Graffiti

Chapter 2: Alan-1

Chapter 2: Alan

“Alan…Alan!”

Alan Daniels looked up from the ledger sheet he was working on. “Oh…hi, Elise,” he said. Alan considered Elise his best friend. He shared all his most intimate thoughts with her. “I’m sorry. I was just caught up in this account. Mr. Jennings needs it by Monday.”

“Well, forget the ledger and the account. Mr. Jennings will be out of the office until Wednesday,” the pretty brunette said with a smile. “It’s Friday and five o’clock, time to be done for the week and have a little fun.”

“Ah…thanks, but…” Alan started. Almost every Friday someone from the office tried to get the young man to join them for a little TGIF recreation, and almost every Friday he tried to find away out of it.

“Oh, come on, Alan. A handsome guy like you shouldn’t be all work and no play. You’ll have a great time,” Elise persisted. “You used to come with us every week. You haven’t in a long time, and we miss you.”

He appreciated the invitation, but sincerely doubted he’d have a good time. Recently he was becoming more and more convinced of something about himself that he was uncomfortable with. This led to increased reticence to join the gang for their ritual Friday celebration.

“Well, if you’re sure?” she said in a coaxing voice.

“Thanks, but I’m sure,” Alan said, relieved she seemed to be accepting his refusals more graciously of late.

“Maybe next week?” she asked.

“Yeah, maybe,” Alan replied.

She smiled and gave him a little wave as she said goodbye and walked off.

Alan went back to his work. Several of his other co-workers stopped by and wished him a good weekend. One or two repeated Elise’s invite, but not with much pressure. They evidently had heard of his decision not to join them.

Trent, the good-looking office manager, had stopped to tease him about becoming a stuffy old man at the age of twenty-seven. Alan had laughed with the guy’s attempt at humor, but felt distinctly disquieted as he watched him walk away.

At seven the cleaning staff arrived and Alan decided he had done enough on the account to satisfy his boss, especially since Mr. Jennings wouldn’t even be in the office on Monday. Closing the ledger and straightening his desk, the junior account manager said goodnight to the janitors and headed for home.