It's All a Matter of Choice Page 6

  All paperwork is to be taken to the Office Worker Area

  This is a paperwork-free zone.

  Emmet stood the sign up on the part of the desk where files were dropped, the words facing the door. There, that should do it. Now everyone would know his new policy.

  Anita walked by with a couple of files in her hand. She was checking associate cubicles for paperwork. Anita looked into Emmet’s cubicle, saw the sign and smiled.

  “A new policy, eh Emmet?” she asked.

  Emmet jumped slightly and turned around in his swivel chair.

  “Good morning, Anita,” he said, adjusting his glasses clumsily. They had slid down his nose a bit when Anita startled him.

  “Good morning, Emmet,” she answered still smiling. Her brown eyes shifted toward the little sign. “Setting new rules I see. Good for you.”

  Emmet flushed slightly.

  “Yes. It was nice to go home and not have extra work to do. I can get used to that,” he said to her.

  “It’s nice to have time for yourself,” Anita agreed, “And the sign is a good idea. You don’t have to constantly tell everyone you aren’t doing paperwork any longer. Are we still on for lunch?”

  Emmet nodded.

  “Great. I’ll see you then,” the brunette said, giving him another smile and walking off.

  Emmet looked after her. Anita was dressed in a smart brown pants suit with a print shirt, matching print headband that pulled her hair back from her face and brown ladies loafers. She smelled wonderful, her scent lingering behind. Emmet lifted his head slightly, sniffing, his eyes half closed when suddenly a smiling Herman stuck his head into the cubicle. Emmet didn’t register him. Herman’s smile turned into a perplexed look.

  “Emmet? Are you all right?” he asked the dreamy-looking associate.

  Emmet snapped out of it.

  “Hi Herman,” he said, slightly embarrassed, “How are…”

  Emmet stopped mid-sentence as Herman entered his cubicle.

  “Herman, you’re bald,” Emmet said incredulously.

  “I know,” Herman said, smiling.

  Emmet looked at Herman’s shining pate.

  ”No, I mean you’re really bald,” he said to Herman as the smiling associate sat down in the folding chair by his desk.

  Herman didn’t have a lick of hair on his round head and rubbed his hand over his scalp.

  “Last night I did like Anita said. I brought home flowers, candy and a huge bottle of wine to Agnes. She was shocked and asked me why I was giving her gifts. I told her it was because I appreciated her worrying about me so much. And you know what, Emmet?” Herman asked?

  ”What?” Emmet replied.

  “She cried like a baby. I had to hold her for at least fifteen minutes. She soaked my shoulder. Then she said she thought I didn’t love her anymore because she nagged me all the time. And I told her that was ridiculous,” he said, “Then we put the kids to bed and drank the wine together, talking like we used to talk…honestly…and…and one thing led to the other, and we were going to bed when she looked at my head and said I needed to face up to the fact I was going bald and stop trying to hide it. So we shaved it all off.”

  Emmet blinked at him.

  “Both of you were drunk?” he asked Herman.

  “Lit up like Christmas trees…but I tell you what Emmet. Agnes loved it. When we went to bed, she couldn’t keep her hands off my head and they felt good. We had a great night together. I’m kind of tired now, but it was worth it,” Herman said as a couple of associates walked by and snickered at him. But Herman didn’t mind. “I’m going to keep my head shaved. I might as well. It’s better than walking around with a friar’s fringe.”

  Emmet looked at Herman. He did look younger without the comb over. Mid-forties really wasn’t that old at all.

  “Good for you, Herman,” Emmet said, smiling at him as Herman rose from the chair and exited the cubicle. He turned back toward Emmet, looking thoughtful.

  “You know, that Anita is something else. I don’t know how she knew Agnes would appreciate the attention, but I’m glad she suggested it,” Herman said. “It’s like the spark’s back. Just because of a few flowers, candy and some wine. It’s like a miracle.”

  Herman walked back to his cubicle. Jeffrey Lyons passed him, looking back at the bald associate.

  “Hey, it’s Mr. Clean,” he quipped.

