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| If she says no, you just have to get on with your life "She might even be closer than you think I guess that's his management style, but to me, he seems like a heart attack waiting to happen The peanuts would have been funny Roses are flashy Violets are meek I'll make some arrangements For later this week Wednesday's made the possibility almost certain, at least if I decided to go through with it It's really romantic You won't tell anybody I told you that, will you, Mr "Uh, Tracy, how're we treating you these days? We keeping you busy?" "Busy isn't the word I'd use Believe me, I understand your concern, but I don't know what else to do Tuesday's Valentine made me think I might be able to do just that " Kimberly didn't know anything, either, but she did bat her eyelashes at me Doesn't even have a girlfriend that I know of I knew she was gone, but I had to try at least one more time before… I don't remember much about the drive home I'm going to get a cup of coffee, and then I'll have another look at the numbers I didn't know what I should do so I went to Donna again I was surprised by another small envelope in the middle of my desk " "Walt, calm down Never know what you might find out " "Donna, come on " Donna touched my shoulder They could have put the card on my desk before she locked my door, or they might have seen someone else do it Um, Sir, would you have some identification? Security for our guests, you understand I hung up my coat and sat down Donna was right " "It's not you On Sunday evening, I realized I'd probably seen the last of her As I was unlocking my door, she read it to me Tracy was a few years younger than I, but I'd always liked her and she seemed like she'd be fun to be with Christa's thirty-four, like you, right?" "Thirty-four this month The first was about like the others I shook my head and unlocked my door I wasn't sure what "something special" meant, but I was going to find out Did she accept?" "Oh, that "I guess you could wear a big heart that says 'I'm your Valentine The year-end numbers had been good, but the budget for this year wasn't aggressive, at least in Carl's eyes Then, he was happy and took everybody to lunch I'd never understood why they couldn't do that "You don't suppose…? I mean, he is awfully neat about his clothes and hair and everything, and he's not married We'd talked a little about what lay in the future and I thought she'd agreed we would be together "Maybe the cleaning lady's after your body On Monday, I had three Valentines Several of us stay late, but thankfully, not every night She was about my age, and was very attractive My mind went on autopilot, and I thought more than I watched the road It had a heart with an arrow going through it, and to one side was an impish looking Cupid holding his bow Thankfully, he got an urgent call and I got to finish by myself On Friday, Carl was at least tolerant when I showed him the revised numbers You never leave early on Friday It was great watching her get ready for dinner Then there was Kimberly I need to think about it?" "That's it? You need to think about it? Is that all you can say?" "Stop it! I don't know what's wrong I got here at eight, and nobody's been near your office since then I'm getting worried Maybe you ought to get your head out of your books and look around once in a while Seeing Jerry's face would have been funnier I loved her for the way she could light up a room just by entering it Uh, many of you stay late?" "Yeah " Donna flashed me a big smile She says she has to think about it At four, I gave up trying to find the six thousand dollars and change in the supply accounts and went home " "She probably doesn't want to make the mistake of marrying the wrong man The files were always locked unless I was using them, but it was still a little disturbing that someone could get into my office over the weekend Today's my command performance with Carl If I knew, I wouldn't need to think about it Funny how you can do that, isn't it? You drive somewhere and don't remember how you got there " She started to cry again Roses have petals Cowbells have ringers When I think of you I get wandering fingers I didn't show them to Donna "May I help you, Sir?" "Yes, I was told to give you my name and you'd have a key for me I don't exactly think she'd say she loved me " She brought me the list after lunch Ever think of that?" "I've seen the cleaning lady I opened the heart and found a poem written in a bold, script font Shouldn't we be doing something about it?" "OK, I'll check with the guard captain to see who came in over the weekend and let you know Well, there was this one thing we were going to do Speaking of going out, you doing anything for lunch? I need a couple of minutes to talk with you about the salary plan " "Nope, not that I know of Several of our management trainees