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“ I’ ll be right there,” Eddie said, putting on his jacket and slipping into his shoes. He wondered if this was proper etiquette. Should he have said,“ Just a moment,” and then said“ Send her in.” He opened the door and recognized the woman from the meeting. She approached quickly, meeting him halfway. She put out her hand.“ Samantha Evans, but everyone calls me Sam,” she said.
Eddie shook her hand. They stood almost eye to eye but she was wearing five inch heels. The beige business suit’ s skirt may have been a little too short to be called business. The auburn hair surrounded a model’ s face with high cheekbones, green eyes and full red lips.“ Frank said we were supposed to stick our heads in your office and introduce ourselves,” she said, placing her hand on his elbow and looking at his office door. Eddie didn’ t move to escort her inside.“ My head is still in the hallway,” she smiled. The silence was deafening.“ Ms. Evans, it is nice to meet you.”“ Mrs. Evans, but Sam still works better,” she said, showing her wedding ring with a rock she could trade for a house. Eddie was pretty sure he was out of his league and Rodney’ s words were still fresh in his mind.
He walked her to his office and opened the door. Sam walked in and took one of the chairs opposite his desk.“ I’ m sure you find office gossip deplorable,” Eddie responded, locating the stopper on the self closing door and propping it open.“ It’ s a terrible problem.” She turned to see the door wide open as Eddie took his seat. She got up and sat on the corner of his desk, facing him with her back to the door. The form fitting skirt she wore had no pantie lines, and now, Eddie knew why. The light from the windows behind him was impressively illuminating. There was also no way for him to know if the auburn hair was natural or a very good dye job. As their eyes met, he saw a smirk on her lips.“ Sam. I am married,” he said quietly.“ That makes it more exciting,” she whispered. Eddie got up and removed the stopper from the door.“ I want to thank you for stopping in and if I need your assistance, I certainly appreciate the offer,” he said, holding the door. He watched her eyes flash for just a second as she passed in front of him.“ You know how to reach me,” she said, with a smile. Eddie caught Tracy’ s look of approval. He needed friends. Eddie closed the door thinking Tracy might be a good ally. He could feel his heart racing.
The feeling that overwhelmed him was similar to stepping from the minors to the majors and the first time at bat you hit a home run. There was only one problem. He could not go home and brag about this to Tanya. It was four-thirty and he had time to see how the clean up was coming along. He put the gas card in his wallet and headed for the exit.“ Tracy. Have a nice evening,” he said, passing her station.“ I will. Thank you,” she called after him.
The interior of his truck made him feel like himself again. Driving down the highway Eddie didn’ t care that the traffic was heavy. The radio provided a nice distraction as he made his way to the“ Fear Factory.” He pulled into the parking lot as the crew was packing up. The man in charge was tall and lanky. He could not have been more than twenty-two years old. His black mohawk was spiked and tipped in purple.“ I’ ll lock up,” Eddie said.“ Good. The big guy that let us in, didn’ t leave us a key. Not like there is anything to steal.”“ Are you finished?” Eddie asked.“ No. We’ ll be back in the morning. Probably be done about three tomorrow. I wouldn’ t go walking around in there dressed like that sir. The floor is covered with mud,” the kid said, peeling out of the wet coveralls and muddy boots, stuffing them into a five gallon bucket and tossing the bucket into the van. Pulling on a pair of high top Converse shoes, he climbed behind the wheel.“ Thanks for the warning,” Eddie shouted, as the kid waved and sped across the parking lot. The cell phone rang.“ Rodney” showed on the caller I. D.“ What’ s up Rodney?”
“ Man, I am sorry. I forgot there was one more thing I was supposed to tell you. I hope you are not sitting down to dinner.”“ No, as a matter of fact, I’ m about to lock the property. The crew just left. What did you forget?”