About one hour into office time the cat called.
“I told you a hundred times NOT to call me at the office!!” the girl hissed.
“It's important”, the cat said. “I just read your horoscope: 'A good looking man will step into your life' – that's what it says.”
“Cat's are not supposed to make phone calls!” She tried to shout in a low voice which was impossible, then tried to cover the phone while speaking into it.
The cat was excited. “I also saw in the coffee...”
“What coffee??”
“Old Mrs Delgado's coffee. I saw in her coffee...”
“Old Mrs Delgado?? What are you doing at...”
“I'm calling from her flat”, the cat said in a voice which made it very clear that the cat was trying to be very patient.
“Why are you calling from Mrs Delgado's flat??”
“'Cause we don't have a phone – you take the one we have with you. Plus Mrs Delgado has one of those I'm-so-old-that-I'm-almost-dead phones with those very large keys on which I can step to dial your number to tell you that I saw in the coffee...”
“Get out of her flat! Mrs Delgado hates cats!!”
“She's asleep.”
“Get out of her flat!! NOW! If she wakes up...”
“She won't. There's rum in her coffee. A lot.”
“You drank from it?”
“I had to. To see the future I need to see the ground. So – what I saw in the coffee...”
“I don't want to know! Get off the phone and out of her apartment!”
“... that a guy with a black eye will ask you to marry him.”
The girl was silent while she tried to wrap her mind around what the cat had told her.
“A guy...”
“With a black eye”, the cat said.
“Today...”
“Yeah”, the cat said. “In less than...” Apparently it checked Mrs Delgado's clock. “In less than a minute.”
“In less than a minute?”
“Thirty seconds”, the cat said.
“And you called to tell me this...”
“Ten seconds.”
“... totally...”
“Eight, seven, six...”
“Insane...”
“Three, two...”
“... fantasy of a...”
“One, zero...”
“... sick mind...”
Shelley came into the office, more or less falling through the door, because she had put on a pair of her highest heels which she kept in her desk for impress-a-good-looking-guy emergencies. She had done something to her dress, too, which now showed almost everything she had and insinuated what she had not.
“Steven...” she panted. “Steven's back!! Where's my make up?? He'd want to see me!!”
The girl put down the phone. She gaped at Shelley who rummaged through the drawers of her desk. “Where's...” There was panic in her voice.
The phone rang. The girl picked it up. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL...”
She was silent, listening. Shelley was on her knees, her head in the bottom drawer, and only her butt showed.
“Okay.” She put the phone down again. She got up.
Shelley stared at her. “Where are you going?”
“Steven wants to see me”, the girl said.
“WHAT??” Shelly slowly appeared from behind her desk, breathless. She stared at the girl who walked from the office. “But that's not fair! You aren't even in love with him!!”
***
“Sandra! I forgot how pretty you are.” Steven got up from his chair when the girl entered his office.
“Forgot? We see each other every day, Steven. Except when you're off with one of your many... assistants.”
“Right.” Steven grinned. “I almost forgot when I was away with this...”
“You were away how long? Forty-eight hours? Come on!”
Steven moved around his desk and came towards the girl. The girl sidestepped him so the two visitor chairs were between her and Steven.
“Nice”, she said, pointing to his black eye. “Let me guess: you ran into something, right? The brunette chick's boyfriend's fist?”
Steven frowned. “Believe it or not: he's a Recon Marine! I mean... that's not fair!”
“You poor thing. Of course you're right: if you do somebody's girl she owes you that her boyfriend is a four foot gnome with glasses.”
“That's not funny.”
The girl sighed. “What do you want from me?”
“A warmer welcome...”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Like what?”
“A kiss?”
“A what???”
“Come on. Just a little peck...”
“You want another black eye?” She crossed her arms.
“Marry me.”
“You crazy?”
“Dad and Belinda want me to marry, so...”
“You ARE crazy!”
“Now come on. We know each other how long?”
“Since Primary School.”
“See? Why don't you trust me?”
“'Cause I know you from Primary School.”
Steven narrowed his eyes. “I've got money...”
“No, you haven't. Your Dad's got money, but he won't give you any: he needs it all because Belinda's spending it faster than he can earn it.”
Steven tried another angle. “Forget money. I've been in love with you since second grade. I wanted to marry you in second grade, remember?”
“And Kelley Masters, and Pam O'Rourke, and Ashanti Connors, and Mrs Cole-Parker, the principal, and Toby, the hamster.”
“Nobody wanted me. Toby even died on me.”
“That's hard, I know.”
Steven was almost pleading. “Let me at least close your zipper.”
“The zipper? Oh, yeah...”
At once Steven was behind her and she grabbed her long hair and pulled it over her shoulder to keep it away from the zipper's teeth.
“You smell good”, Steven said. Then he tried to kiss her neck but the girl slipped away.
“Stay were you are”, she said when he tried to follow her. “I won't tell you again!”
Steven stopped, took a deep breath.
“We'll get a new project manager”, he said. “Will be your boss.”
“Blonde? Brunette? A redhead – for a change?”
“That's not fair.”
“Long legs and...” she held her hands in front of her chest as if she tried to shift a heavy load. “... big... eyes?”
“That's NOT FAIR!!”
“Okay, okay.”
“Went to college together. Ran into her coupla weeks ago. She needs a job, so...”
“So you invited her to join you for a long weekend and it worked out fine...”
“Come on, I'm not that thick...” He shrugged. “Well... perhaps next weekend. She said she'll think about it.”
“Good. Promising. Any other qualifications? Not that she needs any...”
“Lay off! She's very good. Tough. Got brains.”
“Brains? You sure you got the anatomy right? You probably mean...” Again she cupped an imaginary load.
“Bitch!”
“Why not marry HER?”
Steven nodded. “Yeah. Mom would've liked her.”
The girl smiled.
“She was nice, your mom. I Liked her.”
“Yeah. She liked you, too.”
The girl adjusted his tie.
“You miss your mom, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay”, the girl said. She offered her cheek. “But just a peck, okay?”
Steven nodded. The girl gave him a peck on the cheek. Steven wrapped his arm around her waist and almost swept her from her feet.
“Arrrgh! Again on my right eye! Are you crazy???”
***
Shelley jumped from her chair the moment the girl came back into the office.
“What did he say? Did he ask about me?”
“I'm afraid not, sorry.”
Shelley frowned. “You telling the truth? I mean...”
“Of course I am! You're my best friend. Did I ever lie to you?”
“Guess not...”
“Come on! I just can't! Besides – you'd know.”
“Okay. Tell me what Steven said.”
“He asked me to marry him.”
“You're right. Sorry. You can't. I'd spot a lie immediately. What did you really talk about?”
The girl sighed. “We'll get a new project manager. Tough. With brains.”
“Hey! I love tough guys with...” She pointed to her head. “Perhaps I can show him my new bathing suit – yeah, a nice little pol party, somewhere quiet, only a few good friends. And after they leave we'll... get to know each other better...”
“Our new boss is a girl.”
Shelley stared. Then she began to laugh. “Come on. Now you're shitting me...” She looked at the girl who looked back, silent. She stopped laughing. “Are you?”
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