had checked in on Saturday or Sunday and stayed a few hours Roses are fat Violets are thin Please meet me on Friday At the Paradise Inn I'd heard of the Paradise Inn, although I'd never been there Then I realized it must be a note from the cleaning service I don't know what I'll do if she does say no It'd be fun watching, but I have to leave early today I'm thirty-six, and I'm starting to worry a lot She wore very short skirts and low-cut sweaters, and seemed to enjoy all the looks she got After dinner, and then a shower and a fresh shave, I drove to the Paradise and walked up to the desk a little before eight By the end of the day, I was looking forward to Friday When I flipped the switch and lit the room the little envelope caught my eye Just didn't sleep much last night Well, it would have felt like cheating if I hadn't tried to call her Terminal overload is more like it Want to come with me?" "I really wish I had time " She chuckled Roses are red Pine trees are sappy If you love me too It would sure make me happy "OK, Donna Hodges?" I laughed with her You give everybody more than they can do You OK?" "Yeah, Donna, I'm all right I loved her for the sappy way she talked to kids and dogs and cats "Eighteen-hundred – no sign of entry We pay them to watch the doors and patrol for fires and break-ins, stuff like that She started to cry, and I thought she was crying because she was happy "Well, I have no idea who put it there Gwen…, well Gwen was really young, and a lot too racy for me " I didn't have to look to know it was there Wouldn't want Carl to see me laughing that much It's me My Thursday Valentine only heightened my anticipation We've worked together for six years Maybe you ought to just sit back and see what happens We're going to the Belmont for lunch and his monthly inquisition about the balance sheet The guards open all the offices in the building for the cleaning crew after working hours He was worried every year in January, and stayed that way until the year-end numbers showed we'd made it We thought it was hilarious, and they all thought it was great that I was in on it Security reports to you '" "Now, that would look really cute, wouldn't it? No, I think I'll just go hang out in the lobby until she shows " She looked at me and giggled I tried to get in touch with Christa all weekend, but didn't have any luck I felt like a police detective when I talked to them Since you don't know who she is, how in the world are you going to find her?" "I don't know Everything seemed great, so great in fact, that I'd decided to ask her to marry me Harold, the Operations Manager, has a passion for sticky notes, and uses them all over the place It was sitting in the middle of my desk, and I didn't remember it being there when I left on Friday If she really liked me that much, why was she trying so hard to keep her identity a secret? Roses are solid Pansies have spots I might as well tell you, You give me the hots My jaw dropped when I read the third You managers have a life outside of here I'm supposed to meet her at the Paradise, tonight The next morning there was another envelope on my desk " I gave him my driver's license This is a serious breech of security I was becoming interested, not necessarily in pursuing the relationship, but in just finding out who she was Maybe she is, and she's decided to tell you how she feels She's over sixty and she's married He sent me back to my office for a few minor changes and left for lunch with some clients " "Oh… "I love that place I'm lucky to get home before I have to turn around and start back The suites on the top floor are fabulous Well, you won't know unless you take her up on her offer, now will you?" I tried calling Christa again on Saturday, but got her machine again Don't worry so much Both Tracy and Kimberly would have been there when the cleaning lady came by to do my office Sex had nothing to do with it I couldn't have them check after that She'd stopped sobbing, but her shoulders still shook and she wouldn't look at me Well, I guess I'm going to find out who my secret admirer is When I got back to my desk, there was another envelope How the hell could I have read things so wrong? We'd been seeing each other for a little over a year, and I loved her for everything she was I had confidential company information in my files about salaries and bonus payments Donna glanced at her watch when I walked past her office and raised her eyebrows Carl didn't have quite the same appreciation for the joke and issued a memo to the effect that any other horseplay would be severely dealt with Roses are beautiful Carnations are great I'll wear something special Please be there at eight I arrived at the office on Friday morning and grabbed the envelope from my desk It was just a small plain envelope like the ones for thank-you notes, but he note inside wasn't from the cleaners I guess that's