salad for lunch

Salad for Lunch

By Fearlessnot

297 words

"You've got to be...," I mumbled to myself as I stared at the dark blotch of balsamic vinegar now oozing down the front of my white blouse.

I set my fork down, picked up a napkin, and attempted to blot the salad dressing, but only made it worse.

"Oh, that will never come out," came the familiar nasally voice from my left.

Kari, the busybody from the next cubical, was looking down at me with duckface lips and sloped eyebrows. Her attempt to convey sadness.

I suppressed the urge to say, "If you keep making that face it may freeze that way."

"I'll try to get it out at home," I politely replied as I put away my lunchbox.

"Tsk, yeah, but not a good first impression..."

Fine, I'll bite. "What do you mean?"

"Patterson."

"No, that's tomorrow"

"Nope."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Check you're messages," she said with a smirk.

I grabbed my tablet, and tapped the email icon. "Meeting Change."

"No," Our new boss was in from Seattle, a day early. My meeting was across the campus in 10 minutes, and my Powerpoint was incomplete.

I sprinted down the hall, tablet in hand. With a prayer to the God's of technology, and my extreme maneuvering skills, I made it to the conference room door with 3 minutes to spare, so I ducked into the ladies room. Hair, check. Breathe, check. Teeth, check. Clothes... giant drool stain.

The door opened, and in walked an admin wearing a huge obnoxious statement necklace.

"Can I borrow that?" ask with a smile.

"Flawless. I even impressed myself," I thought as I left the meeting 30 minutes later.

Walking down the hall, my tablet pinged, and I opened my messages.

"Great job. BTW X.Y.Z"

"You've got to be kidding me"