Andrew entered the office five minutes late. As soon as he sat down, a large hand landed on his left shoulder.
"You're late, Andy," said Bruce, with his deep, excessive voice. "Doing oral services during lunch?"
Andrew didn't answer. He was used to being provoked by the men in the office. Bruce dropped a pile of papers in front of him and grinned shamelessly.
"Do me a favor," the man said, in a lower volume. He winked and a mischievous glint shined through his blue eyes.
"Another one?" asked Andrew, feeling exasperated.
"Come on! It's my birthday, Andy," insisted Bruce. His hot hand suddenly grabbed the back of Andrew's neck, making him squirm a little.
"Sure, Bruce, but I don't know if I have enough time for that," said Andrew.
"Ah, there's no need to hurry. I need these until Friday. You will make my life easier," said Bruce, with a slight tone of mockery in his voice. His tall, heavy frame stood right next to Andrew's, looking down at him. "Just fill them up for me."
"I'll see what I can do," mumbled Andrew.
Bruce patted Andrew's hair, messing up his fresh haircut with his heavy palm. The man laughed.
"Andy, Andy... you're so easy," noted Bruce, tapping his sensitive neck and then walking away.
Andrew breathed heavily after he was gone. At 30, Andrew had never learned how to say no to people - especially confident, manly men - and the guys at the office had known about that for a long time. They all took advantage of his kindness.
First there was Dave and his mean provocations, which only got worse when Andrew denied something. Then there was Marcus, silent and stern, with piercing eyes that intimidated Andrew in a second or two. And of course, there was Bruce, the most vocal and shameless of them all - he seemed to actually enjoy using Andrew and making fun of him.
Uncle Don, the boss, probably knew of all that, and he seemed to go along with it, telling Andrew to take his car to the mechanic or to work overtime while the men left for the local bar, laughing at his misfortune. Sometimes Andrew asked himself how his uncle was able to keep his construction firm growing, being such a brute and hiring other brutes like him.
The men had many things in common: they were tall and large, with big noses and thick stubbles, heavy arms and tree trunk legs, and beer bellies that varied in size - Bruce's was the biggest of them all. They were also dads in their forties or fifties.
Andrew, awkwardly, didn't look very similar to his peers. He was younger, shorter and thinner, and he wasn't balding. He was often described as handsome, and he liked to shave his body periodically to please the women he slept with.
"Hey, punctual boy. What happened?" said Dave, approaching his desk with a mean grin on his face.
"Damn, I'm only five minutes late. I had a tough morning, okay?" vented Andrew. Bruce was clearly spreading the rumor around the office, already.
"Calm down, boy. Don't get angry at me," mocked Dave, while dropping a bunch of folders over Andrew's work. "Why did you have a tough morning?"
"Because I was helping Bruce and I forgot to call a client, so I had to call them during lunch," explained Andrew, letting the frustration affect his voice.
Dave chuckled calmly, his belly jumping with every breath right in front of Andrew's face.
"Stop letting Bruce walk all over you. That would help. What's this?" Dave grabbed the pile of papers that Bruce had left. He read the names on the files and shook his head in disbelief. "Oh, Andy, you never learn."
The man suddenly approached Andrew's ear and he could feel his hot breath.
"I think you like being Bruce's bitch," provoked Dave.
"Stop," said Andrew, moving his head away.
"Stop!" mocked Dave. "I know, Andy. I know. Here, since you enjoy being of service..." the man pointed at the plastic folders.
"What's that?"
"Don wants these old receipts organized by store."
"You mean he wants you to organize them?" Andrew's voice was raised a few octaves.
"This is work for an assistant boy. I have important shit to do," said Dave, landing his hand on the same spot Bruce had landed his, two minutes ago. "Do it when you have the time, okay?"
When Andrew didn't say anything in return, Dave approached his ear again.
"If you do a good job I will clap your cheeks later, even harder than Bruce does," the man whispered, and left before Andrew could reply.
Something about his tone made Andrew feel weird.
"Oh, by the way, Marcus wants to talk to you," said Dave in the distance.
"Great," thought Andrew.
Marcus looked moody and irritable as always, as Andrew approached his desk. Marcus' large, heavy legs spread out of the chair that was too small for his frame.
"Hey, Andrew. I need a favor," the man didn't even move his eyes from the computer's screen.
"Oh, I'm already doing a favor for Dave and Bruce," said Andrew, sarcastically.
"Not my problem. Don said you should help me. Besides, you owe me one for saving your ass last week," replied Marcus, with a tone of impatience in his voice.
Andrew took a deep breath.
"What do you need then, Marcus?"
The man suddenly stared at him. Something about his deep green eyes was intimidating.
"Watch your tone, boy."
"I - I'm sorry, sir," Andrew cowered - Marcus was strong enough to beat him to a pulp, and he was always serious.
Marcus nodded.
"You will help me with sourcing materials for the new building. The deadline is next week and I've done most of the important stuff. I just need some help with minor things. This is an opportunity for you to learn something."
"I see..." mumbled Andrew.
"I'll send you the list. Check your e-mail."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," said Andrew, playfully raising his hand to salute Marcus.
Marcus looked at him with a threatening gaze and Andrew took that sign to walk away.
And there goes another lost weekend, he thought. A wave of anger filled his body as he realized Uncle Don was encouraging the men at the office to give him more work. Was that some kind of test?
