When I got off the elevator, I saw her and hit a U-turn. It was just my luck that Ms. Annette Sabers heard the chime of the elevator and looked up.
"Hey! You! Come here."
She snapped her fingers at me like I was a dog. In her corporate world, I was. She was the big, powerful lawyer, me the lowly, disposable mailroom boy.
Instead of saying, "Bitch, don't fucking snap at me" like I wanted to, I went to her.
She was behind the receptionist desk. It was eight-forty at night, so of course the receptionist was gone, but there was something in the computer that she wanted.
"Can you unlock this thing?"
"Not without the password."
She heaved a breath and muttered, "Good for nothing," under her breath.
I walked away, continuing to the reason why I came to the fifteenth floor in the first place. I dropped the stack of Manila envelopes addressed to Brian Oliver onto his desk. His office was huge. Always made me feel like I needed to step my game up when I came in here. He was my age, twenty-six, and had a corner office. If I stopped playing about school, I could be in a similar position by thirty.
"What are you doing in here?"
I rolled my eyes. Bit my lip. Hid my annoyance before I turned to her. "Dropping Brian's mail off."
"That's Mr. Oliver to you." She folded her arms stiffly, her lips pulled into a frown just as tight.
"My fault. Mr. Oliver." I didn't bother mentioning me and him were cool and he insisted I call him Brian.
"Is there any mail for me?"
"Downstairs."
"Why didn't you bring it up?"
I closed my eyes briefly, vexed. "The last time we saw each other, Ms. Sabers, you told me never to come in your office again."
"Well... Have that other little girl bring me my mail by the time I get in tomorrow. I'm expecting an important package."
She departed with that. I looked around the office one more time then left.
She was still at the reception desk. Her bun had come loose, a few strands of dyed dark-burgundy hair tucked behind her ear. The messiness made her look less menacing. Softer. So did the absence of her jacket that left her in a white silk blouse that was tastefully loose but couldn't hide her protruding nipples. They stuck out the cream fabric like the thick tips of tootsie rolls. I bet they were just as brown too.
"Be gone now, mail boy," she said.
I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the femininity I was suddenly seeing in her that made me say, "Don't talk to me like that."