Force (An Alex Warren Novel) Read online

  I saw Peri, who waved at me from the table she sat at with a few others. Her hair was a distinct violet colour today; the two men she sat with matched each other exactly. Identical twins? Still dressing the same? No, their faces were different, but not by much. I guessed that they were probably related. I caught the gaze of one of them, who winked at me, and for a moment I thought I saw something shimmering beside him (or was that behind him?), but I couldn’t tell what it was because I was interrupted by a familiar voice.

  “Alexis! You found us! Sorry to have such an odd start to your first day, but I’m afraid that’s just how things work here.” It was Nic. I hadn’t noticed from the elevator that he was the one flipping pancakes. It was quite endearing to see him this way, the small man in his fancy suit, with an oversized white chef’s hat and an apron which read “KISS THE COOK” in large, black letters. Just as I read the apron, Peri flitted by and kissed him on the cheek. I still couldn’t get over how young she looked. The purple hair only accentuated her youth. He smiled, embarrassed slightly at Peri, and then turned back to me. “I’m sure this must be a lot for you to take in, but please, do join us for some breakfast. We’ll be up here most of the morning. I saw you met Connor, and I’ll be sure to introduce you to the twins as well. Your office is next to Paul’s; he’s the one on the left.” He pointed with the spatula, and I glanced back to see that Paul was the one who had winked.

  Nic flipped another pancake and it landed with ease into the growing pile. There seemed to be a mountain of pancakes, more than enough to feed the group of people assembled here, but he looked at the pile with disappointment, and then back at me. “It looks like I’m going to be cooking here a while longer. You might have to mingle on your own. Sorry about that. What a terrible boss I am! I can’t even show you around!”

  “Oh don’t worry. I’ll find my way.” I smiled, but was secretly dreading having to be the “new girl” and having to go introduce myself to all these people, especially now that I could see completely overdressed I was. At least Nic was wearing a suit, so I wasn’t the fanciest one here. I turned to Connor, hoping he might offer to introduce me to my new coworkers, but he was already gone. The crowd of people had grown as well. It was almost double what it had been when I first exited the elevator. Well, maybe I could disappear into the crowd until I found Peri. She’d show me around, right? Luckily, she was easy to spot, her purple hair acting like a roadside flare. I made a beeline for her, and when she saw me coming, she came to meet me.

  “Alexis! Can I call you Alex? Lexis? Lexi?” she twittered, and before I could reply: “Yes, Alex. I like that.” Phew, dodged that bullet. I hate being called Lexi. “How’s your first day going?”

  “It’s… different,” I replied truthfully, then immediately regretted it. She looked at me confused, so I backpedalled. “It seems like everyone here is so happy; you’d never find that at my old job.” I laughed a bit, so she wouldn’t take that the wrong way, and it worked.

  “Yes! I just love working here! I think everyone does!” she chimed. “Would you like me to introduce you to everyone? Or at least everyone you’ll need to know?”

  “Actually, that would be great.” I breathed a sigh of relief in the knowledge that I wouldn’t have to approach random people all morning. Besides, the crowd was growing even more and I could bet I wouldn’t remember names by the time I was done. Peri guided me effortlessly through the crowd, making small talk here and there, introducing me to a few people as it came up, and after leaving their presence, quietly telling me whether or not they were someone whose name I should remember. I was grateful for her help; she seemed to know exactly what to say to people. I stumbled through my introductions, and after repeating my reply to the seemingly standard question “where did you work for before coming to Mobius?” far too many times to count, she took me to the table I had seen her sitting at earlier. One of the two twins was still sitting here, talking to a woman who looked much older than she probably was. I wasn’t quite sure, but she appeared to have a glass eye. Best not to stare, I told myself.

  Peri’s presence at the table seemed to irritate the old woman, and she quickly ended whatever conversation she had been having with the man, rose from her chair in a slow, calculated movement, and left. He turned back to see what had made her leave, and his eyes fell on Peri.

  “I should have known it was you, you sly minx!” He said, in a slightly sarcastic voice, to which she responded by rolling her eyes. He turned to me. “Morgan hates Peri. It’s not hard to see why. She’s terrified of getting old, and then little Peri here defies it. I’m Paul by the way.” He smiled.

  “Ooooh! Where are my manners?” Peri squealed. “Paul, this is Alex. Alex, Paul. Alex is joining our group!” She seemed far too delighted.

  “Ah… so you’re the new… consultant?” He said the word consultant in such a way that made me wonder where his air quotes were. I still didn’t even know what I would be consulting on at this point, so I let it slide. He seemed friendly enough. But what had he meant by Peri defying age? How old was she? I decided it best not to ask, being my first day, and she was really my only friend at this point, if that was even what she was.

  The rest of the morning passed without much excitement. I met Paul’s twin brother, Casper, who seemed to me much quieter and introspective than Paul, almost standoffish. They weren’t identical, but they were so similar it was hard to keep them straight. He kept mostly to himself for the morning so I figured I was right. I never saw Connor after he disappeared at the pancake station. For some odd reason, I wasn’t surprised. He had an air of mystery to him that my daydreaming mind was all too happy to indulge upon.

