It's Only Temporary

Chapter 10: Unpaid Debts (Part 2)

"Thanks," he said, flicking the Christmas list with the back of his finger nail. "I will take this under advisement."

Penny watched her boss's retreating form as he left her cubicle and headed toward his office. He glanced at her over his shoulder, and she felt her cheeks warm up at having been caught with her eyes on him.

He turned and lifted his hands, wiggling his fingers in a pantomime of typing on a keyboard. "Work?" he mouthed silently, raising his eyebrows.

She replied with an exaggerated shrug. Instead of turning back toward her computer, she reached into the open gift box of chocolate-covered cherries. She popped another one into her mouth, closing her eyes and chewing lazily, until the sound of his laughter rewarded her.

She opened her eyes to smile back at him, but he'd already disappeared behind his office doors.

Penny swiveled in her chair and tried to force her attention back to the spreadsheet on her screen. She moved her cursor to an empty row and started filling in the boxes with names and dates, but her mind kept wandering back to the way his face had looked when he sat there squinting at her Christmas list.

It was good to hear him laughing again. For a while, she'd wondered if she would ever hear the sound again.  She looked down at her keyboard and sighed as her mind drifted back over those long days and nights in the hospital, sitting beside his bed. He'd spent three days in the ICU after coming out of surgery. Three days of watching and waiting, before he'd even regained consciousness - before he'd blinked against the glare of the fluorescent lights and looked around the room with frightened eyes-

Penny was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of a loud crash. She froze, listening. Had it come from David's office? Had something happened? Had he fallen down? She nearly toppled her desk chair behind her in her haste to get to his door.

Her heart was in her throat as she pushed the door open. She brought her hand to her chest in relief when she saw him standing just inside.

She couldn't see his face. He had his back to the door and his hands jammed in his pockets. He didn't turn to look as she entered the room behind him.

"David?" she asked softly.

He was staring at a blank wall opposite the door. She moved a few paces into the office and stopped just behind his left shoulder, but still he didn't move or turn around.

"David?" she said again. "I heard a noise."

She lifted her hand to touch his elbow and felt him flinch at the contact. She followed his gaze and saw the remnants of a broken keyboard on the floor at the base of the wall.

"What happened?"

She stooped down to pick the keyboard up, but she saw in an instant that it was damaged behind repair. The frame was bent. Most of the keys had come loose and lay strewn about the floor. An exposed wire protruded from the hole where the cord should have been. She looked up and touched her finger to a spot on the wall where the paint had chipped away.

He must have thrown it, she realized with a shock. He must have yanked his keyboard off his desk with enough force to snap the cord and chucked it clear across the room.

She looked up at him questioningly, but he had turned away again. She could hear the sound of his breathing - harsh and jagged - as she began gathering up the loose pieces.

"Leave it," he said in a tight voice. "I'll clean it up myself."

"I'll get you a new one."

He still didn't turn around. "Forget it. Go. Now." He held his arm out straight and pointed toward the door. "Now."