by Zuri Day
Her silence ended the moment they stepped outside. “What’s to show me out here?”
Doug kept walking. “The convenience store on the corner. Come on.” After a brief hesitation, she complied. “I saw you massage your neck and thought it might be time for a break. And honestly, I wanted to talk to you without everyone listening.”
“By everyone, do you mean Melissa?”
“So you’ve already figured that out? Fast learner, just like I said.”
“Her comment on Monday made it clear that everything spoken could be clearly heard.”
“About that comment—”
“No need to explain,” she interrupted, with a hand up for emphasis. “Even before getting hired I’d heard that what happens in post offices could be reality TV.”
“You heard correctly. But I wouldn’t be on the show.” They reached the corner. Doug pushed the button for a green light. “I like a life that’s drama-free, which is why Melissa’s comment needs explanation. She and I hung out once, years ago, when I first got promoted and transferred to this branch. We both agreed it was a casual hookup. When she changed her mind and wanted something different, our going out ended.”
“For you, maybe. Sounds to me like she still has feelings.”
“No, she’s just being messy. Melissa has dated plenty of dudes, and wants every new girl to know that I was one of them.”
“Well, she doesn’t have anything to worry about here. The only things I’m coming to work for are benefits and a paycheck.”
“Ouch.”
The light changed.
“Don’t take it personally,” Jan said as they walked across the street.
“Hard not to.”
“I understand. But it wasn’t meant as a put down. It’s just . . . I mean . . .”
Doug held the door for her, laughing at her flustered expression as she passed him. “I’m just playing with you. I get what you’re saying. As the new member on the team, I just didn’t want you having the wrong impression about me, thinking I date every new hire who walks through the door.”
They reached the refrigerated section at the back of the store. Doug reached for a cola. Jan chose orange juice. They passed through the chips aisle. Doug picked up a bag of those, too. He joked with the petite Asian lady at the register, causing titters and a big smile.
“This all for you?”
Doug looked at Jan. “You want a snack or something?”
“No, the juice is fine.”
“Just this and her juice,” he said to the cashier.
“That’s okay. I can pay for mine.”
“I know you can, but I’m going to take care of it.”
“Shoot, I forgot. I don’t have my purse. I’ll pay you back.”
“Don’t worry about it, Jan. I know those two dollars didn’t buy me a date.”
“Doug, I in no way meant to imply that you were trying to buy my affection.”
She’d stated this so seriously Doug was sure she was playing. Until he looked over and saw her profile. Jan looked as serious as a 100-car pileup in two feet of snow.
“Relax, Jan. I was teasing.”
“Oh.”
“I take it you don’t joke much.”
“Not really.”
“Come on, now. Life is too hard to be taken so seriously. Better to laugh at it sometimes.”
“Focused might be a better word to describe me. It’s not like I don’t like to have fun. I just don’t have time for games.”
“Even more reason to be forewarned that the Normandie crew plays games a lot. Harmless for the most part. Letting you know so you won’t get offended.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, and hope that my not participating won’t be misconstrued either. I’m a private person by nature, which might come off as standoffish. But that’s not my intent.”
“From what I see so far . . . I guess you’ll do.”
He tried to keep his face straight but couldn’t. Her reaction confirmed that his intentionally offhanded comment had caught her off guard. And made her smile. Another intention.
“Gee, thanks.”
They reached the employee entrance.
“You’d better lose that smile,” Doug said, before opening the door. “You’ll have people speculating about what I did to put it there.”
He ducked into the men’s room before she could respond.
Jan lifted her chin and lost the grin . . . just barely.
6
Doug left the bathroom, his eyes automatically searching for Jan as he entered the back room. She’d obviously already gone up to the customer counter. He walked around to the flat sorting machines for the last batch of the day’s processed mail, expecting mess from Melissa. She did not disappoint.
“Where have you been?”
“Minding my business.” He transferred large stacks from the table to a cart. “What about you?”
“The same: minding your business. I see you and the newbie took your break together.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Nosy never misses much. . .”
“I don’t see what has you so attracted. She might be cute if she lost some weight, but I don’t know if even that would do it.” Doug continued gathering mail and imitating speak no evil. “Must be the thrill of the chase,” Melissa said with a sigh. “Men always have to see if they can get in the panties.”
“There you go assuming.”
“Assuming what? That you’re interested?”
“That and about her personality. You don’t even know her yet.”
Melissa fed mail into the machine as though a machine herself. “Doesn’t take me long to size chicks up. She’s uppity, thinks she’s better than us. Coming in here wearing a smile as tight as her clothes are loose. She wants y’all to think that she’s off-limits, but she can’t fool me. I know a thirsty girl when I see one. Women who act like that are usually the exact opposite.”
“Since you’re so quick to speak on what you think you know, I hope that when you’re proven wrong, you’ll admit that just as quickly.”
“See, she’s got you twisted already. Wait until the next time she comes back here. We’ll see how friendly your girl is with her competition.”
