Faint heart never won fair lady
Yeah Write weekly challenge #494
Character: A mailroom clerk
Action: Eating a bundt cake
Paul trundled his trolley past the lunch room. He stopped and steadied the topmost parcel. Paula was there, on her break. He felt a tightness in his chest and his heart beat a little faster. She was gorgeous, head bent over a crossword puzzle, pen just touching her bottom lip.
He thought about going in and saying hello. He wheeled his trolley to the side of the corridor and dried his hands along the sides of his pants. He took one tentative step around his trolley before Mr Acheson, the manager, boomed from behind him, “Those parcels won’t deliver themselves, Paul!”
Acheson’s stentorian tones made Paula look up. Did she smile? Paul couldn’t be sure. Cheeks on fire, he resumed his round.
The next day, there was a parcel for Paula. Paul was excited and apprehensive. He had an excuse to talk to her, but what would he say? His mind swarmed with opening gambits. He just had to pick the right one.
Paul approached Paula’s desk, that stupid rear wheel squeaking his approach. He was within a few feet of her when his shoe caught on a section of upturned carpet. He lurched forward with a surprised grunt, at the same time almost flinging himself onto the trolley to save a toppling parcel.
Paula looked up with a start to be confronted with a spreadeagled Paul.
Paul slid back off the trolley and managed a sickly smile. “Uh...parcel.”
Paula smiled and stood up to take delivery. “This one?” She indicated a flat package.
“Erm..yeah. Um, you have to sign.” He flicked the register open and dropped his pen in the process. He stooped to retrieve it and hit his head on one of the trolley’s handles as he got up.
“Ooh, that looked like it hurt, “ sympathised Paula. She touched the back of his head.
“I..I’m okay.” Paul uttered a short laugh. “Happens all the time.” Paul cursed himself. That made him sound like an uncoordinated idiot. All of his opening gambits had fled. He was on his own.
Paula had signed and was looking at him expectantly. Paul’s eyes darted around her desk and noticed a book on baking. He looked up and stammered, “I..I have to go.” As he continued his round, Paul knew what he would do.
He purchased the ingredients and a cake tin. He’d researched the cake on line and felt confident.
A puff of hot, cake-laden air greeted Paul as he tenderly took the cake out. The bundt was perfect. He looked forward to tomorrow.
The next day, he completed his deliveries at warp speed and caught up with Paula on her break. She was alone, reading a magazine. “Hi, Paul. What’ve you got there?” The shape of the bundt cake was obvious through the translucent cover.
“You like baking.” Paul thrust the plate towards her. Paula took it and eagerly removed the cover.
“Wow! This looks delicious. Did you make it?”
“Yes, I...Have a piece”
Paula found a knife and cut two large slices. Paul ignored his piece and gazed at Paula. He was hopeful but also poised for rejection.
Paula looked at Paul as she bit into the cake. She made mmming sounds of appreciation. A crumb of cake appeared on the cleft above her top lip. She picked it off with the tip of her tongue. Her bright eyes and wide smile invited a response from Paul.
Say something, say something, say something, say somethi, say some, say sooooooooo
“It’s crashed again!” The chief technician threw his pen down, turned away from the monitor, and skewered the programmers with a glare. “I thought you said it was fixed?”
“We thought it was. We checked every line of code.”
“It always gets to this point and crashes. You’ve set the Nervousness Coefficient way too high and the Confidence Parameters too low. I don't get it, Paula’s working fine. You guys are aware, are you not, that further funding depends on this scenario reaching first-date stage? Work all night if you have to, but I want tomorrow’s iteration to be error-free.”
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