Jeremy Saint was currently living like a 20th Century Warrior Monk: With precision he would wake up precisely at 6am and then put on his athletics clothes so he could join Geoffrey Landgraab on a 5 mile run in the mornings. Then he would return promptly and deal with all the business of the household including paying the bills. His girlfriend, Barbara, would wake up more leisurely at between 6:15 and 6:30am, have a shower, carefully put on her make up, clothes and style her hair. Then she was ready for breakfast. Jeremy was like a single minded dynamo. She saw him dealing with the bill payments and went outside to greet him.
"Hello, darling" she said. "Did you have a nice run?"
"Yes thank you. I feel most invigorated." he replied.
"You know, one of these days I'd like to join you for your daily run"
"No need to put yourself out. I go for pretty punishing runs these days. The boss says that he wants his young executives to be in tip top physical condition. He says that inactivity is the curse of modern American businessmen."
"Who said that, Geoffrey?"
"Yes, Geoffrey: The kindest, bravest, warmest..."
"...most wonderful human being you've ever known in your whole life. I know" said Barbara, finishing off the mantra Jeremy would say whenever Geoffrey Landgraab's name was mentione.
"Do I say that a lot?" asked Jeremy. Barbara nodded earnestly. "Oh, well, I'm famished: Let's have a power breakfast!" he continued, gleefully clapping his hands.
"Power....breakfast?" replied a confused Barbara.
They both went inside where Jeremy served up the breakfast and sat down to eat it enthusiastically.
"I tell you, these early morning calisthenics do build up an appetite!" he said.
"I can imagine" replied Barbara. "It looks like the Landgraab Corporation sure keeps you busy. You know, you talk quite a bit about what it's like to work there and your interviews but you've barely mentioned that day you went in for that 'assessment'. What was that like?"
She wanted to draw some more information out of him so she adopted an attitude of gentle curiosity, as you would expect a close, intimate partner who is interested in their other half to be. Jeremy put down his knife and fork and thought for a moment before speaking.
"Well, the assessment was....well...I went in, reported to one of the personnel department secretaries and...and..." his voice trailed off and he looked out the window as his eyes became dreamy and vacant.
"...and what?" asked Barbara, on the edge of her seat. "What happened next?"
"...I...can't...remember" he replied, vaguely. "Is that the time? I must have a shower and get dressed for work" he said, all of a sudden and with that he stood up and left the room. Barbara was dismayed: Clearly there was some kind of mental block in Jeremy...but what was causing it? His own reticence or the creeping fear he'd been brainwashed.
A little while later they had said their goodbyes for the day and headed off to their respective jobs. Barbara couldn't dwell on what was going on with her boyfriend as there was always plenty to do at the shop. At some point she'd have to hire some permanent staff but the budget didn't stretch to that right now.
Today it was menswear that was selling fast and why that was so was another mystery of retail Barbara still had to learn. Fortunately Pack's Clothing was well stocked at the moment. Her first two customers were two vastly different characters: One was a man who wasn't just trendy and with it, he was well beyond all that...he might just have been the Look of '67 just a year earlier. Barbara struggled to find him something that was beyond the truly mod black and white polka dot shirt he was wearing. Fortunately he wanted something a bit more toned down for some event he was attending.
The contrasting customer was an old man who at first was worried that he'd entered the wrong shop.
"Oh my" he said "I think this place might be a bit...what's the phrase? 'Way out' for me"
"Well, sir, let's see if I can find something for you" replied Barbara.
"I can already tell that you're a smart kind of man, but not overly conventional..." she continued. "Are you looking for something casual, smart, everyday wear or a special occasion?"
"Well, between you and me..." said the man, softly so that no one else could hear them "...it's for a date! First one I've been on in over 30 years since my beloved Sheila passed away two years ago now."
"Oh, sorry to hear that but I think I know what might be just right for your special date, Mr?"
"Jacobsen, Daniel Jacobsen and you are most kind..."
"Barbara Dubois. Let's try this lounge suit...double breasted, velvet with the option of wearing a shirt or turtleneck sweater underneath"
"I like the look of this! And I like the colour" he said.
"Burgundy, a great choice. It shows you're with it, but not overly so. Reflecting both a traditional look with a nod to the future"
"Well, I hope my future is rosy when I go on this date!"
"I'm sure she will be impressed" replied Barbara. She liked being helpful and engaging with the customers. And when you had a nice one like the gentlemanly Mr Jacobsen it made running the shop just that little bit nicer.
Other customers, on the other hand, were a bit more difficult...
"You smell AND you're ugly!" came the voice from a little boy, who was around 9-10 years old. He was pointing to and snarling at a little blonde girl who was around the same age.
Barbara walked over and intervened in the dispute. "Now, now, you two...this is a shop, not a playground. What's the matter?"
"He's mean and nasty!" said the girl.
"Well you're dumb, smelly and ugly!" said the boy...."and she borrowed my soccer ball and then lost it!"
"I said sorry!"
"Well if you weren't so dumb you wouldn't have lost it!"
"Are either of you here to buy any clothes?" Barbara interrupted. "I mean, this is a clothes boutique"
"I'm here with my mom when I saw her!" said the boy.
