much, though, will they?’
‘I’ll tell them.’ She smiled at him. ‘How’s your fish? I bet it’s fun having him on your desk.’
‘Oh, fine.’ He lifted his right foot to pull on that boot and nearly lost his balance.
She reached out to steady him. ‘Mr. Fins loves it in our bedroom. He just swims and swims.’
‘Pulpy!’ said Dan’s voice as soon as Pulpy sat down.
Pulpy jerked, and Eduardo in the next cubicle leaned back a little to see around their partition.
Dan came up and clapped Pulpy on the back. ‘Beatrice and I had a great time with you and Midge last night!’
‘Well.’ Pulpy watched Eduardo listening. ‘Thank you. We did too.’
‘A great time. And I was thinking – Beatrice and I were saying to each other after you left – that you are exactly the person we need to set things right around here.’
‘I am?’
‘You are.’
‘Is Beatrice here today?’
‘She’s going to start tomorrow.’ Dan focused on Pulpy’s computer screen. ‘She had some appointments to attend.’
Pulpy moved his cursor, just to do something. ‘Midge is getting her hair cut today.’
‘There you go.’ Dan smiled at him. ‘Beatrice was saying she’d love to go shopping with Midge sometime. Do you think Midge would like that?’
‘Oh, sure.’ He nodded. ‘Sure she would.’
‘Great. You know, Pulpy, I think we can really do a lot better here. There is definite room for improvement in this office, and as head of the Social Committee you could be a real force for change.’
‘Do we have a Social Committee?’
‘We do now. You can’t organize a potluck without a Social Committee.’
‘Hmm,’ said Pulpy. ‘I never really think of myself as a force.’
‘Well, you can start today. Because a force is what you are. A force to be reckoned with.’
Pulpy looked down at his chest and pulled at his shirt to make the buttons align more evenly. ‘Maybe you’re right.’
‘I know I am. And I’m glad to see you’re coming around. Now all we need is some forward momentum and there’s nothing we can’t do.’
He pinched his fingers along the neat fold down the front of his new pants. ‘Then I guess it’s worth a try.’
‘So!’ Dan put his hands on his hips. ‘What are you and Midge up to this evening?’
‘Hmm, well. I’m not sure.’
‘Great! We’ll come over.’
‘Oh, Pulpy, my hair looks awful!’
‘What happened?’ Pulpy had the pay phone between his cheek and his shoulder and was holding a napkin dispenser from one of the food-court tables. He pulled out a napkin and dabbed it onto the mustard stain on his new pants.
‘I said to her, “The front and the sides are good. Don’t touch the front or the sides. The top and the back, that’s all I need done.” But she didn’t listen to me!’
‘I’m sure it looks fine. But maybe you should try a different hairdresser next time.’
‘I couldn’t do that.’ She went quiet for a second. ‘I’ve been with her for so long, Pulpy. We have a history together. And then what if the new hairdresser did a bad job? A worse job? Then I’d have to go back to my old hairdresser and she’d know I’d seen someone else and it would be very uncomfortable.’
‘You could if you wanted to.’ The stain wasn’t coming out. He shoved the soiled napkin into the breast pocket of his coat and pulled a fresh one out of the dispenser. ‘It’s all about reframing.’
‘Where did you hear that?’
‘The receptionist. She’s taking a course.’
‘Hmm,’ said Midge.
‘Did we have a plan for tonight?’ he said. ‘Were we doing anything?’
‘No, we said we were staying in, remember?’
Neither of them said anything for a few seconds and then Pulpy cleared his throat. ‘Guess what? Dan made me the head of the Social Committee.’
‘He did? That’s got to be a good sign. Has he said anything about your promotion yet?’
‘Not yet. But I’m organizing a potluck. I have to make a sign-up sheet.’ He lost his grip on the napkin and it drifted to the floor. ‘Dan also said Beatrice wants to go shopping with you.’
‘What? But I don’t even know her.’
‘But at the Ice Follies. You got to know her then. And she’s my boss’s wife.’
‘I know she’s your boss’s wife. I just didn’t like the way she looked at you. Or me. She has a very judgmental way of looking at other women. She starts at their shoes and then she looks up, like to see what kind of a person would be wearing those shoes.’
‘Really? I didn’t notice that.’
‘Well, you wouldn’t. You always give people the benefit of the doubt, Pulpy. That’s what gets you in trouble.’ Midge sighed. ‘Why would she want to go shopping with me?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe she’s lonely.’
‘How can she be lonely? She’s married.’
‘Sometimes married people get lonely,’ he said.
‘Not us, though, right?’
‘No way.’ His neck was hurting, so he tried to reposition the phone by squishing his cheek sideways, but the motion dislodged the receiver and it fell and swung in a wide arc on its cord. He grabbed for it, letting go of the napkin dispenser. ‘Hello? Midge?’ The dispenser banged onto the floor.
‘What happened?’ she said. ‘What was all that noise?’
‘Nothing. I just – Nothing.’ He toed the dispenser, unsuccessfully trying to right it.
Pulpy sat in front of his computer screen and typed ‘Food To Bring To The Potluck.’
He looked at that for a minute and then changed it to ‘Food I Will Bring To The Potluck.’
He cursored back. ‘Potluck (Food) Contribution.’
That one made him nod. He spaced down and typed
