The Right Choice

Chapter 8

Jessie sat opposite Mr. Browning in his office, giggling as he waved his arms around while describing one of his many funny anecdotes. His face was a deep red from the laughing he was doing. The man was so energetic and animated that she wondered how he must have been in his younger years.

 "So then the man looks at me and asks 'Do you think you could knock off this column? It's blocking my view." He said while swinging his chair.

Jessie's attention went towards the swinging chair. It was funny. Mr. Browning seemed to be in his sixties at least but his actions suggested otherwise. He was very child-like and found one way after another to laugh. She half expected him to open his drawer and hand her a lollipop. ‘Lollipop! Very Funny.’

She smiled to herself.

When she had read the name on the card, she had imagined him to be stern, strict and a man with a perpetual frown on his forehead. But this man had turned out to be the exact opposite. He was far too cheerful for someone with his position in the company. Initially she thought it to be very weird but in just two meetings, the man was slowly growing on her.

His office however was a stark contrast to his nature. The walls were clad in panels of brown and beige colored vertical blinds were stretched across the window on their side. On the side opposite to the window, was a large glass panel overlooking a part of the office. Though, she couldn’t make out much from where she was sitting. But people seemed to be busy, going about their day.

She smiled as she looked through. Soon she'd be one of them. Her attention went back to her new boss as she realized he was about to speak. ‘Concentrate, Jessie. He’s your boss!’

The man leaned forward and with wide eyes said, "You'd think that he would realize that 'knocking the column off' would cause the floor above to crash into his living room. But no. He wanted it removed. I suppose he didn’t mind sharing."

 He rested back into his chair and continued, "It was exhausting."

His small nose looked funny as he attempted to flare it in anger. Overall he looked like one of those inflated toy clowns with a red nose. His entire visage made Jessie suppress the laugh that was about to escape her mouth. But somehow a soft sound escaped and she looked at him in horror.

He gave her a stern look, making her think that maybe she may have offended him. Jessie gulped anxiously, hoping this was not going to give him a bad impression. But Mr. Browning suddenly broke into laughter.

"You should see your face right now," He spoke through his laughter. "The look on it is priceless."

Jessie breathed sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted to do was insult or offend him in any way. She gave him a small smile in return.

"You can laugh all you want. I won’t stop you. They say that laughter is the best medicine. But I have another theory," He said animatedly. "Laughter is the best drug.”

‘Huh?’

Jessie stared at him in pure confusion. Drug? What did he mean by drug? She had just dealt with an insane and illogical man named Michael, who seemed to be on drugs. She really didn’t have the energy or patience to deal with another one right away.

“Sir, what do you mean by ‘drug’?” She asked carefully.

“Well, for one, if you’re on it then you can get as high as you want without having to worry about ill-effects to your health,” He leaned, “And second, it’s dirt cheap.”

“Oh.”

“What did you think?”

“Nothing Sir. Just a misunderstanding.”