Breath Mints

Summary

A man named Denny refuses entry to a woman seeking to see his boss, teasingly withholds her breath mints, and eventually succumbs to their potent effects.

Abstract

In the provided narrative, Denny engages in a playful yet tense exchange with a woman at his workplace. Initially, he denies her access to his boss, using the pretense that the boss is too busy. During the interaction, Denny snatches the woman's tin of breath mints, taunting her by eating one and pocketing the tin. The woman, undeterred, continues to request her mints back, revealing their cost and possibly hinting at a budding attraction to Denny. However, the story takes a turn when Denny experiences an adverse reaction to the mint, leading to him collapsing on the floor. The woman, showing no alarm, calmly retrieves her mint tin from Denny's pocket, suggesting that the mints may have been intentionally tampered with or are more than they seem. As Denny loses consciousness, the woman inquires about the boss's preference for mints, implying a sinister motive behind her visit.

Opinions

Denny is portrayed as arrogant and dismissive, particularly in his interactions with the woman and his treatment of her request to see his boss.
The woman is persistent and possibly manipulative, as she manages to unsettle Denny's composure and achieve her goal despite his initial refusal.
There is a suggestion of underlying tension or conflict between the characters, as the woman's visit seems to have an ulterior motive beyond simply seeing Denny's boss.
The breath mints serve as a central plot device, with their potency leading to an unexpected outcome that subverts Denny's expectations and control over the situation

Take one. Go ahead.

“Look,” I said, snatching the tin out of her hands, “there’s no way I’m letting you in.”

She reached for the tin.

“Ah ah,” I said, holding it just out of her reach.

She sighed. “Stop being an asshole, Denny.”

I smiled at her, lowered the tin, popped it open, grabbed a mint.

She just shook her head.

“He doesn’t want to see you,” I said. “He is a busy, busy man.”

“Can I have my mints back?”

I tossed the mint in my mouth, slid the tin into my pocket. “They’re almost gone,” I said in between bites. “You may as well just buy a new pack.”

“They’re three bucks each,” she said, staring into my eyes.

Sheesh. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she liked me. I smiled back at her. “I’ll buy you a new — ” [cough] “ — pack tomorrow.”

“Be careful,” she said. “They’re strong.”

Now my throat was burning. I reached for my pocket but I couldn’t keep my fingers together. I couldn’t keep my legs together. Somehow, I was on the floor.

She squatted beside me, patted my head, slid the tin out of my pocket.

“Oh, hey, Denny?” she asked as she stood, my vision losing its focus. “Does the boss like mints?”

Fiction

Breath Mints

Take one. Go ahead.