Then And Now

Chapter 5-"Sway"

Narrator- 

Nathan casually browsed through the list of emails he received in the overnight hours, while being well aware of the still standing Savannah in his peripheral vision. He took a sip from of the warm black liquid in his coffee cup every few seconds, and purposely avoided looking in Savannah's direction. 

Across the room, the auburn-haired secretary breathed softly through her nostrils. Her calcaneus bones slowly developed a bitter ache, as they were forced against the hard wooden notch of her heels. Her pinky toes also burned at the tip and nailbeds, while her arms broke out in bumps of stress and anxiety. 

The sun illuminated the quiet room, and the makeup of white nose consisted of quiet breath sounds, the distant honking of a yellow cab below, the occasional bird which flew by the building, and the intermittent typing of Nathan's slender fingers and trimmed nails on the grey keystrokes of his modern keyboard. 

Savannah cleared her throat mutely and gathered a bit of saliva in the pockets of her round cheeks insulated in baby fat, before sending the liquid down her esophagus. Nathan composed an email and replied to a potential partner, then he picked up his cell phone to check the weather and the stakes of his overnight stock market. 

Savannah closed her eyes for a swift second and inhaled through her nares. The base of her spine where it connected with her pelvis thrummed with a sharp ache. It begged for the pressure to be taken off, while her brain concocted every possible risk of her developing lordosis if she remained in this statue-like posture for a second longer. 

Savannah drew in a lung-full of air and decided to speak up even if it risked her getting into trouble with her boss. 

"Mr. Court-"

"What do have on the schedule for today?" Nathan suddenly spoke up while shutting off his phone and leaning back in his chair. 

He plopped the expensive rectangular device onto the surface of his desk, then proceeded to rub his palms together, while glancing at Savannah's face, hoping to catch sight of her annoyance and frustration. 

Savannah quickly licked her bottom lip in exasperation, then she exhaled sharply yet still mutely and forced the corners of her lips to rise in a quick smile that didn't meet her pupils. Nathan blinked at her behavior and tapped a finger against his lips, as if he was waiting for her. Then Savannah retrieved her phone in her pocket and opened the calendar app. Clearing her suddenly dry throat for the third time that morning, Savannah pulled her shoulders down, opened her vocal cords to project, and with confidence, she began her report. 

"We have a scheduled meeting with Castro at 10 AM," Savannah started calmly, while suppressing the notes of anger coating her words, "then at twelve we have lunch with a new firm to represent the company."

As Savannah spoke, Nathan leaned a straight index against his pink lips, and absentmindedly nodded along with every word she uttered. He had to hand it to her, she was an efficient and reliable worker. But he expected no less from the girl who graduated top fifteen of their class, and only had report cards sporting As and Bs and a 3.7+ GPA.  

"Then at three o'clock, we have a meeting with all the department heads to present their new agendas based on the notes you provided last week." Savannah continued in a professional monotone, not caring much for Nathan's leaned back and relaxed posture in his fancy, back massaging black office chair.

"Following that we just wrap up for the day and work on the schedule for tomorrow and the rest of the week." Savannah concluded, then she shut off her phone and waited on her boss's instructions. 

Nathan nodded firmly on Savannah's final syllable and period. 

"Do you know who will be accompanying Castro for the meeting today?" Nathan wondered, while sitting up and pulling close to his desk once again by gripping the desk's edge with his manicured fingers.