!! (Since there were no openings when we were looking, she was waiting for him to build the next section of offices and she was going to get one of those. The other office we leased was only ever meant to be temporary.) So…instead of moving all the office stuff to the currently-leased location, then moving it all again in X number of days (when the new office space was vacated), we just moved everything to her garage! Between our three big cars and her dad’s van, we moved everything in a few loads.
As a thank you and as a celebration, my boss took us out for dinner to Outback—where we had a great meal and more than a few drinks! In short, we had a great time! Then I said “Um, where do I show up for work tomorrow?” It was decided we’d work out of her house until we could get into the new place. We weren’t quite sure when that would be, but we knew it would be soon. (Long story short, when my boss talked to the guy, he said he could be out by the 31st. She said “How about this weekend?” and it was determined he would move out as soon as possible.)
It’s going to be a big change at the new office… For starters, I am going to be the receptionist, as well as doing what I normally do. (I am not thrilled with that, but I know it’s only temporary because they’ve already said they are going to hire a receptionist within a few months.) And it’s just going to be different altogether since it will only be us three. (Eventually they want to bring in another agent or two, but for now, it’s just us.) But on a positive note, they told me I now have a window! A WINDOW!
