New Hope For Small Men: Chapter 33

“So it was nothing,” Bree said.

“That’s what they tell me,” Robert said.

“Just some lonely nut.”

“I guess.”

What was she wearing today? The plaid skirt again, this time with a black shirt that featured the white outlines of a stylized cartoon ghost.And tennis shoes and white socks. There was a piece of jewelry around her right ankle; something silver that jingled slightly when she moved her leg. Robert wondered if the other women in the office had begun to complain yet. He could not imagine that they had not. They all wore blouses and blazers and slacks, or sensible skirts. They had pictures of their families and pets cluttering their desk space. They would be offended by the unprofessional dress of this girl among women, and offended more by what must have by now been the rumored infidelities of the boss and inappropriate workplace behavior.

Robert had never spoken much to any of them, and while he knew all of their names, he found, during his three-day weekends, he could not always recall them, if he tried, which was seldom.

Once, Robert had found one or more of them attractive, and they still were to some degree, but he had forgotten about them. They had not become his friend or he theirs. He had no stories of bad traffic or family illness to share. Time had passed and the shine of them as even fodder for his fantasies wore off.

The women did not talk much to Bree. They said hello and offered her cake when someone in the office was celebrating a birthday. Even the men, Robert noticed, did not pause by her desk, and though they might look up from their work when she walked near, they seldom did more than nod hello or stare for a few unguarded moments longer as she walked away.

“Has he called again?” she asked and he told her no.

He was not sure why he lied; the impulse to do it sprung from her question. Probably he did not want to go to the manager again, to tell him there had been another call, and to force him, through her powers, to action. And action would be another conversation with Robert in his office again, and he knew the manager would not include Bree this time, and would close his office door — and maybe even shut the blinds — and tell Robert: enough of this nonsense, already. It is giving me a headache.

Also, the man had called Robert. He had only spoken to Robert. He seemed to be only Robert’s problem now.

He called again later that day, saying pretty much the same as always and hanging up when Robert spoke beyond hello.