Jo seemed agitated as she pushed through the glass front doors. Her tight black curls bounced like a pom-pom as she marched in high platform shoes past a queue of customers. Her matching black jacket and skinny jeans outfit sported little silver zippers that shook as she walked.
Louise didn't know quite how to receive her friend in this state. "Why are you so frazzled today?"
"Oh, my God!" Jo exclaimed as she slammed her oversized brown leather handbag onto the table. "These people are driving me crazy!"
Louise looked around the room quickly. The walls were bright white with ten-inch chocolate and orange stripes painted horizontally just above table level.
"They're just waiting in line."
Jo looked back over her shoulder. "Not THOSE people, silly! The people in my office!"
"Oh."
"God, I need to get another job!"
"I thought you LIKED your job," Louise argued.
"Well, I do, sometimes, but not today!"
"Okay," Louise said calmly. "Take a breath. You're here. You're going to be okay."
"Oh, crap!" Jo snapped while waving a hand in front of her face. "Somebody's wearing perfume. Do you smell perfume?"
Louise looked shocked. "I ... I don't smell it."
"Well, it's horrible!"
"I'm sorry, Jo. I can't remember when I've seen you this agitated."
"I am not agitated! Oh, God, it's that smell again!"
Louise slid to the edge of her seat. "It's okay, hon! We can move to another booth."
Jo settled down a bit as she considered the option. "No, it's okay. We can stay here."
"Are you sure? I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"It's okay!" Jo said while slipping her sunglasses into the enormous purse.
"Don't worry," Louise assured her. "We've all had those days. Tell me what's going on!"
"Hmm!" Jo sat back and collected her thoughts. "Well, first of all, the IT department is a bunch of idiots. None of them can fix my computer."
"What's wrong with your computer?"
"It keeps crashing," Jo explained, "and I have a big deadline today."
"That's bad."
"Yeah, and then, my assistant is totally worthless."
"The new one?"
"Yes! The idiot!"
"Does this idiot have a name?"
"Lauren. Lauren the Idiot."
"Okay."
"I just wish that my old assistant would come back," Jo lamented.
"Jason?" Louise asked.
"Jerome. Jerome was the best!"
"Didn't he move to London or something?"
"Barcelona. But I still want him back."
"Okay, so your new assistant is worthless?"
"Yes, Lauren is worthless, and I wish that my boss would put me out of my misery and fire her already. And then there's the art department."
"Oh, what happened there?"
"There's this one chick who does nothing and takes a million days off and gets away with it because she's doing her boss."
"She's doing her boss?"
"We all think so."
"Well..."
"Yeah, well, anyway, that's my life."
"It sounds pretty sucky," Louise said in a ridiculously cheery voice.
"Definitely sucky! So, enough about me, darling! How's your day?"
"Better than yours!" Louise replied with relief.
"You seem okay," Jo observed.
"Amazing, isn't it. I'm usually the one with all of the drama."
"See that?" Jo quipped. "I saved you the drama!"
"Oh, well! Speaking of drama..."
"Uh, oh! What happened?"
"Well," Louise explained, "yesterday, Terri picked me up after work..."
"You rode with her to work?" Jo asked.
"Yeah," Louise didn't want to confide that Terri had slept over, so she embellished a bit. "We were thinking about going shopping, and it just worked out that way."
"Okay." Jo suspected that there was more to the carpooling arrangement, but she decided not to push it.
"Anyway," Louise continued, "we stopped by my place so I could drop off my briefcase."
"Yeah?"
"So - and this is where it gets weird - she parks in front of my house. We both get out of the car, and ..."
"Douglas!" Jo gasped.
"How did you KNOW?"
"Because he's the only person in the world who's that conniving," Jo explained.
"Oh, you've got that right!"
"And that CREEPY!" Jo added.
"Seriously creepy!"
"So, what happened?"
"Oh my God! That moment was so surreal!"
"I bet."
"But you know Terri. She's all business."
"What did she do?"
"She told me to go into the house and call Francisco."
"Wow!" Jo exclaimed. "That IS dramatic!"
"Oh, you don't know the half of it."
"Did he come over? Racing in heroically with his Ferrari?"
"Not exactly," Louise clarified, "He came, but later. A lot of other stuff happened first."
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Jo said, apologizing for the interruption.
"It's okay. Anyway, I wasn't sure what to do," Louise went on, "so I also called my neighbor, Jay."
"Marine Corps Jay?"
"Marine Corps Jay."
"Oh, my God, he's hot!" Jo gushed.
"He's in good shape for an older guy," Louise agreed.
"He's in good shape for a YOUNGER guy! - So, what, he came over?"
"No. Walter got there first."
Jo raised a hand to stop Louise. "I'm really confused."
"I know. I'm not doing a good job of explaining this. Here's how it went. We pulled in. We got out of the car."
"Creepy Douglas was there."
"Creepy Douglas was there," Louise confirmed.
"Terri sent you inside."
"Terri sent me inside, and I called Frank..."
"...who didn't show up."
"Who didn't show up until later," Louise continued. "And then I called Jay. And then Walter came back from his business trip."
Jo brightened up. "Oh, how did THAT go?"
"Let's stick to one story at a time," Louise suggested.
"Oh, yeah! Right."
"So Walter shows up and starts to talk to Douglas."
"Oh, man! Was it tense?" Jo asked.
"Not really," Louise said. "Walter was very calm. I think he was just trying to keep Douglas distracted."
