The phone rang in Courtney's hand, and for a split second, it frightened the living crap out of her. It was just so unexpected that when she'd pick up the phone to confirm her date tonight that it would come to life with a shrill cry in her fingers that she almost dropped the receiver with a shriek. Instead, she got a hold of herself and answered, her slim finger pressing the talk button.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Courtney? It's Melvin," the voice on the other line said.
"What a coincidence! I was just about to call you," she said with a smile. She always found it funny how things like that worked. She twirled the phone cord between her fingers; Courtney hadn't switched to a cordless because she wasn't sure what she would do with her hands if she didn't have something to play with during conversations. It was one of her little tics.
"I just wanted to make sure that we're still on for tonight," Melvin said, his voice obscured by the snap, crackle, popping of static; she assumed that he must be on his cell. Courtney's hazel eyes moved to a hanging mirror on one wall, and she gave herself a quick looking over. She still had some work to do, but she figured she would be ready. The only x-factor would be the nervousness that kept her stomach in knots.
"Yes, of course. Pick me up at eight?" she said.
"Sounds wonderful. I'll see you then," Melvin replied.
"I can't wait," Courtney said, and she wished Melvin could see the size of her smile.
***
Melvin flipped his cell phone closed and tucked it down the pocket of his jacket. A sense of overwhelming relief flooded over him, and his face felt a little flushed with a warm glow. He sighed. He still had his date with Courtney tonight; she would not be standing him up. At least, not yet.
"So how'd it go?" Morgan the witch asked, a thin grin creasing her lips. Melvin didn't understand why she asked him questions when she probably knew the answer anyway; she just liked to tease him. Were all supernatural beings so coy and trite? Not that Melvin minded; it was better than having her being some kind of cackling, evil monster like the Wicked Witch of the West or something.
"Good. We're still on," he said. Morgan nodded and pushed her long dark ponytail over her shoulder.
"I told you as much. When will you ever learn to listen?" she said.
"Maybe when you stop feeling the need to be so mysterious all the time and just talk straight to us. You know, for a change," Bridget Briswell said from her position next to Morgan. She sounded annoyed, but then her face brightened and broke out into a musical laugh. "Not that I mind. I think you just do it because you think it makes you sexier."
Melvin's eyebrows raised. The two women seemed on much friendlier terms after he'd taken Morgan's Rejuvenator and passed out for a few moments; before then, Bridget had treated Morgan with a mix of distrust and disdain, only because she felt so protective of Melvin. Bridget was his lawyer, after all.
"Well, it does make me sexier, don't you think?" Morgan said playfully.
Bridget hesitated, ran a hand through Morgan's black hair and said, "Maybe."
Melvin swallowed. Something was definitely going on between the two of them. How long had he really been out? It had felt like only a few seconds but...
His thought was broken by Pachelbel's Canon in D, the chosen ring of Melvin's cell phone. He fumbled in the pocket of his jacket and raised the phone to his ear, mashing it on before the song could make it all the way through.
"Hello?" Melvin said.
"Melvin, it's Richie. Sorry to interrupt whatever's going on with that Briswell chick, but your ex is on the hunt. She was over here today and... well, we should talk. Meet me in your office. She even had a run in with Crabapple," Richie Golding's voice buzzed in Melvin's ear. Melvin's brow knotted, and he felt a disgusted twist in his stomach. Just when things were looking up, Abby had to show up with her surgically enhanced breasts and ruin everything.
"I'll be right there."
***
His mind racing as he walked through his building's lobby towards the elevators, Melvin didn't see the woman mopping, the wet floor, nor the bucket of soapy water until he'd lost his footing, slid a about a foot and knocked it over, its foamy gray contents squirting across the floor. The cleaning woman, a young woman with most of her hair tucked under a tan baseball cap with the word "Janitor" written across the top, flashed him a look of undisguised disdain.
Bridget had dropped him off in front of the building and drove off to park in her reserved space in the garage, and Melvin was glad that she wasn't here to see him sliding around the tile like one of the Three Stooges. He had fallen sharply to his knees, and he struggled to get up, murmuring quick apologies.
"Didn't you see the sign? Wet floor, buddy," she said, her mop held threateningly in her hands.
"What is going on here?" bellowed a low, strained voice approaching through the lobby. Melvin regained his balance and saw a thin, white-haired man with a Hitler mustache coming towards them like a moth attracted to flame. The man had on the same kind of tan uniform that the cleaning woman wore, and he looked ready to crack some skulls. Melvin visualized the angry, mustached man tearing out the uniformed girl's heart and eating it raw in front of her eyes. Not a pleasant thought.
"Aw, shit. My supervisor," the cleaning woman said, a grim expression on her face. Melvin caught the look of dread on the woman's face and knew that he didn't want have her held responsible for his folly.
"You clumsy bitch! Are you injured, sir?" the supervisor said with a vehement snarl towards the woman and a mock concern aimed at Melvin. No doubt that the man wanted Melvin to accuse the cleaning woman of incompetence or negligence or something so he'd have an excuse to fire her. Melvin wondered what the man had against her. She was an attractive woman, her ebony skin like smooth chocolate, intelligent dark brown eyes, and a youthful face with stunningly sculpted features. Not your typical cleaning woman.
"No, no. It's all my fault. I wasn't paying attention and just walked right through the area this young woman was mopping. I didn't see the sign," Melvin said, pointing a finger at the obvious yellow sign cautioning everyone with the bold letters : CAUTION WET FLOOR. To be honest, Melvin knew that the sign was hard to miss. "There was a lot going on in my mind, and I just missed it."
"Right," the man turned to the woman. "Tasha, you get off with a warning. But next time, put the sign where ANYONE can see it." His voice had a sarcastic edge, careful not too sound too condescending towards Melvin, but Melvin caught a whiff of the man's bitterness like dog shit on a flowery spring breeze. The man whirled on his heels and stormed off to crawl back into whatever dank pit of hell he'd come. Melvin knew the type well; he worked for one than one of them.
Tasha sighed, wiped her sleeve against her forehead and said, "Thanks, man. That asshole's been after me since I stopped him from copping a feel in the storage closet."
Melvin nodded and replied, "Yeah, I kinda got a boss like that."
"You?" Tasha laughed and held a hand against her chest, the other still holding the wooden handle of her mop. "I GUESS I can see a guy like you being sexually harassed. Good to know it's not just poor, helpless girls like me." She winked and turned to the bucket to set it back up on its wheels. "Got to clean this mess up."
"Here, let me help you," Melvin offered, and Tasha allowed him to take a hold of the mop and bucket and push it backs towards the supply closet. Melvin still felt bad about the trouble he caused her and wanted to help her out in any way he could. Still, he knew that Richie was waiting on him; he checked his watch. He had some time to kill, he figured. He waited while Tasha pulled on the keys attached to her work belt and sorted for the right one. A dark lock of hair escaped from under her cap and slipped down her neck, curly and long. Melvin found it very becoming, and he wondered what he was doing here, standing outside the door of a supply closert with a beautiful woman. He guessed his motives weren't entirely innocent. Tasha caught his glance and tucked the hair back under the hat.
"Kinda new here, sorry. Not a full-time cleaning woman. Just got to pay the bills," she said, nodding towards the keys. She smiled when she found the right one and stuck it into the door.