Absolute Zero

by Anlyn Hansell

  “What do you mean Ron destroyed the equipment?” she asked as she minimized the screen once again.

  “You didn’t hear?” Em appeared a mere second later, leaning her weight against the wall separating their work spaces.

  “When people say he lost it? I mean he lost it. Completely went nuts. One second he’s quiet, the next minute he’s throwing things all over the place. It was so bad, he couldn’t even talk. He just…I don’t know, he was grunting and screaming and we had to call the cops to come in and get him. He actually had Harry by the throat up against the wall when he tried to stop him. I’m telling you, it was like he was possessed or something. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Em stated with widened eyes.

  “Really?” Anne sat back in her office chair, her mind completely focused on Em.

  “Really. He’s been institutionalized ever since. He still isn’t any better, at least from what I hear.”

  “Wow. That’s really…strange. And no warning signs?”

  “Nothing. It really shook this place up for a while, but I think things are back to normal around here.”

  Anne had no idea what to say to that so she nodded.

  “Anyway, it’s about time for lunch. Are you free? I still owe you big, you know…”

  “You don’t owe me anything,” she responded automatically.

  “Oh yes, I do. I actually owe you way more than that, but let me at least spring for lunch,” she smiled causing Anne to follow suit.

  “Sure,” she responded, almost shocking herself.

  *****

  Ian McClellan is available

  She stared at the bottom of the Instant Message screen after assuring herself the last office dweller had left for the night. His “Good” response was the very last thing he wrote. It had to be at least 11:00 pm his time, and yet his computer was still signed on according to his email. Sighing, she almost clicked the button to close the conversation before a voice interrupted her.

  “Hi there.”

  She practically jumped out of her seat at the male voice. Immediately her eyes lifted to find a younger man standing in front of her desk. He was holding a large black garbage bag.

  “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you, I thought you heard me working in here,” he stated with a smile. He was a nice looking guy, probably in his mid-twenties with spiky dark hair and vivid blue eyes.

  “I’m Caleb,” he reached out a hand and she looked at it for an awkward moment before reaching out to shake it. “Caleb Stratton,” he emphasized his last name as if she should recognize it.

  “Umm…I’m Anne,” she responded in a quiet voice as she watched him seat himself in the chair situated in front of her small desk.

  “I know who you are. That’s why I had to come and introduce myself. I’m Irene’s son,” he stated as he watched her closely, waiting for a reaction.

  “I’m sorry,” Anne blurted before she could catch the words. Her utterance was clearly amusing to him as he barked out a laugh.

  “I…didn’t mean…” she stammered, instantly embarrassed.

  “No! God no, don’t apologize. That was hilarious! She stopped by my house last night bitching about some woman living in the company house and I wondered if it was you. You know you were a hot topic last week after you let McClellan have it in the Boardroom. Everyone was talking about it,” he sat back into the chair and smiled broadly.

  She had no idea what to say to that. Maybe the fact that she was quickly becoming famous for having an unfiltered mouth was a bit unsettling. Her mouth clamped in a grim line.

  “Mom can dish it out but she can’t take it, apparently. She’s not always like that; so don’t take it personally, OK?”

  Anne shrugged, still unsure of a response.

  “She gets pissy sometimes. She’s been through a lot lately,” he added but didn’t elaborate immediately.

  “OK?” Anne asked after a few moments. In reality, she could care less what Irene’s motives were.

  “Yeah, so anyway, I thought I’d just say hi, usually you guys are gone before I get here, but looks like you’re working late, huh?”

  “Actually, I was just about to leave. You…work here?” She nodded toward the garbage bag grasped in his hand.

  “Oh yeah. I come from a long and prestigious line of people that clean up after other people. Mom cleans houses, I’m the custodian here, my Dad was the custodian at the high school, my sister Kelly…was a…maid, probably still is, I don’t know. Even my Grandpa was a groundskeeper for the Duponts. Isn’t that crazy?” He stood up abruptly, clutching the bag. “I guess you can say it’s in my blood.”

  Anne shot him a small smile as he took a step back.

  “Well, I need to get to it. You have a good night. Keep Mom on her toes, OK? Pissing her off might be a good way to break her out of this funk she’s in,” he stated as he backed away. He didn’t wait around for a response, which was good because she didn’t have one.

  Her hand went back to the mouse and clicked on the shutdown button before the Instant Message screen popped back up with a small box indicating she would lose the conversation if she shut the system down. Her cursor seemed to move on its’ own to the icon that opened the screen once again. She typed quickly and hit send before she could stop herself.

  A loud breath escaped her lungs before she clicked the shutdown button and the screen faded to black.

  *****

  A ping sounded, causing his eyes to shoot toward his laptop screen and away from the spreadsheets he was still trying to make sense of. For the briefest of moments, the words on the screen confused him. Up until he noticed who they were from.

  A slight upturn of his mouth and a quickening pulse were the result of one name and two words. Maybe he was waiting for this. Scratch that, he was waiting for this and she didn’t disappoint.

  Anne Bennett’s message to you:

  I’m sorry.

