A Little Scribble #2

    Stacy pushed the desk drawer closed and heaved a great sigh of relief. In the three years she had worked as Jack Keller's receptionist, she'd never had a more stressful day. She was sure of it.

   She had a lot of work ahead of her tomorrow, just to catch up on what she should have done today. She would have loved to stay late and just get it finished but she knew that Mr. Keller would not approve and that even if he would, she still needed to run a few errands tonight before going home. 

   Stacy sat back down and thought over the days happenings. She didn't suppose the day would have ended up being so horrible if only she hadn't been late picking up the usual coffee order this morning. She couldn't justify to herself the frustration she had otherwise. She was normally a very easy-going young woman. But her alarm clock had decided to give up the ghost that morning and she had woken up an half an hour late. Therefore, she had been late to pick up the coffee order and had had to wait ten minutes for two new cups. 

  And if you weren't so stubborn she rolled her eyes and had kept your own coffee, maybe you'd have made it the whole day through without the headache. Things had gone down hill from there. Her boss was never in a good mood after his brother's visits, but today it had seemed worse then normal. Jack seemed anxious, not just annoyed. 

  At that moment Stacy glanced toward Mr. Keller's office. The janitor was emptying a coffee cup into the sink. It appeared nearly full and for a moment Stacy felt smug. Serves him right, not excepting my cup. 

  Shocked at her alarmingly spiteful thoughts, Stacy tried to shake off the feeling and wrap up the last tasks of her day.

Jack sat at his desk, his eyes on something beyond his open door, his focus on something much farther away. He was vaguely aware of the janitor walking around the room. A sudden noise caught his attention. When he looked, he realized the grey haired man had snorted.

   ''It's no wonder you didn't drink this!'' He said, indicating the cold coffee in his right hand. He'd pulled it from the garbage can and opened the lid. Jack realized he must have looked puzzled, for the man explained with a chuckle.

  ''Have to dump it out so the pesky creatures like ants 'n rats don't show up!'' The man chuckled to himself as if he'd told the funniest joke, and moved toward the sink in the kitchenette. Movement in the corner of his eye caused Jack to turn and look out of his door again. He saw his receptionist watching the janitor spill the contents of the cup into the sink. Something flashed across her face, an expression of contempt, if he didn't know better. But it was gone in a flash and in its place was one of shock. And maybe a little shame. 

   She hadn't realized he was still here, so he took the moment to look more closely at the woman who'd worked for him for so long. She wasn't very tall, but she had the appearance of height because of very good posture. She moved to quickly to be called graceful, but there was some grace to her movements or she would have been called abrupt and clumsy. Her hair was light brown, and fell in thick, natural waves down her back. Her mouth was wide and set in a sarcastic smile that would have been called scornful on many other women, but the humor of her eyes softened her expression. It took Jack a few second to realize the humor in her eyes was directed at him. He'd been caught ogling... 

  

A Little Scribble #1

Author's note: A friend of mine challenged me to write something,

 just for the sake of writing. It is a few days late but here it is.

Please, please, please give me feedback!!

  Stacy Brooks snapped her cell phone shut and slipped it into her purse. Muttering under her breath she plucked a coffee from the drink carrier in her hand and dropped it into the garbage can to her right. In her fit of rage she missed the top off the bin, slamming her wrist and the coffee into the side of it.
 Startled she let go of the cup, letting it fall to her feet and causing the searing liquid to splash up her right leg. With a sigh she bent over and retrieved the garbage and dropped it, very carefully, into the receptacle along with her own coffee, which she suddenly felt no desire to drink.
   She walked the twenty feet left between herself and the office building and slipped through the doors, mumbling about picky bosses who should get there own coffee from now on...


 Jack Keller clenched his fists tightly, trying to reign in his temper. He took a deep breath and looked back up into a pair of striking green eyes identical to his own. His younger brother stood in front of his desk and talked on about some or other scheme he had come up with. He nearly laughed aloud when he heard the word loan and, and something about co-signing, but he swallowed it with a gulp of the tepid coffee his brother had brought with him.  Probably an attempt at bribery. Jack mused, realizing he should have let his receptionist bring his morning cup in as usual.
  Thomas finally looked as if he were going to finish with what he'd come to say and sat down in the leather chair behind him, looking expectantly at his brother. Too late, Jack realized his mistake. He'd let his mind wander off, which was certainly not something he normally did, but was far too easy to do in his brother's presence. He quickly saw that he had been asked a question and fumbled for a response.
   "I don't think that it should be attempted. Not now. Maybe not ever. I mean, come on Thom, how many times have we been through this? I don't have the money to throw away on it. And let's face it, that is exactly what I would be doing. You don't exactly have a track record of responsibility!"
    "I know but-"
    "If you could improve that image a bit, I might consider something like this, but you have to follow through.  I mean, I don't have the time or ability to take over something like this and keep it going if you decide to quit, and I certainly don't have the resources to waste by just letting it go down the drain when you leave." Inwardly Jack winced at the "when'', he could have used "if" to soften the blow. But on second thought, his always sugar coating things is what had gotten them here in the first place.
   Judging by the look on his brother's face, Thom had not missed the slip up.His face had shifted from the easy going smile usually seen into what could almost be described as a vicious frown. But only for a second before being replaced by a devil-may-care grin.
   "Alright big brother, I get it. I best leave you to it then. See you later! No, no, don't trouble yourself.'' He sneered as Jack got up to see him out. "Wouldn't want my irresponsibility to rub off on you if you got too close. I'll show myself to the door, thanks."
   As the door clicked shut behind Thomas, Jack ran a hand through his hair and let out a great sigh. Yep, he'd blown it.


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To be continued.... (If there is any interest in it at all....)