To be continued

“And let me tell you about the gaskets in the cellar’s boiler room,” John added. We’d been talking seventy-five minutes about maintenance of the Dayton franchise’s crumbling facility. So far, we’d made no decisions.

I looked at my watch. Mike would be at the gym in fifteen minutes. I’d promised him I’d work out with him today. We’d do chest and shoulders. He’d stand above me in his short shorts and I’d stare at his hairy legs, bulky crotch, sculped torso, and smooth, brown skin. Perhaps he’d notice I didn’t look too bad, either.

Every minute counted. Dan responded to John, Serge added his own remarks, Lucy put in her two cents. Eight people, total, each one letting the other know, “Hey, I’ve got something really smart to add to the discussion about the boiler room and gaskets.” People looked at me, expecting I’d have something to say. I’d stopped listening after John led off with And let me tell you. The meeting was already thirty minutes over schedule.

We broke up … finally … at 6:30, an hour after we were supposed to be finished. John’s last remark, “We’ll continue where we left off tomorrow afternoon at our regular 5:00 meeting.”