Hazy Shade of Winter [ON HOLD FOR NOW]

03

Two men wheeled a gurney down a hall.

"I'm asking out Sharon tonight," man one told his coworker.

"Sharon from Payroll?" man two asked.

"No, Sharon from Janitorial."

"Ahh."

"I like her smile. Plus my apartment's a disaster." he chuckled. "Yeah."

"How many pickups we got?"

"Two."

"Good. 'Cause I am starving."

"Oh, you're starving?"

"I am starving. Fried wontons at Mama Lee's when we're done?"

"Eh..."

"What?"

"I just... It's too much MSG."

"Oh, you bought the propaganda."

"Yeah."

"There's nothing wrong with MSG, my friend. All right, you ready? On three."

"Yep."

The two spoke. "One, two..."

The Handler's opened a split second and man one cried, "Aah!"

"What?" man two wondered.

"She moved a bit."

Man two let out a chuckle. "No, no, no, no, no." He showed the clipboard. "No, it... it says right here, she's dead. It's probably just intestinal gas." The Handler moaned. "I had one last week that farted all the way into the oven. It's..."

Man one placed a hand on her cheek and her eyes opened before she rasped, "Get me to a hospital."

"Don't think that was intestinal gas," man one told his partner.

"Oh, shit," man two whispered.

"You can probably kiss those wontons goodbye."

The Handler blinked.

THREE MONTHS LATER

The Handler walked into the Commission, ignoring the whispers of that she was back. She entered and slipped off her jacket, holding her hand out, but no one took her jacket.

She draped her jacket over her shoulder, walked up the stairs and to her office.

"A.J.," the Handler greeted.

"Welcome back," A.J. replied over a speaker as he turned to face her. "And let me say, your recovery has been an inspiration to us all."

"Well," she chuckled, "if it wasn't for this metal plate in my head from the Shanghai job, I don't think I'd be here." she laughed. "I didn't expect to see you until the board," she closed the case and it clicked shut, "meeting. What's going on?" She sat.

"Um, during your rehabilitation, certain management charges were made, unavoidable departmental reorganizations. I'm sorry to say-"

"You're not firing me."

"Of course not."

"Oh, thank God."

"We would never dream of it." A lighter clicked open. "However..." the lighter clicked again and A.J. coughed and sputtered, "you will be demoted."

"What?"

"Due to your long-standing commitment to the Commission, you'll keep your benefits package and parking... uh... in Lot C."