Summary: A terrible Thanksgiving day shift involving a very important person's very important pigeon.
Word Count: 5600
Notes: Would you believe I first started trying to write this mother in 2006? I might still have an old sketch of Bob saying, "you're not eating that, are you? It's low-fat."
Story Index

The VIP

Grey really does try to make Bob hate her.

Before 9/11, she does well. A man as expressive and catty as him proves easy to irritate; all she has to do is make herself social dead weight, be the goylem he expects her to be, and watch him climb the walls. After he confuses South Fifth Street and Fifth Street South, she double-checks all his directions until he tells her to go to hell and hangs up on her. Larkin tells her, “don’t be petty, Grey,” but still, it’s very satisfying.

After 9/11, it stops being enjoyable. All the sniping in the world can’t hide the misery on Bob’s face after being denied his Diwali leave, and Grey relents. It’s not his fault that she’s attracted to him, and her personal issues take a back seat to his basic comfort at work.

 

( A Very Important Pigeon )