Doug felt like asking who that was but didn’t want to start an argument. With Melissa so far off the mark, there was no need. Jan was attractive, but he had no designs on her. They were too different. He was laidback, no drama, lived life to have fun. He’d not been looking for a promotion when tapped for the supervisor position, and would be fine to ride the position on out to his retirement. Jan was serious; no, focused she called it. Probably already planning to scale the career ladder to the top rank of postmaster. It wouldn’t at all surprise him if she wound up being his boss one day.
* * *
Just after six p.m., with the front customer service door closed and locked, Jan and the bubbly and efficient Latina with whom she’d worked the afternoon tour walked to the back room.
Doug looked up and smiled as Jan walked toward him. “All locked up?” She nodded. “And you took your dinner break, right?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Good. You can help me process this latest batch.”
“No problem. I’ll just use the restroom and be right back.”
When she returned, Melissa was talking with Doug . . . and waiting. “Hey there, Jan!” Her smile was warm and wide as she watched Jan approach. Messiness aside, Melissa was a pretty girl who could turn on the charm. “How’s it going so far?”
“Fine, thanks.” Small talk had never been Jan’s strong suit, but she managed to strike a cordial tone before walking over to a cart. “Doug, is this it?”
“All keyed in and waiting for you,” Melissa offered before Doug could speak. “You seem to be catching on fast. Are you a transfer or new hire?”
Jan paused, then answered while reaching for a bag stuffed full with mail. “Transfer. From downtown.”
“How long had you worked there?”
<
br /> “Not long, data conversion mostly.”
“So you just began processing and sorting here? Were you a secretary before working downtown?”
Doug glanced at Jan before fixing Melissa with a warning glare. Even before their brief talk during break, he’d picked up that Jan wasn’t big on chitchat. Her current body language transmitted this message better than a flashing neon sign, but his normally perceptive coworker pretended not to notice.
“I only ask because of how fast you seem to be catching on to everything. Then again, Doug is a very good teacher. Right, Doug?”
Anyone not knowing better would mistake her bright eyes and wide smile for signs of friendliness. Doug knew better. Melissa was up to no good and he knew it.
“How fast she’s learning has nothing to do with me,” he said.
“Then I guess it’s all about your skills, girl; why, you’re rolling through those stacks like a pro.”
Jan rolled a cart over to the table where Doug worked and Melissa stood. She made eye contact with Melissa and offered a slight smile. “Thank you.” Dumping the bin of mail next to a sorter, she began placing the envelopes in stacks.
“What’d you do before coming here?”
“Worked as an admin, like you thought.”
“Oh, really? Where?”
“Melissa,” Doug interrupted, looking at his watch. “Aren’t you off work?”
She looked at him, her sparkling eyes conveying that she knew exactly what he was trying to do and she wasn’t having any of it. “Yes. And?”
“You’re off work, and we’re not. Jan would probably rather concentrate on what she’s doing than listen to your chatter.”
“Mind your business, Doug. Jan looks like a multitasker. Unlike men, whose minds tend to be one-track, women can focus on more than one thing at a time. Right, Jan?”
Jan looked up and smiled. “Absolutely.”
“Besides, how do we get to know and befriend our coworkers if we don’t talk to them?”
“Easy. Invite her to lunch. Chat on a break. But right now”—Doug locked eyes with Melissa—“leave her alone.”
“My, aren’t we protective. It is time to get out of this place, though.” Melissa ran a hand across Doug’s backside as she walked around him to where Jan stood. “Do you ever go to Magic’s T.G.I. Friday’s? Over on La Tijera?”
“When it first opened I went a couple times, but, no, I don’t go there anymore.”
“Well, it’s my and my girls’ hangout. Happy hour every Friday. Not officially. They don’t sell discount drinks or appetizers. But the bartender is a friend of mine and he always hooks us up, know what I mean? Guaranteed, you’ll leave there feeling happy! On Saturday, we hit the club.”
Jan paused from her work and looked up. “I already have plans for this weekend, but thanks for the invite.”
“Did you hear that, Doug? Jan’s whole weekend is booked. With some tall, strapping, packing brother, probably. I’m not mad at you, sister!”
A quick, forced smile and Jan resumed working.
“Melissa . . .”
“All right, Doug. I’m leaving. Dang! See y’all tomorrow, everybody!” she sang while sashaying down the hallway.
Upon hearing the exit door clang closed, Pat quickly quipped, “That Melissa is messier than a newborn’s diaper.”
One sentence and like a can of air freshener, the comment sprayed a reason to laugh over a funky situation.
“Don’t pay her no mind,” Pat continued, coming around to where Doug and Jan stood working. “All in all, Melissa’s a nice girl. She’s just nosy, mouthy, and can’t stand somebody else getting Doug’s attention.”
“She doesn’t have to worry about me. I’m not—”
“She ain’t either. And that’s her problem.” Without waiting for an answer, Pat spun on her wedged heel and retrieved her purse and other items from the locker. “Have a good evening, everyone.” Various responses followed her down the hall and out of the building.
The remaining employees settled into work. Time went by in a flash and before he knew it, the day was done.
