He had his
pants around his ankles, to throw off anyone who came into the bathroom and
peeked under the stall door. He had a
needle in his arm, the plunger pushed all the way down. This was the last of his supply. Hot wet bliss washed over him and he writhed
on the toilet seat, hands clawing at the stall walls. He would regain his senses momentarily, but
for now there was no time, there was no place, there was no Corporate Man.
There was only Bonus.
Sweet luxurious Bonus.
His head
lolled back and his feet twitched. And
then it was over. He pulled up his pants
and went back to his desk. He called
Betty into his office and informed her that, with Tess leaving, he was going to
have to increase her work load, almost double it in fact. She didn’t cry. Not yet.
He admired her for that. She
would save those tears for her cubicle.
She didn’t protest either and for that he detested her. No spine.
Perhaps she deserved this. And
maybe it would help her in the long run.
Make her stronger. Yes. Despite everything, he was still doing good
work.
The itch
came upon him near the end of the day, followed by slight tremors. His mouth went tangy and his spit went
thick. Payday was three days away. There was no way he could make it that
long.
He paced
his office for twenty horrible minutes.
He chewed his nails and scratched at his neck. Several times he took his shoes off. His socks were damp. Things were wiggling between his toes. He was sure of it. But when he took his socks off there were no
worms, no beetles, no fleas.
He blinked
at the light and at the sweat trying to run into his eyes.
He blinked
and his office was gone. He was in
cubicle land, marching toward the bosslady’s office. Toward Corporate Whore. He didn’t bother knocking when he
arrived. Part of him hoped that she would
jump a little when he burst in on her.
She did not. She was behind her
desk, arms crossed, staring at the door.
As if she expected him.
“I was
expecting you,” she said. “You lasted a
lot longer than I thought you would, actually.
Where are you shoes?”
“In my
office. With the sock worms.”
“The what?”
“Fleas,
spiders, whatever. Don’t try to confuse
the issue.”
“And what
issue would that be?”
“Bonus.”
“Yes, I
meant to commend you on your work. This
paycheck should see our largest bonus yet.
Thanks largely to you.”
“I’m out.”
“Pity.”
“Look, I’ve
done my job. I need you to front me a
little to get me by.”
“So let’s
negotiate terms. What’s a reasonable
rate of payback? Two to one?”
“That
robbery.”
“That’s
capitalism. The law of supply and
demand.”
“Right. What I wouldn’t give for their help right
now,” Corporate Man muttered.
“I’m sorry,
what?”
“Nothing. Two for one.
It’s a deal.”
Corporate
Whore smiled and slid open the top drawer of her desk. She produced a small green bottle between her
thumb and index finger. “There are ten
doses in here. You owe me twenty on
payday. Which shouldn’t be a
problem. I’ve seen the figures. Even after you pay me back you’ll have more
than enough for the next two weeks.”
Corporate
Man grabbed the bottle and stormed back to his office.
