The girl behind the counter was cute, Graham noticed as he entered the dry cleaners. She was a couple
of years younger than he was, maybe 22 or 23, with short dark brown hair. She had a granola look to
her, but not in a way that made her look like a lesbian. She was wearing baggy jeans and a white t-shirt
that had a nametag pinned to it: Adrian.
?I?m here to pick up some pants,? Graham said, putting his receipt on the counter.
Adrian smiled up at him, looked at the receipt and said ?Wait right here and I?ll get these from the back.?
She disappeared into the back and Graham wondered vaguely why his clothes were not with all the others
on the motorized rack that ran along the left wall of the store. His thoughts were interrupted by the
telephone ringing next to the cash register.
?Hey, would you do me a favor and stick that call on hold? I?ll be up in a sec,? Adrian said from
somewhere in the back of the building.
Graham hesitated for a ring. This was odd. He was just a customer. It wasn?t really right for him to be
answering the phone. But Adrian was pretty cute. It?s always nice to do a favor for a cute girl. He
picked up the phone.
?Dry cleaning, can you hold please,? he said, with his hand poised above the ?hold? button on the
telephone.
?No, I can?t fucking hold! Who the fuck is this?? A male voice yelled at him on the other end of the line.
Graham hit the hold button and put the receiver down, a little shaken.
Adrian appeared a moment later with his pants.
?There is an extremely irate person on hold,? he said.
?Irate, why??
?I?m not really sure, I just asked if he could hold and he started cursing at me,? Graham responded.
?He? Oh crap. I didn?t want you to say anything, just hit the hold button,? Adrian replied cryptically.
?O.k., so what?s the deal??
?Never mind, here?s your pants. Have a nice day. Sorry about the yelling,? Adrian said smiling at him
again.
Graham decided that it really did not matter and besides, she really did have a nice smile. As he reached
for his pants, an old beat up El Camino screeched to a stop at the curb in front of the store. Graham was
startled and he turned to look. A young man in jeans and a dirty t-shirt jumped out of the driver?s side of
the car and ran to the dry cleaning store. He burst through the door shouting obscenities.
?You mother fucker! Who the fuck do you think you are?? The young man said approaching Graham.
He then grabbed Graham by the front of his shirt with both hands and shoved him against the wall.
Graham was bigger than the young man was, but was taken aback by his aggressiveness. He regained his
composure and jerked out of the young man?s grip.
?What is the matter with you? I don?t even know you.? Graham said.
?You answered the phone here, didn?t you?? The young man asked.
?Yeah, she asked me to.? Graham replied, motioning to Adrian, who was looking completely shocked
behind the counter.
?And you, you bitch,? the young man started, ?you bring your boyfriends in to work so you can fuck
around on me behind my back now. I ought to fucking kill you, you fucking slut.?
?Fuck you, Tommy,? Adrian yelled back, surprising Graham with her aggressiveness, ?why the hell are
you always checking up on me. Why can?t you trust me??
?Because you always end up fucking some guy every time I turn my back,? the young man said.
?Look, man,? Graham began, ?I?m a customer. I just came here to get my pants. She asked me to grab
the phone for her while she went to the back to get my pants.?
Graham picked up his pants to show the young man that he was indeed a customer. The young man
started to doubt himself. His anger and aggressiveness became visibly reduced.
?Is that true?? He asked Adrian.
?Yes. You know I would never cheat on you, Tommy,? she said in a soothing voice.
?O.k. Hey man, I?m sorry for being rough before?? Tommy?s voice trailed away in obvious
embarrassment.
?Uh, yeah, alright,? Graham said, ?I?m just going to go now.?
Graham left the store and walked to his car. When he pulled out of his spot, he looked back at Tommy
and Adrian who were still standing at the counter. Adrian was talking and Tommy was looking at his feet,
like a dog being scolded. The adrenaline finally wore off and Graham shook his head and laughed at the
crazy scene he?d just been a part of.
The next day, Graham put on his pair of navy slacks, fresh from the dry cleaners. He went to put his keys
in his pocket and found a small piece of paper. On the paper was written:
?Call me sometime - Adrian - 555-6842?