her laugh broke the silence...

...surrounding the stiff water cooler

"Whoops! I guess I spilled," she sputtered

she scuttled over to the kitchenette and collected a few napkins

tucking her dingy brown hair behind her ear, she returned to the cooler

all the while, the men, standing stiff from the board room chairs, watched.

as she plopped herself down on the speckled white linoleum square, her knees slid out from under the hem of her crumpled navy skirt

the girl dabbed at the pools of water which had collected on the plastic floor

all the while, the men, with their textured paper coffee cups in hand, watched.

her napkins began to drip

she cupped her left hand and attempted to carefully gather the wet napkins and return them to the sink

all the while, the men, scratching their beards and moustaches, watched.

she walked briskly over to the trash can, and poised her foot to release the lid

dropping the rubbish in the bin, she wicked the water off her hands with two quick movements

from her tiptoes, she grabbed a blue checkered rag from the cupboard

she pranced back to the water cooler and swiftly rubbed the rag over the rest of her mess

she stood up, used her fingers to work the floor's indentations from her knees, and tossed the rag over her left shoulder

her dull brown flats led her back to the sink, wherein she tossed in the towel

all the while, the men, tapping their laced oxfords against the floor, watched.

all the while, the men, glancing at their watches, watched.