The Boat by Christine Dougherty Read Free Book Online Page B

up?”
    From the corner of his eye, he saw Carl and Anita glance his way. Were they snickering?
    “Let’s go into my office, okay?”
    “Uh…sure.”
    Adam followed Toby to his ‘office’ as he called it…that was a laugh. It was just another cubicle, really. The only difference being it had four walls and a door. But the walls didn’t even go to the ceiling for fuck’s sake and they shook any time someone walked past. Some office.
    “I’ll get right to it,” Toby said and then contradicted himself by spending five minutes sneezing and blowing his nose. “Man, this cold is kicking my ass. And it came on so fast! I wasn’t even sick yesterday, but today…bam! Probably got it from my daughter. Her class is a cesspool of germs and…”
    Adam stared at Toby, expressionless.
    “Well, but anyway…we got another complaint about the department,” Toby said and shuffled through sheets of paper on his desk. Adam didn’t say anything, just crossed his arms over his chest. Toby looked up. “About you, specifically, I’m afraid.”
    “Look, if it was that dingbat in marketing, that Carrie or Cassie…” Adam said, but Toby shook his head. Adam tried again. “Teshay? In accounting? Because she was the one who…Alan? Accounts payable?”
    Toby continued to shake his head, but had closed his eyes, a pained expression compressing his features. Adam closed his mouth with a snap.
    He’d ended up with another warning in his file. Had to sign it and everything. Fuck. They wouldn’t leave him alone. But this is what happens when you’re (figuratively) the tallest man in the room, he told himself. It’s jealousy, pure raging jealousy that kept everyone after him, wanting to pull him down. Bastards.
    At home that night, he called his mother and raged to her about how unfairly he was being treated at work. She listened, but Adam got the impression her mind was elsewhere. Well, everyone else was shitting on him, why not his own mom, too?
    “Ma. Are you listening to me?” he said. “Ma?”
    “Yes, I am dear but it’s just…” She paused and Adam listened as she blew her nose. Disgusting. “I’m worried about your father. He’s very sick with this flu and now it looks like I might be getting a bit of it, too.”
    “Ugh, I hope I don’t get it. Did he get sick this past weekend? Cause I was over there on Friday and he was probably still catching on Friday. I wish you’d thought to warn me, Ma.”
    “Well, but…he wasn’t sick on Friday and not Saturday or Sunday either. He woke up sick this morning and he’s gotten a lot worse just in this one day,” she said and then coughed. Adam thought about his supervisor, that asshat Toby, coughing and blowing his nose…he’d left around ten and never came back.
    “Well, I guess there’s something going around. Get rest or whatever.” His mind wasn’t on it, though. He wanted to talk about the warning he’d received. Well, not about that specifically…he didn’t want to tell his mom about that part. He just wanted to express how he was constantly tagged at that place.
    “I think I should change to another industry. Banking maybe, some kind of finance. This pharma shit is for the birds anyway.” He sighed, not hearing his mother sigh on the other end of the line. She never knew what to make of this angry chick she’d raised. “So, can I talk to Dad? If you’ve got nothing to add to this? I know, I know, it’s just my shit, right? But you could at least have an opinion.” Impatient rage was heating up his face. “Is Dad there?”
    “Well, he is, but like I said, he’s in bed and…I really don’t think he should get up.”
    Adam sighed again. “Okay, well, whatever. Take care, then. I hope you feel better. Don’t worry about me at all, okay? Don’t bother yourself.”
    “Oh, Adam, dear…it’s not like that, of course I care, we both care about you but…”
    “Whatever, Ma. I’m hanging up. I have more important things to do than chat with you