Chapter 2

A tow-motor arrived with another pallet of magazines still stinking of ink. We got to work again.

Fred joined us for lunch outside. He kept giving me meaningful looks. I was afraid she would see him. She’d never talk to me again if she knew how hard I struggled to keep her from becoming become the girl of my dreams. I was too much of a realist to see her romantically, or sexually, or in any other way but as a work buddy. Fantasy about her was stupid.

At the end of our shift, we were told to dress for work in the plant the next night. We talked in the parking lot for a few minutes before driving home.

The next afternoon, she appeared at the time-clock in a dressy blouse and a skirt. I wore cut-offs and a t-shirt, a bandanna in my pocket to make into sweatband.

“I thought we were dressing for the plant tonight, Loni. You’ll roast.”

“No I won’t. I have a top and shorts underneath. I wanted to go shopping before work, and I wasn’t sure I’d have time to go home and change.”

We punched in and learned that we were doing exactly the same thing as the night before. When we got to our work station, Loni produced a hair tie and gathered her dark waves into a high ponytail. She removed her blouse to reveal a short top, displaying her taut, flat abdomen. Then she undid some fasteners on her skirt and stripped to a pair of athletic-style shorts, slit halfway up her hips. “I’m ready to sweat tonight,” she said.

The large printing press near us that made so much noise the previous night was idle for scheduled maintenance. We were able to talk more easily than we did before, and we learned a lot about each other. Being with her made the work go fast. Still, I couldn’t picture myself asking her out.

At the end of the night, we were told there might be some work in our regular departments the following day. If things were slow, we would spend our time in the back-issue warehouse, picking orders for individual magazines a collector or library needed. That area was air-conditioned, but we were told to dress for comfort, since we would be on our feet doing light physical labor.

Loni appeared the next day in a yellow sundress with matching yellow casual shoes. I was in thin khakis and a lightweight polo shirt.

We were given order lists, mailing envelopes, and a cart stacked with empty bins. We found a rhythm. The break-time buzzer surprised us.

Relaxing with me at a picnic table outside, she said, “We got a lot done. This is easy.”

“I wouldn’t call it easy.”

“Do you want to trade jobs? I can load the bins,” she offered.

“No, I’m fine. I’m just bitching about being out here doing this work instead of sitting on my ass finding your mistakes.”

“There aren’t many,” she huffed, sticking out her pretty lower lip in an exaggerated pout.

“No, there aren’t.”

“That’s better,” she whined, before she started giggling.

Back at work, we were alone. We didn’t hear anyone else for at least an hour. She went into another aisle to start picking a new order while I finished packing the old one.

“Mark, can you come here?”

“Sure.”

She was leaning against the wall at the end of the aisle. “I’m curious about something.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Why don’t you like me?”

“I do like you.”

“It’s hard to tell.”

Should I admit that I was getting obsessed with her? That I saw her face every time I closed my eyes? That I was scared of seeing her as more than a friend? She was so far out of range for me that I was trying to convince myself she wasn’t desirable.

“Does the girl have to make the first move? Well, all right.” She gave me a firm kiss and held it for a few seconds. Then she said, “I liked that.”

“So did I.”

“Maybe we should do it again.”

I put my hands on the wall on either side of her head. The flecks of gold in her smiling blue eyes sparkled in the dim light. I leaned in to her, and she pulled me close. This time, our tongues played, and I could feel her proud breasts against me. I’m sure she could feel my growing hardness. My hands were sliding down her back toward her ass when we heard someone. We separated and made ourselves busy.

Impossible. I must have day-dreamed the whole thing. This girl could not possibly be attracted to me.

Just before lunch, our manager’s voice crackled over the intercom. “Mark or Loni, call 312.” I picked up the phone and dialed. “Boss, it’s Mark.”

“How are you two doing out there? We have work for Loni.”

“It’s almost lunch-time. Do you want her back after that?” I asked.

“Yeah. Can you get to a good stopping point soon, too? We’ll need you to check her work as fast as she can pound it out.”

After lunch, she went back to her keyboard. I finished the order we had started and returned to my desk to start proofing her work.

My head wasn’t in the game. I had to re-read some of her stuff several times, because I kept finding errors. Obviously, Loni had trouble concentrating too. She made an unusually large number of mistakes. Just before quitting time, I took the final corrections to her desk.

She opened the folder and shook her head. “Sorry. I’m usually much better than this.”

“Don’t worry. It’s the end of a long work week.”

“We need to talk,” she said. “Follow me to my house after work. It’s not far.”

I had no idea what was going to happen as I drove behind her and parked on the street in front of her dark house. She unlocked the door, turned on a single light, and invited me into the living room where we sat on the sofa.