“So then Sarah goes, did I know that Brad went to his mother’s house instead of–”
“Excuse me.”
“Wait a minute, will you, Fran?…Yes?”
“Have you finished that report yet?”
“What report?”
“Last quarter’s sales figures for our new tape product. I need it for my presentation this morning.”
“When did you give it to me?”
“Last Thursday….Listen, I’m in sort of a hurry here, the meeting’s in 20 minutes.”
“Thursday, Thursday. Oh, that’s when I had my nails done…Hi Fran, you remember last Thursday when I got my nails done?….Yeah, with the white curlicues on that blue background…. Yeah, that’s what she said too–”
“Excuse me…I need that report I asked you to do on Thursday. You said you’d have it yesterday.”
“Wait a minute. So Fran, did I mention some report I had to do last Thursday? Chris here is going all mental about it. Like I got nothing else to do all day but look around for some report. Alright, call me back in five…So what was this report again?”
“The Masterful Tape sales report I gave you to do on Thursday!”
“Okay, okay, you don’t have to raise your voice to me. Just because you’re my boss doesn’t give you the right to raise your voice to me.”
“Ok, I’m sorry. Would you please take a look for it?”
“All right, but I got to go to the ladies first.”
“Could you maybe take a quick look before you go?”
“Wait a minute! Are you trying to stop me from going to the ladies room? Cause if you are, somebody’s going to hear about it. First you raise your voice to me and now you’re trying to keep me from going to the ladies room! I’ve been on the phone all morning and I haven’t had a break yet.”
“Okay, I —“
“Besides I got other people’s reports too. I don’t get any extra pay for doing them either. I make the same as Bonnie does, and she doesn’t do half the work that I do. And then–”
“Would you please go ahead and go to the ladies’ room? I really need that report.”
“Are you serious? Now you’re telling me when to go? You’re something! A person can’t just do it on a time clock, you know.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything.”
“All right. Well, I’m going now–”
“Would it be okay if I just looked around your desk while you’re gone? Maybe I can spot the report.”
“You want to snoop around my desk! You want to root around through my personal things?”
“No, no, I was just trying to be helpful. Never mind. I’m sorry. I’ll just wait right here for you.”
*******
“Now that you’re back, could you look for that report? I’ve got to leave here in five minutes.”
“Whoops, let me get the phone….Oh hi, Fran….Really? He said?…What did you say?…What’d he say?…You’re kidding!…That knocking noise? — that’s just Chris over here banging her head on the wall…Who knows? I told you this place was weird. So anyway, when Sarah said Brad was going to his mother’s that night, I said he can’t come Wednesday the way he promised? Then she goes ……”