Doc's Place

© 2008, Michel Grover. All rights reserved.
Chapter 3 | Part 2
Monday, October 1, 1984

Pull a sheet of paper from a pad on the desk and sketch the office with two tables—one for writing and another for the telephone and working files. "These are small dining tables with hardwood tops. I'll pick my own chair."

"All this comes out, even the trash can?" asks Louise.

"All except the filing cabinets," I tell her. "Trash can's too small. Stupid ideas leave this room only as trash."

"Shit," she says and picks up the telephone.

Hear people talking and turn to see seven people walking out of the far corner office. They spot me but they're involved in post-meeting chatter.

A little guy, five feet and change wearing a white shirt and tie, pops through the door across the hall. "What the hell?" he says. "Furniture not good enough for you?"

"No," I say. We gather around my sketch.

"Why hardwood?" he asks. "Why not folding tables?"

"Not stable," I tell him, "and the tops are not smooth and hard enough."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah and let me know where I can look at chairs," I add. "Got one of those tall trash cans?"

"That I have," he says. "What's this goddamn thing?" he asks, pointing at the drawing.

"Big light with a fluorescent bulb and a reticulating arm like you see on drafting tables. You may have one in storage."

"I do," he says, "and maple tables too, out at the Galeti Way warehouse. Wanna check `em out?"

"Sure," I say, "Let's go."

"Uh, what about a typewriter?" asks Louise.

"I'll hand drafts to a typist."

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Doc's Place Chat
© 2008, Michel Grover.
Chapter 3 | Part 2
Spring 2008

Mic :
In the left frame, I'm posting Doc's Place, one of my copyrighted stories. I'll post a part of a chapter, wait for a while so people may leave comments or questions and then post those I find interesting.

Alice :
Ha, Louise is already off balance. Got her cussing already.

Les :
Those 7 people in the marketing group?

Jill :
Yep.

Doug :
Talking about furniture is interesting?

Mic :
Building tension slowly.

Doug :
Like molasses in January, man

Lucia :
Doug, you adolescent, did you pick up that Louise is wrong once again? Not only that, she just finds out that she has to locate a typist for this bitch.

Amalie :
Also, Jill and this short, profane gentleman are ignoring Louise as they discuss Jill's furniture requirements. The implication is that they don't need Louise, in effect, dismissing her by ignoring her.

Alan :
Another thing working here is that the short, profane gentleman, as Amalie calls him, starts out pissed about having this bitch interrupt his day, but within a couple exchanges, he's showing a grudging respect for her.

Lucia :
Ah good point, Alan. He not only gets her attention but they quickly develop a mutual respect. Jill does it subtly so Louise gets frustrated and doesn't know why. Message: Jill snubs Louise for almost anyone.

Raj :
Have watch for thats snubs again and again as climb

Steph :
Raj is right. Jill is going to keep doing this. I was standing beside Peter and Jill when they agreed to snuff the careers of Louise and others at Doc's Place but Peter didn't bring me in on the big picture. It's fascinating to watch this process unfold in retrospect now that I know the open and hidden objectives.

Suze :
In the beginning, her callousness repelled us but now we're swinging over to empathy with Jill and sympathy for her objectives. We know the grand scheme as well as large and small objectives before Jill shows up for her first day. It seems to me that all of us are beginning to adopt Stephanie's fascination.

Cyril :
Sympathy for the devil.

Maria :
As Suze said yesterday in a different context, the devil's in the details.

Doug :
Nothing that says a Catholic schoolgirl can't cuss like a sailor.

Les :
Sorry we reacted like that last time, Amalie. Guess it hadn't occurred to us that you would use a word like splooge.

Jules :
We should have realized that Amalie is not only Catholic but French.

Ian :
Looked up your name, Amalie. It's usually spelled Amelie, which means work.

Amalie :
In fact, the morning I was born, my father held me in his arms and declared my name was not Amelie but Amalie, because, he said, I would not work for a living but think. As it turns out, amal in Arabic means hope.