He took to dropping in to her office at odd times. Occasionally it was to take her out to lunch. A couple of times he brought in “brown bag” lunches and sat with her at her desk laughing and chatting with her and everyone who passed by. At other times, he surprised her by picking her up from work and taking her to a show or something before going home. Every so often, a floral basket or a dozen roses would be delivered to her at work along with a heart-tugging card. On her birthday, a florist filled her cubicle with flowers, streamers, potted plants, and fruit baskets. An office lothario, recently transferred in from the office in the southeast suburb, took note and immediately aborted his initial interest in Peggy as a target. There were easier pickings up on the third floor.
The married women in the office began holding Kyle up as the standard by which they judged their own husbands. They demanded their men show them the same attention. All of the girls smiled when his name came up and they said how lucky Peggy was to have such a good man.
Few noticed how pinched her features got when they said that. Not many saw the look of irritation that came over her sometimes when Kyle appeared unexpectedly in her office.
They didn’t understand, but quite a few noticed she was less enthusiastic as time went on whenever flowers or candy were delivered out of the blue. They wondered why this would be. None knew of Kyle’s mistake so many months ago. Peggy never told anyone how she felt. She didn’t think anyone was willing to appreciate her side of the issue.
********
“Hi, Mom,” Peggy said. It was her regular Thursday evening call to her mother to check in.
“Hi, Hon,” her mom replied. “What’s up? Have you gotten Kyle to understand yet what he did to you?”
“No,” Peggy muttered, “I don’t think he ever will.”
“Horse manure!” Denise shot back. “You have to stand up to him, Peggy. It’s just not an option and you know it.”
“But, Mom, I never get a chance to find some guy out there to have a little…a little fling with. Kyle is always popping up wherever I am–at work, the tennis club. Any day now, I expect to find him in the shower at the gym. I just can’t get any distance from him to make things happen.” Her mother made sympathetic noises for a bit.
“There’s nobody at work?” she asked in a skeptical tone. Peggy snorted.
“He’s got every woman in that place wrapped around his little finger,” Peggy complained. If I even smile at another man, one of them will be on the phone calling my dear husband so fast…heck, he’ll probably be standing behind me before I could say hello to the guy.”
Denise made sympathetic noises for a time about her daughter being smothered by her husband. She lamented the fact he had managed to get everyone in the office on his side, but she couldn’t suggest any way to change what had already happened.
“Well, honey…let’s see,” Denise said, tapping the mouthpiece with a long fingernail. It was something her mother did that irritated Peggy no end but she didn’t say anything. She never did.