February 2019
“Ah, Senator Wilber!” Jung Pang’s voice swept into the front office of the house chambers; somehow causing an air of frost to come pushing through. It was likely a back draft from the open front doors. There had been a protest rally across the front lawn all day, so security hadn’t been able to actually close them at any given time. And they weren’t likely to either. It was in regards to a bill on state construction wages for future contractors outside of state lines. Said companies would agree to higher wages without the added benefits, while the workers wouldn’t settle for anything other then full benefits. Age-old story; working class versus the cooperate heads.
Among the many bills, there was always one that rose above the others. Every session had its one headache above the others. This session, it was this bill, causing many stern faces and sour attitudes among the senate and house floors. So naturally, Senator Wilber looked up eagerly as Jung Pang entered his office. He was having to attack this afternoon’s itinerary with Mrs. Chapman and needed something to perk up the drab lineup. The young girl’s black hair was done up and- there was orange! A very bright- no florescent- orange peeking out from under her gray-checkered jacket.
“What in the world?” Mrs. Chapman whispered before Jung came within hearing range. Senator Wilber swallowed and tried not to squint. “Miss Pang?”
“Finally.” Jung waved emphatically about the room, her smile spreading with her hand. “I’ve been trying to track you down since eight this morning. You know how many times I walked into this office?”
“You did?” Mrs. Chapman’s entire face narrowed. She was extremely territorial about the space she guarded with her desk. Jung gave a sly grin. “Not that you would’ve seen. You weren’t here.”
She produced a whicker basket that had evidently been at her side the whole time. “Course, I wasn’t able to do more then poke my head in. Otherwise I might’ve just left it on your desk… but where is the flair in that, other then, like a Valentine’s Day candy bouquet…”
By this point in her long-winded explanation, she had produced a sealed, square envelope out of the basket. She rendered it before Senator Wilber with her regular flourish. He’d been watching it nearly every day before session, outside the old oak doors. He accepted it. “For me?”
“For you, Senator Wilber.” Jung confirmed. “I thought it best to deliver it in person. I tired the mail system here last week and let me tell you, lesson learned.”
Mrs. Chapman gave an understanding nod to that. “Anything not marked exclusively to an office gets tossed in the nearest waste basket.”
Senator Wilber gave a smirk, breaking the seal on the envelope.
“Lt. Governor Stillman might have told me that, but a lot slips up and through in the same second if you know what I mean,” Jung tapped a nail to her forehead. “On the offhand, someone really needs to have a chat with the staff down there. Not the disciplinary kind, but the friendly, campfire-side kind.” She swung the basket with her thoughts. “When you think about it, they must be pretty suppressed, working in that windowless basement room all day long. Now Dwayne, he has a sunny disposition I’ve noticed, but even he could use some Vitamin D once in a while.”
She sighed off the end of that. Senator Wilber was looking down into the envelope by now. He pulled out an ivory card scrawled across the front with a golden Thank Youscript. Thank you? For what?
“For the poinsettias you were thoughtful enough to get me.” Jung answered his silent question. “Granted they died by January, but I loved walking in and having them greet me on my desk every morning. It explains all in there about how wonderful they were.”
The poinsettias! He hadn’t thought about them at all since he had asked Mrs. Chapman to send them out. He always sent out about forty bouquets of them at Christmastime, to friends and colleagues that he was actually fond of. Stillman hated them, but that was why Wilber sent them… to get back at him for the revolting Whoppers that Stillman sent him every Halloween.
“You certainly didn’t have to go to the trouble.” Senator Wilber looked up at Jung. She cocked her head in a moment of gauged questioning. “Well, what else was I supposed to do? Someone gives a gift, you respond in kind.”
Just like that huh?Senator Wilber wondered at her simplicity of words.
“I do apologize that it’s so late.” Jung’s smile quirked along with her shoulder. “Uncle Morty keeps me busier then a rabbit before Easter. I actually had them written a week ago, but then my desk mate went home with strep and…” She threw out her arm again. “It was allon me! The emails, the phone calls, the appointments and the drop-ins… good grief the drop-ins.”
Where most would state this with discouragement or disgust, Jung’s voice carried her usual exuberated wonder. Did nothing phase her?
“… but of course, I needed to pass them out before Valentine’s Day.” Jung concluded, her cheeks going rosy at the mention of yet another holiday. “Avoid any confusion.”
Ironic, since Mrs. Chapman’s face was looking more confused by the minute. Senator Wilbur found those looks funnier then they ought to be.
“Any whirlwind plans for you and yours, Mrs. Chapman?” came Jung’s next vibrant question. Mrs. Chapman sniffed. “Couldn’t say, Miss Pang.”
This lifted Jung’s eyebrows, enhancing her eyes. “He’s going to surprise you, then?! That’s always the most romantic…” Her head whipped to the senator. “Do you have a similar battle plan, Senator Wilbur?”
Senator Wilbur shook his head with a familiar drop in his heart. “It is during the week, Miss Pang. No telling when session will end that night.”
That gave Jung a second’s pause. Her gaze steadied, eyes going tender; and her smile never faltered. “My dad had to be in Colorado one year for Valentine’s. Mom didn’t care, as her monotone claimed, but Dad wasn’t going to let that deter him. He had me and Carter…”
Another story. Senator Wilbur rubbed at his chin to keep his grin minimal. Poor Mrs. Chapman… she was holding the itinerary at shoulder level now, hinting at Jung. Too bad, Jung was going full tilt now. “… I had to ask him why go to all the fuss and run up our cell phone data. You know what he told me?”
She left no time for Senator Wilbur to guess, hugging her basket eagerly. “That this was his only day to love Mom like this. That when you marry, you have to make the most of the time with your spouse because you never get that day again.”
“Oh heavens.” Mrs. Chapman shook her head. “A young lover’s fairy tale.”
The tale every girl falls for. Senator Wilbur recognized. The amount of glittery storybooks I bought Rebecca…
“It’ll be thirty-one years for them in September.” Jung sighed over Mrs. Chapman’s skepticism. “It all breaks down to the days… the moments.” She reached out, patted Senator Wilbur’s knuckles. “I encourage you to make as many as you can, Senator Wilbur. Mom still smiles when she thinks about it… bet your wife would too.”
Senator Wilbur’s ears picked up at that. A smile… he would like to see that on his wife’s face again.
“I really need to get the rest of these to their rightful owners,” Jung lowered her wristwatch and patted her basket. “Before the afternoon rush claims them into the long claws of the night.”
She was already stepping toward the doors, her orange shirt sending a final flash before they opened and closed behind her. Senator Wilber looked where she had been standing, then back at Mrs. Chapman. She shook her head. “That one… be careful around that one, sir. She’s too expressive.”
“Well, she obviously appreciated the poinsettias.” Senator Wilber chuckled. “At least somebody at that office could.”
“She doesn’t have to go making a big noise about it.”
No, no she doesn’t.Senator Wilber recognized, turning the card over in his hands. But it feels good.
Perhaps better then giving the gift.
~To Be Continued~
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