Bob kept his head down as he frantically packed his bag. He should have done this earlier, more casually. Now, it felt obvious. Risking a look at the clock, Bob saw 4:54. Almost there. A tap of his BlackBerry screen revealed no new emails. He had long since shut down the computer. The phone likewise remained mercifully silent. Bag packed, Bob checked the clock again. 4:56, close enough. Gulping the last, cold sip of coffee – the mug he’d wash tomorrow – he made his break. Down the cubicles the long way, away from supervisor offices and pantry. No chatty coworkers appeared to blow his cover, and Bob dared to hope as he approached the elevators.
Then, a heavy step in the copy room presaged the looming shadow of Bob’s boss, Phil. Hulking out from the copy room door, Phil’s huge body blocked off the elevators, even as his great, flapping ears cast Bob in shadow. The delinquent worker looked up past Phil’s trunk and tusks at the lidded, disappointed eyes.
“Bob,” rumbled the bull. “4:30 has come and gone. I know you’re not sneaking out without giving me that chart you promised ‘before 4:30,’ right?”
“Oh, sorry, Phil. I forgot to hit send. Let me duck back and handle that for you.”
Phil’s expressionless look told Bob exactly how poorly his subterfuge had gone. Oh, well. He’d almost gotten away with it. But you know what they say: Elephants never forget.