A Man's Appetite by Nicholas Maze Page A

someone is mad.”
    At lunch time, the four ladies spent their break spying on each other’s mate. Stephanie was the only one that didn’t have to spy on anyone, since Angie offered to help her for today. For Stephanie, Angie had to visit a huge business complex, where Jimmy worked as a security guard. Angie entered, acting as if she was there on business. As Angie walked toward Jimmy’s security desk, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. “I know I know her from somewhere”, he said to himself. “She looks very familiar.” Angie flashed a fake smile, once she reached his desk.
    “Can I help you, ma’am?”
                  “Yes. I’m supposed to be meeting a colleague, shortly. Would it be okay if I sat here and waited?”
    “Yes. What is the person’s name?”
                  “Well, they know I’m here. So, there’s no need to worry with contacting anyone. I’ll just sit patiently over here.”
    “Okay.”
                  “Thank you.”
    Angie had a seat and observed everyone that walked into the building; especially the women. She observed women of all sorts as they walked in and out the building. Jimmy was extra polite and courteous to the women. Some of the women, he walked with over to the nearby elevator and pressed the button for them. Other women, he had long conversations with. A female deliverer for UPS walked in with the trademark brown, khaki shorts and shirt with the yellow logo in perfect view. The young, perky deliverer filled with joy, when she entered the building. Seeing Jimmy’s face caused her to light up.
    “Hi Jimmy, baby.”
                  “Crystal! What’s up, Love?”
    “Well, you know. Work as usual.”
                  “Yeah, don’t I know? What happen over the weekend?”
    “Well, it was just me and my girls. We had a few drinks, but nothing exciting. You?”
                  “Just with family and friends for the most part. Had to deal with some issues at home, last night.”
    “Wow. Sorry to hear that.”
                  “Yeah, me too. You know you get tired of the ups and downs. Sometimes, you just need a break.”
    “I totally understand.” She leaned forward and stared Jimmy in the eyes. “That’s why I chose to stay free and single.”
                  “I do miss those days. You make sure you stay that way.”
    They stared at each other’s eyes for a moment. Changing the subject, Jimmy reminded her that he had to sign off on the shipment. The whole time, Angie took notes of their interaction. She wrote within her notes, “he called her love”. Angie looked at her smartphone and realized the time. She hopped to her feet and prepared to leave. As she walked away, Jimmy looked pass Crystal.
    “Excuse me, ma’am?”
                  Angie turned around, “Yes?”
    “Is everything okay?”
                  “Quite alright. You have a good day.”
    “Thank you. You too.”
    Angie flashed a fake smile at Jimmy, then made eye contact with Crystal and frowned up. As Angie left out of the building, Crystal turned back towards Jimmy.
    “What’s up with her?”
                  “I have no idea. She claimed she was waiting on someone.  I guess she changed her mind.”
    “Oh well, let me get back to work. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
                  “I sure will.”
    Crystal turned to leave as Jimmy watched her “switch” out the building.
                 
    Marla was parked in front of a party store, facing a small strip mall across the street. Within the strip mall was a local restaurant, called China Express that served Chinese cuisine. Diane mentioned how Stanley loved Chinese food and that she would meet him at China Express for lunch, when they first started dating. It was “lunch hour”, so China Express was getting a lot of traffic. Marla didn’t pick up anything for lunch, so she decided