The Waiting

I entered the large building and was directed to wait in the lobby. There was a door on the West side and another on the South side. Both doors were closed.

I sat there, wondering, what was behind these doors? I ended up here as a favor for a friend. He asked me to leave a small, brown box for Mr. Cooper. I'm assuming Mr. Cooper is behind one of the two doors.

Ten minutes went by and still no Mr. Cooper. In defense of Mr. Cooper, my friend said it would take up to an hour before I would see him. He said it was imperative that I give the package directly to Mr. Cooper, and it must be delivered today.

It's 2:40 pm, and I've now been waiting 25 minutes for Mr. Cooper. I'm becoming weary and want to get this over with, so I can go home.

What is in the box my friend Julie gave me? The box is of significant size: 12 inches tall, 14 inches across, and 14 inches in depth. I am guesstimating the weight to be around 12 pounds. Could it be a desk weight? Maybe a trophy? Possibly some sort of decorative piece that will sit on a shelf? Or could it be some sort of blunt object?

Who is this Mr. Cooper anyway? What does he do? How is he connected to my friend? Is Mr. Cooper some big-time executive? Probably not. This Cooper guy seems to be on the dark side of things. Some sort of underground bookie. A hit man? Could the contents of this box be a payment for a hit? Okay, what's going on? Does Julie want someone to be killed? That just doesn't seem to be the way Julie would handle a situation. Does he want me killed? Am I delivering the payment for my own death?

I've been here 45 minutes, and I'm really getting anxious about this. But I must remember Julie is my best friend. I've known him for 25 years - since we were both in preschool. Still, there's such a mystery behind this box and who Mr. Cooper is. Julie gave me no information. Just a box, an address, and a name. I didn't ask. Julie and I have always respected each other's privacy. But maybe I should have asked this time. What if I am an accomplice to transporting drugs? But how can I be an accomplice if I don't know what's in the box?

The minutes are ticking by so slowly that they seem like hours. I haven't even been here a full hour, yet it feels like I've spent half my day in this cold, empty, quiet, lifeless waiting room.

The floor is a perfect, white, polished marble. It's so shiny I can see my own reflection in it. The North and East walls are both tiled with the same shiny marble. I feel a sense of death in this room.

Just what is beyond those two doors? Why do I get such an eerie feeling?

It's 3:14 pm, I've been waiting 59 minutes and still no one has appeared. I really don't want to do this anymore. I've worked myself into a frenzy.

At 3:15 pm I hear a “click” coming from the West door, and the doorknob slowly turns. The door opens and the most beautiful woman I have ever seen enters the room. She has slightly wavy, ash-blonde hair with cool highlights and a perfect smile that put a twinkle in my eyes. I couldn't help but stare. Then she spoke in a pleasantly monotonous voice.

"Hello, sir, I am Mr. Cooper." I was shocked when she, or he, said this. "You have a..." Then a man’s voice came from the South side of the building. "Hello, sir, I am Mr. Cooper. You have a package for me from Mr. Julius Atonal."

I just stood there confused. Which one is Mr. Cooper? Is it the beautiful lady or the strapping man? Logic tells me it's the man. But they both introduced themselves as Mr. Cooper. I went with logic and started toward the man.

As I walked toward the man the lady said in a loud and authoritative voice, "Stop, sir! That man is an impostor. I am the real Mr. Cooper."

Now, I really didn't know what to do. Julie told me to make sure the package made it directly to Mr. Cooper.

Do I give the box to the man? Do I give it to the woman? I guess a woman can go by “Mr.” if she wants. But, I would think if I were supposed to give the package to a female Mr. Cooper than Julie would have given me that information. After all, the assumption is that a “Mr.” is a man.

Julie did not give me that extra piece of information. So, I guess I will go with my assumption and give the box to the man.

As I began walking towards the man again the woman shouted out in a very aggressive, husky tone, "You will regret it if you give that box to him."

I don't get it. This shouldn't be so hard. Okay, what do I do? Man? Woman? Do, I walk out of here and start all over again? Okay, okay, I have a plan.

I'm going to leave the box in the middle of the room and walk out of here and be done with it.

Okay, here it is - box in the middle of the room and I am walking out of here. I am done with this.

"Wait!" the woman shouted out. "You can't leave the box like that." The man agreed, "This is not part of the plan. You cannot leave. This does not compute."

I am not looking back. I'm just going to keep on walking toward the exit and I'm leaving.