Chapter 3

It was a Wednesday afternoon and Gail was making fresh coffee when someone she had not seen around the office came over and leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “Your Mr. Whitman’s admin assistant?” he asked.

Gail looked up at him. He was rather tall and very handsome in her opinion, “More like a file clerk and go-fer.” She answered.

“You don’t know who I am, do you? It’s been a long time but I remember you, Gail Peters.”

Gail’s defenses immediately went up when approached by anyone else in the office besides her boss, “So who the hell are you?”

“Ralph O’Brien the skinny geek. Tenth grade. I was in love with you and you completely ignored me. Really pissed me off.”

The way he was smiling put Gail at ease. She had a feeling he was not here to be mean or judgmental of her place in the office, “You’re Ralph. Skinny Ralph O’Brien?”

“Yeah, I put on a few pounds.”

“You sure did. My god, look at you, Ralph.” Gail thought she could get away with teasing him a bit, “If I knew back then you were going to look this good I might have taken more notice.” Then out of curiosity asked, “What are you doing here?”

Ralph chuckled as he poured himself a cup of coffee, “Tax audit.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know anything about that. I just sit at my desk doing my nails most of the day. I never get invited to meetings.”

“I heard some rumors about you and was wondering if they are true?”

Gail was well aware of her reputation around the office. She was disappointed but not surprised by the question, “I guess that depends on what you heard.”

“I heard you provide some very specialized lunchtime services for the old goat.”

Gail just shrugged thinking he was just another guy looking to belittle her after all, “It’s not such a big secret. So now you know like everyone else so why don’t you piss off and leave me alone.” He didn’t sneer at her and make a snide remark as she expected him to.

“Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, give me a call. I’d love to chat with you again. I always wondered what happened to you after you left school.” He pushed himself up from leaning on the counter, “Hey, it was nice seeing you again but I have to get back to work.”

Gail was surprised he took the time to talk to her. Nobody ever talked to her. They only talked behind her back.

Gail started pouring coffee into the cup that Bob insisted she washes before she brought him his refill. “Well Ralph, it was really good to talk to you but I have to get the old goat his coffee.”

“Right, see you around?”

“I’m here five days a week.”

Ralph started to walk away but turned back to face Gail, “Look, I know you can’t go out for lunch but how about dinner. I really would like to talk to you.”

Well aware of what men wanted from her she asked, “Just Talk?”

“Yes, just talk,” Ralph assured her.

“I’ll think about it.”

It wasn’t until Friday that Gail agreed to have dinner with Ralph. What convinced her was that he would stop and talk to her and seemed not to care about the stares and mumbling of everyone else that shunned her. She knew everyone was thinking he was putting the make on her but it didn’t feel that way to her. They shared some of the same experiences in high school and that was the bond that allowed them to see each other as a friend.