by Dan Hawley
“You weren’t talking,” Sam said. “Well, you talked, but wow, ok. I woke up in the middle of the night, and you were just sitting there. And ok, you’ve done that before and just lay back down, but this time was different.” She was starting to become agitated.
“Different how?” Jason asked.
“Well, I lay there and waited for you to lie down and go back to sleep, or continue sleeping…or whatever! But instead, you turned and looked right at me, and you were so scary, you looked at me and you asked me if I had heard!”
Now distraught, Samantha began to cry.
“Whoa, whoa, easy. I asked if you heard?”
Jason sat down beside Sam on the bed and put his arm around her, rubbing her back.
“You said, ‘Do you hear?’”
“What does that mean?” Jason wondered aloud.
“I don’t know! You said it, and you looked so, I don’t know, different, like, scared! It was horrible!”
“Then what?” Jason prodded.
“I don’t know! You just rolled over and went to sleep. Then I just lay there all freaked out for hours!” Samantha sobbed and leaned in so Jason could hug her. As he put his other arm around her, he said, “I’m sorry, babe. I have no idea what that was about. I don’t remember that at all, but it must have been a bad dream I was acting out or something, like before.”
Sam looked up at him.
“I guess. I don’t know,” she said as she nuzzled into his chest. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Jason broke the silence.
“I do have to go soon. Can’t be late on my first day.” He peeled himself from her and looked her in the eyes.
“I’m sorry that happened. Just the stress of moving and starting the new job and everything, I bet.”
He kissed her cheek.
“I love you,” he said and kissed the other cheek.
“Love you too,” Sam whispered back.
CHAPTER 4
Jason laced up his shoes, stood up, and looked at himself in the hallway mirror. It was his first day of work, and he was supposed to dress business-casual. “Whatever that means,” he thought. He slid his thin winter jacket over his white, freshly pressed dress shirt, careful not to mess up his neatly combed hair. He took a final look up and down his monotone outfit.
“Go get ’em, tiger,” he said to his reflection with a wink and a finger gun before reaching for the door.
* * *
The elevator opened into the lobby with a ding. As Jason exited, he could see that it was raining heavily outside. He had meant to pick up an umbrella at the market the day before, since he knew Seattle’s reputation for being soggy, but he had forgotten. He slowly walked toward the main doors and stopped, staring up at the grey sky, lost in thought.
“There is an umbrella-lending kiosk right over there,” the concierge said politely, gesturing towards the little space-age cube just to the side of his desk.
“So that’s what that is,” Jason responded as he turned to step towards it. As he passed the office, he could see Chester inside, immersed in his paperwork.
“It’s free. You just make a profile and enter your credit card information. Then you use your profile to borrow an umbrella anytime you need one. You have 24 hours to return it,” the well-dressed concierge instructed.
“Or I’ll get charged, I guess,” Jason mused.
“That is correct, sir. Twenty-five dollars.”
The concierge then turned to accept a package from a courier.
Jason inspected the kiosk, quickly created a profile, and grabbed his loaner umbrella. He thanked the concierge and headed for the door.
As Jason passed the office again, he glanced in to see Chester was gone; the desk clean and tidy.
Outside, Jason opened the black umbrella and headed towards his new office. It was only a 10-minute walk, which was a nice change from his long commute back home. The other significant difference was the weather. Back home was freezing, and there had been snow on the ground for months.
Here, in Seattle, it would snow for perhaps a week or two over the entire year.
But the rain was relentless. And the air was damp and heavy. It wasn’t freezing like back in Pennsylvania; it was a trickier kind of cold. It would sneak in under your skin and firmly attach itself to your bones. There it would stay until you could drive it from your body with hot soup or a warm bath.
While the large umbrella protected much of Jason’s upper body from the fat drops of rain, it did nothing for his feet. By the time he entered the office building, the rain had soaked his shoes and socks, and his pant legs dripped at the cuffs.
“Damn it,” he cursed as he stomped and shook his feet to shake off the offending water. People milled around him, heading to their destinations, seemingly unaffected by the weather.
Leaving a small puddle on the lobby floor, Jason made his way towards the elevator.
There were already several people waiting for the elevator, so Jason pulled out his phone from his pocket. It was a quarter to nine. Jason preferred being early to being on time, or God forbid, late. If he felt like he was running late, Jason tended to become very anxious and irritable. This behavior would inevitably lead to arguments with Samantha, especially since she happened to be a little more laid back than he was.
On several occasions, she had questioned why he would get so upset when getting ready to go somewhere and he felt they were running late. To Jason it was about integrity. Being somewhere when you said you’d be, and doing something you said you would.
“It’s kinda rare these days,” he would finish.
“Ok,” Sam would say, “but we’re just going to the mall.”
The lobby bell rang, and the elevator opened. It quickly filled like a packed sardine tin, Jason being the last one to fit. He turned around and saw that someone had already pressed his floor’s button, lighting it up. The door closed in front of him.
