The Sneezes

"So, are you ready to leave at 6?" my boss asked. (Where I work, it is a treat to leave at 6 p.m. rather than at 2:45 a.m., which has happened before.)

"Yep," I said absently from my chair.

Then I sneezed three times. I often sneeze at work. Maybe a little too often.

I got up and walked over to the side of my cube that separates me from my boss, poked my head above the partition and said, "Sometimes I think I have that incurable nose cancer that Scully got on 'The X-Files' and that's why I sneeze so much."

She looked up at me.

"Well, probably," she said, stifling a smile. Then she continued: "Or it could be that this office is full of dust and recirculated air, like an airplane. But it's probably the cancer."

I nodded. Scully never suspected a thing, either....