  Herman just smiled and entered the cubicle. As long as his wife loved his look, no one else’s opinion mattered. He sat down at his desk, picked up his list of possibles and began dialing. He felt like a million dollars.

  *

  Both Emmet and Herman had a great morning as far as interviews went. Emmet made four appointments with four very good companies, and Herman made two. He normally only managed to set up two interviews a week. He was quite happy when he went to lunch.

  Anita met Emmet and Herman at the elevator. She smiled when she saw Herman.

  “Decided to go all the way?” she asked him, looking at his head. Herman’s head was nice and round.

  He nodded.

  “Agnes loves it. She loved the flowers, candy and wine too,” he said, smiling at Anita.

  “I think it looks good, Herman,” she said.

  Herman beamed at her as the elevator opened. Then Anita looked at Emmet.

  “How was your morning?” she asked him as they entered the elevator.

  “It was good. I lined up a few interviews,” Emmet replied.

  “No paperwork?” Anita asked, standing close to him, her perfume making him feel a little heady.

  “Not a page,” he replied with a small smile. “There were a couple of surprised faces, but no one tried to leave anything.”

  “See, it’s not so hard to stand your ground,” Anita said, smiling at him.

  They rode down to the cafeteria level and exited the elevator, heading for the cafeteria line, Herman with them.

  “You’re having lunch, Herman?” Anita asked him as they each picked up a tray and set it on the counter, sliding it down toward the cafeteria workers.

  “Yes. Small portions,” he replied. “It beats granola bars.”

  Emmet eyed the offered food. There was Salisbury steak, baked chicken and…barbecued ribs. He licked his lips. Both he and Anita chose ribs. Herman looked at the ribs longingly, but chose the baked chicken instead.

  Emmet also selected corn on the cob and old-fashioned potato salad. Anita also had corn but choose to have a green salad rather than potato. They walked up to the register. The cashier began to ring up Anita’s food.

  “Ah, I’ve got that,” Emmet said to the cashier, who smiled at him.

  “All right, Mr. Barrows,” she said as Anita smiled at him.

  Emmet was surprised the cashier knew his name, especially since he never bought any cafeteria food. But that was precisely why she did know who he was. He’d been there over five years and never once ate their food. He was making quite a stir today.

  Emmet took out his credit card. He had an inclination to blow it off, it had sat in his wallet so long. This was a card he had never used before. He handed it to the cashier, who looked at the back of it.

  “Um, Mr. Barrows…this card isn’t activated yet,” the cashier said, handing it back to him.

  “Oh,” Emmet said, taking out his usual card and handing it to her.

  The cashier slid it through, and Emmet signed the receipt. There, he had done it. He had bought a pretty woman lunch. It felt good as he and Anita headed for a table. Anita picked the table and they were smack dab in the middle of all the other workers. Emmet usually sat on the edge of the cafeteria. But he couldn’t be rude and tell Anita he didn’t want to sit there. He quickly put his tray on the table, then walked around and pulled Anita’s chair out so she could sit down.

  Anita blushed as others noticed Emmet’s actions.

  “Emmet, that wasn’t necessary,” she said to him as he pushed the chair in slightly.

  “My father always pulled out my mo
ther’s chair for her,” he said simply, taking a seat and pulling a large amount of napkins out of the holder. “It’s showing respect and appreciation.”

  Anita’s brown eyes washed over Emmet as he placed the napkins next to his plate. She did likewise, piling up a bunch of the tissues next to her own plate.

  “So does that mean you respect and appreciate me?” she asked him.

  Emmet looked up at her and swallowed, Anita’s eyes watching his Adam apple bob nervously.

  “All women should be respected and appreciated,” he replied, echoing his father’s sentiments and quickly looking down at his plate. “So that includes you.”

  Anita smiled as Emmet turned a little red, and started in on her food.

  Emmet and Anita were sitting rather close to the other office girls. Susan wasn’t with them though. She was having “lunch” with Mr. Allen. They all saw Emmet pull out Anita’s chair and heard what he said to her.