  Just before eleven, Peri, Paul and I made our way back to the tenth floor, where my office was. Paul worked in the office beside mine, which was comforting to know that I would have someone close by that I could approach easily enough. Peri was Nic’s assistant, so she worked up on the fourteenth floor, but she informed me that she spent most of her day observing each division of the company, lending assistance where needed and reporting back to Nic as necessary. Occasionally she went to meetings but for the most part, she wandered. She implied that she and Nic were on good terms, so she could take advantage of this freedom when she needed to. I caught an exaggerated eye roll from Paul when she said “good terms” and it gave me the impression that there was more to that relationship than just professional. I cringed internally, because I couldn’t imagine the Peri and Nic together. The age difference seemed immense. I tried not to think about it, and focused on getting to work. I glanced around my office. What was I supposed to do anyway?

  Peri caught my glance. “You’re wondering what it is you’ll be doing for us aren’t you?” I nodded. “Well, as you probably guessed, we’re a bit slow right now, so let’s first get you set up on the computer, and then we can get you to do some background reading.” She skipped over to my desk and stroked a key on the keyboard. The monitor glowed with life. She showed me how to logon, and then walked back to the other side of the desk. “Your email was set up a few days ago, so I’m betting you have a few to sift through. Why don’t you just get settled, and I’ll be back in an hour so we can go for lunch.”

  Lunch? Hadn’t we just had breakfast? A very large breakfast? I was used to eating a bagel for breakfast, which I had done this morning before work just like any other day. But I hadn’t wanted to give a bad impression upstairs by not eating so I had forced myself to have some pancakes and fruit as well. I didn’t have time to reply though, as she had already disappeared out the door. Paul glanced at me with a look of understanding.

  “She’s like this all the time,” he said, with a note of exasperation in his voice. “I suppose that’s why we love her.” He smiled, and once again I caught a faint glimmer behind him. Wait, I was sure it was around him. No, it must have just been the sun, glinting off his teeth or something. “I’ll see you in an hour, so long as you don’t mind me coming along?”

  “Of course not!”
I answered, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, and I hoped he didn’t think it was because I didn’t have the energy to spend an hour alone with Peri. He winked, and headed into his office.

  Peri had been right; there was a lot of email to read, though the earliest one was only from Friday. I started to hope that this wasn’t going to be a trend, sifting through hundreds of emails each day, but I quickly saw why I had so many. It was really quite sweet when I thought about it. Nic had sent out a company-wide email on Friday morning, letting everyone know that I would be starting on Monday, and to please make me feel welcome. Most of the 137 emails I had in my mailbox were from people within in the company, introducing themselves, and welcoming me to the company. I chuckled a bit when I realized that I had no idea who most of these people were, but the thought was still appreciated. I looked at the clock; had 40 minutes really passed since I had first sat down?

  There were three emails that weren’t related to Nic’s introduction. The first was from Peri, asking for a voided cheque for the payroll department. I reached into my bag, having had enough new jobs that I was prepared for this, and put the voided cheque on my desk. I typed a quick reply, telling her that I had one ready, and to remind me to give it to her at lunch. The second one was from the Wellness Committee, reminding everyone that the gym on the second floor was going to be closed until next year while they upgraded the equipment. The last email was from Paul, and it had come in while I was sifting through the rest.

  Before I could open it, there was a soft rap on my open door. I looked up and saw Peri. That was fast. She couldn’t be here for the cheque already? I had barely hit send a minute earlier. Even if she had been sitting at her computer she couldn’t have made it down here that fast.

  “What’s up?” I said to her inquisitively.

  “Did you already forget? The cheque!” she giggled. She saw it on my desk and reached for it, gracefully prancing out the door. “Thanks!” she chimed as she disappeared. She must have a Blackberry. How else could she have gotten here so fast?

  I looked back at my computer, still a bit surprised at Peri’s efficiency, but determined to get back to Paul’s email. The subject line read: “Your first task at your new job”. This excited me, because I felt bad that all morning I hadn’t accomplished a thing, and yet I was getting paid for it. When I opened Paul’s email however, I was disappointed. All it said was:

  Blue or Yellow?

  I didn’t understand. I peeked out my office, but his door was shut, and I didn’t want to disturb him. I wrote a quick reply:

  I don’t understand, Paul. Blue or yellow… what?

  He replied almost immediately.

  Just pick :)

  I wrote back:

  Okay, blue.

  The emails were flying at lightning speed.

  Why?

  This was getting frustrating.

  I don’t know… Because blue is the colour of the sky today?

  I didn’t get a reply, and I was worried I might have offended him.

  Shortly after, Peri skipped back to my office and peeked her head in. “You ready?”

  I nodded, and started putting on my coat. Paul met us in the hallway.

