Friday, August 05, 2005

#10 Coffee...At the Office...

#10  Coffee is the Best Medicine...August 5, 2005
...The Strange Happenings in a Coffee Shop
 
(You may start reading at any point in the story.
It isn't that complicated!)

 
Later, we arrived at the office of my friend, Dr. Cutler. I'm not saying I got plastic surgery from him; he is simply my friend. Actually, he is a friend of a friend--you know, one of those kinds of arrangements. I don't normally believe in plastic surgery; but he is a kindly gentleman and an excellent doctor, and Alfred, well...he needed help. 

Our gang filled the tiny waiting room. We were five in all--Rose the waitress; Butch, the burly coffee shop customer; Alfred and Brenda, the squabbling couple from the shop; and me--an innocent bystander.

Butch, just by the nature of his ballooned body filled half the room all by himself. He slammed into one of the plastic-coated cushioned chairs, making the seat wheeze. I and the others settled around him. 

Behind the glass window, a nurse tapped away at a computer; I watched as she raised her head to catch a glimpse of us. When her eyes traveled to Alfred, she bolted out of her chair and let out a scream.

"Aaaah!" Her face went from a rosy pink to white.

"Ma'am?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

A nervous cough escaped her before she spoke. "I'm sorry. The tall fellow in the bow tie. He startled me. We don't usually get people that disfigured in here. Was he in a train wreck or something?"

"No. He was born that way. What is your name by the way--like, 'Nurse Sally Sensitivity' or something?" I asked.

Alfred reached over and grabbed my hand and whispered, "Thank you."

Then Butch lifted his sizeable self out of the chair and walked to the nurse's window. Now Butch is a big fella, over 6 feet tall and about 250 lbs. So when that man speaks, people listen. He leaned down to the window opening.

"I think you owe my friend, Alfred, an apology," he said. His booming voice filled the room like rolling thunder. Did the glass panel around the nurse shake, or did I imagine it?

The nurse's eyes widened; I noticed the hand holding her pen trembled, making the pen tap-tap against the desktop. The tiny woman looked up at the towering angry giant before her and darn near freaked.

"I'm sorry," she said. 



To be Continued

Copyright 2005 JO Janoski

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