His eyes searched for Jan without his consent. He’d never had a younger sister to protect, and the women he dated could hold their own. Jan could, too, he figured. Still, a part of him felt responsible for her happiness here, and her success.
Guess this is what being a supervisor is all about.
This thought even though he’d been a supervisor for more than a year and hadn’t felt this way before. But it sounded like a good story for this lifelong player, so he was sticking to it.
He’d just started down the hall when she came out of the restroom. “I was just coming to find you. Wouldn’t want to get locked in here and have to spend the night.”
Jan grimaced as she fell in step beside him. “Definitely not.”
“That bad, huh?”
“No, actually I’m getting the hang of things faster than I thought I would.”
“You’re doing very well. As messy as Melissa was being earlier, she was right about that.”
They reached the lockers. Doug leaned against one while Jan opened hers to retrieve the purse and plastic lunch container inside. Closing the locker door, she was surprised to find him there. “Is there something else?”
“No, just waiting to walk you out.”
“Thanks, but I think I can manage.”
“Probably so, but it’s an unwritten rule. Nobody on the night shifts walks to their car alone.”
“Why?” They began walking toward the exit. “Did something happen?”
“No, and we want to keep it that way. I’d put the key in the lock and was ready to turn it until I realized you weren’t in the group that just left. You were seconds away from being on lockdown.”
“Then thanks for looking out.”
“No problem. I hope Melissa didn’t make you too uncomfortable this afternoon.”
“I’ve had a Melissa or two in my life before. The new kid on the block always gets attention. Curiosity is natural. But like I said earlier, I’m a private person.”
“Don’t want people all up in your business, huh?”
“Basically,” Jan replied with a smile.
“So in that case I guess I shouldn’t ask you whether it’s true or not.”
The question caught Jan off guard. They’d reached her car, but she didn’t reach for the door handle. “Whether what’s true or not?”
“If the man you’re meeting on Friday night is strapping and packing, as Melissa suggested.”
This question got her extremities working. Legs took two steps away from Doug. One finger tapped the key fob while the other hand found the door handle. “Looks like Melissa isn’t the only nosy one,” she quipped with a laugh before getting into her car. She quickly shut the door and started her car. Doug blocked her planned escape and then strolled to her window. She rolled it down, still smiling. “I know. I forgot to thank you for getting me to my car safely. And for your patience in training me this afternoon.”
“You’re welcome, but what you forgot is to answer my question. Are you dating someone?”
“And you’re asking because . . .”
“Because I want to know.”
Street noise filled the seconds of silence that followed. “I told you I was private, right?”
“You did.”
“My personal life fits squarely within that private zone. So I’d rather not answer your question.”
“Okay.”
Perhaps it was, yet Doug’s hand remained firmly on the rim of her car window. Her eyes went from his hand to his face and back. “So if you don’t mind . . .”
He slowly removed his hand. “See you tomorrow, Ms. Baker.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Doug stepped back and then turned to watch her rapidly disappearing taillights, the car barely breaking before turning on to the street.
“Driving pretty fast for somebody who chewed me out for speeding,” he mumbled, p
ulling out his motorcycle keys. “Pretty good at not answering questions, too.”
He got on the Kawasaki, strapped on his helmet, fired up the engine, and spewed errant gravel as he fishtailed out of the parking lot. His mind stayed on Jan the whole way home, especially why she wouldn’t answer a simple question like the one he’d asked her. He told himself that it didn’t matter. He wasn’t interested in dating her anyway.
She was private and quiet. He liked wild, crazy, outgoing women.
She was always so serious. He liked to have fun.
She probably didn’t like sex much. He liked sex very much.
These reasonable objections to any interest in Jan Baker played on loop inside Doug’s head.
But she stayed on his mind.
7
When he downloaded his latest favorite hip-hop beat for a ringtone, Doug hadn’t been thinking about phone calls coming in at eight a.m. On a weekend. And an off day. With his head pounding. Reaching blindly for the cell phone that lay on the nightstand, he managed one eye open to check the ID, then fell back against his pillows.
“Man, if somebody isn’t headed to emergency, later on today I’ll be sending you there.”
“Just as I figured. Still lounging around.”
“Heck yeah, I’m lounging. It’s Saturday, fool!”
“It’s eight o’clock, fool. The time we agreed I’d pick you up to go running.” Silence. “Uh-huh. Thought I forgot, didn’t you?”
“Hoping is more like it. Look, Barry—”
“Don’t even try it,” Doug’s youngest, now irksome brother warned him. “Nelson already told me about y’all going out last night and you trying to hang with those hardheads. You know you can’t drink. Ha!”
“Look, it’s not cool laughing at someone’s pain.”
“I’m laughing at the fact that you can’t drink two beers without feeling woozy. Nelson told me you took a shot! Douglas . . . what were you thinking?”
It’s what he’d been determined to stop thinking that made him take Nelson up on his offer to hang with him and some of their old friends from the block. Now younger brother Barry’s question brought the reason swirling from somewhere in his cerebral cortex through the throb above his right ear straight into his consciousness.
