Chapter 4

After leaving the bodega the rest of his day was fairly uneventful by comparison. Tom went back to work and sat in his office and tried to make his day make sense. He felt like he did nothing out of the ordinary of any other day in his life, but women were throwing themselves at him. Even in his college days Tom was lucky if he could pull 3 women in a two month span (and they usually didn’t share any of his interests sexually.) Tom had a slight distraction to take his mind off the day’s events once he got Abby’s email of the recall, but even that was short lived. As soon as he shipped off the order request, Tom buried his face in his hands.

Immediately different thoughts rang in his mind like gunshots. Would he ever see Mary again? Could he really have knocked May up? Was Sonya interested in just being friends with benefits or something more serious?

Tom just sat in his chair breathing and thinking when he looked at the clock in the bottom corner of his computer monitor. ‘Almost time to go home,’ he muttered to himself. Tom logged off his computer and picked up his coffee tumbler. As he left his office he saw Abigail with her leather purse slung over her shoulder.

‘Just the man I’m looking for’ she said

‘Yes boss?’

‘If you’re free after work tomorrow, the sales department is getting a dinner thrown by the company. You should come too’ she paused briefly ‘ ... and invite Phil as well, if he isn’t sick again tomorrow and if you have a girlfriend ... who’s free she is welcome to come too’

‘Uh sure, I don’t see why not and no ... uh, no girlfriend right now’ Tom replied ‘which restaurant?’

Abigail smiled as soon as the words ‘no girlfriend’ exited his mouth, which briefly caught Tom off guard. ‘The seafood restaurant where we had the Christmas party a couple years back’

‘Oh, ok. Sounds good,’ Tom said.

Abigail was still smiling when she said ‘have a good night Tom, Seeya tomorrow’.

With that she turned and left the office. Tom stood there contemplating the interaction he just had. Abigail was professional by anyone’s standards. While she was known to have casual conversations with her employees, she never delved into anyone’s personal life and very rarely smiled. Gawddamn this is a weird wonderful day.

One short elevator ride and walk later and Tom shuffled onto the subway train, his coffee mug dangling from his fingertips. Tom sat down on an empty seat at the back of the train car. He rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment. The warm train car, gentle rocking, and the day’s events took their toll on Tom as he slipped into a deep sleep.

Tom awoke with a groggy slowness. He felt his neck, arms and legs were stiff and sore. He felt overly sweaty and his eyelids seemed like the were being pulled shut by lead weights. As his brain was lifting out of the fog he felt pressure on his right shoulder. He shot to immediate alertness of the intrusion of his personal space. Tom’s eyes peeled open and he looked down to see someone in a gray sweater and blue jeans leaning up against him. He couldn’t see their face but as he regained his faculties more indicators began to pop out at him. The wispy ends of long black hair spilling out the front of the hood. A hand with painted fingernails alternating in color of pink and black rested on his leg. A ripped hole in their jeans at the knee had a smiley face drawn in marker on her olive colored skin. A hint of breasts under the sweater sealed the deal and Tom concluded that the intruder was in fact a girl who was in fact snoring.