I loved my office in The Ice House! It was actually the old Beverly Hills Ice House, which had supplied and stored ice for the area in the days before refrigerators. The walls were decorated with prints and copies of old architectural drawings for the building, a very interesting and important (even essential) building for the Beverly Hills community.
The walls were two feet thick, and we had old-fashioned casement windows that swung out with the turn of a handle. It was solid.
When I opened my window, the smell of fresh bread wafted in from the neighboring Wonder Bread plant. Once a week a train rolled up to discharge ingredients and receive baked and packaged bread.
It was a fun building. My friends in the building, Baker – Winokur Public Relations, visited each other often. There was also a major entertainment industry business management company on the third floor, so celebrities were always coming in and out.
One day I was heading out for an errand and I decided to take the elevator. I usually took the stairs. The single elevator in The Ice House was really tiny, and very slow. I was on the 4th floor so I had brought something to read on the way down.
When the door opened on the third floor, I was surprised when this little lady walked in, bumped into me with her two very large breasts, looked up and said, “Sorry, there’s barely enough room for the three of us and you in here.”
It was Dolly Parton.
“It’s OK, Dolly.” I said, without even thinking. I recognized her instantly.
She couldn’t have been sweeter, nor could she have had a brighter smile. She was small, but her hair was large.
We managed to jostle a bit, but there we were, just the two of us in that tiny space for an ever-so-slow ride down to the 1st floor. It almost felt like an eternity, though not unpleasant, with her gently brushing up against me.
When we finally reached the first floor, I waited for her to walk out, then followed.
I may have said, “Have a nice day.” And she just turned around, smiled, then went on her way.
As I walked out of the Ice House, I had the smell of fresh baked bread and a beautiful lady on my mind. Now where’s my truck and faithful dog?
And I decided to take the elevator more often!
Cantorbury Tales 
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