needed company.
Tyler inquired with courtesy, “Vacant?” And he indicated the chair across from her.
She looked up from her book to look only at the chair. She said, “Nobody’s around. You can have it.” And she went back to her book.
She didn’t say one word to Tyler. She didn’t even look at him. He felt like a ghost. Women looked at Tyler. He was always careful to only smile and never wink. Winking can get a man in trouble.
His table partner went on reading. He tried to see what the book was. Not a clue. He asked, “What’s the book about?”
She briefly looked up and said, “Huh?” But she instantly went back to the book.
That’s a put-off. So Tyler didn’t try for dialogue.
It was diminishing to have a book be more interesting than being a man like he was. He asked for the salt.
Blindly, she handed it to him from the middle of the small table. She didn’t look up from the book.
He pretended to salt everything without salting anything. He didn’t tilt the shaker but he moved his hand up and down as if he was salting it all. She never looked up. Then he put the shaker in the middle of the table. He asked, “Why is the book so interesting?”
“I’m on my lunch hour.”
Tyler narrowed his eyes. That was another put-off. She was on her lunch hour therefore she didn’t need to discuss anything with a stranger.
She ate and read. Tyler sat silently and ate. He looked around somewhat. No one was staring at him with knowledgeable sneers. People went on with their lives not needing to know what Tyler Fuller was doing or how he was doing or if he was deliberately being ignored by another indifferent woman.
It’s diminishing to realize no one really cares about a recently divorced man.
He remembered the sci-fi motion picture of The Shrinking Man. Tyler’s clothes still fit. He could sit on a chair. He wasn’t actually shrinking.
That was something to be thankful about. He drew a breath that was rather sad. She didn’t look up. A man could sigh that sadly and that heartless woman didn’t even have the courtesy to ask what was the matter. What was the world coming to?
So Tyler took the long way back to the office. He told Jamie, “I met a woman at lunch.”
Jamie never glanced up. He replied. “I saw her.”
Tyler silently sat down at his desk. Jamie had seen the reading woman who’d never even once looked at Tyler.
Tyler picked up some papers and began to read them for errors. He went back and began again. He finally actually began to read.
Three
One assignment, for Tyler, was research for a company that was considering leasing space in a shopping center, there in San Antonio. For their client, Tyler was to examine the proposal for loopholes in the lease. He would study what it took to terminate the contract if that should be needed.
Tyler would find what remedies there were if the lessor didn’t keep the stated promises. He would see whether the lessor cleaned and repaired the rented areas. And he would find how the rental fees compared with what the other tenants in the center paid, and how the rents there compared to those at other shopping centers.
Not only rents were compared, but also the fees the lessor charged for advertising the shopping center and what advertising media he used. And Tyler was to check if the parking lot was also attractive, neat, cared for and repaired.
Tyler would not be the one to negotiate the contract. That would be done by other lawyers in the firm who had more business experience. But Tyler would sit in on those negotiations and learn how it was done.
He was still in the “gofer” category. Just about everything he was assigned to do was a...learning experience.
And for all such research, Tyler reported to his superior, Barbara Nelson, whom he tenaciously called Miss Nelson. He asked a whole lot of questions of his office buddy, Jamie Oliver. Jamie had been there longer.
And there were times when Jamie replied, “You’ll have to ask Barb.”
“How can you call her Barb so carelessly?”
And Jamie who rarely looked up from his papers replied, “She doesn’t see me.”
Thoughtfully, Tyler suggested, “It’s probably because she hasn’t the nerve to attack you. She yearns for you and dreams of you.”
“I wish.”
And with some compassion for the ignored office mate, Tyler said, “She probably tries to lure me just to get your attention.”
That made Jamie laugh. He even glanced up. His eyes were dancing with lights of amusement.
Tyler thought of Jamie and wondered why Miss Nelson didn’t see the man. Maybe it was because Jamie never looked up but was so engrossed in law that Miss Nelson thought Jamie didn’t see her.
Kindly, Tyler advised, “You ought to spend more time out at the water cooler.”
“The staff gets too friendly.”
Tyler blinked once. Then he replied, “You’re too selective.”
“Want a date with a friend of mine who admires you?” Jamie again glanced at Tyler!
Tyler sighed and shook his head as he went back to his own papers.
Jamie told Tyler, “See? You, too, are selective. Mattie would spread her knees for you by the water cooler, she’s so smitten.”
“Who is this...Mattie? I’ve never heard of her.”
“That’s how Barb is with me. She can’t see me.”
And kindly, Tyler told Jamie, “She’s too old for you.”
“Two years. I taught for four years before I went to law school.”
And Tyler gasped, “You’re over thirty?” His voice even squeaked up.
“Yep. I’ve crossed the Great Divide.”
“Holy Moses.”
And Jamie agreed. “It’s awesome.”
“Have you told Miss Nelson how old you are?”
“She probably likes her men young and fresh.”
“I’ve been married!”
Jamie grinned, closemouthed, and bit his lower lip. That was to stop himself from commenting. And he immediately went back to work. But he was still irritatingly amused because he gently coughed a couple of times to hide his snorts of laughter.
So Barbara called Tyler to her office. And he had no choice. He went like a cat going into dog territory. He was alert, intense and very formal.
He didn’t jump up onto the top of the bookcases. He didn’t even sit. He said, “Yes?” And he earned a folder and a pencil.
Tyler wore the fake eyeglasses he’d taken up just recently. He had perfect sight and the glasses were only regular glass. He thought they made him look more aloof, unapproachable and withdrawn.
He looked young.
Barbara smiled and said, “I’ll need the folder on the Bennett’s lease tomorrow. Are you finished with it?”
Tyler’s heart was in his mouth. She would ask him to stay after hours. She had a leather couch in her office. He was vulnerable. What would he say?
Barbara went on, “Molly can’t stay tonight, so you won’t have a typist available. As I recall, you have a computer at home? You can take the brief home and get it done there. I’ll come by between nine and ten and collect it then. Okay?”