  *****

  Her mouth hung open as she stared at her screen the next morning. A few minutes after she had logged in, a familiar ping caused her to jolt and her eyes fastened to the small box that appeared in the middle of her data sheet.

  Ian McClellan’s message to you:

  If you would think about what you were going to say before

  you actually said it, you wouldn’t have to apologize so often.

  Well, that certainly told her, didn’t it? Was he being serious? Was he joking?

  What the hell?

  She immediately clicked the X on the top right of the box, effectively closing the conversation box as her cheeks flamed.

  Luckily, she was the only person in the office. The other employees would start to trickle in around 7am. She would take the opportunity to work in the lab and start compiling a list of the supplies she would need to begin her project. She would not dwell on Ian and his snarky message.

  She stood on somewhat weakened legs, blaming her jog from two nights ago. It had nothing to do with McClellan, she assured herself as she stepped around the desk and headed toward the lab.

  *****

  “Can you take a look at this?”

  Anne’s eyes looked up from Ron’s notes to Carol’s face as she leaned her weight against the counter Anne was currently working at later that day.

  “What is it?” she asked as Carol handed her a stapled bundle of papers.

  “My abstract. If you have a minute, I’d like your feedback.

  “I thought you already had a project?” Anne asked as her hand reached for the papers.

  “I did and then McClellan dropped a bomb on me. I thought since he didn’t say anything in the meeting that he was OK with my research, but apparently that wasn’t the case. He sent me an email last Friday outlining every reason why he doubted the data I collected. Says I wasn’t considering the fact that the cells I’m using aren’t even suitable for this. How the hell he knows that is beyond me – I swear, I didn’t even think he was paying attention during my presentation. He said, and I quote, “your p
roject is doomed for failure, please do not waste any further funding on this, try again…blah blah blah. He’s an asshole,” she breathed out.

  Anne looked from the paper to Carol’s face. Her eyes were practically glittering with hatred or maybe glistening with unshed tears? It was hard to tell…

  “It’s OK,” Anne heard herself speak in a gentle tone. “We’ll fix it. Just let me take a look and see what you’ve got, alright?”

  “Sorry,” she breathed out. “You probably think we’re all a bunch of…incompetents around here. I don’t want to take up your time, but Em said you were phenomenal at this. She said you helped her do in a couple hours what she struggled with for weeks.”

  “Well, I don’t know about that. I mean, most of the research came from Em, I just tweaked it a bit for lack of a better term. Of course, I never did get to present it…”

  The statement caused Carol to snort. “No, you didn’t…”

  A small smile played on Anne’s lips as she regarded the woman next to her.

  “Right. So. let’s take a look,” she turned her attention to the paper and began reading.

  *****

  As soon as the house came into sight that night, her eyes immediately focused on the blaze of color gracing the spot near the front door. She parked her car in the driveway and opened the door distractedly before unfolding herself from the vehicle. Her eyes couldn’t move beyond what she was fixated on.

  She slowly walked toward the front stoop and stared down at what had to be at least three dozen brightly hued flowers in a clear crystal vase. A small envelope was perched in a holder above the mass of color. She didn’t even need to read it to know from whom they came. Tulips that originated as yellow from the stem and morphed into bright red tips.

  He had said they reminded him of her…

  Funny, she never did respond to his instant message and he never did contact her again that day, but here she stood with her mouth agape and her insides performing that strange fluttering that seemed to plague her far too often lately.

  Bending down, she pulled the envelope out and a smile curved her lips as soon as she saw it.

  Mouth

  That was all that was written on the small white envelope. She opened it and stared at the simple words in front of her on the card within.

  Apology Accepted.

  She was in trouble.

  He was three thousand miles away and she was no safer from him or the responses he produced within her.

  *****

  “Welcome back. I’m walking into your building right now,” he heard the familiar voice through his cell phone.

  “Ian? Your three o’clock is on the line. Mr. Jonathon Daniels from Emtech Bio,” he heard Mrs. Craigh’s voice through the speaker on the desk phone.

  “Cancel it. Give Mr. Daniels my sincerest apologies and ask him if we can reschedule for tomorrow.”

  “You’re booked tomorrow, sir,” Mrs. Craigh responded in a bland tone. He could almost see her facial expression through the phone. She was most likely glaring at it.

  “Well then, the day after tomorrow…”

  “Booked solid, sir. I’ll tell you what. How about I look at your schedule and plan it for you?”

  “Sure,” he responded in a light tone.

  “Ian, you’ve been wanting to meet with this man for three weeks. Why would you…oh! Never mind…”

  “Hello Mrs. Craigh,” he could hear a soft female voice in the background right before one of the double doors to his office opened.

  “I’ll take care of it, Ian,” Mrs. Craigh stated before cutting off the call.

  Pushing aside his files, his elbows rested on the surface of his desk as a beautiful brunette with a willowy frame breezed through his door and wandered in as if she owned the place. She’d look a wee bit more regal if her hair wasn’t caught up in a messy bun and her clothes didn’t have splats of color all over them.

  “Did you get any paint on the walls?” he asked as he swept his gaze over her.

  “Funny,” she responded without smiling before seating herself in front of his desk.

  “I’d give you a hug, but…” she started before his hand waved her off.

