Follow the Bouncing Ball

Adrienne

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*Thump*

The sound of a ball bouncing off the glass partition between Sam
and Toby's office startled Josh. Sam didn't seem to notice.

*Thump*

"I'll be done in a minute." Sam said, typing fast. "You can
wait if you want."

*Thump*

"Sure." Josh ran his hands through his hair. "Sam, why is..."

*Thump*

"What?"

"I said, why is Toby throwing rubber balls at..." *Thump*
"...the window?"

"He's got a meeting."

"Well, that explains everything."

*Thump*

"A meeting with who?" Josh persisted, when Sam didn't continue.

*Thump*

"His ex." Sam tapped a few more keys and waited for the spell
check.

"What does that have to do with..." *Thump*

"Hmm?"

"Sam, why is Toby hitting the window with a rubber ball?"

"Because I confiscated the bell."

"Bell?" *Thump*

"Whenever Toby wanted to talk to me about something, he used to
ring a bell." Sam explained calmly.

"That's demeaning."

"That's why I told him that if he replaced the bell, I was going
to shave off his beard with a hedge trimmer."

"We have a state of the art communications system."

"Yes."

"Toby doesn't know how to use it?"

"Oh, he uses it. He just prefers to throw things." *Thump*

"So Toby uses it to summon you."

"Yep."

"So why aren't you...." *Thump* "...In Toby's office?"

"Because that isn't a summoning thump." Sam said serenely,
printing off the now error free document. "That's just a
blowing-off-steam-because-he's-nervous-about-meeting-with-his-ex
thump."

"Oh." *Thump*

"That, on the other hand, is the summoning thump."

"How can you tell?"

"If it hits the window directly in the middle, it's for me." Sam
rose and picked up the document. "Toby has a very accurate arm."
*Thump* "Must go."

Josh looked after him, with a bemused expression.

"And people think the way Donna and I communicate is weird."

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