Journal: More Beauty and the Beast

Roger sat down at his PC and wondered where to start. He was always the anal retentive type and it bothered him when work piled up on him faster then he could get it out to the appropriate people at the college. He ran his left hand down the yellow tan folders looking to make sure they were all marked with the correct sticky colored note.

All the greens, yellows and reds were there. But the their flicking noise awoke his memory and he reached back to his plastic lunch bag and unzippered the bottom portion. THere was his paperback, dogeared but otherwise clean, and on it's front, a yellow note from Josh. He had to contact Josh. That would stall the day's work for a few moments and open his mind to the work he had to do for the afternoon.

He wheeled himself into position and moved the keyboard forward. He reached beside the monitor and grabbed his antibacterial hand gel and scrubbed away. The smell gave him a touch of energy.

Josh was new to the offices at the college but not new to the job. He had worked for a computer engineering firm for many years until his wife passed away from items related to cancer. He had worked out of his home for years and when his wife passed away, he had decided on a total shift. He moved to his hometown and found a job that did not require his degree. He continued to exercise and train for various sports, but he never played any of them. He read viciously, opting to sit alone most lunches. And people respected that. He was not much of conversationalist, but when he did speak it was of imagined importance and such authority, most of the staff listened. He shared an office with Julie, would she actually stay in one place.

Roger and Julie had been at the college's administrative offices for both over six years. Their lives there were uneventful, and so the introduction of Josh into their mix was healthy for them. They listened to his every word and his every movement. But they would never say anything untowards him.

"What?" Roger had degrees in English and Adminstrative Management.

But not one in computer science.

He smacked the computer's monitor. Twice.

Then he reapplied the hand gel.

"Come on, come on," it wasn't that the computer was slow. It was dead. It let him log onto this email and then stopped.

He tried again.

His brow furrowed and his lips pursed.

"Dangit."

Without thought, he typed into Julie's password and nickname. It worked without a problem. Roger was upset-it meant it was his email that was having problems and not hers.

He looked back at the folders and sneered. He wondered if he should move to a different desk and see what he could do. But the image of Josh sitting at his desk, his tie neat and his shirt still pressed reduced his frustration. He began to type Josh and email.

Josh,

Thanks for the note about the copier. Go ahead and head over to Accounting. You'll probably meet their head secretary named Margie. Give her the papers and tell her the code is 717 and it's from

Roger realized he was still under Julie's email and not his own. He smiled and decided it would be easier just to go ahead and finish writing.

and it's from me. The copiers are on the same line--hers and my office.

And if you get a chance, stop by and say hey to Roger. He's having a bad day--seems his email is on the fritz and needs your computer engineering degree.

Thanks, I'll be back after 2.
Julie

Roger paused before he hit send. He was single too, and nothing makes one's day when someone cute says hello once and a while. He turned and starting find the folders that he could attend to without email's involvement.