It was nearly six o’clock when James finished putting the last documents back into the file drawer.
At that very moment, he heard loud knocking on the office door, and his heart began to pound rapidly. Next, he heard Anthony’s voice. “Hey, Jimmy, what are you doing up there? Are you sleeping?”
James could not think of a worse time for Anthony to show up. He quickly slammed the drawer shut, locked the cabinet, pulled out the keys, and placed them in the desk drawer exactly where he had found them. He shouted down the hallway, “I’ll be right there! Hold on a minute.”
“What the hell are you doing up here with the damn door locked, Jimmy?”
James had practiced his answer several times, although he never expected to be using it with Anthony. He opened the door and said, “I had to use the john, so I locked the door. Nick isn’t here, and I didn’t want anyone from the restaurant coming into the office area. We have a lot of confidential information that the restaurant employees shouldn’t see.”
Anthony seemed to consider the point, then, nodding approvingly, said, “Smart thinking, Jimmy . . . but why are you working so late on a Friday night?”
“There were quite a few items that Nick asked me to get done. Then I also started working on our accounts payable to get a little head start for next week. I kind of lost track of time.”
“You work too hard, Jimmy! I’m going to tell Nick to give you a raise. Look, grab your jacket and come downstairs. I’ve already told Pasquale to set a table aside for us. We’ll have some drinks and a nice dinner together. Just like old times! Come on—let’s go!”
James realized that Anthony would not take no for an answer, so he said, “Sure, Anthony, that sounds great. Go on down, and I’ll be there in five minutes. I just want to clear a few things off my desk.”
Anthony laughed, pointed to his Rolex, and said, “All right, you’ve got exactly five minutes. If you’re not downstairs by then, I’m sending Sal and Frank up here to get you!”
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