Page 41 of Inside Out
“Agreed,” Cait said. “I’ll also let them know the full board, not just the parent of one of the playwrights, read the play and approved it. I plan to objectively listen to valid complaints, not hateful rhetoric, and hold a public vote in front of those who attend.” The look in her eye said she wouldn’t be swayed to cancel the play because of some ignorant bigot, so I released a grateful sigh.
“Well, I guess that concludes this meeting then?” I asked. “Or was there anything else we needed to discuss?”
Cait looked around the room to see if anyone else had something they wished to bring up, but everyone shook their heads. “Meeting adjourned then. I will email everyone in the next day or so to confirm a time for Friday’s meeting.”
I shook the hands of each member as they left the boardroom then went in search of Priscilla and found her in Sandra’s office. Both of them were sitting behind Sandra’s desk looking at the computer, and I had no doubt they were already scrutinizing the names on the petition list.
“This is ridiculous,” Priscilla said, shaking her head. “It would be easier to point out the legitimate names on this list since there are so few of them. Ha! Gresham Powell died in 2015. Who the hell are they trying to fool with this bullshit list? I’m going to nail their balls to the wall.” Uh-oh! Someone woke up “The Dragon” and they would pay dearly.
“Let me know if I can help in any way,” I said, eliciting a startled gasp from the ladies. They’d been too enthralled with the list to notice I was standing inside the doorway.
“You can help by not giving an old woman a heart attack,” Priscilla told me. “Why are you sneaking around here? It’s unsettling.”
“I’m not sneaking around. You were just so absorbed by your mission you didn’t notice.”
Priscilla conceded with a shrug of her bony shoulders. “Your handsome fella dropped something off at your desk. He looked disappointed you weren’t available.” Just like that, the sun was shining and birds were singing once more. “It’s a good thing he stopped by because I gave your muffin to Sandra.”
“That’s okay. Had I known Sandra would be in today, I would’ve brought her a coffee and pastry too.”
“I know that,” Priscilla said. “You’re a damn good man. Now get out of here so we can save the school play.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, quickly retreating toward my office.
On my desk sat a bouquet of sunflowers, a cup of coffee, and a Styrofoam carryout container that filled my room with a delicious fragrance. I smelled cinnamon, butter, sugar, and yeast. I crossed to my desk and opened the container and saw the fattest, gooiest cinnamon roll I had ever seen. The icing dripping down the sides of the pastry made me think of the mess we made on Julius’s stomach. I had to steer my mind away from that image before my body started to react to it.
Beside the coffee was a message written on a Post-it note.Sorry I missed you. Available for lunch? J
I didn’t bother checking my calendar because I never scheduled appointments during my lunchtime. I checked the time and saw classes hadn’t started yet, so I typed out a quick message.Thank you for my lovely surprise. Your place or mine?
Mine.
Great. You want me to bring you lunch from the cafeteria or do you want me to run to the diner?I had a lot more freedom than Jules did.
His reply came back quick.It’s chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese day. Some things a guy just never outgrows.
I laughed at his reply.I’ll be there at eleven fifteen sharp.
I dug into my cinnamon roll while tracing a finger over the petals of my beautiful flowers, vowing not to allow ignorance to ruin my day.