Control Or Manage

“Excuse me . . . “Carol said with a firm voice as she reached toward the elbow of the young woman who had pushed her aside and wiggled through the tight space in the corner between Carol and the row of news racks, “I was here first. Didn’t you see me?”

The words fell like flat marbles. Carol had searched the Stockton railway station waiting room looking for a socket to recharge her phone. Unbelievably, inside the entire high-ceilinged facility, that may have been a grand ballroom in its day, there was only one solitary socket.

Carol checked her watch and bit her lower lip. The train to Bakersfield was due to arrive in twenty minutes. She had to recharge her phone for a conference call with her boss when she was back on the train. She scanned the room filled with wood antic high-backed benches and none of the bustling crowd was watching. None had seen the rude takeover.

Determined to regain her territory, Carol examined the younger woman as she bent over, blocking Carol's entrance and plunged her phone charger into the socket. The print in her black stockings stretched with effort, pinning her short skirt tighter around her derriere. Her blouse was snug enough to reveal the roll of flesh above her hips.

Carol smoothed the front panel of her dry-cleaned suit. She was pleased with her position in the corporation. This pride reminded her of her father’s encouragement as he beamed at her across his massive desk beneath the wall of appreciation and certification plaques. He was meticulous in both looks and endeavors. He expected the same excellence of her to carry on the family heritage. Carol wondered how he would have switched the predicament she was now in today back into his favor.

She looked at her assailant.

The invader was now in motion attaching the recharger chord into the speaker end of the phone. Carol dropped her phone back into her laptop and set them beside her against the wall. She stepped forward to tap the foreigner on the shoulder. The woman did not respond so Carol tapped her harder a second time. But there was still no response. Increasing her effort, she used the palm of her hand to push against the muscles of the lady’s back. The stranger tipped at the waist and slid one of her calf-high threaded boots to catch her balance. Carol thought the push was too aggressive, but, still, to her amazement, there was no response. Carol placed a hand on each shoulder and knew once she was turned around, planned to explain to her face the important time issue she was fighting so hard to make at the appointed time when she was back on the train. She would appeal to the woman emotionally as Carol earned the attention she so much deserved.

Carol's eyes watered. Her gut tightened. Her was very much in need of the promotion and she was not going to let a wayward action like this block her potential.

She shook the shoulders back and forth when suddenly the rebel raised her arms. Carol let go, thinking she had finally gotten through to the woman. But the raised arms only lifted headphones from her neck and settled them over her ears.

Carol slapped her hips and exhaled. She focused on the socket and decided she would just pull the lady’s chord out and replace it with her own. Reaching back into the briefcase, she grabbed the phone and the recharger wire. She inserted it into the phone and clutched the end in the hand that would strike force through the bandit’s espionage.

Carol dropped low like diving for home base before the catcher snags the ball thrown from third base but as she squeezed against the wall and the woman’s legs, the woman broke out into a dance, flipping her arms around, gyrating and bouncing. Carol lost her balance. She stepped back. Checked her watch. Tightened her lips.

Control or manage rolled through her mind. An image of her training manual sprung to life. The pages flipped over and stopped at a passage about how to handle employees. It suggested “control or manage.”

Carol mouthed the five symbols as she watched the lady express herself through what must have been music playing on her phone. Her form waved in sweet rhythm which Carol thought was the exact opposite of her entrance to this cubicle. Over the next few minutes, the soft movements extended to Carol, and she could feel an inner desire to calm down. She tried to stop it with the built-up frustration but if she were to control or manage, she had to start with herself.

She leaned against the wall and surveyed the commotion of the waiting room. People were walking between seats and talking to one another. Mothers were chasing a few kids and dads were scolding them. Grandparents were chuckling at the activity as they sat and observed. Everyone was involved with the people they were traveling with, spinning tight with their own relationships.

Carol glanced back at the dancer and more peace passed onto her soul. She thought of how much she cared for her boss and looked forward to speaking with her. The boss was a person who did not share herself with others, especially those beneath her in the corporate office but the two of them had connected with a beautiful understanding of how each other worked the best. She knew the boss met with individuals when they were released from the company or promoted. Carol felt in her gut that the boss was thinking of Carol in terms of promotion. An officer had retired, and this position was just right for Carol.

She looked upon the dancer and felt more resignation to accept that the phone charge would not take place in time. Maybe the determined dancer had an interview or was preparing for an adventure as important as Carol’s.

The last rebellious thought left Carol.

It was then she thought that the decision to promote her would not be dismissed because of a missed call. Who knows, maybe she would find a socket on the train. If not, a settling feeling came over Carol equal to the rhythm of the dancer.

She looked up and noticed there was a snack bar located along the opposite wall adjacent to the bathrooms and Carol thought she might as well relax and enjoy herself.

She ordered a milkshake.