It was dull gray outside, pattering rain cancelled out the droning elevator music, and the traffic outside appeared like a series of apathetic dashes. The front doors of the Pegasus building hadn’t moved since the first influx of workers that morning. A woman stood beside the security desk, filling in a form for another security tag. Derek had given her the form after hearing an explanation of how she had lost her badge at lunch. Her brown hair was short and stringy with a fashionable amount of gel to make it look purposely messy. Price sat back down. The woman’s purse, a bulbous, baggy form, was made of soft, expensive leather. Gene commented that he was bored, even though he was still reading the last of the play his wife had given him. The woman’s nose was direct, short, and gave her face an almost cat-like guile. Price tapped a few keys on the computer that would eventually accept her request and print the new badge somewhere in the rain-beaten building. Gene closed the book and stared at the numb thump of rain, silent with contentment or boredom. The woman clicked her pen twice, thinking about an answer she had to give, and clicked it twice more. Derek watched the anxious splash of rain lashing the cars in traffic, churning through the city’s heavy heart, anticipating or contemplating in silence. Gene’s eyes rolled to Price and, sounding as if no answer was expected, asked, “You got anything to talk about?” The woman’s collar turned down over her dark dress with a green lapel. Derek didn’t immediately reply with the blank “Nope” that would have fit so well.

Gene’s bored stare out the front doors broke, and he faced his partner. Even the woman with the green lapel looked up as Derek said, “I met a girl, and I’ve been seeing her for the past two nights.” He said it timidly, cautiously, because he knew of Gene’s awareness of the change.

The woman’s pen worked faster over the page, a runner in a race that was already finished. “How did you meet her?” Gene asked.

“We were at Starbucks, and we happened to share the last drink for the night,” he said. The woman scratched out something on her form and scrawled something quick into its place.

“There!” She finished the form and handed it to Derek. Derek nodded and smiled, receiving it.

The woman left the security desk, Hartman, and Price, but she was forced to wait by the elevator when Gene asked, “What happened?”

“We just talked about life and work. The next night we went to a park, and she read a play to me,” he finished with a smile and a relaxed gaze into the rain.

“What play?”

“Two Gentlemen of Verona,” Derek said, pointing to Gene’s play.

“No way.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a weird coincidence,” Gene said. After a moment he looked at Price. “But you don’t like Shakespeare.”

“I know,” Derek smiled.

“Wow.”

“I know.”

“What’s it like?” Gene asked. The elevator dinged, and a frustrated pair of high heels briskly stepped in.

Price faced the computer and straightened the woman’s form beside him. His fingers began tapping in the information. “What’s what like?”

Love was on Gene’s lips when, instead, he said, “Being with her.”

Apprehension made typing quickly easier. Not the kind of speedy apprehension one has when trying to make a decision about whether to say something possibly controversial, but his typing went faster because of the kind of speedy apprehension one has over trying to gather the right words. Derek felt pinned by the extraordinary nature of being with Julia, and now he felt like a student in a class who couldn’t answer or answer quickly. “The strangest things happen when I’m with her,” he began.

Gene nodded. “I know what you mean. When I was asking Lori out, every problem possible happened. My car’s fan belt broke on the way to the movies on our first date. And there was another time where the theater that we usually went to shut down. Her little brother was in band or something, so we went to that often enough to drive me crazy.” Gene stopped when he saw Derek’s head shaking.

“No, it’s different,” he said. “It’s like reality bends and becomes something new altogether…. I saw a table….” Gene waited for Derek to finish his thought. How could he, though? How does someone describe that? “Like water—uh, the table was made of water. There was one time when the musicians were playing so well—it was like they were one. Like one musician. And even me, when I’m with her, I find myself saying things I don’t normally say. I don’t know what any of that means, but I do know I want to find out.”

“You lost me on the first part. In a while, though, you’ll learn how to ‘wax poetic,’” Gene said with lighthearted dramatics that made Derek feel a little uncomfortable. “What’s her name?”

“Why?” Price asked, slightly paranoid.

“What? I’m just glad that you’ve softened up a little, and—”

“I’m not softening up.”

“Look at how nice you were to that woman just now. A couple of days ago, you barked at someone else with the same problem. It’s kind of fun for me because I went through the same thing.”

Slowly, Price felt the name come off his tongue, a bird in flight. “Julia. Her name is Julia Meadows.” Outside, the rain fell harder, clamoring against the building.

“Do I get to meet this Julia?”

“Why?” Price’s eyes drifted to the badge form. Only half of the work was finished.

“Even after all the evidence, I’m still not so sure that this girl of yours exists. If it’s too good to be true—”

“It isn’t. She’s just busy. She works with troubled kids.”

“Come on. You’re going to see her tonight, right?”

Derek looked up from the form and the computer screen. “How did you know?”

“Lori and I saw each other every time we could. Sometimes it was weird, where I had seen her more often than my dog. That’s when I knew I was in love, man. I love Dixie, but she had to take a back seat to Lori. Lori even said that….” Price stopped listening and began processing the woman’s badge form, with only part of his mind on the task. The rest of him was examining the face reflected in the computer monitor. The realization of his love warmed the cold edge in his eyes, softening the blue surface into water. The rain outside beat loudly. Derek knew it was true enough. He knew the secret reason why he had been hoping Julia would come through the rain and rotating doors to his desk. He was in love. Before he knew it, the bad form was finished and sent.

Related Links:
“The Color Green, Part 1″
“The Color Green, Part 2″
“The Color Green, Part 4″

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Youssef Sleiman works as an English Tutor at the University of North Texas. This gives him a paid chance to correct everyone’s grammar. Don’t just be envious - be green with envy.