  “Did he really do and say that?” a redhead named Jennifer said to her co-workers as they snuck little looks at the couple.

  “Yes, he did. He might be a nerd, but he has manners, more than most of the guys here,” another girl said. “No one pulls out chairs for women anymore.”

  “Apparently Emmet does. You have to admit he has the right attitude about women being respected and appreciated. Too bad he’s such a dork,” a petite brunette named Melissa commented.

  ”Anita doesn’t seem to think he’s a dork…or she doesn’t care,” Jennifer said, studying the new girl. “She seems to like him.”

  A chorus of “ews” floated around the table amid giggles. Jennifer didn’t laugh however. She just went back to her lunch. She knew how hard it was to find a good guy…and no matter how unappealing Emmet might be physically, he really seemed to be a good guy.

  Herman seated himself on the fringe of the cafeteria. He was going to sit with Anita and Emmet, but when the associate saw Emmet pay for Anita’s lunch, he decided to let them sit together without his presence. They were getting to know each other after all, and he didn’t want to be in the way.

  *

  Ribs were not the ideal food for a first date. They were quite messy to eat and could make a bad impression if they dripped all over your shirt. But both Emmet and Anita did a good job of just keeping their fingers covered in sauce, wiping their digits frequently on the napkins.

  Emmet tried not to stare as Anita sucked her rib bones unabashedly. She tried not to grin as Emmet attempted not to watch her and naughtily applied herself to them a bit erotically.

  “Oh my gods, is she trying to turn Emmet on?” Melissa gasped as she watched Anita.

  The other girls looked.

  “Oh yes. That’s definitely “Food Seduction,” Hannah said, smiling slightly. “Sucking on anything mildly phallic in front of a man is guaranteed to cause a reaction.”

  ”But…Emmet? I bet he’s still a virgin,” Melissa said in a whisper. Now the other girls looked at Emmet with a bit more interest.

  “Really? No. Nobody’s a virgin anymore. He must have gotten some in high school at least. You know…Nerd Love. They do it too, their glasses and braces bumping together,” Hannah said, making the other girls, including Jennifer, giggle again.

  Anita heard the giggling and stopped tormenting Emmet, who was trying desperately to keep his thoughts pure, having no idea the young woman had done what she did on purpose. The poor associate just thought he was being a pig.

  “Those ribs were good,” Anita said, putting the bone down then wiping her mouth and fingers on a napkin.

  Emmet had already finished his ribs and was eating his corn-on-the-cob now.

  “Yes they were. Better than cold tuna,” he replied, not looking at Anita directly…still embarrassed about how he responded to her sucking on that rib bone.

  The cafeteria had several windows just below the ceiling that let in a little above ground light. Suddenly they grew dark, and a rumble sounded. Anita looked around.

  “Oh no,” she said as the rain began, pouring down so hard it looked like someone was throwing buckets of water against the windows.

  “What is it?” Emmet asked as thunder crashed. “Are you afraid of thunder?”

  Anita looked at him.

  “No. More afraid of being washed away at the bus stop. I didn’t check the weather this morning, and don’t have an umbrella or a raincoat. If the rain doesn’t stop by the time we get off, I’m going to get soaked,” Anita said, looking up at the windows…her brows furrowed. “I suppose I could call a taxi, but…that’s so expensive…”

  ”I could drive you home,” Emmet said, horrified as the words just exploded from his mouth.

  Anita looked at him, pleased.

  “Oh Emmet, that’s so sweet of you,” she said.

  Emmet looked at the pretty woman and groaned inwardly as he thought of the rolling piece of junk he drove.

  “Anita, my car is…well…pretty bad. It will get us there, but it’s not…well…not a nice car,” he said hesitatingly.

  “I wouldn’t care if it had no motor and a team of oxen hooked up to it, Emmet. A car is a car and it beats walking or taking a bus,” she responded. “I’ve had some clunkers in my day, but as long as the car got me from point A to point B, it did its job. I appreciate you offering to take me to the motel.”

  “Motel? You stay in a motel, Anita?” Emmet asked her, surprised. He thought she had an apartment or something.

