Crosswords

Hating herself with every step, George made a beeline for Delores' desk as soon as she entered Happy Times. Just before her own cubicle, Alan from three desks over stepped in front of her, grinning.

"Morning, Milly!" He said, cheerfully waving a newspaper at her. "Got a five letter word for getting lost?"

"Fuck off," George growled and pushed past him. But as soon as she passed her desk, approaching Delores first thing in the morning suddenly seemed like a bad idea. She didn't even have a good story yet. And if she left for her 2:15 reap, she couldn't come back for work, because the other post-its had a 3:35 ETD and that gave her twenty minutes to get back to Der Wafflehouse for the pre-reunion meeting. She made sure Delores was still bent over whatever she was working on, and ducked into her desk chair. She needed a good excuse. A really good one. Doctor's appointment? That one was always tricky. Delores actually cared, so she'd have to figure out what kind of doctor, and come up with some non-life threatening reason to go. Not worth the trouble. She could say some sort of AA meeting, or some sort of bullshit like that, but then Delores would still be keeping an eye on her. Maybe if her car needed tuning up…

"Trying to figure out twenty-eight down?" George jumped. While she was trying to think up a good excuse, Delores had stopped by.

"Twenty-eight down?" She repeated, confused.

"The morning crossword, silly." Delores waved the paper at her. "Six letter famous mouse."

"Mickey?" George couldn't believe this. What the hell was up with all the crosswords? Delores pursed her lips.

"I thought about that, but then, what about Mighty Mouse?" She sighed. "I can't get thirty-two or thirty-four across yet to figure out which one." She shrugged and gave a little laugh. "But that will keep me busy busy busy all afternoon!" She started to bustle away and, good story or not, George blurted out a loud "wait!".

"Delores, speaking of the afternoon," Shit, she had no excuse ready. Shit, shit, shit. "I need to leave around 1:30?" George looked imploringly at Delores. Maybe, if she was really lucky, Delores would for once let it go at that.

"Leave early again?" Delores looked slightly disappointed. "What is it this time?"

"Um…" So much for luck. "My doctor, I mean, my car, I mean, my car's doctor…" Delores sighed.

"Milly, I think we need to have a little talk." Delores started back to her cubicle. "Follow me." Grudgingly, George grabbed her purse and followed Delores to her cubicle, sitting down in the very familiar chair across from Delores' desk as Delores arranged herself in her chair with an air of concern. "Now, Milly." A stack of papers was pushed to the side and Delores folded her hands on top of desk. "I noticed you leave Happy Times early an awful lot."

"Yeah," George admitted, trying not to meet her eyes.

"I just have a little question." Delores looked conspiratorially around, made sure nobody was listening, and leaned in towards George. "Are you…moonlighting?"

"Doesn't that only happen at night?"

"No, silly." Delores leaned back. "It just means a second job. Now, you leave an awful lot in the afternoon, and a second job…" This could be the excuse she needed.

"Well…" She could definitely use this. "I don't like to talk about it." Delores nodded solemnly at her and leaned in again.

"It's okay, Milly. I think I understand your position."

"You do?" George stared at her.

"Absolutely. Young, pretty girl. Needs a little extra cash."

"Jesus, Delores!" George leapt out of her seat. "I am not a prostitute!" With an unerring sense for an awkward moment, the entire Happy Times office fell silent, and what felt like a million eyes turned to stare at George. She sank back in her seat, beet read.

Delores looked shocked. "Milly, I'm not passing judgment…"

"I'm not a prostitute, Delores," George reiterated, but quieter this time.

"Well, then. What is your other job?"

"Counseling." The word was out before George could even think about where it had come from. She just wanted to get the p-word out of the discussion.

"Counseling?" Delores looked to her for elaboration, and George's mind began to race.

"Yeah, counseling," she said slowly, testing this new lie out. If she spun this right, she'd be set for excuses for quite some time. "It's actually not a second job. I mean, I don't get paid for it…" And if she worked the sympathy angle, maybe she'd get a little raise in the process. "I mean, I'd do it anyways. It's for…"

"Say no more." Delores was pulling a file out of her desk drawer. "I had a counselor of my own after my trouble with heroin." Definitely more than George wanted to know, but she took this statement like a life raft and clung to it. "And I think it's incredibly brave of you to help out those, especially after your own experiences."

"Clean for a year," George muttered. But when someone threw you a life saver on the high seas, you didn't complain about the color.

"And I think bravery like that should be rewarded." Delores smiled conspiratorially. "What's a five letter word for a little extra cash?"

"Raise?" George guessed hopefully, letting the crossword reference slide this once.

"I think she's got it." Delores penned something on a paper in the file folder in front of her. "And to show you how good I think this work is, I'd like to take you and your little group out for coffee sometime next week."

"Uh…" Sheer panic gripped George. "You really don't have to do that…"

"Nonsense!" Delores smiled. "I insist. Now, I think it's time for a little bunny to hop on back to work so she can make her 1:30 appointment this afternoon!" Delores stood up, clearly dismissing George from the cubicle. Miserable, George slunk back to her own cubicle, just in time to hear Alan ask someone else for his five letter word for getting lost. Those goddamn crosswords were everywhere. She had a four letter word for a tricky situation: shit. And another six letter word for what she was right now: fucked. But, crosswords aside, at least she had a decent excuse. And, she'd be able to make her 2:15 with M. Poliski, no problem. Now she just needed a seven letter word for a solution: Miracle. And she had a family reunion to work on that one.