Small Places : Nick L Belardes [91 of 128]

• Twenty-Nine.
• Mike: "Do you love her?" Me: "What the hell are you talking about?" We're watching ice hockey.
• A player gets boarded. His stick breaks. "Mulani," Mike says. "All this moping around.
• You keep talking about weird dreams and the two of you won't look at each other half the time.”
• "And that means love?" I say. Mike is working on his second beer. "Just admit it," he says. Me: "I'm not admitting anything."
• There's something in thinking about a girl when you're at a hockey game.
• You see a dazzling hip check and suddenly love is less frightening. Turk Grinn is the interim marketing manager.
• He's dashing in all the right Texan ways. Except for his hiccups. You want to Tivo those out.
• His first order of business is to consider hiring Joan back. He says he is going to make a decision and announce at an upcoming meeting.
• Kira de Frito soon starts disappearing into his office. Me: "What do you think she's doing?" Mike: "One can't predict de Frito."
• She’s already mentally unstable and now she has started emailing me project requests that make no sense whatsoever.