He stood there in the doorway of my office, squinting against the morning sunlight coming in through the window behind me. I was trying to get my presentation ready. It was Thursday and the Executive Committee was meeting that afternoon. All the bigwigs on the seventh floor would be there, there would be tons of questions, and it was my job to make sure that my boss was prepared with his answers, the very answers that I was making up while anticipating the questions. The numbers on the budget looked screwy to me, but there wasn't enough time to double-check them all. We'd just have to go with what we had.
He stood there with one hand on the doorframe. His other hand held a bent paperclip that he was using to clean his ear. 'Where you goin' for lunch?' he asked.
Without looking up, I said, 'Nowhere' and did not try to hide the irritation in my voice. It was eight-forty in the morning, and here he was asking me what my lunch plans were, when I didn't even have time for a coffee break.
'How's Moira?' he asked. He had straightened the paperclip and was now using it to pick his teeth.
'Fine, just fine,' I said. I wanted to tell him where he could go, but I held my tongue.
'And the baby?'
'She's fine. Everyone's fine.'
'Not in a talkative mood today, are you?' he said, wiping the paperclip on a paper napkin he must have picked up at the cafeteria. He leaned casually against the doorframe. 'Didja watch Seinfeld last night?'
Without looking up, I heaved a sigh. Not even a remote chance he would get the hint. He continued, 'That new Thai place on Sutter. We could try that.'
I could take no more. I don't explode easily as a rule, but this time I simply had to.
[more to come]
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