The Conductor

Chapter Three- Cicile

Another work day gone, another work day coming. I walked into the lonely storage closet and sat down at my desk, typing up another paper that was going to be sent to someone I didn't know that lived clear across the country. Exciting, right?

While all of my co-workers were laughing and having loads of fun helping people I sat alone, my sore fingers pounding the keyboard rapidly which would eventually pay off when I collected my Pay Check at the end of the week.

Before I knew it, three hours of the day had passed, and it was noon now, lunch break.

My co-workers happily invited one another to join them in going to the local pizzeria, A&W, McDonalds or wherever, and naturally I wasn't invited. I was never invited.

This is the part of the day where I go home and have lunch with my Grandma in our ill-fitting apartment. So, I gathered my things, walked out of the storage closet and out the back door.

I ran across the quiet street that was usually never busy into the apartment grounds. I climbed up the fire escape and into the window where I found my Grandma sitting on our love seat, watching a re-run of The Brady Bunch and knitting a new scarf which she would give to me when she was done. She loved knitting, and always gave me whatever she created.

When I entered the window my Grandma turned to face me with a smile on her face. "Hello, sweetheart!" she happily greeted me.

"Hi Grandma," I greeted her, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "How have things been since I left this morning?"

"Oh, just fine dear you don't need to worry about me."

I dropped my purse underneath the window and took a seat next to my grandma. I joined her in watching the oldies. Lassie, The Brady Bunch, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and other classics. They were the only programs we ever watched because they made my grandma happy, and I grew up on them, so I preferred watching them over anything else.

After a couple minutes I stood up and walked into the small kitchenette, which included a gas stove, an oven, a dishwasher, a fridge, and a microwave with a rickety old pantry to keep whatever food I bought that month in.

I opened my pantry and looked around when I spotted a single package of Ramen Noodles sitting on the top shelf. I stretched my arms and was on my tip toes until I finally reached the prize I was after. I pulled the noodles down, the plastic wrapping crinkling in my proud hands. I set it on the counter and pulled a small pot out from underneath the oven in a drawer that you could pull out, placed that on the stove, found a measuring cup that was one cup, filled that with hot water and dumped two of those into the pot, placed the lid on, and turned on the gas.

I was casually sitting by the stove, my elbow on the counter and my cheek placed in my hand, staring at the boiling pot of water, just staring blankly, but thinking deeply.

"Who was the man in the music store last night," I thought to myself, "And what was he doing? What could that mysterious noise possibly have been? Did the man cause it to happen? He was only in there for a short amount of time, so he couldn't have possibly done anything, but why was he waving a Conductor's Baton around and walking all shady-like around the store?"

Despite how deep I was in thought, I noticed the water was boiling. I turned around to grab the package of Ramen, picked it up and opened it. I carefully removed the lid from the pot with a wooden spoon and placed it on the grate next to the water pot. I dumped the noodles in without even breaking them up, just the whole thing, placed the lid back on and set the timer to three minutes.

Again, I was deep in thought. "I don't recall seeing that man in the store until now. Maybe he was just a regular costumer and he just wasn't aware that the store had closed already? But that doesn't explain the Conductor's Baton. Or what he was doing. Maybe he was a thief! But then again, the Conductor's Baton? What is it for anyway? Is it some kind of radioactive waste scanner or something?!?"

Two minutes had passed now, and I decided now would be a good time to stir the noodles around. I removed the lid and set it down in the same place where it was before, and stirred the rice noodles around a bit until the square no longer existed and the timer beeped, so I turned it off. I turned the dial on the stove from high to off, making a clicking noise as I did so.

I pulled a bowl down from another pantry and placed it on the mahogany table with a fork placed by it. I carefully picked up the pot by its handle and dumped the noodles and broth into the bowl, placing five ice cubes on top of it. I set the pot back down on the stove, and sat down where I placed the steaming bowl of chicken deliciousness.

I had just began to eat when I heard a knock at the door. I rolled my eyes, put my fork down and walked over to answer the door. I opened it to find the same man that was in the music store last night!