Sideways glance parceled to dust inside the air conditioner’s invisible puffs, in rhythm like a Bolshoi dancer subconsciously following the lead of their instructor’s piercing tongue. Lifting pupils to zig-zag in congruence as the presenter thrums on the white board, secured to the wall and holding glares from fluorescent lights humming and beaming above a Dozen Heads. 

In flesh and blood alone they’re here. Senses recollect the play by play of memories. 

Scratches in the wood table remind her of an afternoon during grade school, teacher was rambling about long division and she was counting the times her classmate picked his nose, removed a booger and left it underneath his desk. Her tallies read 7. 

He notices a wart on the presenter’s middle finger, it holds form as his fingers contort and go flat, placed in a pocket, perhaps done out of embarrassment. He wonders if the presenter’s genitals have warts and he shudders at the thought. 

Beneath her skirt, on her knee, is a scab. She crosses her legs and simultaneously winces as the rough patch of skin folds like a wrinkle, caresses the underside of her thigh. She fell while jogging in the rain, slipped crossing the street to avoid a distracted driver. 

An intern enters the room pushing a cart resplendent with sundries, scent of coffee follows his footsteps and the wheels of an office chair squeak as one of the Heads turns, his eyes wide in anticipation for the sugar rush he’ll receive after eating one of the donuts from the cart. 

*Presence of caffeine and glucose is no coincidence. Companies spent millions throughout the years, conducting research on how to make their employees work more efficiently and effectively. When management provides a stimulant it not only triggers the reward receptors in the employee’s brains, but also recognizes the provider as a giver of pleasure, think Pavlov’s mutts, or heroin dealers, thus securing loyalty and blind submission.*

He bites into his long john and discovers custard. This will be the highlight of his afternoon.