Office Family

"BEEP BEEP BEEP."

Silence.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP."

Silence.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP."

A pale scarred palm slams down on a junkyard alarm clock.

Silence.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP."

"I'm awake, I'm awake! Jesus!"

A figure rustles out of a thick duvet on the floor and slams the alarm again.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP."

He scratches his unruly white hair as his heavy eyes narrow on the clock's display.

2:46 AM.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP."

He lets out something between a groan and a sigh, and rises to the window on the wall beside which he was sleeping. Rather than the busted alarm clock, the piercing beeps are coming from outside.

The view out the window looks down onto the abandoned parking lot behind the shifty apartment. In the middle of the open road, illuminated by a single flickering light post, are two cars facing each other. It must've rained a bit since he fell asleep, because the cracked pavement looks shiny and wet, and the flickering light stretches and reflects off the slick black cars. It was as if he were watching a commercial, with a flashing strobe light pronouncing all their high-end curves features.

Needless to say, these expensive cars were rarely seen on the Southside.

"BEEP BEEP BE-"

Finally, the beeping is cut off and a man emerges from either car. From the height of Ty's window, they look like ants rather than men, but these ants are definitely wearing fine black suits. As if mirror images of each other, the two suited men turn to the passenger side of their own black cars, and open the door.

This is where the parallels end.

In the car closest to the apartment emerges a blonde woman in a big black coat, and in the car facing them emerges a man in a green suit. It was horribly tacky, like some low-level villain in the comics Ty used to read as a kid.

The cheap green villain pulls a black briefcase out of the car, and carries it over to the blonde woman. The case is transferred into her own hands, and then the two rich ants head back into their respective cars. Soon they drive away, leaving the pavement under the flickering light empty again.

A peaceful trade.

Before now, Ty had only ever seen the abandoned parking lot be used for druggy hangouts, beat-ups, and motorcycle gang meetings.

'Northside crime is on another level.'

He recalls Barry's warning about a raging serial killer on the Southside as well.

'How unsettling.'

He plops back down onto his duvet covering the floor, for lack of money to spend on a real bed, and goes back to sleep for the remaining hours of the night- or morning.

At 6:00 AM the old rusted alarm clock yells for real.

It's almost completely crushed in the palm of his hands, but it lives to see another day.

His steps creak like an old man's whines against the loose hardwood floor as he traverses the room. The apartment unit consists of the main room with that bed in the corner by the window, a small broken-down kitchen area near the door, and a very small room attached with a toilet, sink, and shower. There's mold in the shower, so it's always best not to breathe much in there.

He throws his clothes on the ground, holds his breath, turns the cold water on, and steps under the rain of ice.

He soon changes into one of the only nice outfits he owns; a white dress shirt and simple black slacks. He hands his employee lanyard around his neck, with his identification card hanging below.

Name: Ty Walters. Employee ID: 899472.

He quickly brushes his teeth, smooths out his bedhead with water, and heads to catch the morning bus to the Northside.

Breakfast is the free coffee offered at the office.

RiseX Solutions was a broad company, offering a range of products from kitchen appliances to gardening supplies to skin care to toys. For a nobody Southsider like him, working in such a big Northside company was nothing short of his second miracle since coming to Carnelian City. Or rather, it was his first, as it predated the improved health of his sister Eve.

After stumbling off the train and immediately seeking medical assistance for the eight-month-old, she was brought to St. Bernadette. He couldn't dream of affording such treatment at such a nice hospital with bare pockets. It was by complete coincidence that the RiseX Sales Executive at the time overheard his tear-jerking predicament in the hospital hallway and offered him a job out of pity. She'd recently been replaced by a new exec, though. He's glad he caught her when he did.

Still, for what was initially charity, Ty did pretty well at RiseX. In fact, last Friday, he finalized plans to sign a contract with a big customer. A big fish, even among the Northside standard. His immediate supervisor was clearly impressed, and quickly asked for their details as well. 

However, upon arriving at the office today, he realized that query had slightly different intentions.

The office was in high spirits, and while pouring his coffee in the staff room, he asks the employee beside him why. 

"Oh, Dominique signed a great client today. Madame Buffant, the owner of Vivid Theatre Productions!"

His body stiffens with one hand on the coffee pot.

Madame Buffant was his great client. On Friday, they set a time to sign the contract tomorrow evening. And yet his supervisor Dominique... had stollen her from him. 

"I see."

He pours his black coffee in a disposable cup and heads for his cubicle. On the way, he runs into high-spirited Dominique herself.

"Ty! Good morning to you!"

"...yes. Good morning. Um, Dominique?"

"Yes?"

He flicks the rolled lip of his paper cup up and down, choosing his next words carefully.

"Why... was Madame Buffant's contract signed early?"

She smiles.

"Come, let's talk in my office."

It was a small and boring office. Two shades of grey cover the walls, with a couple framed certificates here and there. A monitor, desk, chair on either side, and single fake plant completed the space.

The most appealing thing in the office was Dominique herself. She was easily the prettiest woman Ty had ever seen, with lush olive skin, brown hair curled into perfect ringlets, and beautiful brown eyes behind long lashes. She wore a neat white blouse, and an employee card around her neck matching his own.

Name: Dominique Perez. Employee ID: 652971.

Sitting behind the desk, her arms are outstretched and clasped together on the table before her, pointing towards Ty on the other side.

"You're curious as to why I signed her over the weekend, right?"

"...right."

Her enchanting eyes are narrowed on him. 

"You're a Junior Sales Representative, Ty."

He nods slowly.

"People around you are in the same position, except ten years older, and have been working at this company ten years longer. While you've done good work here and I'm happy to have you on my team... this fact doesn't change, and neither does how you got here."

He nods slowly again.

"To the other Representatives, this isn't... well, it isn't exactly fair, is it?"

"...no."

She nods.

"If you were to now sign and take on such a big client, it would be incredibly discouraging for the other employees, you see?"

"I see."

She moves her hands to neatly rest in her lap.

"But that doesn't mean you should be discouraged with this outcome either, Ty. Persuading Madame Buffant was an incredible achievement. I really hope you keep up the good work. Your strong and steady work ethic will soon be apparent to the others. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

She smiles. 

"I'm glad. We're all a team here, right? I might have signed with Buffant, but that was a win for all of us. We work as a unit, and we grow as a unit. An office family."

"...right. An office family."

She leans over the desk to place a hand on his shoulder. 

"That's the attitude. Keep up the good work, kid."

She's startlingly close to him, which makes his body tense up. The scent of vanilla teases his nose, and the alluring neck of her blouse at this angle...

His face was a little red when he left her office.