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I put pressure on the scrape. It wasn’t deep, but it stung like the devil.
He grabbed napkins from a nearby table. “I’ve got something for that.” He pulled a carton of Band-Aids from the pocket of his cargo pants.
I dabbed at the cut with the napkins. The bleeding had pretty quickly stopped, but the pain hadn’t.
He deftly applied two Band-Aids over the cut. “That should do you for now. I guess you can file for worker’s comp tomorrow.” He laughed.
“And admit how this happened? Not on your life.”
We continued to the food line, and I chose the ham and cheese and a bottle of iced tea.
I made a detour after eating to the employee locker room where I’d stashed my purse and changed the Band-Aids after adding Neosporin to the cut. I also popped two Advil for the sting—well-stocked purse to the rescue again.
The afternoon was exceedingly slow, and I found myself wondering about Adam. I pulled out my phone to send a message.
ME: How’s work?
The return message didn’t take long.
ADAM: Boring
ME: Same here
ADAM: What do you need?
ME: Just checking in
ADAM: Let me know a little before yur done
That said it all. Don’t bother me until I have to be on duty protecting your sorry ass. Nonetheless, a minute later I was mentally replaying our shower scene in my head. My skin prickled as I visualized myself naked in front of him. His words said one thing, but his body had conveyed another.
The sound of an x-ray customer walking our way brought me back to the present. This was the first person to return his camera and hand me the serialized SIM card with his pictures.
After the lone customer exited the building, I went back to my daydream. What did Adam really think of me?
Len interrupted with another of his rants about the evil of insurance companies. He’d lost his wife to breast cancer, and he blamed the insurance. It was sad, but he obviously needed something or somebody to focus his grief and anger on.
Hal obliged him with the occasional agreement.
I kept on my feet to walk a bit between stints on the unforgiving chair. As the end of the day neared, one by one, the departing employees were cross-checked against the entry log on their way out.
Every single person leaving was subjected to the same extensive metal detector and x-ray protocol as coming in. My additional task was collecting all the SIM cards from the cameras.
The director of paleontology tried to get his bag through without an x-ray, but six-foot-six Len wasn’t having it. The big guard seemed to enjoy telling him off, and the director backed down.
A little after six PM we’d crossed off almost all the regular employees and were down to the two dozen guards and about six others, including Yolanda.
I texted Adam.
ME: Almost done
Mark, Evelyn, and Kirby were among the last out. They were all haggard, but Evelyn looked the worst. Kirby grumbled about how Mr. Heiden had skipped out after lunch, leaving the rest of the day to us peons.
Yolanda came down from upstairs at the last minute. “I’m still going to need all of tomorrow,” she lamented. “I was going to make chili for us, if that sounds okay?”
I waved. “Sounds terrific.”
After the last employee was done, we handled the guard staff. It was funny to hear them voicing the same complaints about having to remove belts, rings, and watches as the others had in the morning.