"Oh, good idea!"
"Yeah, and then Jay came over."
"Oh, wow! So like, two against one!"
"Kind of."
"Oh, my God! I can smell the testosterone!"
"Jesus, Jo! Terri's at the mercy of her stalker ex-boyfriend here, and all you can think about is testosterone?"
"Sorry! I mean, I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking about - you know. I was just thinking that there could have been a conflict."
"Well, luckily not," Louise went on. "Somehow, Jay smooth talked Terri into following him into the house."
"Really?"
"Yeah - I'm not sure exactly how he managed that, but it was slick."
"I bet! And SO heroic!" Jo swooned.
"Totally."
"Oh, wait! You mean that Walter was left there with the psycho?"
"Yep."
"What happened?"
"Nothing, really," Louise said. "Walter was very calm. He kind of talked Douglas down, and after a few minutes, he just walked him over to his car."
"And the guy just left?" Jo asked incredulously.
"He just drove away."
"So, when did Francisco arrive?"
"About two minutes later!"
Jo became frantic with excitement. "Oh, my God!"
"Yeah, it was a tense afternoon."
"Jesus!" Jo exclaimed. "Poor Terri! She must be a wreck."
"Jo, I have NEVER seen her so shaken. When Frank walked in through the front door, she cried like a frightened toddler."
"Oh, no!" Jo was suddenly overcome with emotion. With the back of her hand, she quickly wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye.
"It was rough."
"Louise, I hate to ask," Jo added.
"Walter?"
"Yeah."
"He's fine," Louise confirmed confidently.
"Thank goodness!"
"We're all fine, except for Terri. She's still a mess."
"I'll bet."
Neither woman spoke for a moment as they pondered the seriousness of the situation. Eventually, Louise broke the silence.
"There's this thing after work with my colleagues. Would you like to go?"
"Oh, you've got that right!"
"And that CREEPY!" Jo added.
"Seriously creepy!"
"So, what happened?"
"Oh my God! That moment was so surreal!"
"I bet."
"But you know Terri. She's all business."
"What did she do?"
"She told me to go into the house and call Francisco."
"Wow!" Jo exclaimed. "That IS dramatic!"
"Oh, you don't know the half of it."
"Did he come over? Racing in heroically with his Ferrari?"
"Not exactly," Louise clarified, "He came, but later. A lot of other stuff happened first."
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Jo said, apologizing for the interruption.
"It's okay. Anyway, I wasn't sure what to do," Louise went on, "so I also called my neighbor, Jay."
"Marine Corps Jay?"
"Marine Corps Jay."
"Oh, my God, he's hot!" Jo gushed.
"He's in good shape for an older guy," Louise agreed.
"He's in good shape for a YOUNGER guy! - So, what, he came over?"
"No. Walter got there first."
Jo raised a hand to stop Louise. "I'm really confused."
"I know. I'm not doing a good job of explaining this. Here's how it went. We pulled in. We got out of the car."
"Creepy Douglas was there."
"Creepy Douglas was there," Louise confirmed.
"Terri sent you inside."
"Terri sent me inside, and I called Frank..."
"...who didn't show up."
"Who didn't show up until later," Louise continued. "And then I called Jay. And then Walter came back from his business trip."
Jo brightened up. "Oh, how did THAT go?"
"Let's stick to one story at a time," Louise suggested.
"Oh, yeah! Right."
"So Walter shows up and starts to talk to Douglas."
"Oh, man! Was it tense?" Jo asked.
"Not really," Louise said. "Walter was very calm. I think he was just trying to keep Douglas distracted."
"Oh, good idea!"
"Yeah, and then Jay came over."
"Oh, wow! So like, two against one!"
"Kind of."
"Oh, my God! I can smell the testosterone!"
"Jesus, Jo! Terri's at the mercy of her stalker ex-boyfriend here, and all you can think about is testosterone?"
"Sorry! I mean, I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking about - you know. I was just thinking that there could have been a conflict."
"Well, luckily not," Louise went on. "Somehow, Jay smooth talked Terri into following him into the house."
"Really?"
"Yeah - I'm not sure exactly how he managed that, but it was slick."
"I bet! And SO heroic!" Jo swooned.
"Totally."
"Oh, wait! You mean that Walter was left there with the psycho?"
"Yep."
"What happened?"
"Nothing, really," Louise said. "Walter was very calm. He kind of talked Douglas down, and after a few minutes, he just walked him over to his car."
"And the guy just left?" Jo asked incredulously.
"He just drove away."
"So, when did Francisco arrive?"
"About two minutes later!"
Jo became frantic with excitement. "Oh, my God!"
"Yeah, it was a tense afternoon."
"Jesus!" Jo exclaimed. "Poor Terri! She must be a wreck."
"Jo, I have NEVER seen her so shaken. When Frank walked in through the front door, she cried like a frightened toddler."
"Oh, no!" Jo was suddenly overcome with emotion. With the back of her hand, she quickly wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye.
"It was rough."
"Louise, I hate to ask," Jo added.
"Walter?"
"Yeah."
"He's fine," Louise confirmed confidently.
"Thank goodness!"
"We're all fine, except for Terri. She's still a mess."
"I'll bet."
Neither woman spoke for a moment as they pondered the seriousness of the situation. Eventually, Louise broke the silence.
"There's this thing after work with my colleagues. Would you like to go?"
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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