Reta was frozen in place. The man on the other end of the call was yelling at her, and no matter what she said he wouldn’t let her talk. She had to say something, but she couldn’t. Was she using the wrong words? What words could she use? There had to be words. Why couldn’t she come up with the righ...

Reta suddenly jumped, the wholly unexpected physical contact of a finger tapping her nose having startled her. Had she been in the forest she would have bolted away, wagging a flag of warning to anyone else around her. However her chair didn’t play along with the sudden movement, so a good bolt had turned into a rattling tangle of chair and limbs, which quickly consumed all the room she had to move backwards in her office. It took a few seconds for her shock to wear off, and a few more for her thoughts to turn rational, by which time the new guy - Gabe was it? - had left her office and was walking back to a ringing phone at his desk.

Had he seriously just ‘booped’ her on the nose like she was some yearling fawn? He had. How dare he? The pique caused by his action quickly silenced the other emotions rattling through her mind, and she stoked that pique into anger she could use to fortify herself as she stalked towards his desk. His voice was clear but quiet as he talked on the phone.

“Sir, you blew past your request limits two months ago, and we have been kind enough to let you continue to access our service while you resolved the issues on your end.” Gabe paused to listen, his fingers flying on his keyboard as he made notes. “No, we didn’t start limiting you until your account was behind for over a month. Again, this was a kindness we have extended to you, since we were within our rights to cancel your account entirely.”

Reta noted his repeated use the word “kindness”. It wasn’t a word she would think to use. How odd. She also noticed his hands suddenly still, his features becoming even less readable as Gabe listened to whatever was being said on the other side of the line. She couldn’t hear it, as Gabe had used an earpiece able to hide hurtful words away from even her keen hearing. She thought that it was probably a good thing.

“In that case, sir, I will terminate your account entirely for non-payment.” Gabe’s voice hadn’t changed, the word “terminate” spoken with the same soft inflection as he used with “kindness”. Another few moments of silence to Reta’s ears, before he responded, “Yes, we do take credit cards. I can take the number now, and clear up your outstanding balance, plus a service fee for the... irregular processing.”

Reta tuned out the remainder conversation, wondering how Gabe had been able to tolerate that... man’s... tirade. She wondered if the customer had toned his vitriol back because he was dealing with a man. Gabe terminated the call and removed his earpiece, having completed the transaction. Letting out a quiet sigh, he tilted his head towards the heavens and muttered, “Misogynistic asshole.” Well, she thought, perhaps the customer hadn’t held back with Gabe.

Gathering together the remaining strands of anger, she was ready to confront Gabe for his behavior in her office, but he beat her to it. “I’m sorry for poking at you earlier. It was inappropriate, but I felt like I needed to back you up in dealing with that guy. I can be a bit of a... neanderthal in that way.”

They were just words. But... they were kind words. They were the right words. The kind of words that she couldn’t come up with, even to thank him. Still, she had grown up with bears for brothers, and knew a response she could use. She balled up a fist and slugged him - lightly - on the shoulder.

“Now we’re even.”