Papaya on the Desk

Marcus stared at the papaya on his desk, its mottled skin like a bruised sunset. Thirty years at the firm, and this was what his assistant had brought him—exotic fruit instead of the retirement watch he'd been promised. The spinach from his lunch was still wedged between his teeth, a small indignity he'd discovered too late in the restroom mirror.

The email from HR sat open on his screen. We regret to inform you. Four words that dismantled a life.

'You okay, Marcus?' Elena from accounting leaned against his doorframe, her goldfish pendant catching the fluorescent light. She'd been widowed twice. She knew the landscape.

He considered lying. Instead, he picked up the papaya. 'Just admiring the fruit. You know what they say about these things.'

'That they're an aphrodisiac?' She laughed, a dry, knowing sound. 'Honey, at our age, we're just happy if something works.'

The cable from the monitor hung loose, black and serpentine. Everything was coming undone. His daughter had called yesterday from college to ask if she could extend her semester abroad—she'd met someone in Barcelona. Someone named Marco. The irony wasn't lost on him.

'They're letting me go,' Marcus said quietly.

Elena's face softened. 'Oh, Marcus. That company's been dead weight for years. You're the one who's been carrying it.'

He sliced the papaya open. Bright orange flesh, black seeds like tiny eyes. 'I was going to take Barbara to the Maldives for our anniversary. Thirty years.'

'Take her anyway. Sell the Audi. Go somewhere cheap and beautiful where nobody knows you used to be Senior VP of Operations.'

He took a bite. Sweet, musky, unfamiliar.

'Barbara left six months ago,' Marcus said. 'I've been telling everyone she's visiting her sister.'

Elena nodded, like she'd known all along. 'So you're free then. Truly free.'

He looked at the papaya, the spinach stuck in his teeth, the cable fraying at his desk. Thirty years of playing it safe, and security had still found him.

'Where would you go?' she asked.

He thought about it really thought about it. 'Someplace where they don't know what a Senior VP is.'

'Eat your papaya, Marcus. We've got time to figure out the rest.'

He took another bite, and for the first time in years, something tasted like possibility.