THE EXTRA DEGREE

Adrian folded the sleeper sofa after Lenore left that morning. He sprayed it with a  disinfectant spray that smelled overtly clinical and proved to be quite effective in defuncting the funk from his bunk. Today, he’d leave the window open a crack, air the place out. By nightfall it would be ‘springtime fresh’ like it said, but for now, his eyes stung, sinuses swelled, as did his throat, and thickening his tongue. He held his breath the best he could, grabbed his coat, his satchel, and escaped quick out the door, finally gasping aloud in the hall, while locking up. Miss Newsome in ‘18’, popped out, head cocked.

“You okay, Adrian? Whew! What’s that odor? …never smelled it before. Is that you, Adrian? Is everything alright in there?”

“Sorry, yes, Miss Newsome. A touch of mold from an old wet rag…gave the place a stank from the sink, so I had to spray…threw the old rag away.”

“A bit overwhelming! Whew! ”

“I’ll say. I think I’m allergic, but we do what we need to do, in order to be sanitary. Better than mold spores, don’t you agree?”

“Indeed.”

“Okay, then, I must scurry or I’ll miss the bus again, and this time it could be big trouble!”

“Then scoot! Don’t be yacking with the likes of me!”

“Thank you Miss Newsome. See you soon. B’bye!”

“Goodbye, Adrian! Be careful!” she called down the hall as he descended the stairs.

He wondered what he should be careful of, but she was right, once on the street you had to be ready for anything in this neighborhood. It wasn’t the roughest, but it could, on occasion, be quite rude, and tussles were not uncommon. Most were only vocal, but some turned physical, and that’s a department where Adrian came up short. Oh, he was quite crafty with the verbal jab, but that particular skill often pissed others off, frustrated them, resulting in their outright rage, so Adrian learned the finer points of the quick escape. Today was smooth sailing, thank goodness, because he simply didn’t have the time to waste in getting to work on time. He wondered if Lenore would acknowledge him…embarrass him…tip off the crew to their dalliance. He wondered if they already knew. He knew that others had been there before, and two were excused…both good family men that Lenore had seduced, and caught red handed with no good excuse, on the streets they landed. He wondered how Lenore endured, but then he knew, too, that she had to have dirt on Mr. Durst and that could cripple the division and all their livelihoods, so the lid was firmly put on that simmering pot, so it won’t boil over, that way no one gets hurt. Let the old goat get off, who cared, as long as the checks cashed? But, if Durst caught wind of Adrian, he too, was a goner…a younger man, a junior, really, could not compete with The Big Cheese upstairs. Lenore, would almost contemptuously file her nails, looking bored, while Durst solemnly issued orders to staff, or addressed the Board.  He persistently denied any hint of the defiling, but he did it, we all knew. And it would seem from that point on, from our collective point of view, he was the one that was being screwed. She had ‘the goods’, and she used them to get the goods on the old geezer, alright. Oh, He enjoyed it, and at his age who wouldn’t? (Hell, at my age I did!) So he kept her close…odds are, (…and the office joke). there’s a quickie in the closet, if she’s not at her post. But, as good as she was at giving him ‘trim’ she was left wanting, this shark had to swim, so she worked the pool of office boys and yanked their junior staff members, just for fun and to make up for Him. She preferred them younger, she had come to learn, and would say so in memos, how much she yearned, but warned, “…once you read this, be sure it gets burned. … if not, you do.”

I got that message late one afternoon, then She got Me, “...after hours…mailroom”. Now, when she’s overcome with the Urge…that Need…I am obliged, if she buzzes me. And, so very thankful I received my degree, she assures me I'm so well equipped, that I'm bound to succeed.