Sheila's stomach hurt as she watched images of documents flash one after another on the monitor. Not unexpected. Stress always made her stomach ache. The most reliable cure was food. Junk food. But she was trying to make healthy choices so sh'e have a healthy body in her later years. She paused the scanner, shredded the documents that had already run through it, and opened a conatiner of fresh fruit and vegetables she'd brought from home. She pushed the random button on her ipod and started the scanner. New age music swirled in her ears. No decernible melody - just the flow of notes. Quite soothing. Carrot, celery, apple, and grape. She fell into a routine, broken only when she had to reprocess a paper that failed to scan clearly the first time through.
But the pain persisted. She always said her quirky job was mind numbing and claimed that was one of its many advantages. Perhaps a trail mix bar.
She worked for a bout an hour. She couldn't stop worrying. Someone in Mateo probably would die before the day was over from lack of a common drug. The village was so small everyone in it was like family to her brother. It had to be very difficult for him be at their bedside and then to conduct masses for them. Especially the children. She thought of the tetracycline being packed and sent out through the mail room. Hurry, hurry, she thought.
The mind numbing aspect, as she often described it, of her job wasn't working. Thinking about finding another place to live set off more twinges of pain. Carrot, celery, apple grape. Nicholas wanted to live together, although he'd withdrawn the suggestion. Carrot, celery, apple, grape. And by far the worst of her personal situation, her brother, Richard or, as she and Tom used to call him-The Big Dick.
Time to break his strangle hold on her money. She snapped off the scanner and shredded the documents that had been archived. She left without having to ask permission or notify anyone. Another advantage of her job. As she drove toward Richard's law office, she called Nicholas to tell him she'd left work. His voice mail kicked in. In her state of mind, that was good.
"I'm on my way to have it out with Richard," she said, "I need my money now. It'll earn more in real estate than where ever he's got it." She realized that she actually was arguing her case in a shrill voice. "Sorry," she said, "I'll call you after I talk to him. Dinner at my place tonight?"
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