The Silent Minority

by S. Poulos

Aphrodite.

  After purchasing the pizza, Michael had two coins. He rang her but she was still in the shower preparing for him. He put the phone down but the coin would not came out so he thought it would be better to wait for a while before he rang again to make sure she would answer.

  As soon as the security guy chased of the person he thought was a pizza-boy, he went to the men's room to groom himself at the mirror. He always wondered why they placed the mirrors so high up. He damped his finger with a touch of saliva with which to straighten his eyebrows. He stroked his hair to a makeshift order, checked the uniform by taking a few steps backwards from the mirror standing on his toes and, when he was sure everything was perfect, he went to his desk, grabbed the pizza, and took the lift to the last floor on which the young lady was residing. He rang the bell and stood there posed.

  When Aphrodite heard the doorbell her eyes sparkled and her heart skipped a beat. She put on her favorite white fluffy robe, looked at the mirror and with an ever so slight touch to the front of her robe opened the gap a little more. Feeling satisfied with her appearance and with a warm welcoming smile she opened the door.

  He had one of these smiles on his face like Humphrey Bogart whenever he decided to smile.

  "You! Where is the guy with the pizza?"

  "What's wrong with me?" he said and this time he took a serious pose as when Bogart was really serious and looked her in a licentious way.

  "Give me the pizza," she said.

  He handed the pizza to her and Aphrodite started to hit him with the pizza on his head. She managed to hit him couple of times before he put his hands over his head for cover and ran.

  She ran behind him, trying to hit him more, but when he reached the staircase and started to take the steps two and three at a time she let him go.

  She angrily went to her room and rang her father.

  "Dad! I want you to fire the guy of the second shift that works for you."

  "Hang on my babe. Take a breath. What are you talking about?"

  "You know the guy that works for you in the afternoon shift? I want you to fire him."

  "Who is this guy? I don't know all the guys working for me. Why should I fire him?"

  "He is a short guy with a big head and protruding eyebrows. I want you to fire him because he tried to seduce me."

  "Some employee of mine put his hands on you? I am going to kill him with my bare hands."

  "Not exactly, Dad. He did not really touch me."

  "Did he tell you something bad? Did he swear at you or something?"

  "Not exactly, Dad. He tried to seduce me with his eyes."

  "How did he do that?"

  "You know the way men look at women when they want something."

  "Well, babe, you are a nice looking girl. It is natural for men to want you. Would you rather be ugly so men turn their heads the other side when they see you?"

  "Oh no! But Dad, he is so short, how could he imagine me going out with him?"

  "I am going to buy him platform shoes to make him taller."

  "I still want you to fire him after what he did to me. Anyway how did you hire him as a security guy? He is so short for this job."

  "We have to; we cannot discriminate about short guys. This is the new rule."

  "Oh and what would happen if a jockey club advertised for a jockey and a big gorilla showed up?"

  "Then if I were the horse I would really worry. Look babe, I didn't really hire him. They are subcontracting. They work for us but we hire the firm.

  "Come on babe, you are the public relations officer of the company. We have enough problems as it is in the development sites. Can you imagine what might happen to us if he went to his union claiming we fired him with no reason?"

  So they left at that. It was the first time that Aphrodite asked something from her father without him obliging her request.

  As Aphrodite was ringing her father, Michael tried to ring her again but the phone was engaged. When he had placed the phone back on the rest the coin did not fall so without any more coins in his pocket he thought that today was not his day. He decided to go and see a friend that he hadn't seen since he came back from Patmos.

  When he finally returned to his hotel room, he saw by his cell phone that she rang him five times but it was too late to ring back so he went to bed.

  Next day Adam Clarke rang him and asked him if he could go for dinner that evening at his home. Michael accepted the offer and when he was ready to go to ex-chairman's house Aphrodite rang and asked him to explain why he could not make it last night.

  He said, "I am sorry it is a long story, but I'll explain next time we meet."

  She said, "How about tonight?"

  He said, "I cannot make it this evening."

  She was furious but she did not show it. She said, "Very well then. Goodbye."

