Landmark 2c Unemployment
Leads to Riots
If you're stumbling upon this post for the first time, you're entering the narrative midway through its unfolding saga. Alternatively, if you've eagerly awaited the next episode, consider revisiting Chapter Index to refresh your memory.
Ranell breathed a sigh of relief. After enduring the frigid cold of Nunavik, the familiar sight of the massive runways at the Los Angeles International Airport, surrounded by a seemingly infinite sprawl of residential and commercial buildings stretching out to the horizon, brought him a sense of peace that he hadn't experienced for weeks. He was home.
From long habit, he retrieved his cell phone and swiped the screens to disable airplane mode. He sighed again. Incoming messages were blowing it up. He scrolled slowly through the routine office traffic. He checked his watch. It was late in the afternoon. Whatever they want, it can wait until tomorrow. He imagined first taking a hot bath and then sipping scotch while savoring warm California breezes as he watched the evening roll in from the deck of his pergola.
He moved to replace his phone in his jacket but then decided to make a call. Passengers were pulling their luggage from the overhead storage compartments and standing in the aisle, waiting for the doors to open onto the gangway. A small smile creased his face as he dialed the number.
“Hi honey, I just landed at LAX.” He tried to keep his voice low because he didn’t like the other business class passengers listening in on his conversation.
He listened to the question she asked and responded to the concern in her voice. “Nothing’s wrong, dear. I’m just a little tired… No, I’m not going to bother stopping by the office today. I thought I might just head home.”
She offered to make a reservation at their favorite restaurant, Raffaello’s, but he cautiously declined, “If it’s all the same to you, sweetheart, I’d rather just have a quiet dinner at home tonight.” Ranell was cautious because they’d been fighting a lot lately.
She agreed to his idea. To Ranell, it seemed enthusiastically. “I love you too,” he said softly before hanging up. It’d been a while since he’d heard that.