en I got to work Monday morning just before 7:00, Mr. Boothe wasn't in yet. I sat down at my desk and put my lunch in my drawer. I booted up my computer and tapped my foot nervously.
I opened my email and responded to a couple of customer inquiries. I looked up when I heard Mr. Booth unlocking his office door. He looked like hell. He had a black eye, a bandaged cheek, a split lip as well as a nasal splint over his obviously broken and swollen nose.
He made eye contact with me, then quickly looked away and disappeared into his office, shutting the door behind him.
I had just printed out my routes and manifests for the morning when I heard the clunk of cowboy boots behind me. I swiveled around in my chair to see Ben walking down the hall towards my cubicle.
"You okay?" he asked quietly. "Where did you go Friday night?"
"I'm okay. My bus was coming, so I went home."
"Oh. Well, I was... um... worried you were... uh... hurt," he said as he looked down at his feet.
"I just saw Mr. Boothe. He looked... hurt."
"He won't be bothering you again. If he does, you come tell me right away. I'll take care of it."
My eyes filled with tears and I smiled at him warmly. "Thank you, Ben," I whispered.
He looked uncomfortable and nervous. He gave me a shy smile and cleared his throat and nodded. I gave him his paperwork and he left.
Mr. Boothe completely ignored me all morning. In fact, he didn't come out of his office at all. It was the calmest, most productive day I've had at work in a really long time.
At lunch time, I went to the break room with my brown bag and book and sat down at my table. I pulled out an apple and a cheese sandwich. Well, if you can call those orange squares that come individually wrapped 'cheese'.
As I ate my lunch, I could hear people quietly gossiping about Mr. Boothe and what they thought happened to him. No one seemed to really know what happened and I was thankful for that. I would die if anyone found out.
I was about halfway through my sandwich when I heard the clopping of cowboy boots. I knew before I looked up that it was Ben. He sat down alone at his usual table and pulled a big homemade sub sandwich out of his plastic grocery bag.
I returned to my own lunch, popping the last of the cheese sandwich into my mouth, when I heard a rustling noise in front of me. I looked up to see Ben setting his stuff down at my table across from me. He pulled a plastic knife out of his bag and cut his huge sub sandwich in half. He cut one of those in half and set it on a napkin in front of me. I looked at him questioningly. He licked his fingers, then got up and went to the soda machine and got two Cokes and returned to the table. He sat down and put one of the cans in front of me and popped the other one and took a drink.
He took a big bite of his sandwich and looked at me. "Eat up," he said while chewing with his mouth full.
I smiled at him and picked up the sandwich he had given me and took a bite. It was piled high with a lot of meat and it was really good. It was the nicest thing anyone had done for me in a really long time and it made me feel good. I took a deep breath and took another bite. I looked up at him and started grinning really big. He had mustard and mayo in the cleft of his chin. I giggled softly and pointed to my chin. He looked at me confused for a second, then wiped his chin with his fingers. He looked at the white and yellow mess, then licked his fingers clean and grinned back at me and laughed lightly.
I looked at Ben in a whole new light. Big Ben wasn't so ugly when he smiled and laughed. In fact, he was quite handsome to me. When he laughed, his face softened. And those little imperfections gave his face character.
I took the opportunity to look over the rest of him. He was wearing a flannel button-down shirt, the top three buttons were undone and he wore a white 'wife-beater' tank top undershirt underneath. I could see curly auburn hair spilling out over the top of his tank top and I wondered what it would feel like to touch it.
I was feeling attracted to Ben, both emotionally and physically. He was nice to me when no one else cared. He stood up for me and I felt safe around him.
I opened the Coke he bought me and took a drink. It had been a while since I had a soda and it was really sweet, but bubbly and good. I took another drink and gave Ben a little smile.
I finished up my little piece of his sub as he was finishing his.
"Thank you," I said quietly. "That was really nice of you."
"You're welcome. You eat like a bird. I don't know how you can survive."
"Well, I'm not quite as big as you," I said with a smile and that made him laugh, which made me feel really good.
I looked at the clock and reluctantly had to go back to work. I told Ben thanks again and took care of my trash. I gave him a shy wave and smile as I left.
Sitting at my desk, I had a big grin on my face the rest of the work day.
