I returned to my office and began to organize my things to leave for the night. Suddenly, Peggy burst through the door. “I don’t believe this,” she said furiously.
“I guess you heard,” I said calmly.
“Do you believe this? That asshole can’t even tell the difference between a debit and a credit.”
“Are you pissed about something, Peggy? ’Cause I’m sensing a bit of hostility coming from you.”
“Damn right I’m pissed. Brent is an idiot.”
“Blithering idiot.”
“Right, and a kiss ass.”
“That’s why he’s got the job.” I smiled at Peggy. “Maybe you’re not kissing the right ass, Peggy,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.
“What are you trying to say, Tavarus?”
“Lighten up, Peg. All I’m saying is the boy plays golf with Albert and them. I don’t know what we were thinking. The job was his from the start.”
“I guess you’re right,” Peggy sadly admitted.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” I said as I walked past her.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m going to get drunk and pass out in some woman’s arms.”
“Wait a minute.” She jumped up and followed me out of the office. “Mind if I go with you?” She smiled and looked me up and down. “I need a nice stiff one myself.”
I kept walking, appearing to ignore her comment and the implications behind it. Peggy was about to set it out for me. I stopped walking and looked at Peggy and said to myself, “Decide now, Tee. You gonna fuck Barbie or not?” I wasn’t sure. “Sounds like you’re volunteering for the job.”
“You never can tell, I just might be.” Peggy rushed to her office to get her purse and quickly joined me at the elevator.
We went to the first bar we got to and sat down at the first empty table we could find. It just happened to be in a dark corner. Go figure. “What are you drinking, Tavarus?” Peggy asked as the waitress approached.
“Remy Martin,” I replied. “Straight up with a water back and twist of lemon.”
“What’s that?”
“What Remy? It’s cognac. It’s good stuff.”
“I’ll have one too,” Peggy said. She was still clearly shaken by today’s events. “If you had gotten the job, I could have dealt with that. You’ve been doing the job for months. But Brent, my God, he’s only useful if you don’t know where the party is. We went partying one night and he knew all the spots. But he is such a jerk. So full of himself I almost gagged. Now I work for this asshole. I know he’s gonna be all over me now.”
“Why is that?”
“I just know how he is, that’s all,” Peggy answered without answering. I started to ask the question again, but I really didn’t care. I really didn’t want to be there with Peggy talking about the job.
The waitress returned with our drinks. I reached for my drink. “Don’t go anywhere,” I said. Then I turned up my glass and drank it like water. “Make the next one a double.” Peggy followed suit. Then grabbed her glass of water. “That burns a little going down.”
I laughed. “For future reference, this is sipping liquor.”
“I can tell you right now, there is no future in that drink for me. Bring me a sloe screw against the wall.”
“A what?”
“It’s a combination of a sloe gin fizz, a screw driver, and a Harvey wall banger. It’s good, you should try one.”
“Nah, I try never to change horses in the middle of the stream.”