Chapter 1: I Quit

The thought of going back to work and just pretending everything was OK seemed so absurd now. He'd never really been that interested in what he did for a living, and now that he was presented with the option of not needing to do it...

He didn't even bother going in to submit formal notice. He just used his phone to e-mail the requisite words to his supervisor, "I quit."

It was a little after noon. He put on a record, made himself a latte - the first time he'd turned on the espresso machine in two weeks - looked out the window of his modest, second-story apartment and thought, I used to love it here. I guess it's all different now. He wasn't sure if he was referring to the gentrification of his Montreal neighbourhood or his life as it now was. As it always would be from now on.

He pulled out his phone and logged into his banking app. More than enough. He glanced at his prized LP collection. By supper time, he was on a flight to Amsterdam. 6-hour layover in Zürich. He wondered if he'd have time to see the opera house.