Memos
Sarah was typing the
second-to-last memo of the day. This one on the importance of good
hygiene when using the restroom. Not that anyone didn't practice good
hygiene; it would be in violation of company rules. And no one could
disobey company rules. But reminders never hurt.
With the last click of her
tidy keyboard, Sarah finished the memo and ran spellcheck. Satisfied
that nothing was amiss, she clicked the “Send” button and the
email was off to the rest of the staff.
Sarah glanced up. Across the
room from her, in front of the window that looked out over a verdant
office park, John was busy with spreadsheets. He sensed Sarah's gaze
upon him and looked up. They smiled.
“I dusted off the books in
the conference room today. You mentioned they needed a good
cleaning.” Sarah knew this would make John happy.
“Thank you. The boss will
be pleased the next time she has a meeting.” John was pleased that
Sarah took the time to do something for the good of their boss, which
was the whole reason they were there. “Which reminds me, before the
boss left, she mentioned one of the keys on her keyboard was sticky.
Would you have time to clean it?”
“Of course!” Sarah
beamed as she rose from her desk and went to the supply cupboard in
the corner near the copy machine. She plucked a can of electronics
cleaning spray and a small cloth from inside, then strode to the
glass door on the other side of the room. She opened it and entered.
A great mahogany desk sat in
the middle of the room. Rays of light streamed in from large windows.
The desk was almost empty, holding just a flatscreen monitor, a
keyboard, and a large day planner. Sarah sat on the plush black chair
in front of the keyboard and lifted the can of cleaning fluid. She
was about to press the lever when she noticed a piece of paper tucked
under the edge of keyboard. A private memo with the title “Apple.”
Sarah quickly looked away.
She knew access to the boss's documents was forbidden, and she wasn't
sure if reading the title of a memo would count. She busied herself
with her cleaning duties. But the memo remained there, staring at her
as she worked.
Sarah had always wondered
what the boss did in her office all day. She knew it was something
important, that the whole company depended on it, but she didn't know
why it was never discussed. And this was a very short memo; just one
line from what she could tell. Would it do any harm to read it?
She grasped the edge of the
memo. Holding her breath, she pulled it out from under the keyboard
and saw this sentence in haunting black and white:
“THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE
COMPANY WHO DISOBEY THE RULES. THIS IS THEIR CHOICE.”
Sarah's eyes grew wide.
Before she could think, she dropped the spray can and cloth on the
desk and ran out of the office. She flew to John's desk and slapped
the memo down on his keyboard. He stopped working, glanced at the
memo, and gasped.
“Sarah, what is this!”
“It's the truth!”
“You found this on the
boss's desk, didn't you? We have to put it back.”
“No, I'm not giving it
back. The others need to know. I'm writing another memo.”
Sarah rushed back to her
desk and starting typing the last memo of the day.
And that's it! Short and sweet. There's something liberating about a tiny word limit. You can only use the words that absolutely matter to the story.
The wine choice for this week is the Veuve Clicqout Rose´ ($65). It smelled delicious and fruity straight out of the bottle, with a great pinkish/blush color. It had a fruity flavor with a little hint of spice that balanced the sugars nicely. It had a sharp finish and only a dash of bready flavor to it (so if you don't like bready champagnes, you will like this). And it goes very well with chocolate.
Score: She gives it a 4.5, he gives it a 4.
Recommended: Yes indeed!
