Men at Work
by Rhonda Belt
"I'll be there in a minute." Allison dried her dishwater hands and headed for the door. She grumbled at the incessant knocking. Must be the landlord. Wonder what he wants?
She unlocked the thick, steel door of her duplex apartment. "Is there something I can do for you gentlemen?"
Two men holding toolboxes and dressed in coveralls nosed over her head like baby birds bobbing in their nest. "Ma'am, we're from the, uh, electric company. Your landlord says some rewiring needs to be done."
"I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about it." She met a slight resistance as she attempted to close the door.
"Wait, ma'am. He was cited for this before you moved in. I guess he forgot to tell you. I just got off the cell with him and he told me this needed to be taken care of at once."
"Well, okay. The landlord knows best, doesn't he? Come on in."
She finished the dishes and decided to take them some lemonade. She heard their muffled voices in her bedroom. Wonder why the door's closed? She set one of the glasses on the hall table. Upon turning the knob and opening the door, she dropped the glass and placed her hand over her heart. What on earth? Her mouth opened, but she couldn't scream or talk. She rubbed her eyes, blinked, and struggled to make sense of the scene before her.
The men stood with the window propped open as if to leave. They glanced at each other and then at her with a sheepish grin. Cinderella's stepsisters had come to life. They stood wearing her full figure floral print dresses, complete with hose, pumps, pearl necklaces and matching earrings. Their Cover Girl plastered faces gawked at her in amusement and then began to giggle.
Rhonda Belt is a registered nurse in the field of adolescent behavioral health. She participates in the Internet Writing Workshop and Flash Fiction Workshop. She has published flash fiction on Smokelong.com and poetry in various anthologies. Rhonda lives in central Illinois with her husband and two sons. Contact Rhonda.
