Eric couldn't wait until it was time to go home. He glanced at his watch, then the picture of his wife Marie and their two year old daughter Steffani that was perched up on his desk. It was only four o'clock. He wanted to get home because today was his wife's birthday and he wanted to do something special with her. He sat behind his desk wondering if he should take her dancing after they went to dinner. Oh well, he would worry about that later. Eric was trying to finish his report which was due in two days.
His boss would have his ass if it wasn't in on time. He chewed on his pencil pensively as he stared blankly at his computer screen. Just then, his buddy Matt peeked his head in his door. They had both graduated from the same college and now they worked together.
"Hey Eric got a minute?" Matt asked.
Matt stepped into the office and closed the door.
"Sure. What is it Matt?" asked Eric.
He spun around in his black leather chair to face his friend.
"Just wondered what you were gonna do tonight for Marie's birthday. I wouldn't plan any outdoor activities if I were you." Matt stated.
For a moment Eric looked confused.
"Why not? I thought maybe a picnic if I get out of here early enough."
Matt just looked at him and shook his head in amazement.
"Have you looked outside? It's snowing pretty hard. It's almost a full scale blizzard. We'll be lucky if we don't get snowed in."
Eric looked out the window. He was shocked to see Matt was telling the truth. It was coming down so hard he couldn't see anything. It looked like someone had shaken up a snow globe outside his window.
"How long has it been like this?" asked Eric.
Eric sighed and stalked back over to his desk.
"Since a little after nine this morning."
Eric took another long glance out the window before finally returning to his desk.
"Look, I'll come to your office in a few minutes. I need to call and tell her I may run a little late tonight."
Matt looked a little sad, but he agreed to it anyway.
"Okay." Matt said cheerily as he stalked away.
Eric decided he would call her later. He wanted to hear a weather report to see if it would clear up by six o'clock tonight. They could still go out, they would just have to do something more low-key.
The man on the radio was predicting blackouts due to the heavy snowfall. He continued to work on his report. Before he knew it, it was already nine o'clock. He had worked right through his own deadline. He had to call her. He knew she would be angry, but if he didn't call at all that would be worse. He dialed the number and counted the rings. It rang twelve times before she answered it. She sounded drunk.
"Hello?" she said as she answered it.
She stumbled over her shoes and fell hard onto the sofa.
"Hey babe. Sorry I got held up. I'll be there in a little while okay."
There was a brief moment of silence before she replied.
"Don't bother! A few of the girls came over. We've already been drinking."
He heard giggling on the other end of the line and it didn't sound like just a "few of the girls."