office.”
“I’m serious too, James. See Feng.”
“You’re messing with me, amigo. I don’t appreciate it.”
I rolled my eyes, picked up the package, and approached Feng. “Excuse me. James needs to get into Mr. Conroy’s office to do more work on the smoke detector. Can you please let him in?”
Feng frowned. He looked back and forth at the two of us, and I saw James giving me the ‘I told you so’ look.
“How long will this take?”
“Not more than five minutes. This time.” I knew we’d have to take it back out in three or four hours.
“Okay. Follow me.” He headed down to Conroy’s office as James closed his wide-open mouth.
“You’ve got to know how to handle these people, James.”
James grabbed a ladder from an installation team and double-timed it down to office number one.
My large package was half open and I couldn’t wait to see what was in it. There was no return address and no clues on the outside. I went back to my corner and glanced up at the entrance as Sarah came waltzing in. Conroy’s mistress was wearing a gray suit, a simple white blouse, and sensible black shoes. Her dress told me she was in no mood for frivolity. She gave me a grim smile and walked directly to her office, unlocking the door, opening it, and slamming it shut. Apparently the night had not gone well.
“Excuse me.” The soft voice surprised me and I spun around, almost cutting my index finger with the box cutter.
“Yes, Eden. What can I do for you?”
“Mr. Wireman would like to see you up front.”
I sighed. Just a couple more minutes and I’d solve the mystery of the big brown box.
“And, have you seen James today?”
“Um, yeah. He’s working on a smoke detector.” I nodded toward Conroy’s office.
“Great. If you happen to run into him, please tell him I’d like to speak with him.”
Her brown eyes sparkled. I tried to picture her in something other than the stiff officer’s uniform with the heavy, heavy belt, the gun, the tear gas, and all the other paraphernalia. There was a cute figure under there.
“I’ll tell him. Can I give him a message?”
She blushed. I could see the color rise in her cheeks. “We’re supposed to go out tomorrow night. Sort of a date.”
“Yeah. He told me.”
“Well, of course. I mean, you’re his roommate and all.”
“Is there a message? A problem with the time? The date?”
She shuffled her shiny shoes. “No, no. Nothing like that. I just wanted to tell him-”
“Yes?”
“That I’m looking forward to it. The date, I mean.”
“So is he.”
“Oh, good. Because he hadn’t mentioned it again, and I thought maybe he, well, you know.”
God deliver us from insecure women. And thank God for men who are always very secure in their relationships.
I clutched the brown box under my arm and walked up to the entrance. Wireman looked down from a ladder, giving me a broad smile.
“Skip. Over there.” He pointed to the reception desk. There were two large packages on the counter, not unlike the one I had under my arm. “The new smoke detectors.”
Not good. “How soon will they be installed?”
“I’m thinking tomorrow, Friday.”
We’d have one more day to use the one in Conroy’s office.
“The sooner the better.” I just wanted this project to be over.
“Well, I was thinking. We could start with the president’s office. You know, get him taken care of first-wire it in and-”
“No. No. We’ve got the temporary detector already installed. That can be the last one you install.”
“It’s up to you.”
“Yes. It is.” Person in charge of the project or whatever. I started out to the parking lot, the brown package under my arm. This was a far better idea. Open this in private.
“Mr. Moore?”
“Yes, Eden?”
“You’re not allowed to take anything from the building.”
“This is personal, Eden. See?” I held up the remaining paper that was clearly stamped CONFIDENTIAL. Skip Moore.
“Makes no difference. Once it is received here at S.S., it remains here. Sorry.”
I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t even know what was in the package, and she was telling me I couldn’t take it outside. I felt like telling her that James was going to stand her up, but he probably wouldn’t agree to that. I think he wanted to see what was under that gray guard uniform too.
I walked back to a corner in the computer room, sat on the floor, and stared at my package. Then, with a single determination, I attacked the box with my box knife.
“Skip-”
“Go away, James.”
“But-”
“I’m busy.” I sliced tape, ripped paper, and finally cut through the box itself. I sensed James still standing over me.
“What the heck is that?”
I ignored him. It was the worst part of my birthday. The worst part of Christmas. Ripping open the packages. Bending back fingernails, paper cuts, trying to untie ribbons that weren’t meant to be untied. Finally I could see inside the box. Another box. Damn.
James had lowered himself, sitting on the floor across from me. “Dude.”
I ripped the cardboard from the first box, finally making a tear wide enough to pull out the second box. This was the one with the printing on the side. But the envelope inside was what caught my eye first. I yanked it out of the box and shoved it in my shirt pocket. By now I was ready to put a match to all the paper and cardboard and tape.
I looked up and James was staring at me. “Where did you get the package, Skip?”
“Special D, James. No problem. Confidential to Skip Moore.”
His eyes were wide, and he froze as I took the box knife to the tape that sealed the box.
“Skip.”
“What? Can’t you just leave it alone?”
He leaned down, grabbing the box from my hand as my box knife went flying. James started down the hall, package under his arm, running as fast as I’ve ever seen him run. I struggled to my feet, charging after him, hitting my pace and in seconds feeling winded and weak.
“James. Where are you-” Eden Callahan yelled as she jumped back from her post, and Andy Wireman staggered on his ladder as James ran by. Wireman held on as James hit the glass door with his shoulder and plowed on through, racing into the parking lot.
I got to the door as he heaved the box twenty feet in front of him, fell to the ground, and buried his head under his arms.
I stood in the doorway trying to catch my breath. The burning in my lungs wasn’t going away anytime soon. My roommate lay there for at least sixty seconds and I just kept gasping for air, thinking I was probably going to throw up.
I watched him pull himself to his feet, staggering as he walked back to the building. As he got closer I could see him sucking in oxygen. We were a real pair.
Finally he reached the door, and I pushed it open for him, barely able to move the heavy metal and glass. James walked in, leaning against the inside wall, eyes closed and his hand over his heart. I knew exactly how he
