"I am not going to sleep with you Mike so will you please get the fuck out of my office." Snapped Nicola.
"I never asked you to." Protested Mike innocently. "I just thought maybe you would like go get a drink somewhere. We could talk about that promotion you are applying for."
Nicola cursed her luck that her boss was such a jerk. She knew that a girl with her figure was always going to turn a man's head, but that still did not excuse a married older man offering her a promotion in exchange for sex. It's not even like threatening to sue would help either, Mike practically owned the company and his connections in the industry meant she'd have no hope in finding work anywhere else in the city. Her best option was to tell him where to go and plug away at the level she worked now.
"Promotion or no promotion, I'm still not interested, now will you please leave so I can finish up and go home?"
"Sure thing." Answered Mike cheerfully. "If you change your mind about that drink just let me know."
When Mike had gone, Nicola finished getting her paperwork in order before heading out of the office for the day. Her secretary tried to catch her attention as she walked passed but Nicola was not in the mood to be bothered by that ditzy cow. She stormed by before the poor girl could even make her presence known and just managed to catch the elevator door before it closed. There was one other man in the lift with her, who smiled at her as she entered.
"Hi." He said with a smiled.
"Look, I'm not in the mood to be chatted up by gormless strangers okay so just don't even try."
The man just stood dumbfounded by Nicola's reaction as she exited the elevator. Nicola didn't care if he was offended though; she just wanted to get home and quickly and as hassle free as possible. Today had been a day to forget and Nicola couldn't wait to get to bed. The hours that Nicola worked meant that usually the bus stop was pretty much deserted, and today was no exception. There was just one other guy waiting there and he appeared to be harmless enough dressed in a simple suit and holding a flat nondescript box in his hands.
To Nicola this guy seemed almost childlike in his demeanor despite clearly approaching middle age. There was an innocence in his eyes that was almost sweet. These thoughts soon passed though, the guy's appearance had just intrigued her, nothing more, nothing less. Probably just one of the side effects of her tiredness.
"Hi." Said the man; his voice was slow and deliberate. "My name is James, James Nixon." There seemed to be a hint of a southern accent in his speech but it could have just been an effect of his vocal limitations. He obviously found speech difficult and this made Nicola feel uncomfortable.
"Err, Hi. I'm Nicola."
"Nicola." He repeated. "Nicola's a very pretty name, I once had a friend named Nicola, and she was very pretty too."
'Fuck! Is this guy trying to come on to me?' Casey thought to herself, she was finding herself glancing down the bus lane more and more frequently. "Umm... thanks." She eventually replied, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.
"Nicola was very nice," continued James. "That's my friend Nicola of course, not you Nicola, although you seem very nice too, I was just talking about my friend Nicola. She was nice and pretty, and she was good to me at school when other people used to laugh. Other people thought I was stupid, but not Nicola, she was kind to me."
"That's nice." Responded Nicola, dismissively. She just wanted to the bus to come now so that she could get away from this retard. She was even considering walking to the next stop. She was not having a good day, first her boss tried to promote his way into her underwear, then there was the guy in the lift and now this weirdo creeping her out.
"You know what I like Nicola?" asked James, not looking for an answer. "I like to look at the stars. They sit up in the sky all pretty and sparkling. Sometimes I wish I was a star. I could shine and sparkle and look down on all the people in the world."
"Could you tell me what you would like to be Nicola? I think you would like to be a flower, cos you'd look pretty as a flower."
"Fuck off you freak!" Snapped Nicola, finally at breaking point. "Why are you even talking to me? I didn't come to this bus stop to get chatted up by some retard."
"I... I... I'm sorry," stammered James, visibly shaken by her words. "I was just trying to be nice. You seemed like a nice person so I thought maybe you would like to talk."
"Well I don't." declared Casey "Why don't you go and creep out someone else.
"I'm sorry." Conceded James. "I didn't mean to upset you. Would you like a chocolate?"
"What?" reacted Nicola, looking back up at him confusedly.
"I said..." Repeated James, looking into her eyes and opening the box on his knees. "Would you like a chocolate?"
"Well okay, sure." Replied Nicola. She reached over and picked one out of the box.
"My Mamma always said that life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what ya gonna get." Explained James while Nicola munched away on her chocolate before swallowing it down. "What flavor did you get?"
"Strawberry."
"You look like a girl who suits strawberry, I think you have made a very good choice, Nicola."
Nicola's bus finally arrived at the station causing her to snap back into her previously angered self. "You're an even bigger freak than I thought you were," she spat at him as she got on the bus, "Waiting around at bus stops, and giving girls chocolates. You should be locked up."