not new, is it?" "Nope We don't have forever like you men, you know Christa had wanted it that way, and I didn't need to have her body to love her Roses are red Pickles are sour I'd like us to meet For a few little hours So, she wanted to meet me She didn't say no, did she?" "No, she didn't, but she didn't say yes either "So, how'd it go?" "How'd what go?" "Last Friday, you told me you were going to propose to Christa on the weekend I wasn't ready to jump back into the dating pool just yet "I told you I don't know "You know how Jerry's always so finicky about his desk Maybe it was her When she went to Atlanta with me just after New Years, the sex was great, but it was even better having her to come back to every night My ex took me there once and I'd give anything to spend another night there Nineteen hundred – no sign of entry I take it you didn't have any luck with Tracy or Kimberly?" "They don't know anything "No, I won't say anything Marriage is a big decision for a woman " "Walt, sometimes, I think we're closer than I was to my ex " Friday's Valentine was a little more to the point than the others Roses don't have teeth But thistles can bite I'll be waiting there for you Tonight is the night Those words, "Tonight is the night", reminded me of an old joke, and I had to chuckle The alarm woke me in plenty of time to get to the office, but I didn't feel much like hurrying The other names on the list were new It was great telling her what happened at my business conference and knowing she understood Carl will only let that stuff go so far I just kept getting her answering machine That was nothing odd She glanced at the card for a second and then laughed If somebody can just waltz in here and get into my office, how much else could they do?" "OK, tell you what I'll do Tracy and Kimberly didn't work for me, so unless one of them was responsible, I thought they might tell me what was going on Jerry was fanatical about his cubicle and even dusted it every night before he left Twenty hundred – it reads the same for every hour until seven this morning Have an enjoyable stay with us I would have understood if she'd told me that We'd hadn't slept together until a couple of months before that night I just picked up the envelope and handed it to Donna " "Well, we're just doing our part to keep you out of trouble at night " "Walt, I ought to tell you…, that's not good One night during a push to get some reports done, they took a break and papered Harold's entire door with sticky notes If she was home, she wouldn't answer the door "Well, you've made an impression on somebody I'd have to pile my chair, wastebasket and shredder on top of my desk before I left on Friday Anything new happening this morning?" "Our boss is on the rampage about this year's budget I had to come to grips with Christa's rejection before I did that I spent the entire day thinking about that last poem " She leaned toward me and giggled " Donna chuckled I loved her just because she was her "You're in good spirits this morning On Tuesday morning, I felt a little better about things and made it to my office at seven-thirty It was probably notification of a carpet scrubbing over the next weekend or something like that " "I don't know what's wrong You know that It did hurt like hell We could have talked it out, and I could have told her how much I needed her I was too nervous to talk about finances anyway Again the card was the same, and the words were different " "You guys aren't playing anymore tricks, are you? Remember Harold's door? I thought it was funny, but you need to watch it Just put the card in the slot on the elevator panel and it'll let you go up I'd tried to date Kimberly a couple of times before I met Christa, but she'd always turned me down What's so funny?" "Oh, hi, Donna " Still, it was nice to know that somebody thought I was worth a Valentine Tracy went home at seven, and Kimberly hung around until eight The refrigerator is stocked, but if you need anything else, just call room service or the desk At least you guys are fair They have to be at the main entrance logging people in I was as happy as the guy in that joke, and I didn't even know who I was meeting " Christa wouldn't answer my call that day, or the three I made on Tuesday " "It'll hurt like hell, but it won't hurt as bad as if she married you and it ended in divorce That's not to say we'd want to marry him, you understand, but we know if we would or not "Walt, you look like death warmed over Come get me Some of our most afluent clients stayed at the Paradise when they visited our office The life of a management trainee is a pretty stressful, and once in a while, they have to relieve that stress somehow Believe me, I know We still don't know who's leaving them " "I know Here's the note Roses are red Marigolds are yellow I've loved you since we met You're such a great fellow Donna checked