May 31
“You know, you're alright for a bean counter,” Kuta told me, after we'd all watched the attacker retreat with as much pride as he could muster to the front gate.
“Thanks,” I said, grinning. “I appreciate you guys stepping in.”
“Pleasure,” Tucker said. “It ain’t every day I get to serve justice and save the girl.”
“Even if she’s just a bean counter?” I said.
“Don’t mean she ain’t cute,” Tucker observed.
“There’s that,” I agreed.
Kuta and Tucker returned to the lunch truck to get their food, and I returned to the sales office. Only a couple of minutes had passed, but it seemed much longer.
Inside, Sarah sat in her cubicle with her face in her hands. Her phone rang, but she ignored it. I watched the light flash on my phone for a moment, then answered it.
“Sarah’s desk,” I said into the phone.
“Yeah, I’m returning her call about a past-due invoice,” the voice said. I tapped the information he gave me into the phone, recorded his promise to send out a check on Friday, and hung up. Then I poked my head around the cubicle.
Sarah hadn’t moved. She still sat with her face in her hands, and I wondered briefly if her distress stemmed from the man, or from my witnessing what had happened.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
“No,” she murmured into her palms.
I gazed at her in silence for a long moment. “Listen,” I said, “I don’t know what’s going through your head right now. But if you’re embarrassed that I saw what I saw, don’t be. I don’t know the details, but I don’t have any reason to think less of you.”
She pulled her hands from her face and looked at me. I could see she’d been crying. “You’re a sweet guy,” she said. “I’m sorry you saw that. I’ve always believed work and personal life should not mix.”
“Well, that train just left the station,” I said. “I wish you would talk to me.”
“Not here,” she replied.
I thought about that for a moment, recognizing that something had just changed between us: “not here” meant maybe somewhere else.
“Okay,” I said. “Why don’t you go wash up a little?”
“Thanks,” she said, as she got out of her chair. She put her hand on my shoulder. I felt my body tingle at her touch, and caught my breath.
“Really,” she said, “Thanks for being here.”
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