As the elevator rose, each person’s individual scent began to mingle into one confused fog. There was a loud talker at the back recounting her “amazing” weekend to her friend. Someone stank of cigarettes, and another had coffee breath. Jason held his own breath as best he could to avoid the offensive aroma. People excused themselves past Jason until they reached the 12th floor. The door opened with a loud ding, and Jason exited gratefully. He inhaled deeply, turned to his right, and moved towards the receptionist’s desk.
Clicking away on her keyboard, the young woman said, “Good morning, you have reached Intellican; how may I help you?”
“Oh, hi, I’m Jason. I’m starting to—“
“Just one moment, please, I’ll put you through,” she interjected, and then looked up to lock eyes with Jason. “Sorry, I was speaking to the caller.”
“Oh, of course,” Jason fumbled. “Hard to tell, I guess. Sorry about that,” he said with a smile.
Her expression softened as her green eyes remained trained on his. She smiled and pushed her hair back over her shoulder. He noticed a Bluetooth headset beneath her long, blonde hair.
“Hiding your headset under all that hair,” he teased. She looked down at her computer screen and began typing again.
“So how can I help you, Mr…” the receptionist asked, her tone remaining professional.
“Steele,” he offered. “I’m starting today?”
His statement was more of a question, as if to ask if she was expecting him.
“Of course,” she replied. “HR will be right out. Please have a seat.”
“Thanks…”
“Veronica,” she replied.
“Thanks, Veronica,” Jason finished. “Good to meet you.”
Since Jason was often early, he was used to waiting. He was aware of the fine line between being respectfully early and being intrusive. If you’re there too early, it is off-putting to people. Not only that, but it’s also a waste of time. Ten minutes is about the max Jason would stretch it. He had it down to a science.
Instead of sitting, Jason slowl
y meandered around the crystal clean lobby, checking out each piece of art that hung on the wall. The room and art were very modern. The white marble floors shone with fresh wax. The seating, comprised of luxurious, dark-brown leather, was cut at sharp angles and adorned with chrome rivets and feet. The dark mahogany coffee table sat on a fancy white rug with nothing on it but a short stack of tech magazines.
“Jason.”
He turned at the sound of his name to see the outstretched hand of the attractive Human Resources manager.
“Good morning Celeste, a pleasure to see you again.” Jason reached out and clasped her hand.
“I hope I’m not too early,” he added.
“Not at all,” Celeste replied, “You’re right on time.” She wore her curly, auburn hair in the same way as she had in their video call a few weeks back. As Human Resources manager, she had needed to connect with Jason on a few key points before he moved out.
Although Jason knew Celeste was attractive from the video, she was even more striking in person. She was slightly taller than him in her black heels. Her slender legs ascended up and under her grey pencil skirt. Neatly tucked into the skirt was a crisp white shirt that hugged her torso, exposing every line. A red silk scarf dangled from her fragile neck to complete the ensemble. The scarf matched her lips that spoke, “How are you and Samantha settling in?”
“Getting there!” he responded and followed Celeste’s lead as she turned to enter the office.
“It’s different, but we’re excited to explore the city.”
The office was large and open, with groups of neat and tidy sitting and standing desks filling the space past the lobby’s frosted glass doors. Some people were there already, working away on their computers. The engineers worked in power groups, each assigned to a specific task. Once a job was completed and optimized, the work went to the senior engineer. The senior engineer was accountable for the quality of the work and meeting deadlines. Individual offices lined the perimeter of the room, assigned to executives and the sales team.
Celeste and Jason walked past the first two groups of desks and came to rest at his space. A welcome basket sat atop the desk, filled with snacks and company-branded swag.
“Wow, look at all this stuff,” Jason said as he removed his jacket and folded it around the back of his chair.
“A mug, a polo shirt… sweet hat!” He smiled and looked at Celeste. She smiled back.
“We are glad you have joined us and are looking forward to having you stay.” She handed him a manilla envelope.
“Here is some paperwork I’ll need you to read over and sign when you have a moment: standard employment contract, banking info, and a non-disclosure agreement. There is also a welcome package with your computer login information. Once you log in, you will move through orientation and training. Right now, though, I’ll have you follow me. We need to get your clearance set up at security. It’s picture time.” She smiled and gestured for Jason to follow. “After that, I will take you over to William’s office. He is eager to see you.”
* * *
Celeste knocked lightly on the door frame of William’s office.
“Good morning William. Jason is here to see you.” “Jason, my man!” William exclaimed with visceral excitement. “Welcome, welcome. How is everything? Settling in well, I hope?”
As William stood up, his black leather chair creaked slightly and rolled backward. He clasped Jason’s outstretched hand and gestured towards a chair in front of his desk.
“Please, sit. Do you need anything? Coffee, tea, some water?”
“Oh, no, I’m good, thanks,” Jason replied as he sank into the soft armchair. William adjusted his glasses and nodded.
“Fair enough. I’m sure you know where the refreshments are by now if you change your mind later.”
William turned to Celeste. “Does Jason have everything he needs so far?”
“For now, yes.”
“Thank you, Celeste.”
She smiled and nodded, then looked at Jason and smiled again as she turned to leave.
“Thank you, Celeste,” Jason echoed as she shut the door.
