“CRACKED ICE” by Leora Tozer © 2013 - Part 4
The next day, I was busy with paperwork. Leo entered the office early.
“Hey, do you play cards?” he asked.
“What type of cards?” I replied.
“Bridge, pinochle, or poker,” he answered.
“I had played poker or blackjack when I was a kid, but we only bet with buttons,” I responded.
“Well, come here,” he said. “We’ll play for pennies.”
I found two rolls of pennies in the desk drawer, and snatched them out. So that’s what they were there for. I rolled my office chair into Leo’s office and sat across from him at his desk. He was shuffling his cards, and had me cut the cards.
“How about five card draw?” he asked.
“Alright, but I’m rusty,” I answered.
“Rusty? Need oil?” he smiled. “That’s fine, I’ll teach you.”
He dealt the cards and we played a couple of hands. He won the first one and I won the second hand. While we played the third hand, Art came in, pulled a chair up with the back facing the desk, sat down with his arms leaning on the back of the chair, and watched. Leo won the third hand and for the fourth hand, he dealt Art in. I handed Art the unopened roll of pennies I had.
“Hey, you might need those later,” Leo said.
“Found these in the desk drawer. There’s more if needed,” I said, smiling.
As we played cards, Art tried to look at my hand a few times. When he did that, I’d swat his hand lightly away. I was dealt a full house, bet 2 pennies and won the hand. Leo dealt another round and I won again with three of a kind.
“Hey, when did you become a card shark?” Leo teased.
“Just beginner’s luck. Besides, do I look like a card shark?” I teased back.
Meanwhile, Henry noticed it was quiet. He walked out of his office and no one was at the front desk, so he decided to see what was going on. Henry seemed vexed as he walked into Leo’s office and saw us playing cards.
“How dare you have a card game without dealing me a hand,” Henry said.
“You in?” Leo asked.
“Now that you’ve corrupted the new secretary, is the game strip poker?” Henry inquired, smiling at me and raising his eyebrows slightly.
Before Leo could answer, I piped up. “For that, I would require 24 hours notice to play.”
“How come?” Henry asked.
I replied, “So I would be wearing layers of 4 days of clothes.”
Leo laughed, “Henry, you don’t want to lose your pants to her that way. I just taught her to play and she’s already a genuine card shark.”
Before the cards were dealt, Art suddenly stood up and grabbed the back of my chair, “Time for a new game! Chair race.”
Art pushed me in my chair to the hallway and said, “Who’s in?” I pretended to put on a pair of driving goggles and a pair of driving gloves.
Leo stood up and offered the seat of his wheeled chair to Henry. They were soon in the hallway. I was pantomiming starting a car, moved my feet as if to adjust the gas and clutch petals, and then using my right hand to shift the car into gear.
As soon as they said, “Get ready…Get set,” Art whispered, “Hang on tight, honey.” I quickly linked my arms through the chair arms.
“Go!” The chairs barreled down the hall.
At first, Art had a good jump on Leo and pushed my chair ahead. Leo was able to catch up and they were even. Henry asked, “Can I get abreast of a woman driver?”
I replied, “Not if her dad raced jalopies from time to time.”
Once again, Art pulled ahead of his brothers, and we reached the end of the hall. He spun my chair around, and we past Leo and Henry as they arrived at the end of the hall.
I could hear Henry tell Leo to “hurry up” as we scooted down the hall. In the middle of the hall, it felt like someone was trying to pull on the back of my chair. After I shifted around, I could see Henry trying to slow down my chair by hanging onto the back. Art gave his hand a friendly swat.
When we neared the open office door, I could see younger man standing in the doorway. Art moved to the side, to avoid knocking his youngest brother over. After we reached the end of the hall, Art raised my hand up, “The winner!” Leo, pushing Henry’s chair, was close behind and nearly ran over Herb’s foot.
Herb shook his head at his brothers, “Is this how you spend most days?”
Art smiled, “No, just Wednesdays.”
Henry answered, “Stick around. Let’s find out if your tie can be fed into the adding machine, preferably when you’re still wearing it.”
“Maybe next time. I’m on my way to a meeting. Just stopped by for the letters that were sent here by mistake,” Herb said.
“You mean Fan mail?” Henry asked. “Why yours are mainly letters from 40 year old divorced dames.”
“Well, they need answers too,” I replied. I hopped out of the chair and ran to my desk. I grabbed the manila envelope marked “Herb” and walked back into the hall.
“Here are the letters for you. I’ve included some ideas for answering them faster, if your secretary is interested,” I offered.
“Thank you,” Herb replied.
I went back to my desk and worked.
To be continued...