  “I’ll take you to dinner tonight. You can hug me then,” he finished for her.

  She gave him an acquiescing shrug and nod, before her dark blue eyes bored into his.

  “I have to talk to you about something.”

  Immediately his hands clenched into fists in front of him. The look she was giving him and the fact that she hadn’t bothered to change before coming to his office were telltale signs that something was wrong.

  He knew exactly what she was about to say, unfortunately.

  “Mum checked herself out of rehab,” she stated.

  “Of course. And this should concern me why?” he asked, leveling an intense stare that matched her own.

  “She’s already been to my house, asking for money. It won’t be long until she contacts you.”

  “And she’ll receive the same response she always does. Don’t let her manipulate you, Lena,” he sat back in his chair, his fingers drumming on the arms rests.

  “I thought maybe when I was finished renovating the Inn I should give her a job. She could stay there and I could keep an eye on her.”

  “Hmm. Sounds perfect. You make sure to lock your valuables away and grow eyes in the back of your head, eh? And then when she decides you’re of no use to her anymore, she’ll leave and you’ll be left with a broken heart – yet again.”

  “Don’t be an arse, Ian.”

  “And don’t get soft on her, Lena. It’s what she does, who she is.”

  “She’s our Mum,” she responded in a soft voice.

  “Don’t remind me. I’m more than willing to pay for her rehab but legally, she is an adult. I can’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do and neither can you. If I give her money, she’ll buy pills. She buys pills; she hurts herself and everyone around her. She’s a waste, Lena. At what point are you going to give up on her?”

  “Like you did?”

  He blew out a frustrated breath. “Aye, like I did. And you know what? I can honestly say I don’t care. I’ve tried too many times and it always ends up like this. I wash my hands of her. You’d be wise to do the same.”

  “I just have a hard time turning my back on her, that’s all.”

  “She didn’t have any trouble turning her back on you, did she?” he spoke the harsh words and regretted them immediately when her hurt filled eyes lowered from his. She was his absolute favorite person in the world and he had hurt her with his callousness.

  “I’m sorry,” he stated quickly before grabbing the arm rests. He was about to push out of the chair and hug her; paint splattered clothes and all, before Mrs. Craigh’s voice filled the room.

  “Ian? The Florist called to confirm the flowers were delivered,” she stated.

  “Ahh…thank you?” His eyes widened slightly at the phone. Her timing was suspiciously bad.

  “Well, you told me to tell you as soon as they confirmed…”

  “Yes. Right. Good,” his finger pressed the speaker button to cut off the call before his gaze met his sister’s. At least the hurt expression on her face had changed to one of amusement and keen interest. If he didn’t know any better, he would almost bet Mrs. Craigh did that on purpose.

  “Something you want to tell me?” one of Lena’s dark brows shot up.

  “Not particularly,” he responded with a straight face.

  “Come on, Ian! It’s been…a while. You’re…dating? You didn’t tell me you’ve met anyone.”

  “I’m not dating anyone.”

  “Flanging?” she asked with a sly grin.

  “Lena! Right, like I’d tell you that.”

  “Well which is it? Who is this mystery woman? It is a woman, right?” her eyes crinkled and a small snort erupted from her nose.

  “Your maturity is astounding…”

  “Thank you. Now, tell
me about this person,” she demanded as her body leaned toward him.

  “I really don’t have time for this,” he breathed out.

  “Yes, you do. You cancelled your phone conference for me, I heard you on the speaker. Tell me.”

  “There isn’t much to tell.”

  “No? Then this should be quick. I’m not leaving this office until you tell me, by the way,” she seemed to emphasize her threat by settling her back against the chair and gripping the armrests.

  “Why do you care? I don’t ask you about your…relationships.”

  “Because I do care. I want to see you happy for once, is that so wrong?”

  “I am happy.” Another snort erupted from her at his words.

  “You are not a happy lad. Sorry. I’ve seen you in action and Mrs. Craigh and I talk far too often for me to believe that. You’re a bampot in the office and I’d imagine you’re like that everywhere.”

  “I am not. I just want things done a certain way, is that so wrong?”

  “So where is she from? Dundee? Glasgow?” she pressed on.

  A loud sigh escaped him as his eyes narrowed.

  “Edinburgh, Perth, Forfar…what?”

  “America.”

  Her eyes widened for a moment as his soft admission caused silence on her end. They stared at each other for at least a minute.

  “What?” she finally asked.

  “You heard me.”

  “You met her last week?”

  His answer was a small nod.

  “You never go to America. Well, rarely,” she amended. “How’s that supposed to work?”

  “I dunno. I wasn’t thinking ahead. I just know I like her. She’s…different.”

  “Tell me about her.”

  “Don’t you have anything better to do? Don’t you need to go home and…paint yourself or something?” he huffed out, clearly uncomfortable.

  “Tell me.”

  His eyes focused beyond her shoulder before he gave a slight shrug. “She’s this wee thing. Bonnie, but that’s not why I like her. She’s smart and she’s got a mouth on her. Stands right up to me. She called me a bully,” he tried to fight it, but the smile he was suppressing decided to make an appearance.