This is a sample from my latest story, Office Meeting...
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Dave’s office had a window that overlooked the pool of cubicles, and as she approached she saw him sitting at his desk. A perfunctory knock yielded an abrupt “come in” and she walked in and sat across from him. Angie had worked for Dave for over a year, and this was a familiar routine.
“How’s everything going, Angie?”
She filled him in briefly—last week had been good, no real surprises; she had spent the weekend visiting friends and, on Saturday and Sunday nights, hitting a couple of clubs. Nothing much to report personally, but Dave liked to start with small talk and make sure that his employees were fine, as far as off-the-clock things went.
“How about you? Anything special over the weekend?”
“Oh, nothing much. My son had a baseball game that we went to. Other than that, it was hanging around the house and piddling around; Sheryll took the kids out after the game, and I barely saw any of them for the rest of the weekend.”
Angie nodded. She knew that Dave’s marriage was like so many that she knew: they had fallen into such a routine of life that there was hardly a relationship to sustain, but neither was there any real animosity—and the trouble of divorcing and finding a new rut to follow was too much of an inconvenience to bother. It was marriages like Dave’s that made her relieved that she wasn’t married, or even seeing someone seriously. She felt sorry for him, especially when it came to the sexual inactivity that must have typified his relationship; other than a weekend getaway for their anniversary, Angie would bet that Dave and Sheryll barely looked at each other amorously, let alone getting naked and sweaty.
It’s a shame, really, She thought as she looked at him. He’s actually a pretty good-looking guy…
She looked him over surreptitiously: his salt-and-pepper hair still filled out to cover his head, and he kept it neatly trimmed. His face showed some age—she knew that he was in his early 50s—but was pleasant, with brilliant steel-gray eyes and a mustache that matched the rest of his hair. While Dave was pretty short at around five-six or five-seven, his body was well-built and stocky; he didn’t carry a lot of excess, but kept fit. He always dressed nicely, if casually (which was typical for southern Arizona), and his strong arms emerged from a fresh polo-style shirt, tan and hairy.
Angie knew that Dave had not always been faithful to Sheryll; when she had first started working for him, it was rumored that he was intimate with one of his fellow managers—Deborah, from accounting—and Angie had even seen them flirting in the break room once. But they had broken it off soon after then, and Deborah had transferred to another branch. He had gotten a little handsy with Angie at the New Years’ Eve party last winter, but nothing really came of it; at any rate, both of them had been drinking a little too much and he didn’t seem to have a clear memory of it when she made a veiled reference to it in a casual conversation a week later.
They talked about her work, and the clients she had helped in the last week; then they set some goals together for what the coming week might hold. She began to rise, thinking they were done, when Dave stopped her.
“Oh, there’s one more thing: Don from the headquarters in Phoenix is coming down again today. I’m not sure when he’ll get here—probably in time for lunch—but when he comes, would you mind sitting down with both of us for a few minutes? It won’t take long.”
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If you liked this sample, check out all of My Samples.
Buy Office Meeting on the Amazon Kindle Store!
- - -
Dave’s office had a window that overlooked the pool of cubicles, and as she approached she saw him sitting at his desk. A perfunctory knock yielded an abrupt “come in” and she walked in and sat across from him. Angie had worked for Dave for over a year, and this was a familiar routine.
“How’s everything going, Angie?”
She filled him in briefly—last week had been good, no real surprises; she had spent the weekend visiting friends and, on Saturday and Sunday nights, hitting a couple of clubs. Nothing much to report personally, but Dave liked to start with small talk and make sure that his employees were fine, as far as off-the-clock things went.
“How about you? Anything special over the weekend?”
“Oh, nothing much. My son had a baseball game that we went to. Other than that, it was hanging around the house and piddling around; Sheryll took the kids out after the game, and I barely saw any of them for the rest of the weekend.”
Angie nodded. She knew that Dave’s marriage was like so many that she knew: they had fallen into such a routine of life that there was hardly a relationship to sustain, but neither was there any real animosity—and the trouble of divorcing and finding a new rut to follow was too much of an inconvenience to bother. It was marriages like Dave’s that made her relieved that she wasn’t married, or even seeing someone seriously. She felt sorry for him, especially when it came to the sexual inactivity that must have typified his relationship; other than a weekend getaway for their anniversary, Angie would bet that Dave and Sheryll barely looked at each other amorously, let alone getting naked and sweaty.
It’s a shame, really, She thought as she looked at him. He’s actually a pretty good-looking guy…
She looked him over surreptitiously: his salt-and-pepper hair still filled out to cover his head, and he kept it neatly trimmed. His face showed some age—she knew that he was in his early 50s—but was pleasant, with brilliant steel-gray eyes and a mustache that matched the rest of his hair. While Dave was pretty short at around five-six or five-seven, his body was well-built and stocky; he didn’t carry a lot of excess, but kept fit. He always dressed nicely, if casually (which was typical for southern Arizona), and his strong arms emerged from a fresh polo-style shirt, tan and hairy.
Angie knew that Dave had not always been faithful to Sheryll; when she had first started working for him, it was rumored that he was intimate with one of his fellow managers—Deborah, from accounting—and Angie had even seen them flirting in the break room once. But they had broken it off soon after then, and Deborah had transferred to another branch. He had gotten a little handsy with Angie at the New Years’ Eve party last winter, but nothing really came of it; at any rate, both of them had been drinking a little too much and he didn’t seem to have a clear memory of it when she made a veiled reference to it in a casual conversation a week later.
They talked about her work, and the clients she had helped in the last week; then they set some goals together for what the coming week might hold. She began to rise, thinking they were done, when Dave stopped her.
“Oh, there’s one more thing: Don from the headquarters in Phoenix is coming down again today. I’m not sure when he’ll get here—probably in time for lunch—but when he comes, would you mind sitting down with both of us for a few minutes? It won’t take long.”
_ _ _
If you liked this sample, check out all of My Samples.
Buy Office Meeting on the Amazon Kindle Store!