Small Places : Nick L Belardes [17 of 128]

• Five.
• Mike stares into an outdated MAC G3. He downloads a Prince tune because we think a boyish secretary looks
• like she starred in "Purple Rain." Our desks share opposite cubicle walls. We see each other working.
• This is the part of the ant colony where mandibles are made out of Nerf. Mike's got a contract the rest of us don't have,
• making him immune from the daily grind. Truth? He never has to attend marketing meetings.
• Jealousy: Mike's strange anti-meeting immunity idol that he wears around his neck. It's a secret "Survivor" clause he can't talk about.
• That doesn't stop me from harassing him each day. And it doesn't keep him from showing off his imaginary idol and thumbing his nose at me.
• He pretends to take it off and wave it at me. I think hateful thoughts. He grins. Would he eat rat poop on "Survivor"? Of course he would.