  "Bye," said the Michael as he was flagging a taxi to stop.

  "It was a very nice dinner misses Clarke," Michael said to ex-chairman's wife. "You certainly know how to cook.'

  "I heard you are a good baker yourself?'

  "So they say. My grandfather taught me and he was a great baker."

  The ex-chairman questioned the rookie. "Michael how serious are you in wanting to finish your law studies?"

  "I am thinking about it but first there are few things I want to take care of."

  "Are this economic issues?"

  "Well, sort of. I have to get a job to support myself while I study and pay the expenses. I also have to get an apartment and also maybe an old car so I can go to and fro between my work and my college. I have to do all this before I think very seriously."

  "The reason I am asking you that is because if you really intend to finish with your studies I am going to ask the Free the Teacher fund to allocate a portion of the money they gathered for you to use. After all, if it wasn't for you, probably all the money would have been spent for nothing anyway."

  "I didn't have this in my mind, sir, when I did what I did. My concern was at that time how to free the Teacher, that's all. However, if something good comes out of it to help me with my studies so much the better! From my part I can assure you sir that I will seriously concentrate on finishing my studies."

  "That's all I need to know," Mr. Clarke said, and the conversation ended.

  Next day early in the morning, Michael bought a newspaper and marked down some small apartments, which were available for rent, and also some jobs. He could not make up his mind whether to look first for a job or for an apartment but as he did not have a car he decided to go to whichever was the closest. He started looking for both but at the end of the day he was exhausted.

  Then he remembered the offer the managing director of the television network had made. He was not sure if it was serious or not, but nevertheless he rang him to ask if the role as his adviser was still open.

  The managing director, however, didn't seem to be keen about it after all that had occurred in WCFET, but in the same breadth he offered his old position back.

  Michael thanked him but declined, as he knew that he would be unable to manage the position full time.

  It now was rather late and he was ready to go back to his hotel when his phone rang.

  It was Aphrodite.

  "What are you doing now?" she asked.

  "I am going back to my hotel room."

  "Have you had something to eat yet?"

  "No."

  "Why don't you try to finish what you started the other day?"

  "What is that?"

  "Grab a pizza and a soda and come to talk about your deal."

  "Okay." Michael bought a pizza and off he went, but as soon as he reached the building he remembered that he had not bought a soda.

  The security guy opened the door and Michael gave him the pizza to take up while he went back for the soda.

  "Please sir, you take it up."

  "Are you talking to me?" Michael said, and turned his head around in case there was someone else behind him.


  "Of course I am talking to you, sir."

  "You call me sir now; two days ago you called me, pizza boy."

  "It was a slight misunderstanding sir."

  "Anyway, you take the pizza up. I have to do something else," said Michael and went towards the door.

  Suddenly, with an unbelievably swift move, the security guy blocked the door with his body, forming with his legs and hands that famous Leonardo de Vinci sketch but in this case not so isometric.

  "Let me get out."

  "No I won't."

  "What do you mean you won't?"

  "You take the pizza up and then I will let you go."

  "What happened to the rules? You told me last time I am not supposed to take it up."

  "This doesn't apply for Venus."

  "You mean for Aphrodite?'

  "Either way she is a goddess."

  "Anyway, I'll be back soon. Now let me out."

  "Nope!"

  "Okay, where is this apartment?"

  "Up at the top floor."

  "Okay. Give me the pizza." He took the pizza and went on the lift.

  Michael rang the bell and Aphrodite appeared in a white fluffy robe showing lots of her charms with a goddess pose, a captivating smile, and a glance full of promises.

  "Well," she said, "I cannot believe it you managed it after all. But where is the soda? ... I thought it would be too good to be true."

  "Well it is a long story, but I can go and get one."

  "I don't drink that stuff, but you know bad food goes with bad drinks. It doesn't matter now. We can do without it."

  She led Michael outside to the balcony. It was magnificent scenery with a view of a hundred and eighty degrees overlooking at the city of endless lights. Further on the right side the bay with the ships spread out in a random way, and as the sky was clear and full of stars. With the lights of the city and of the ships in the bay this