Nate looked down at his coffee soaked business shirt and then at his empty coffee mug. The wet shirt didn’t really bother him, but the empty mug did.
He put the mug into the sink and unbuttoned his shirt and took it off.
Scarlet made herself a cup of hot water and dropped in a sugar cube while she watched Nate disrobe. She made a point of looking him up and down.
“Not bad for a nerd.”
Nate smiled as he put the plug in the sink and turned on the taps. “Thanks, I think.” He replied as he soaked his shirt in the warm water.
Scarlet sipped at her sugar water and shrugged and left Nate to do his laundry.
With a fresh cup of instant coffee, and his wet shirt over his shoulder, Nate finally made it back to his office. He hung the shirt up in the hope that it would dry before the end of the day. Knowing it was unlikely, a problem to worry about later.
Despite the lack of a shirt it was time to get to work. Checking the website and his emails kept him busy for a few hours. A few people came up to his door, as if about to ask him a question. But they would notice he was sitting semi-naked at this desk and they would just turn around and leave again. He actually got a lot more work done than usual.
Around lunch time he checked the shirt, it was still damp, and it was still raining heavily outside. Sandwich at his desk for lunch.
Again.
Just as he was about to take his first bite, his intercom buzzed and Scarlet’s voice filled his small office.
“Nate, delivery here for you, guy wants you to sign for it.”
He set his untouched sandwich down and reached over and pushed the buzzer. “I’ll be right out.”
The delivery guy smirked at Nate’s lack of shirt an handed Nate the electronic-clipboard.
“Nice outfit.” He said.
“Er, thanks.” Replied Nate as he glanced at the delivery guy.
He was shorter than average, fitter than average, his wet uniform showing of than it should, sandy brown hair that didn’t look natural and bright green eyes that didn’t look natural either, the creases around his eyes when he smiled said he was over 30, but not by much, his name badge read ‘Brian’, but he didn’t look like a Brian.
Nate signed the clipboard and took the package and was about to leave, when the delivery guy, Brian, stopped him.
“Oh, and here’s my card.” Brian said, scribbling a phone number on the back and handing it to Nate. “In case there are any, erm, problems.”
Nate frowned at the card and shrugged. “Okay then. Thanks.”
The delivery guy turned and bounded down the stairs two at a time, and headed back out into the rain.
Nate was still looking at the card. “That was a little weird, right?”
Scarlet smiled looking over the edge of her newspaper. “Only if you think getting hit-on by a super cute man in uniform is ‘weird’.”
Nate looked up. “He was hitting on me?”
Scarlet added a thirteen to her sudoku. “I was flirting with him, yet you ended up with his number, its not rocket science you know.”
Nate nodded. “No, much more complicated.” And he turned and headed out of the room.
From behind him Scarlet shouted out. “Wait 20 minutes, ring him, ask him for a coffee, tonight. If he says yes, cancel whatever boring thing you were going to do.”
Nate stoped at the door and looked back at her. “Really?”
Scarlet shrugged. “Or you could do nothing at all and go home tonight and play computer games. Up to you. But next time you feel lonely you’ll know it was because you couldn’t make a phone call.”
Nate walked back to his office, even less sure what to make of Scarlet.
Story continues in part 3.
Part of my creative writing class. Weekly Assignment 3.