Chapter 11- Overturned

I woke up knowing I wanted to spend time with Tracy this afternoon. Other than jogging, I had no idea what she was in to, but I looked in the mirror and said "Dating is about getting to know people." I knew that part of this meant that I needed to share something I loved with her, the way she shared something she loved with me.

I went out the garage. I don't normally drive to work, but today I'm making an exception. I grabbed my golf clubs and threw them in the back of my Jeep and turned the key. The engine roared to life and I took a minute to enjoy sitting in the seat. My Dad and I built this jeep together. It had been his when he was in college and we had replaced almost everything on it as I grew up. He taught me all about cars as we swapped out parts, and taught me about life in those countless hours together in the garage. The Jeep reminded me of him, and every time I sat in it I smiled.

I pulled out of the garage, closing the door behind me with the opener attached to the visor. The streets were busy as usual, and it took me twice as long to weave through the traffic to our office building. Finding a safe spot on the top floor of the structure, I threw a blanket over my clubs. They weren't amazing, and getting them stolen would give me an excuse to buy those Callaways I saw in the pro shop last week. I looked out across the rooftops. From the 5th floor of the parking garage I could see for miles. This part of the city, while still very busy, wasn't home to the big skyscrapers like there were a few miles south. I looked at the sun peeking through the early morning clouds and smiled.

It was still early when I arrived- the receptionist wasn't there so I scanned my badge to open the door. Walking to my desk, I removing the card I had made from the outside pocket of my bag. The office seemed empty, but I looked around to make sure no one could see me. I quickly made my way to Tracy's desk and slid the card under her keyboard the same as she had done for me. With a triumphant smile I returned to my desk and dove into my work for the day.

The office began to buzz as people filed in, making casual conversation about their evenings or the tasks they had to complete today. When Tracy arrived we made eye contact, and I gave her a confident wave. She smiled and walked to her desk. A few seconds later I felt something sharp hit me on the back of the head. Rubbing the spot, I turned around to see a paper airplane with a crumpled nose lying on the floor behind my chair. Back at her desk, Tracy was smiling at me. The paper airplane had the words "Yes! And you're going down sucker!" written on one of the wings, we smiled at each other and both turned back to our work.

Later Jeff offered Tracy some homemade chocolate covered strawberries. She politely refused, and told him that she was almost positive that Kenzie liked that kind of thing. "Who's Kenzie?" Jeff asked rudely. Tracy pointed out the girl standing next to the filing cabinet a few feet away from him. It was the intern I had seen crying. She looked expectantly at Jeff, who offered her a strawberry. They both lit up with mutual appreciation and began to make polite conversation. Tracy looked back at me and pretended to wipe her brow as of to say "whew!" I laughed and we both turned back to our work.

At the end of the day I packed up, grabbed my keys and walked over to Tracy's desk. "Ready?" I asked. She keyed a few more numbers into her excel spreadsheet and then spun around. "Let's do it!" Grabbing her purse and hooking her arm in mine, she waved a casual "bye" to Jeff and Dwayne, who both looked shocked.

The thought of spending the entire evening with Tracy filled me with excitement. "Swing by my place so I can get my clubs" she asked. "You have your own clubs?" I asked. She nodded and smiled."I told you you're going down!" she laughed, and pointed at the upcoming intersection. "Take a right there." As soon as I did we had to slam on our brakes. Wall to wall traffic congested both sides of the street. Ahead it appeared that some truck had flipped onto its side. People were on their cell phones talking, looking worried. "Hang on, I'll back up so we can take 51st instead" I said, but Tracy grabbed my arm. "Look!" she said, sounding alarmed. We stood up in our seats and saw a man crawl out from under the overturned truck. He staggered to his feet and began lunging toward the bystanders. He appeared to be trying to grab them! One man wearing a suit attempting to help calm him down but was thrown to the ground. The injured driver leapt onto him with surprising agility, and began scraping at him like an angry ape. He didn't look like he would have stopped until a Police officer smacked him on the back of the head with his stick. The crazed man, still conscious, started to get to his feet and come toward the police officer when two men in white lab coats approached from behind. They pushed something into his neck and arched his back and bellowed before falling silent to the ground. Several more men in white lab coats helped carry him off, and the police officer began directing people away from the scene. The man in the suit who was attacked was helped to his feet and, clearly injured, put his arms over the shoulder of another man in a lab coat, following in the direction of his now unconscious attacker.

Tracy and I both sat back down in our seats, silently processing what we had seen. "Did you see his face?" she whispered, breaking the silence. I hadn't even noticed with all the commotion. "Scratches. Just like Lucas."