His head came around the open door frame in an effort at coquettishness he should have abandoned twenty years, and forty pounds ago.
Reluctantly, Cameron dragged her eyes away from the monitor between them and forced a look of questioning welcome onto her face.
“Hi!” The word came out clipped, despite her efforts.
“Hi.” His body shifted as he spoke, bringing the rest of him into view.
“Busy?” Their single syllable conversation continued.
Her eyes strayed back to the screen in silent answer. She had just been poked.
“Uh….” She drew this syllable out, allowing her time to think.
“No!” She reached out and closed the notebook with a thud, opening the air between them. As she rose, her outstretched hand pulled her lips into a smile. Her other hand gestured, Vanna-like, at the only other chair in the room, before she returned to hers.
“What’s up, Jerry?” She leaned back casually and glanced at the clock on her desk. In just a little over an hour, she and thousands of others, would begin their trek across the city towards home. She made a mental note to stop at the grocery store.
The chair gave in with a “Whoosh” as he settled into it. One hand immediately found the buttons on his jacket, loosening it to make room for last night’s supper, and the burritos he’d eaten in a fast food parking lot two hours ago.
“Hey! I know its Christmas. Everybody’s busy.” As he paused, his eyes found the tiny, gold, bell-strewn tree she’d placed on a corner table. He shifted, uncomfortably inside the chair, before leaning forward.
“I’ve been working on something.”
Cameron uncrossed her legs and looked pointedly at the clock.
“I was really just winding down here…”
“Yeah…” He shifted again, shooting a glance at the computer on her desk. “Facebook, huh?”
She blushed, silently.
“Hey! I should “friend” you!”
She made an attempt at an appreciative laugh and straightened her skirt without commenting on his suggestion.
“I thought maybe we could stop in at “Dailey’s” for a pre-Christmas drink.” His face was prepared for her refusal. “And, I could tell you about my project!” The words were infused with a false enthusiasm.
Cameron glanced, again at the clock, and then her calendar, which was open.
Reaching behind her, she drug her jacket off the back of her chair.
“Sure! Why not, Jerry? Let me grab a few things…”
Her words catapulted him off the chair and he used both hands to re-button.
“Great!” Despite his efforts, he voiced his surprise.
A smoky haze wafted just under the bare-bulbed ceiling lights, lending carelessly strewn, multi-colored twinkle lights the appearance of being under water. Blues-infused Christmas carols played softly to a tiny pre-happy hour audience.
Cameron chose a table in the center of the room, and, measuring the distance to the door, decided to leave her jacket on.
“Here you go!” Jerry’s voice had found a comfort it had been missing earlier.
She thanked him and took a sip before placing her drink on a napkin and leaning forward with her arms crossed.
“Tell me.” She could feel her eyes dance.
Jerry smiled, as she knew he would, appreciative of her interest. His hands caressed the brown bottle in front of him, clearing the frost from its sides as he talked. He leaned towards the table as she had, closing the space between them.
Cameron smiled, asked appropriate questions, and watched, as he grew. An hour passed, and in that time, the rumpled, overweight man she had come in with, had transformed into a smiling, energetic, somewhat sweaty man with a boyish grin.
She wondered if his wife would notice the change, sure in the knowledge that she hadn’t really seen him in years.
His pitch complete, he withdrew a dog-eared, leather wallet filled with pictures of small people who saw the world through eyes that looked just like his. He had a story to tell about each one of them. She listened, making only appropriate listening sounds until she’d seen them all.
“I’ll bet you’re a great Dad, Jerry.”
Jerry blushed, slightly, as he pocketed his wallet. Cameron looked at her watch as she sat back in her chair.
“I’ve gotta run….” She reached for the purse strap on the back of the chair.
“Sure! Ok, sure!” Jerry stood quickly, lithely.
“Thanks for the drink. Give those kids a hug for me, ok? And, let me know how your project turns out.”
Cameron stood and pushed her chair closer to the table.
“I’ll do that. Thanks…” He tossed money onto the tabletop, averting his eyes.
As she walked the block to her car, she appreciated the sound of her heels striking concrete. She’d loved it since she was a girl when the heels were on her mother’s feet.
She pulled her unbuttoned coat more closely around her and smiled at the thought of Jerry climbing a tree to pull his daughter’s favorite doll to safety. The project he had shared with her had nothing to do with her department. He must have known that before coming into her office. But she’d given him what he’d been looking for.
He wanted to share. He wanted to talk to someone who would turn in her chair, and look him in the eyes, when he told a story. So he spent an hour in a bar with “another” woman before going home to a wife who wouldn’t know he was there until the trash bin needed emptying.
Cameron turned the key and joined the commute.
Are We There Yet? 