"Well, let's find your mom and end this dispute" said Barbara, looking around for a mother who looked like she'd lost her son. Once mother and son were reunited calm soon returned, but there was still another sad little girl to attend to.
"Now where's your parents?" asked Barbara.
"Oh they're not here; I was on my way home from school and I just wanted to have a look around...and then I saw him!" she said, pointing at the boy, accusatorially.
"I see..." said Barbara. "Well, it's best to ignore him; you certainly don't smell and you're very pretty but be careful about who you borrow a soccer ball from in the future"
Daniel Jacobsen came over to Barbara and noticed the little girl. "I do declare that it's young Stefanie Griffith. What have you got into now?" he said, smiling benevolently at her.
"Mr Jacobsen! Oh it's just a boy from my school who's being mean. It's sorted now"
Jacobsen laughed and turned to Barbara. "Children, eh? You're probably too young to have any, Miss Dubois."
She chuckled. "I don't have any...well, yet. I've got to get around to getting married first but my boyfriend and I aren't quite ready for that."
Jacobsen shook his head. "If you keep putting things off, they'll never happen. I was like that with my late Sheila: I'd be saying 'not this year, next year' or finding other excuses. Sheila used all her feminine wiles to get me to where I should have been. Maybe you should try that with your beau?"
Hmmm, maybe thought Barbara. That's a good idea but not for the purposes of getting married, but getting to the truth! Maybe also marriage as well but first things first...
At the close of business, Barbara went home and considered her plan of action...
By the time she got home she found Jeremy there and changed into his sports kit.
"Don't tell me you went to work like that?" she said.
"No...I've changed so I can go for my evening run" he replied.
"Another one? Aren't you going too far with this fitness kick?"
"Inactivity is..."
"I know, inactivity is the curse of the modern American businessman but let me get you something nice to eat and we can spend a bit of time...together...I want to know how your day went" she said, caressing his cheek. Jeremy went weak at the knees when she did that.
"OK, I'll put off my constitutional until after dinner then" he said.
"That sounds...fascinating" she said in a sultry voice.
"Wow, do you think so? You've never sounded so interested in my work before" he replied.
"That's because I now see you're really going places...I want to know...EVERYTHING" she said, her voice a purr in his ears.
"Well, I work on the third floor...that's where most of the junior managers have their offices. I get an office all to my own, which is nice because I'm spared Fanshawe's long winded stories about what he got up to the night before, I'm currently assigned to looking at commercial property acquisitions..."
"Anything involving our neighbourhood?" said Barbara, leaning in with keen interest and fixing her gaze at Jeremy.
"No, nothing for around here" he replied.
"And do you have a key to the executive bathroom yet?" she teased.
Barbara took her cue. "Now that sounds intriguing! What do you think goes on in those?"
"Well, some are senior executive boardrooms, some are purely for maintenance and then....there's....downstairs..." his voice suddenly trailed off as he said those words. "Sorry, what was I talking about again?"
"The downstairs of the Landgraab Corporation building. You make it sound mysterious"
"It's not, really. You go in, there's the lobby, the old file storage room, some bathrooms and...and..." again, his voice trailed off.
"and what? Come on, Jeremy, you can tell me...we don't have any secrets and I am very interested." she said, gently stroking under his chin like he was a cat.
"There's the pump room where...there's...an...elevator and...you...go...down....dark room..."
"A dark room? Like for photography?"
"No...a dark room....where...Mother...Friend...Enemy...Suzy Kent is my enemy..." Jeremy shook his head and suddenly came to. "Wow, Barbara...that feels amazing, hmmm, more please" he said, cooing at her attention but Barbara suddenly stopped when she heard what he had said about 'the dark room'. Now this was a breakthrough. A suppressed memory, perhaps?
"Is everything alright?" asked Jeremy. "Why did you stop?"
"Oh, no reason...so you like the attention do you?" she said, returning to her playful mood.
"Oh certainly!"
"Well, lover...I hope you don't waste all your energy on your evening run!" she said.
"I might put that off if you have something else in mind?"
"Oh I do" said, Barbara, seductively. "Just let me slip into something...well, you'll see"
She wandered off down the hall to the bedroom whilst Jeremy quickly poured himself a glass of water which he gulped down. This was good, very good, he thought. He had spent too much time obsessed with work that he forgot about spending time with his...mo...his mot...his moth....NO! He thought, supressing the image of Nancy Landgraab that suddenly popped into his mind. No...Barbara was his girlfriend, his love. "I'm not thinking straight today!" he muttered to himself.
When he had finished with his water, he put the glass down next to the sink and jogged to the bedroom to see a heavenly sight: Barbara had mostly undressed and was wearing...well, he didn't know the technical name for the piece of lingerie she was wearing but she sure looked magnificent in it.
They sat next to each other on the bed and began playful intimacies with one another. "I can't remember the last time we did this..." Barbara whispered in Jeremy's ear.
"Neither can I...we're foolish for not making more time for each other" he replied. "I'm sorry I've let work preoccupy me lately"
"That's alright...but if something is bothering about your work, you will tell me?"
"I promise" he said, warmly.
"Now let's get rid of those silly sunglasses" she said, taking them off him "get out of your shirt and shorts and let's get comfortable...."
