Bitter Agnes

It was balmy and the heat was already blistering eighty-four degrees at 8:00am, that June 26th morning in Louisiana when we started arriving at work. It was a dreaded Monday morning when we were all wishing that it was still the weekend. I walked in the back door and the stench was unbearable. I thought a little animal had gotten in somehow and died. I was not the only one who noticed, the few people that had already arrived were looking around holding their noses just like me. We sprayed some air freshener and I opened the windows in my office, it only helped a little. I was not sure how I did it with that offensive odor wafting about but I worked somehow, almost a whole hour had passed. It was a little after 9:00am when it hit me, Agnes had not come in yet. I went to Bettie’s office and asked her if Agnes had called in or did she have an appointment that I was not aware of. She looked at me with this puzzled look on her face “No I have not heard from her and I don’t have any appointments scheduled." Bettie jumped out of her chair, "I even checked the back lot for her car." We walked to my office, from there Bettie called Heidi, Nolan’s assistant. Asked if Nolan had mentioned anything about Agnes not being there today. Heidi replied “Let me check his calendar." “No, it’s clear for today." Bettie called at Agnes’s house - there was no answer. She then tried her cell phone; we heard it ringing in Agnes’s office. Bettie and I looked at each other. My heart started pounding. Bettie dropped the phone and ran to Agnes’s door and as I stood in the doorway, Bettie pushed open the door and there was Agnes…



Sitting in her office chair, she was as a white as a freshly bleached shirt and as stiff as a piece of taffy. She had an unlit Virginia Slim cigarette pursed in her lips. Her coffee cup with ugly brown lipstick marks in one hand and her trusty BIC lighter in the other. She had this devilishly smug look on her face, as though she had gotten away with murder…



Stunned by the sight, our glances gravitated from Agnes' pasty face to our own bewildered faces. I let out a slight scream. It happened. Agnes was done in by one of her enemies. There were many people in the office and out that despised her. Everyone from the office came running when they heard me scream; they stood with Bettie and I gape mouthed. Many had reasons why they wanted her gone and plenty of them had thought of ways to get her out of their lives FOREVER…. And finally prayers were answered. Everyone wanted to soak in the beauty of the moment.