{"id":292,"date":"2010-08-22T10:21:07","date_gmt":"2010-08-22T14:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/?p=292"},"modified":"2010-08-22T10:21:07","modified_gmt":"2010-08-22T14:21:07","slug":"boxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/?p=292","title":{"rendered":"Boxes"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a gentle purring and his eyes open. His hand reaches up out of the sheets and taps the face of his phone. Three messages overnight. Somehow he was aware of one clicking-in at 4:30. Lying flat on his back he raises the phone up to his bleary eyes. Tanya. Tanya. Dirk.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Fragment of a dream: Walking along a road at night. The city in the distance. The sound of wind in the trees. I\u2019ve dropped something and cannot find it. Someone is behind me.<\/em><\/p>\n

The coffee is ready in the kitchen. The scent fills the loft like a musky animal. His mouth waters as he shuffles down the hall. All is quiet except for the last chugs of coffee expunging out of the machine. TV on. Top Kill <\/em>has failed. BP has further plans in the works. Share prices down.<\/p>\n

Why hasn\u2019t she gotten back to me? <\/em><\/p>\n

The new shower is awesome. Water all around. But then again he sees now standing there unable to escape, that he used to like being able to hide in the corner from the spray in order to soap up. How is he supposed to soap up?<\/p>\n

The day. Flight plans to Montreal to finalize with Dirk. Lunch with Tanya to discuss the website makeover. How many back doors do they want?<\/em> And again, Why hasn\u2019t she gotten back to me. <\/em>Design plans due in the afternoon. An hour at the gym with Mark. He was thinking dinner with her<\/em>, but apparently not. She hasn\u2019t returned his invitation. It\u2019s game night at The Swan<\/em>. Maybe he\u2019ll drop by for a game of Monopoly instead.<\/p>\n

In the elevator. Puke stain still on the fabric. Smell is gone. Stain remains. What does that man do all day? Stop at floor 20. Alex Eugenta gets on. Older. 50 maybe. His wife has died recently. He went to the funeral with the rest of the condo board. He smiles. Alex Eugenta smiles. Silence and then the rush of downward movement. \u201cTony, I\u2019ve decided that I going to move,\u201d Alex Eugenta says looking to Tony.<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm,\u201d Tony responds. \u201cI\u2019m sorry to hear that.\u201d Looking sideways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to live with my sister and her family in Peterborough. You met them at the funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight. Of course. Seems like a nice lady. Great kids,\u201d Tony says recalling an image of a young person in tears at the funeral. What am I supposed to say here?<\/em><\/p>\n

Pause. The elevator glides to a stop. Door silently opens.<\/p>\n

In the lobby. \u201cAlex, please let me know if I can help with the move in any way,\u201d Tony says placing a hand on Alex\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n

Tony moves quickly though the entrance door. There is a suck of pressure change as he walks out into the early morning air. Humid. The July air is thick. He\u2019s sweating already. The morning haze hangs like a suggestion. Beyond it the blue of the sky. He recalls the time he spent as a kid with his Uncle Martin at the cottage. Canoeing, fishing, singing songs. He begins to feel good about the possibilities of the day. He will text Trudy and William about the loft opening up. They are a good fit. Maybe they can do a private sale.<\/p>\n

Traffic sounds. The hum of the generator station across the street. The large L\u2019Oreal billboard with a model that reminds him of her. She\u2019s not calling simple as that. Oh well. <\/em><\/p>\n

People on phones walking. A woman in a dress and sneakers is reading a book as she walks. Joggers. Dogs on leashes. Someone bumps him at the corner and just keeps walking. He looks around for some kind of support. None is coming. A man with earbuds laughs out loud waiting for the light to change. He dribbles coffee down his chin onto his white shirt. He groans.<\/p>\n

Lunch with Tanya. \u201cWe met yesterday over the udpates. Frederico was on conference call from Rio. Such a prick. Handsome as hell though,\u201d Tanya says speaking quickly with a roll of her eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd\u2026\u201d Tony replies with a raise of the eyebrows.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd \u2026 \u201c she offers with a twizzle of her pasta. \u201cThe updates work for the client overall. There\u2019s still some inconsistency between the client and supplier portal. That needs to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich do they like better?\u201d He already knows the answer. \u201cDo they realize that we\u2019re moving into the red on this project and that we\u2019ll have to re-budget by the end of the week?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTony darling. It\u2019s all good. We\u2019ll draw on our resources for another week until we close it. They\u2019re good for several million down the road. Raising the budget flag now wouldn\u2019t be the right move.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do I tell our team in Mumbai?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTell then we love them,\u201d she says through something she imagines to be a smile.<\/p>\n

