"Asshole", Kim said quietly under her breath as she left Marshal's office and walked back to her desk.
"thank you kim", said Marshal in a disinterested monotone voice after she was two steps out the door.
"Inconsiderate dick!" she said, slightly louder than before but still safely out of earshot of anyone. She whipped the heavy folder down on her desk with a dramatic SLAP sound. Mathew glanced over at her from his cubical; softly chewing a pencil in his mouth; then went back to concentrating on his laptop.
Kim walked toward the break room and then went into the hallway and into the women's restroom. She was relieved that find she was the only person in the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, she curled up her fists in frustration and squished her face as she vigorously shook her arms back and forth in the air. Then let out a big sigh, and just looked at herself in the mirror. She thought to herself how ugly her face looked when she did that, and made a mental note to never do it again.
Just then someone walked through the door. Kim glanced over her should and was glad to see it was Suz.
"Hey Kimmy. I saw you walking like you were pissed at something and came to check if you're alright" Suz said.
Kim let out another big sigh. "Marshal decided to take yet another weeks-long vacation and he wants me to consolidate and verify the Peterson's payroll before he leaves."
Suz's rolled her eyes. Ugh, she thought. "How long does that take usually?"
"Normally a full day just for the consolidation, and that's if there are no issues. And if there are issues, I have to call their business coordinator and get it worked out. Sorry Suz I have to work late tonight to get a head start on it. He wants it done before end of day tomorrow. He is meeting with them the following morning and then off to who-knows-where after the meeting." They both stood in front of the mirror, calmly priming and adjusting their hair.
"...wow what a dick!" Suz said. Kim slowly nodded her head in agreement.
Kim much preferred to be called by her full name, Kimberly. She always said as much when asked how she would like to be addressed. Actually, the same was true with Suz – her real name being Susan. Only Suz and one uncle ever called her Kimmy, and she was fine with that. Everyone else called her Kim.
"I
really
did not want to work today. I woke up this morning and could feel that. This whole month has been a steady 100% pace. I just need a day to relax and blow off steam, you know? I was really looking forward to drinks tonight with the girls." said Kim. And she really meant it; she was looking forward to this night. It's difficult for the girls to get together what with their boyfriends and all. Marshal is a dick for ruining this night.
Suz slowly nodded her head in agreement. "Well, we'll do something this weekend then."
Kim knew the girls would be busy during the weekend, so it would be just Suz and Kim. The Wonder Twins, out on the prowl for free drinks from random men! Maybe they'd visit a dance club or something. Kim didn't care about the dancing so much as she liked any excuse to wear a tiny black dress and be noticed.
The problem was, it was only Tuesday. The weekend felt like forever into the future. There was a lot of work in front of her still. BUT, on the positive side, Marshal would be gone for two weeks and she didn't have any other important work during that time. So that two week stretch would be like a vacation for her too.
"I gotta take a shit" said Suz as she walked to a stall. Kim slowly blinked her eyes, as if embarrassed by what Suz just said. Suz was her best friend, and even though she could be crude like that sometimes, she only talked that way around Kim. Kim was trying to think of something to say to move the conversation back into the safe world of the mundane.
"So what did you and Mike do last night?" asked Kim, satisfied that was a mundane question.
"Ha! He wanted to jab it in my ass again last night. He's getting pretty desperate for anal. I don't know what his problem is. No matter how many times I tell him no, he won't take the hint. I don't know...I like his persistence. Maybe I'll reward him, or..." Suz trailed off in thought.
"At least he has a small dick so it shouldn't hurt" said Kim.
"Doesn't matter. It'll hurt no matter what. I don't like pain. Most of all I don't want to walk into work one day squeezing my ass cheeks together; Celeste would never let me live that down."
Suz has said over and over that Mike has a small dick, yet she also said over and over she has a lot of orgasms with Mike. He was obviously doing something right. One final big sigh and Kim decided it was time to head back to her desk and get all this stupid shit over with. "I'm heading back, thanks for rescuing me."
"Ya ya" mumbled Suz from the stall.
Several hours later, Kim leaned back in her chair, stretched out her arms and let out a yawn. She glanced at her watch; 8:51pm. She looked around the office. No one was there this time of night of course. Her eyes were bleary from staring at Excel documents all night. She quickly took an estimate of how far she had gotten – maybe three-quarters of the way through the consolidation. That was pretty good. She could have it all finished before lunch tomorrow, if she can maintain this kind of focus.
Great, this is a good breaking point
she thought.
She was hungry for comfort food, i.e. warm junk food. Chinese sounds good. She'll order take-out and have it delivered to her apartment. She secured all her documents and laptop into her desk and locked it. She walked to the break room to get a can of diet soda and place the order.
Just as she hung up the phone, the break room light suddenly snapped off. It startled her. She looked around...no one is ever here this late. The cleaning crew doesn't even work this late. She realized the light switch is on a timer; it must be set to turn off at 9pm. A quiet sigh of relief came over her.
She looked out the window for a minute...just staring. All the lights of downtown are quite beautiful at night, she thought -- the few street lights she could see anyways. It would be nice if the break room overlooked the Connecticut River. It was mid-September, still warm for this time of year but the weather was quickly changing over to fall.
To say Kim was tired and sleepy would be an understatement. Her mind flipped back and forth from thought to thought as she stifled another big yawn.
Do I need to go shopping for food? No I went a few days ago. I'll just order take out. How many years can I rely on my car before I have to buy a new one? Can I even afford a new car yet? I really need to track my finances better. Oh shit, I need to buy something for Angie's birthday party. It's not for a few weeks at least, I have time. I would love to have a little vegetable garden. I really should look into those community gardens, to make new friends and they can show me what to do. Maybe I should take a cooking class. Celeste mentioned a lot of single men take those classes, to hook up with women. Wait...Celeste met Rob in a cooking class. Heh, duhh why didn't I realize that before! No wonder she knows all about hooking up.
While Kim was lost in her thoughts, her eyes were slowly moving from window to window of the building across the street. Some lights were on, most were off. She noticed none of it. A light suddenly snapped on in a room across the street, barely catching her attention, a few floors down from her. Quite a long room with two open doors on each end, filled with copy machines and stationary equipment. Flotsam continued to flitter through Kim's mind as she stared absently at the copy room across the street.