"God I hate taking these damn boxes apart," Kelli said as she looked at the pile stacked neatly against the wall in front of her.
"Yeah, but they don't unfold themselves," John replied as he picked up the top one on the pile.
"There must be at least a thousand of them here."
"About 350 really. We should be able to do it in a couple of hours. After all, it takes a lot of boxes to move a company to a new building. These are a lot better, you know. More space, a real lunch room, even a fitness center."
For the next half hour they fell into an unspoken rhythm. The two of them had worked in the offices for about a year but had never really gotten to know each other, only becoming nodding acquaintances as they passed in the hall. Kelli had gone so far as to find out his name from the office directory but had never done anything about it. As they chatted and flirted, occasionally glancing at each other when they though the other wasn't looking, Kelli wondered idly about John. The sexual innuendoes they were bantering about had gotten her interested and it had been a long time.
"So why did you agree to do this on a Saturday night?" John asked. "Surely you had to have given up a date or something."
"I need to get my car a new set of tires. The old ones I have now are bald. A few extra hours at work will help. And no, much to my regret, there are no hot dates in this little girl's immediate future. Working here during the day and taking classes at night doesn't leave much time for a social life. What about you?"
"Just a company man. The big boys say jump and I ask how high as I'm on the way up."
"Yeah, right." Kelli said. "That's a little hard to believe."
"No harder to believe than your story."
"What's so hard to believe about my story?"
"A beautiful woman with perfect long red hair. Skin that any woman would kill for. Obviously intelligent and with a great sense of humor. And she says that she doesn't have guys lining up outside her door? That's what I can't believe."
Kelli looked quickly over at the boxes left lining the wall. "Flattery will get you anywhere," she said.
"Excellent," John said softly.
Kelli counted the remaining boxes quickly, wondering if the ideas in her head would or should be allowed to happen. "You know, there are only 52 of those damn boxes left."
"Wanna race?" John asked.
"Race? How?"
"See who can get their last 26 broken down fastest. Winner gets the prize."
"So what's the prize?"
"The loser has do to anything the winner wants," John said with a grin. On seeing the surprise on Kelli's face he added "or at least she, ahem, or he, has to get the winner the first free soda from the cafeteria."
Kelli paused for a moment as thoughts tumbled through her mind. She broke into a smile and shouted "You're on," as she quickly sprinted to the pile and started bringing back the next boxes.
As Kelli finished her last box, she looked at John sitting amid a pile of half broken cardboard. She started humming the theme from Rocky, raised both of her arms above her head and jumped up and down, pretending to be the champ on the steps of City Hall. John recognized the scene but was fascinated by the way her shirt rode up slightly, exposing a thin strip of skin above her jeans. "Looks like you owe me that soda," she said. "But I guess I get anything I want now, don't I?" she asked with a smile. She started to windmill her arms over her head to stretch them out. "I just wish that my arms weren't so tired so that I could take advantage of it."
"Well, we can't take it too far. This is the corporate office, you know."
"How far is too far?" she asked with a mischievous smile.
"Nothing involving whips and chains. No one but the big boys are allowed to chain people to desks around here."
"I guess I can live with that," she replied, surprised to discover that she was interested in more after all. "For the moment," she added. "Hey, didn't you tell me earlier that you were here last night?"
"As my aching back reminds me, I indeed had the dubious honor of bringing most of these boxes in last night, yes."
"Then I want a tour as my prize. My boss has told me great things about the new building but I haven't been here before tonight."
"Is that all milady wants?" he said with a grin. He bowed low in mock servitude. "The champion will get her tour," he said. "And anything else she wants, too," he added with raised eyebrows.
They walked through the offices, looking at row after row of new desks and file cabinets and making comments about people they knew in common. A quick tour of the executive level was next with both of them joking about how "the other half lives" and talking about the plans they had to get one of these offices for their own one day. In the basement level they walked though the new cafeteria and the fitness room.
"Is this going to be open for all employees?" Kelli asked. "I'd love to stop paying forty bucks a month to the gym I go to."
"You go to a gym? You certainly don't need to" John said.
"Cut the sarcasm. Yes I go to a gym. I like the aerobics classes.
"From what I understand it is restricted during the day but open at night for us peons. I don't know if they'll have any classes though. I brought some of this equipment in last night. Want to go in?"
"I didn't see anyone else in the building. Is there?"
"Nope. The cleaning crew will be in tomorrow at eight, and then work begins on Monday morning. So we're the only humans in sight. Kind of reminds you of a bad slasher movie doesn't it?"
Kelli giggled. "Should I be worried about you? We just went through the kitchens after all. Did you pick up a big knife?"
