Postmaster Brad Arnold looked at his watch for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. Only forty-five minutes until he could close the front window and get out of the stifling post office. He had been through more than his usual crap for any day, but for a Friday, it was even worse. The air conditioner had quit just after lunch, the hottest hours of the day, and his small office in the back felt like a sauna.
Sweat was dripping from every pore, screaming to be let free of the confining uniform and tie he was forced to wear. He looked at his watch again. Forty minutes to go. Of course, with the heat and humidity, there hadn't been many customers, and the ones who had braved the heat, only stayed for a minute when they didn't feel the usual relief from the air conditioner. But, the sign on the front window read "Close at Five" and postal regulations dictate that he stay open even if he was the only one left in the entire city.
Thirty minutes. Can time go any slower? To keep his mind off the heat, he began to clean up the counter area. His back was to the front door when he heard it open. Cursing to himself, he went to help the person who would undoubtedly keep him past closing.
"May I help you?" He said automatically, not bothering to look up. He neither wanted to help or even cared. He just wanted to go home and get into a cool shower.
"I need to mail this package." A voice like smooth silk came from behind a large carton. He took the box and placed it on the scale, not bothering to look up. He made the calculations and turned back to the customer.
"Would you like that to go first class or..." He stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the vaguely familiar face which had been previously concealed. In the five years he had been Postmaster of the little small town office, he had come to know just about everyone by name and although he recognized her, he was sure she wasn't a regular, nor a summer resident. He would have definitely remembered every detail about this woman. Her eyes were deep blue, not unlike the color of the lake just outside the office. Her long, flowing red hair appeared to glow even brighter with the sun beaming in from the window. And no one he knew would ever be caught dead wearing a suit in the middle of a hot, humid summer day. He couldn't help but notice the way her blouse clung like a veil against her voluptuous breasts. No one he knew wore clothes like that, Yes, he knew he'd never seen her in his post office before, but something about her was definitely familiar.
"Hello, Brad." She grinned wickedly. "You don't remember me, do you?" She leaned over the counter, fully aware of the view she was revealing. The top two buttons of her shirt were undone and when she leaned over the counter, the rest of them were just barely keeping her from violating several federal regulations.
"You look familiar...." he started, fully aware that the temperature in the office had spiked a few degrees.
"About twenty years ago, I spent a summer working in the post office. My two months of hell between classes at college."
His mind suddenly recalled a scrawny college kid, slumming with the working class for the summer before heading back to Princeton. He hadn't really paid much attention to her, but he did remember how some of the other guys had acted towards a young female in their ranks. And although at the time he had tried to help her, after two months he was not surprised that she'd quit. It was not a pleasant memory.
"Julie? Julie Russell?" How did you end up here?"
"To be honest, I was looking for you. I'd heard you'd gotten promoted and I came all this way to thank you for being a decent person when those other jerks were making a good case for sexual harassment. Want to give me a tour?"
Julie Russell, he thought. If she had looked this good back then, he would have been the first one in line to get called up on charges.
