6

Conceptual Story Robert Gutheim

Section 1

As I walked from my car to the small glassed-in shelter in the Price and Save parking lot, I stopped a couple of times to feel the heat of the early morning sun on my face. Once I reached the shelter, I sat down on the bench inside and waited for the cross-town bus to arrive. I liked to take advantage of the park-and-ride lot and it was more convenient than paying for parking downtown near the office I worked in.

After a few minutes of waiting, I could hear the loud humming sound of the bus as it approached. Once it pulled up, I waited for the doors to open, and I stepped on board and scanned my blue fare card in the meter. The card was provided by my employer which was another incentive to take the bus since for most people it would cost a dollar seventy-five to go from the Price and Save parking lot to the bus depot downtown. My fare card though knocked it down to a dollar fifty each way.

Before long the bus was pulling up by an intersection, a couple of miles from the park and ride. The Golden City Dragon Restaurant which serves the best General Tso's Chicken in the city was across the street. I wasn't surprised to see this one Asian woman board the bus. She seemed to ride this bus every morning. I thought she worked downtown as well. She usually wore suits that were close to the body, but I noticed today her outfit was looser fitting. I think she generally sat toward the back but today she chose to take a seat across from me in the middle of the bus. Twenty minutes later, we reached the depot and I got off and walked the eight blocks to the fifteen-story red-bricked building where my office was.

"Morning Kara," the security guard greeted me as I flashed my badge his way. I gave him a casual wave. I usually pay little attention to the security people, although Steve is a nice guy. Once I was past his desk, I headed for the elevator and took it up to the 9th floor where my desk was in amongst all the other finance people. Once I reach the area where my desk is, I go to a small break area and grab a cup of decaf from the Keurig brewer before weaving my way among the maze of six-foot-tall modular walls to my lowly cubicle.

The inside was rather spartan, just a swivel chair and a corner desk with tables to either side in an institutional gray color. Sitting on the desk was a desktop that was a few models above the low end and not even close to the high end. As I sip my coffee, I boot up my machine for the day. The idiots in facilities insist that all non-essential computers be powered down at the end of the day. I tried to get my boss to hold back money for their stupid projects unless they accept our computers as essential, but he vetoed it. He told me that internal warfare between us and facilities was not in the best interests of the company. After a three-minute wait, my computer was ready for the day except for opening the necessary programs for my work. As I was looking at a memo from IT about some network upgrade, I felt was unnecessary, I heard footsteps in the aisle outside my cubicle. I turned my head ever so slightly to notice my supervisor standing in the entrance.

"SO how late do you plan to work tonight?" he asked me.

"Don't know yet. It depends on how much work I get done. I think the last bus on my route leaves the depot around a quarter of nine. They used to have a ten pm route, but the transit people discontinued it due to insufficient ridership."

"Sullivan asked me to pass along to you that if you're rear isn't out of here by 5pm he is going to have IT lock you out of the network for a week. You put in so many hours he isn't sure he can afford to pay you."

"Sullivan can kiss my $$. I'm a salaried employee," I told him. Mark Sullivan the VP of Finance and I don't get along well. I'm very career-oriented and he is always taking off for his various kid's games and other activities.

"I know that Kara, and Sullivan does as well but these long days you put in aren't healthy. I know a bunch of the people here go to McGorey's on Friday nights after work. When is the last time you even socialized with anyone outside of work?"

"By anyone outside of work do you mean our co-workers when not at work or do you mean my neighbors and other people? If the first, I work so late that it's hard to, and the other is none of your business."

"Kara, I have to get going but I've already sent a memo to security that your weekend building access is restricted for a few weeks. I have a meeting until 5:30 tonight and once I get done, I'm going to walk past here and if you're still working, I'm going to personally walk you out the door," he said before turning and leaving. Once he was far enough down the hall, I flipped him one and went to work. As five o'clock rolled along I considered tempting fate figuring I could always hide in the ladies' room when Ken came to make sure I complied with Sullivan's wishes, but instead powered down my computer and left.

"Clocking out early?" Brenda one of the women in accounts payable asked me as we were heading for the elevators. She was a nice person with a husband and two kids. I always envied her thick dark hair given that mine was so blond it never really darkened. The only thing I didn't envy about Brenda was her dark skin. I liked my own skin tone. Brenda and I were on friendly terms.

"My supervisor delivered an edict from Sullivan requiring me to shorten my day."

"You going to the tavern with that crew?" Brenda asked me.

"Not this week. I'm going to go home and maybe pick up something from the grab-and-go case at the store and find something idiotic to binge-watch on TV tonight. You?"

"Jamal is working late so I'm going to go home fix dinner, and make sure Janna and Jamila don't leave their homework until Sunday night. How would you like to join us?"

"I appreciate the invitation, but you live on the west side. How would I get home afterward?"

"Come on Kara, it's been what five years since anybody so much as lost a hubcap in my neighborhood?"

"Brenda, I take the bus and I'm not as familiar with the bus routes in your area."

"AH," she said as the doors opened into the lobby. Steve had gone off duty and I recognized the guy on duty at the desk but couldn't recall his name. Before long I was entering the depot and looking for the bus for my route. I sat down and noticed the Asian woman from when I rode in. When we reached her stop for some reason, I got off behind her. When I realized what happened I decided to wait for traffic to stop before crossing the street and walking into the Chinese restaurant. The owner's teenage daughter was working the register.

"4965, right?" She asked me.

"Sorry, Leah I'm not here to pick up an order. I got off here without realizing it," I admitted. "Would your dad complain if I took a seat in the other room though?"

"Probably not, it's still early. The rush won't be for another hour," Leah replied.

I went into the dining room which was lined around the wall with several square tables designed for four people. A dozen tables were arranged in the center that could be pushed together for larger groups. I took a seat at a smaller table. After a few minutes, Leah brought out a small pot with some tea and one of those small handleless cups. Sitting with it was a plate with a couple of egg rolls on it. I sat and sipped the tea and nibbled on the egg rolls as I saw an older gentleman walk out with a plate containing some white rice, lo-mein, and General Tso's chicken.

"Leah told me you were here," her father said. "You still slaving away at the Adams Building downtown?"

"Yeah, I am."

"You're one of my best customers, Kara. I was surprised you were eating in tonight. I'm glad to see you taking a break," he said before returning to the kitchen in the back. I slowly worked my way through my dinner. After I ate, I went to pay for it. I didn't see Leah, but I did see her mom. I handed her a twenty and she gave me some change and a large bag. "Lang said this is on house," she said referring to the bag. I went across the street and saw a bus heading my way pulling up. I quickly boarded and paid the basic fare to go a single stop. Having already eaten I decided not to roll through the Price and Save before heading home. When I got home, I looked at what Khans sent home with me. Turned out to be an additional order of General Tso's, an order of Sweet and Sour pork, rice, and lo-mein. They even gave me a zip-lock bag with several packets of soy sauce, duck sauce, and hot mustard.