Family Anchor

He should have know that something was wrong by the ways the clouds were hanging over the city that morning.

Usually when the blue sky was hidden by clouds, they were swirling around, carried by the currents rising up from the streets - never staying in one place too long. Yet today, they just hung there. Blotting out the sun. Boring. Ominous. Ever since he was a child he had thought Paris was the most beautiful city. Vibrant and full of life - but this morning everything was empty. All the walls around him were drab, drained of color - a meaningless grey. The air felt thick. His feet felt heavy.

He hadn't even noticed his coworkers walking out of the office as he approached. Many with arms full of personal belongings and cardboard boxes - maybe the occasional potted plant. So when he walked in and saw empty desks and barren cement walls, he was a bit confused. The office had always looked so nice. Full of people he had grown to love over the last couple of years - smiling faces that greeted him each morning. But today, when he looked around, there weren't the usual suspects - Cathy with her freshly poured cup of tea, Steve ready with a joke, or Becca the intern eager to help with a new task. To be honest, it all looked to sterile now. Pathetic.

By the time he had made it to his boss' office, he had already figured out that the branch was being shut down. He just wanted closure by officially hearing it. When he first stepped into the office, he was a little bitter - spiteful that his boss would probably just be relocated, the only hassle having to be moving.  But the noticeable streaks of salt along his cheeks revealed just how wrong he was. This was affecting everyone. No one had been spared. So he stuck out his hand and thanked him for all he had done as the leader of the office. It was all he could do.

As he wandered along the river on his way home, there really wasn't anything running through his mind. He dragged his feet as he went - making sure to kick any stone ahead of him into the river, listening for the satisfying splash and watching them disappear beneath the surface. The clouds still hung heavily overhead and showed no sign of breaking up, almost taunting him. It felt like it was all over. As if his life was coming to an end. Sure, all around him the city was still bustling, continuing on, unaware of his termination, nor showing much compassion - but what was he to do now. He was older. No longer in his prime. Times were changing. It wasn't going to be long before he felt completely outdated. How was he going to support his family? All he could think about was them. And thats when all the problems started melting away. This was all just a minor bump in the road. Not more than ten minutes away were the two most beautiful children in the world who would be ecstatic that he was home early. They didn't care about his job. They just cared about him. And of course there was his wife - his soulmate. The woman he had loved with every fiber of his being from the moment he saw her. She'd be there, understanding and compassionate. His rock.

Suddenly everything else didn't matter anymore.

He just want to get home and hug his family.