Page 10 of Havoc and Humor
“We can probably stop them before they get up here…”
But no. There would be no stopping this celebration. The office was full of people now. It was just 8:30, and we had already gotten a few looks—but it wasn’t odd for Sawyer to be in myoffice this early. We worked together frequently. No one knew what had occurred last night. Except for me. I’d never forget it.
A string of people entered, holding bouquets of fake flowers. One of them sat a speaker down.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the train wreck in front of me. Two men dressed in identical jester-style spandex suits began their routine. The music played while one of the men climbed on the other’s shoulders.
“Hear ye, good sir! We’ve come to set right the wrong done to our dear friend and kindest soul in the world, Sir Sawyer.”
I blinked. Surely this was a dream.
Others in the office had gathered around. Meanwhile Sawyer covered his face with his hands, either crying or laughing, I couldn’t tell.
Then the two jesters began their song.
“You forgot his hire date and that’s okay!” They clapped.
“You forgot his hire date and that’s okay!” Two claps.
“You forgot his hire date, but it’s okay, the gifts can wait. You forgot his hire date, now let’s have cake!”
The man who carried the stereo in, now held a massive sheet cake, and he held it out to me with a wide smile on his face. Around me, the office burst into applause.
Sawyer managed to put his hands down and he gave everyone a dramatic bow.
“Sorry,” he mouthed to me.
I couldn’t be mad. I expected something like this from Sawyer. He knew how to get work done, but he also knew how to have fun. It was people like him that kept this office running smoothly.
“Well, I guess we’re getting cake two days in a row. Congratulations on two years, Sawyer.” I peered over to look at the cake and burst out laughing. “Thanks for not firing me… yet.”
He sure knew how to keep things interesting.
Sawyer took the cake and ushered the entertainers out of the office. They left the assortment of bouquets around my office. It was going to be very fragrant today. Thankfully, the flowers were some of my favorites, dahlias and zinnias in various shades of pinks and peaches. Was that a coincidence or did Sawyer know my favorite flowers?
“I am so sorry about that, Mark. I totally forgot it was today. I would have canceled because… well, because… I mean…”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I’d never seen Sawyer speechless.
“It’s fine. Although if we continue to have cake every day, my waistline is going to protest.”
Sawyer licked his lips and looked me up and down. He seemed to do it subconsciously. “You look fine.”
Suddenly the temperature went up thirty degrees. I opened my mouth to say something, but my phone rang. It wasn’t a call, just my alarm letting me know I was due at the board meeting in less than five minutes. I needed to get moving.
“I’ll let you get to work. I’ll, umm…” Sawyer backed out of my office, and as soon as he was clear of the door, he spun around and sprinted to his desk.
Right. Okay. So. We managed to talk. Not about anything important, and it was awkward as hell, but we did it.
Now we just had to get through the rest of the day.
Chapter 6
Sawyer
My day passed unlike any other. Not a single part of it was how every other day had ever gone before.
First, my commute to work was so short—absolute awesomeness. Ten out of ten, totally recommend. I merely crossed the street and I was there. It was perfection. Mark was a lucky bastard.