William’s office wasn’t any larger than the others, as far as Jason could tell. It held a modern desk with two leather armchairs facing it. Behind the desk was a fancy leather office chair with chrome rivets and feet in the same design as the furniture in the waiting area.
The art was similar too; modern and fierce. As William turned to head back to his chair, Jason noticed long, vertical wrinkles on the back of William’s otherwise neatly pressed light-blue dress shirt. Those wrinkles were from sitting and working. Jason wondered how long William had been here already. A hardworking CEO was admirable. Jason didn’t want to work for a lazy, entitled millennial.
As a hardworking self-starter, William’s reputation had undoubtedly been part of the attraction that led Jason to accept the job offer. William had earned a bit of a name for himself in the tech world, and when Celeste approached Jason to come out and meet him, he was quickly intrigued.
A few years prior, William had stormed onto the scene with the code that remained at Intellican’s software base. He had interest from everyone from banks to schools. Private companies and various world governments, including the U.S., wanted to purchase the unique code. William’s code had many great applications when you needed to keep information safe.
William sat down and rolled his legs under the desk. He reached for his Intellican mug and took a sip.
“Ahhh, that’s good stuff,” he said as he put it down. His dark eyes, magnified by his lenses, shifted their focus from his mug to Jason. He leaned back, observing Jason for a moment.
Jason held his gaze, unfazed by the scrutiny.
“Glad you’re here, Jason. We’ve got a lot of work to do to hit our first-quarter targets. I brought you on because I know you can handle the pressure. We have high expectations here. We surround ourselves with the best because we expect the best. That’s why you’re here. That’s why I saved you from that soul-crushing, dead-end wasteland.”
Jason smiled and laughed.
“Well, I appreciate the opportunity.”
“Appreciate it all you want, Jason, but I’m more interested in how you seize it.”
William’s cold black eyes pierced through Jason, but he held his boss’s gaze.
“Understood,” Jason replied as seriously and enthusiastically as he could muster.
“Good. I’m here if you need anything; open door policy and all that. I think you’re going to do great here, Jason. Now, get out there and prove me right.” Jason nodded as he stood up.
Feeling a little intimidated and very motivated, he went back to his desk.
CHAPTER 5
“Now breathe out as we move to warrior pose,” instructed the television. “Keep those arms level to your shoulders and chin level.”
Samantha stood, glowing in the late afternoon light, breathing out as she found her pose.
“And breathe out as we move into downward-facing dog.”
Samantha complied.
Her black lulus and sports bra were damp from the workout. Breathing slowly and deeply, she held her pose. A few drips of sweat landed on the purple mat below her brow. She stared at the small pool and continued breathing.
“Now down to child’s pose to finish off our session,” the tv commanded.
Samantha knelt slowly, folded herself, and reached out in front of her bowed head. Her forehead rested on the floor as her back glistened. She tried to keep an empty mind, but she couldn’t help thinking about her parents. Pangs of longing and guilt stabbed at her guts. They had assured her they supported her decision completely before she left. They said they wanted her to be happy and explore the world.
She struggled with it, though, especially now that her brother was gone too.
“Namaste,” the voice concluded.
“Namaste,” Sam replied.
She stood up, grabbed the spray bottle of disinfectant, and clea
ned her mat. She rolled it up and stored it neatly in the bedroom closet. Samantha caught a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror and stopped. She twisted and turned, scanning her body and pinching skin here and there.
She peeled her sweaty sports bra over her head, freeing her chest. Her tights were next to go. She stood up again, twisting and turning, inspecting her naked body in the morning light. She reached her arms up, and slender fingers pushed back her dark hair and fastened it into a ponytail. She yawned, stretched, and headed for the shower.
Warm water splashed over her thighs as Samantha entered the shower. It made the rest of her skin bumpy as it instantly tightened into gooseflesh. Her skin eventually relaxed as she engulfed herself under the chrome showerhead. Orange peel and a hint of honey escaped from the frothy body wash and entered her nose. She breathed deeply as the scent invigorated her senses. Her mind painted scenes of a vibrant orange orchard with beautiful Monet skies. There was Jason, waving and smiling. He looked so serene, so happy in his denim overalls and straw hat. So cliché, she smiled.
Samantha moved the pink loofah over her skin as she daydreamed about the orange farm and her lover and their child…
“Hey!” a voice ssaid.
Samantha jumped, and a quick, shrill scream escaped her lips. Suddenly she was aware of reality and her heart pumping like a freight train.
“Damnit, Jay!” she complained. “Scared the shit out of me!”
She panted as she rinsed the suds from her skin.
“Sorry, babe, I called a couple of times when I got in. I didn’t mean to scare you. I guess you were daydreaming?”
Jason grabbed a fresh towel from the rack.
“I guess so,” Sam responded as she turned off the tap. She stepped into the outstretched towel and Jason’s open arms. He grasped her close and paused there for a moment. He released his grip, leaned back, placed a kiss on the end of her nose, and began to rub her arms up and down as if she were a child that had just exited the pool.
“Was it a good one?”
“We were in Florida,” Sam mused.