Josh pretended to pick at his fingernails, his concentration thoroughly focused on them. His mind struggled for something witty to say but all he could think about were Three's Company episodes. Suzie looked bored, waiting for him to finish so she could move on. She was always so eager to return to work. Josh could never understand what made people wanna work so hard at their mindless dribble. But for Suzie he made an exception. She was gorgeous and his heart sped up a little every time he caught a glimpse of her. For her, Josh's rules were widely bent and even broken. She did not have to fit into any of his ideals. "How was the weekend?" he finally uttered.
Suzie looked agitated. "It was good. How was yours?"
"It was okay. What did you do?"
"Josh, I'm really in a hurry. I haven't got time right now." Suzie walked off without even glancing back at him.
Josh pretended not to care and went back to picking his nails as if that was the only reason he existed. He continued standing in the middle of the hall until she reached the end of it and turned left. Then he headed off to the soda machine.
There had to be some gossip going on at the soda machine. Josh entered the room where the soda machine was kept, digging in his pocket for two quarters. His friend Sam the janitor sat at the table near the soda machine. Josh's Suzie-induced dimness brightened. Sam was always good for at least a few minutes of conversation and sometimes he even had something interesting to say. As far as Josh could tell, he was the only person in the office who bothered to talk to Sam. And as far as Josh could tell, Sam was the only person in the office who wasn't in a rush to get back to work.
Josh plunked his two quarters into the machine. "Hey Sam."
"Hi J." Sam continued staring out the window.
"Do you know Suzie?" Josh asked.
Sam thought for a moment. Or at least Josh thought that's what he was doing. For all he knew, Sam was ignoring him altogether. That wasn't unprecedented. "Yeah. Pretty brunette on the second floor?"
Josh grinned. "Yeah." He sipped from his soda. "She's a bitch," he said for no particular reason.
Sam laughed. "Yep."
Today was not turning out to be an interesting one, Josh thought. He got up to leave but sat back down because he didn't have any place to go and he was certain that if he went back to his desk, work would find him. Even a boring Sam was better than work.
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