the after hours list again and brought me the names "It's suite eleven-ten I tried to hug her, but she just stood there with tears streaming down her face Roses are red And get darker when dry If we don't get together soon I think I will die "OK, so it's cute " Every year it was like this There was no reason to believe security had any better idea now than last week I always clean my desk on Friday Maybe if I change some accruals, he'll be happier Hot date or something?" "Don't I wish I'd have seen it " Donna looked at me and winked Christa had been pretty open about things after we started sleeping together, but she had never said anything to me like this poem The Valentine was the same, but the poem was different You sure it wasn't there on Friday?" "Yes, I'm sure "It is a cute poem, though, don't you think?" I read the familiar script font Well, we talked about filling his cube with those little foam peanuts, but he stays late too, so we never got the chance Roses make perfume Long grass makes hay Just wanted you to know I'm thinking about you today The second made me wonder again about who was giving them to me Roses are red, Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet I really love you There was no name or anything else to tell me who put it on my desk Maybe it was just a prank It was the most expensive hotel in the city, and the rooms were supposed to be pretty luxurious We know if we'd marry a guy after the first couple of dates Women don't usually have to think about things like that The bedroom's separate from the living area and each suite has a jacuzzi I took it to Donna Is security doing anything around here or not? This is the third day somebody's left a card on my desk, and your people don't know anything?" "Well, we don't pay them just to guard your office, you know I suppose she'll find me Instead, I found a computer generated Valentine's Day card " Donna whistled There's someone out there who's right for you I felt like crap I'd done that on more than one occasion when the workload was too much for five days If it should happen, though, don't be surprised if I go back to my office and shut the door I'm Walt Hodges Maybe she'd changed her mind No, I'm just taking some time off for me I tried to make a joke to get her to stop Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I'm uh, I'm going to go out tonight and have a drink to the valentine I won't get Just one little question, though "You might even like it She wouldn't even talk about it Does she work for you? Oh, I guess you don't know that "There's no company policy about dating between employees unless she works for you Three weeks later, when I did, she said she wasn't sure Whoever my secret love was, she had, so far, avoided detection In light of what Donna had told me, though, some of the names were interesting " "I don't know who else would have a key except Carl I made it to work the next morning by the skin of my teeth I'll have security check every hour tonight to see if anybody's been in your office "Call her this afternoon and see what she says " Donna chuckled She's probably just nervous Whoever it is doesn't seem to be doing anything except getting under your skin Besides, she didn't dump my shredder last Thursday, and I left her a note complaining about it That make you happy?" Donna met me at my office door the next morning with the guard report " "Well?" "Well, what?" "Will you marry me?" Christa wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, then pulled a tissue from the box on the end table and blew her nose She started to sob when I put on my coat and walked toward the door, but she didn't try to stop me " "Afraid not I spent the rest of the week feeling sorry for myself I thought everything was going in that direction, and then when I asked her… I know they did it, because I worked late that night, too, and I helped them I must have looked like crap to Donna, our HR manager, too " Lunch with Carl wasn't something I considered fun, because he used it as an opportunity to question me and I couldn't enjoy the meal I stopped calling after Wednesday and drove to her apartment after work "Gee, if I'd have known you were going to do that, I wouldn't have asked you I always locked my office when I left for the night, or thought I did, but there it was Remember, I said the woman for you might be right under your nose I wish I hadn't told you Roses cost money Violets are free Say your name at the desk They'll give you a key If profits weren't going to exceed last year's business plan, he was worried After a careful inspection, he handed it back to me along with the credit card type room key If you can't tell me, who can you tell? …Oh, my God " "Ah, yes I guess moving wastebaskets and chairs falls outside the scope of their contract That wouldn't be all that bad |
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