My first day back to work was Thursday, and I had not seen Dale in two days when we last spent the night in the hotel room. Truth be told, I needed a couple days to recuperate after being used by Dale for an entire night. But come Thursday, I walked into work finding myself excited to see Dale again. I half-convinced myself that I did not
miss
him, just was looking forward to the attention.
Thursdays also happens to be the day where we get deliveries, and I came into my usual Thursday assignment of stocking closets. Dale came into work two hours later than me, so I concentrated on my work—pushing myself to get ahead in case Dale wanted to distract me for a few minutes. I worked tirelessly for the first two hours—nearly getting half the work done in that span. Between the hours of 8-10pm I remained diligent in task, but did not push myself so hard. No use in finishing hours early and having another project dropped on my. I also took my time in the halls between closets in hopes to intercept Dale in passing. At 830, I had sent him a text, and he had yet replied. I was beginning to think that he had called off for his shift. He in no way had perfect attendance.
At half passed 11, I had made it to the basement closets and had pretty much given up on Dale for the night. I continued the mindless task of stocking, and tried not to dwell on the absence of Dale. While noting the number of paper towels and soaps on a shelf, I heard a loud bang as though someone had punched the closet door. I jumped so hard that I dropped the clipboard to the ground. My heart skipped a couple beats, and I approached the door. Just as I reached for the knob, it turned and the door pulled away from me. I could do nothing but stand there dumbly waiting to see who was on the other side.
I took a step forward only to have to retreat. I took a second for me to register Dale as he barged into the closet. That he stepped so surely, I backed my way to the wall. Without a word Dale approached me. He grabbed my forearms, and pinned me to the wall—placing his lips over mine without a word. I accepted his tongue for a couple of seconds before turning my head away. Dale was persistent, but so was I. I tried to pull myself from the wall, but he was much bigger than me and held me in place without much effort.
"Dale, what the hell?" I said. "I texted you and you didn't reply, and I really wish that you would stop punching my closet doors. Most people knock."
Dale replied by placing his lips again over mine, and I hesitantly allowed his tongue to probe my mouth for a second or two. I pulled away again.
"Dale can you stop for a second?" I asked.
"Okay, okay, okay," Dale replied, releasing some pressure on my arms, but keeping enough to make it understood that I was going nowhere. "Look, I'm sorry that I didn't get your text. I keep my phone on silent all day and forgot to turn the volume on. Then I had a meeting with Karen for like an hour. She's been on me lately."
"What did you do now?" I asked.
"She thinks I've been taking food from the Dr.'s lounge," Dale said. "What I bitch."
"But you do take food from there, though," I replied.
"That's besides the point," Dale replied. "I just hate how she always jumps to conclusions."
I sighed. While Dale made for a great lover, he made for a trouble employee.
"You probably should get back to work, if she is after you then," I said.
Dale leaned in and starting kissing my neck. I was starting to get chill bumps, and shivers ran down my spine. Karen was meaning less and less to me with every kiss on the neck.