He concludes that she really gets off on this. <\/em>He imagines her lying awake at night waiting for the email to roll in.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s never been to Mumbai. She doesn\u2019t know their situation. <\/em><\/p>\n

He spends the rest of lunch wondering. He maintains rapport, of course. He can\u2019t escape his father clearly telling him at all costs to maintain rapport \u2013 even if later it comes to stabbing them in the back. They kiss and purl goodbyes to conclude the meeting. She called the meeting so she pays. Tell them we love them. She has no idea.<\/em><\/p>\n

The afternoon making arrangements with Dirk is harder than he expected. They agree to travel there separately and to return together. He\u2019ll get a few hours on his own in Montreal. Done.<\/p>\n

At the gym Mark puts him through a particularly grueling workout. He\u2019s actually thankful for it. His body responds well. He can sense his muscles spinning down in the sauna, twitching then slackening out. The heat is intense and his skin simmers slowly drawing out the deep dirt. A cold shower after and he is steeled for anything. Dressing in the change room he becomes aware of the music. Not really his generation but Uncle Martin educated him. Bowie\u2019s Space Oddity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Serene detachment. Mellotron clouds. Something urgent. A wet kiss. A purple sensation running down his back. For here, am I sitting in a tin can\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

The Swan <\/em>after the gym. Something like the usual crowd is there. He realizes that he enjoys walking in and hearing his name called. \u201cTony, please come help. She\u2019s ferociously sharp with the numbers. I\u2019m getting my ass kicked.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s Alfonso. He\u2019s playing Monopoly<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone\u2019s gotta do it,\u201d Tony replies as he approaches to say hello and quickly adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi. My name is Marta,\u201d she says stretching out her hand. \u201cActually, I\u2019m only winning because Alfonso has too many friends here.\u201d She motions with her hand to mimic Alfonso talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Alfonso is something of a connection,\u201d Tony offers. Alfonso gets up to give Tony a hug.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me some of that,\u201d he says as they embrace.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay listen, I want to chat, but I\u2019m gonna mix a bit first Alfons. I\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy all means, shake it don\u2019t stir it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony returns later with Kelly. Alfonso has been wanting to meet her. The game is over and Alfonso and Marta are chatting. Introductions all around.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarta and I were just talking about some pretty big picture stuff. Wow, my head,\u201d Alfonso says leaning back in his chair. \u201cShe\u2019s going at your speed here Tony.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marta wrinkles her lips to smile. \u201cWell we hadn\u2019t quite made it to metaphysics,\u201d she says. \u201cWe were talking about labels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs in brands?\u201d Tony asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes that too, and also about semiotics.\u201d Pause. \u201cBut really we started talking about cave paintings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see Tony boy. I told you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alfonso starts buying drinks for Kelly. Tony and Marta settle in. A new DJ starts his set.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess what got me interested in cave paintings is that all of a sudden they started appearing all over. France, Spain, South Africa, Turkey. In often quite deep caves. Great sound.\u201d Pause. \u201cThe thing is, the paintings themselves convey being. They have presence.\u201d She stops to look at Tony. Tony, his head hanging so that his ear can hear better, looks up nodding and smiling. She continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what sustains in art for me,\u201d she stops again. \u201cI can\u2019t believe I\u2019m about to tell you my philosophy of art. That\u2019s totally ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell if you weren\u2019t telling me about yours, I\u2019d be telling you about mine. And really you\u2019ve got my attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later. Tony wonders momentarily about whether he was in over his head. Nevertheless, they friended each other. She is beautiful, smart. Empathic. Art begins with cosmic awareness and the struggle to reflect this. Hmm<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He sits in the condo listening to the condo silence of distance volumes of air being moved. The lights are all out. He remembers seeing Alex in the morning. He is moving to Peterborough. He texts Trudy and William about the opening. He will need to visit with Alex with at least a couple of others from the board. He writes an email to the condo board. Alex needs some support.<\/p>\n

Looking down at his feet, he suddenly has the strange awareness that he is sitting on a rectangular bed inside a rectangular room inside a rectangular building inside a rectangular city block inside a rectangular city. He\u2019s living inside boxes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a gentle purring and his eyes open. His hand reaches up out of the sheets and taps the face of his phone. Three messages overnight. Somehow he was aware of one clicking-in at 4:30. Lying flat on his … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story-comment-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=292"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":296,"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idiotplayers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}