  Anita’s face darkened a bit.

  “Yes, a little cheap motel across town. It’s all I could afford. I have to stay there for a couple of weeks until I save up enough money to get an apartment. I have to have security and a month’s rent,” she said.

  “How cheap?” Emmet asked her, worried now.

  “Well, normally it would be twenty-nine ninety-five a night, but Al gives it to me for twenty dollars a night, since I am staying there a while,” she said.

  Emmet couldn’t imagine what her accommodations were like for twenty bucks a night. They couldn’t be much. And across town? If it was where he thought, he knew that was no place for Anita…or anyone for that matter.

  “What’s the name of the motel?” Emmet asked her.

  “The Short Stay Motel,” Anita replied, eating her salad.

  Emmet memorized the name. After lunch, when Emmet returned to his cubicle, he went on the net and found the number to the Short Stay motel. He dialed it.

  Al picked up.

  “Short Stay Motel,” Al said jovially, “My name is Al. How can I help you today?”

  ”Hello Al, my name is Emmet. I want to know if you have an Anita Bowen staying at your establishment.”

  Al’s eyes narrowed.

  “I am not allowed to give out that kind of information,” he said darkly. Who was this calling for Miss Bowen?

  ”All right. I can understand that,” Emmet said, “Can you at least tell me what kind of motel this is…I mean, what the neighborhood is like? I just want to make sure that it’s a safe place to stay. That’s she’s all right there, if she is there.”

  Al’s face relaxed.

  “You are a friend of hers then?” Al asked him.

  “Sort of. A co-worker at her job. I am driving her home today because of the weather and she told me she stayed at your motel. If it’s not good… well…I don’t know….I just want to know if it is a good place to stay,” Emmet said sincerely.

  Al didn’t want to put down his own business, but Anita really wasn’t safe in such an environment.

  “I have a certain kind of clientele…not the best. My place is cheap, you know? It really isn’t used for long stays like Miss Bowen. Most only stay the night, or a couple of hours,” Al said carefully, hoping Emmet understood. “Another motel might be better for longer stays.”

  He did. Emmet sat there silently for a few moments…then said, “Al can I call you back?”

  “Most certainly,” Al replied.

  “Thanks,” Emmet said. He hung up and began searching the net a
gain.

  *

  Emmet and Anita wheezed up to the Short Stay motel. Emmet adjusted his glasses as he peered through the rain-streaked window. Even though it was raining, people were standing around the motel. Two women were fighting between two parked cars, scratching, hair-pulling and screaming as men stood around them laughing.

  Emmet noticed another woman, bent slightly against the rain, flicking a lighter repeatedly. Anita was staring out of her window as well. She had never seen so many unsavory people standing around the motel at once before. Her heart was pounding.

  Emmet cut off the car and took the keys out of the ignition. Anita started to open the door.

  “Anita, lock the doors and wait here,” Emmet said, “I’ll be right back.”

  “What? But I’ve got to go to my room, Emmet,” Anita said, her brown eyes wide. Emmet could tell she was afraid.

  “Just wait here, please Anita?” he asked her.

  “Ok,” she said, watching as Emmet got out of the car and locked the door behind him. He walked toward the office. A girl stopped him, but he shook his head and walked past her, the girl making an ugly face behind his back. He entered the establishment.

  A number of people were looking toward the car and Anita locked her side, then made sure the back doors were locked too. How was she going to stay here alone tonight? If Emmet didn’t live with his mother, she would have asked him if she could stay with him. She would have paid him.

  Presently, Emmet exited the office. He had an armload of bags with him. Anita’s eyes widened as he walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk.

  Those were her bags! How had he gotten her bags?

  Emmet loaded up the trunk, closed it, unlocked the door and got in the car.

  “Emmet? What are you doing? Those were my bags!” Anita said, staring at him as he put the key in the ignition, the car groaning and backfiring before rattling to life.

  “You’re going to stay at the Holiday Inn until you get enough money to get a place,” he said, backing the car up then putting it into drive, people waving at them to stop.