He saw her two or three times a day. And it was always the same. Never a wrinkle in her clothing, never a hair out of place. He couldn't help but notice her when he took the job at the computer software company. He would stare for hours at the ponderous code that slowly marched across his computer screen when suddenly her graceful form would drift by, carried on a warm, gentle breeze. She worked for the lawyers in the office next door and, besides being a legal secretary, she was their receptionist.

Larry's cubicle faced out onto the second floor walkway and she passed his window whenever she went to the restroom. "Only to further preen," he thought. But he enjoyed her transits, watched for them, and always paid attention. She never looked back. There was always a serious, deep in thought, set to her face as she looked to the beech trees that grew beyond the railing. Larry could only wonder what thoughts crowded her short breaks.

When they occasionally passed they would exchange a cordial hello, but no more. Until one day.

"New dress?" he asked. He hadn't seen her in the blue dress with the floral pattern before.

"Yes."

"It looks nice on you."

"Thank you."

"One more sign that it must be Spring."

"Yes, I guess so," she beamed.

But Larry knew she was smiling at the compliment, not at him. He didn't know her name, yet he couldn't help but fantasize. He pictured her marrying one of the lawyers. Her garden would be tidy. Lots of well groomed lawn and neat flower beds, the plants arranged in rows. The hardwood floors of her house would always be polished, the Persian rugs vacuumed to the point you saw their original colors. The blue BMW her husband gave her would always be waxed to a high gloss. And she would have three handsome children who never got dirty.

"I'm home," Kathleen announced. Bob was in front of the stereo already lighting a joint, which she liked. He had on heavy metal music, which she also liked. He still wore the dirt and sweaty smell from his construction job, which she liked most of all.

"Wanna hit?" Bob asked.

"As soon as I get out of this damn 'uniform'."

She went into the bedroom. Bob watched her through the doorway as she pulled off her blue dress with the floral pattern and threw it onto the floor. He admired how the top of the tattoo on her buttocks protruded above her panties. He would look at the rest of it later. She momentarily disappeared from view. Soon she was in her beat-up jeans and sitting on the floor next to him. She took a drag from the joint.

"Hard day at the office?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'd quit if the lawyers didn't pay so well."

"They make you spend so much on clothes and dry cleaning, you don't really bring home that much."

"They're so sexist I can hardly take it. And then there's that geek next door."

"The one who keeps staring at you?"

"Yeah. I can't figure out what his trip is."

"Maybe I should pay him a visit."

"No, he's harmless. Just likes to stare at me. I think he just doesn't realize how annoying it is."

Kathleen took another pull from the joint. She was unwinding now. She looked out the window at the pastel sunset. The weeds had reached the window sill and were still growing. If God didn't want them tall, he wouldn't have brought the late season rains.