Excerpts from The Office Diary

Marina Rubin
· in ,

they waited until the workaholics left, and the janitors collected the last of the trash. he came with a pink rose and an accordion of condoms. at first they did it on the long mahogany table in the glass conference room, her skirt hiked up, breasts bouncing inside the blouse, pearls. they tried the revolving leather chair in the controller’s office with her riding on top, then bent over on a windowsill, staring out at the stains of manhattan skyline. he kept his socks on. they worried that there might be cameras everywhere but it only added to their excitement. they finished against the employee bulletin board, push-pinned newsletters, photos from the corporate parties, people in a boat, teamwork. next morning he called, said he had a great time but also some money, forty dollars or so, must have fallen out of his pocket, if she could check the offices, so ironic he said, like he came and paid for sex. she put him on hold, filed her nails, finished her breakfast, then picked up and with joy and exhilaration said that she found it, forty, yes, by the copy machine, here they are

Marina Rubin’s first chapbook, Ode to Hotels, came out in 2002, followed by Once in 2004, and Logic in 2007. Her work had appeared in 13th Warrior Review, Asheville Poetry Review, Dos Passos Review, 5AM; Coal City, Green Hills Literary Lantern, Jewish Currents, Lillith, Pearl, and many more. She is an associate editor of Mudfish. She lives in New York City where she works as a headhunter on Wall Street while writing her fourth book, a collection of flash fiction stories. Her website is http://marinarubin.com.