Fathers Day

Gus was a well-respected project manager at his office. Quiet but strong. Friendly but dependable. A gentleman with a strong sense of right and wrong. People around the office looked up to him and depended on him to make the hard decisions. He had two beautiful and well-mannered children and a lovely wife, which was expected of someone of his stature.

He wasn’t the type to display his emotions often, so when people saw him more up-beat and making jokes, they all thought something really good was happening in his life. When one coworker asked him what the good mood was all about, he only winked and carried on with his day. So it was understandable when people whispered anxiously to each other when they saw him on the Monday after Fathers Day with his head sunk down to his desk, crying. One person asked him if he was ok. Never imagining someone as strong as him crying for anything less then a death of someone dear, they imagined the worse. He only yelled, “Leave me alone!” while pushing them away, sobbing. Finally he was sent home for the day, and never returned. People wondered aloud in the break room about the downfall of Gus, but how would they of known the real reason was pizza.

He had only mentioned in passing that his wife wanted the children to eat only organically grown foods. He, himself was a junk food addict. He loved ice cream, chips and most of all pizza. Not gourmet, or restraunt pizza either- but the really greasy kind you order from Pizza Hut. That was all cut off from him by his concerned wife, who didn’t want him to be a bad influence on the children. He understood the importance of appearance since he prided himself on his conduct, and how he carried himself around the office. He knew the importance of leading by example, and he made the sacrafice since he children were in awe of his stern, but loving parenting. So, his coworkers would of never known that the reason he was so happy the week before was because his wife, more as a joke than anything, told him that for Fathers Day he would be allowed to order a pizza from any place he wanted to. He realized that it was all in good fun, but he couldn’t help but anticipate it. He had been planning it for days ahead of time, and could almost taste the juicy tomato sauce, oily peperoni’s and hot, buttery cheese.



When he finally was able to make the call, he was like a kid on Christmas morning. Barely able to keep himself in one spot as he waited for the pizza delivery person to arrive. When it came, he hurriedly sat down to eat hot slices right out of the box. That’s when he started to cry. He cried as he ate each slice. At first his wife thought he was kidding, but quickly drew back in horror when he wouldn’t share any with his kids. He cried as he finished every piece of the large, hand-tossed, meat lovers pizza with extra cheese and sauce. He sucked clean every crust and used them to mop up all the remnants on the cardboard box while weeping with deep, uncontrollable sobs. That night, he cried himself to sleep as the wife laid reservedly on her side of the bed, silent and without effort to console him. He seemed o.k. when he woke in the morning and showered, but broke down again as he was shaving.

His coworkers tried to send cards of consolation to his house, and others called to inquire on how he was doing, but there was no answer or response. They never heard from him again.