  “What was all that about?” I asked him, as we boarded the elevator.

  “That’s consulting! I needed to know what colour and so I consulted you!” He seemed particularly pleased with this explanation.

  “What was the colour for?” I asked.

  “My tie for tonight.”

  “That’s hardly my “first task at my new job”. That’s just an opinion,” I laughed.

  “Ah, but I am going to meet some clients tonight, and I needed advice!” He said this with such confidence that it closed the subject all together. I wondered if he was worried that Peri might have been offended that he didn’t ask her for advice, seeing as she must know him better. She didn’t seem to have noticed though.

  We went to the little sandwich shop across the street, which was once again busy. There was one small cluster of three chairs available, and Paul went to save them after giving Peri his order. I wasn’t that hungry, so I ordered a cookie, and my usual chai latte. As we sat down, I couldn’t help but feel nervous. I wasn’t entirely sure what the three of us would talk about, having only just met Paul, and I wasn’t sure where to begin with Peri. I really wanted to ask her how old she was, but I knew I wouldn’t. She didn’t hesitate starting the conversation rolling, which I was getting the impression was her style. Most of it was the usual work gossip, about people I hadn’t met and things I didn’t understand, but they asked a bit about me, like what I took in school, and the conversation stayed casual and flowing.

  After lunch, we went back to our offices, leaving Peri in the elevator as she whisked up to the top floor. Paul had a conference call, so he bid me farewell for now, and silently closed his door. I felt very alone. I checked my email again, none, and after some time staring out at the harbour, I decided that I should explore my new surroundings. The first place I looked for was the nearest restroom, figuring I would need to know where that was at some point.

  When I finally found it I gasped.

  Chapter Four

  What kind of place did I work at? The restroom was massive, painted a rich red, with deep mahogany accents. There was a small sofa and a chaise lounge off to one side, facing a large flat screen TV on the opposite wall. I had seen living rooms less fancy than this room. I had to admit, it was a bit thrilling. I felt spoiled. I plopped onto the sofa to take it all in. As much as I wanted to stay here, I felt a bit guilty doing so. After a few minutes I decided to continue on my exploration. The only question was: where to go next?

  I thought back to the email I had received earlier about the gym. I wasn’t sure where this gym was, and even though it was closed, it couldn’t hurt to find it, right? I remembered the email said it was on the second floor, but I figured I would ask someone on the way. After some searching though, it appeared that Paul and I were the only people working today, on this floor at least. I shrugged to myself, and headed for the elevator. When it didn’t come right away, I started to look for stairs.

  My search didn’t last long because almost immediately I found myself staring at the immense dinosaur skeleton again. It seemed unusually large to me, and it struck me as an odd choice for such a modern building. Maybe the company wanted contrast?

  Something had caught my eye. I wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light, or maybe I was imagining something, but I thought for an instant that I saw a faint blue light coming from the center of the beast. I squinted to get better focus, but the ding of the elevator’s arrival made me jump, and when I looked back, the light was gone. Must have been my imagination, I thought, and I headed onto the elevator. I was not alone.

  “Paul! What happened to your conference call?” As soon as I said the words, I realized my mistake. This was not Paul, as the elevator had come down from above, and I had just walked by Paul’s office where he was already on the phone. I quickly backpedalled. “Er… Sorry, Casper, right?”

  Casper smiled faintly, and nodded. He looked slightly put out. I pushed the button for the second floor, and was content to ride in silence, except he spoke, so faintly that I almost didn’t hear him.

  “We don’t always dress the same.” His voice sounded sad, and I detected a note of longing in it. From just this sentence I got the impression that Paul had always been the popular one, and Casper the shy wallflower. “Today was just coincidence,” he continued. “But I guess we’re often on the same frequency. This is the third time this month.” I detected a faint trace of humour in his voice, so I smiled politely in response.

  We reached the second floor before anything else was said, but I felt I should say something before I left, to alleviate his seemingly blue mood. “See you around?” was all I managed to squeak out, and it came out a little more hopeful than I intended, but it had worked.

  He looked up and grinned. For a second, I detected that same twinkle in
his eyes that I had seen in Paul earlier in the morning. I hoped my comment would brighten his day, but I also hoped he wouldn’t take it the wrong way. It was day one, and I didn’t want to complicate anything.

  It wasn’t hard to find the gym as it was the closest door to the elevator. Reading a small sign taped to the door I could see that, as the email promised, it was closed until January 3rd. That didn’t stop me from trying to peek in. I was surprised when I tried the door, finding it unlocked and the lights on. The place was much larger than I had imagined, with sheets over most of the equipment and mirrors on most of the walls. As I looked around, I made a silent promise to myself to come here frequently when it reopened. Something was off though. I paused, and realized I could hear a thudding noise to my right. I turned to see that someone was on the treadmill. I could only see their back, and I was certain he hadn’t heard me enter when I noticed the white ear buds attached to a tiny mp3 player on his arm.

  His arm. His perfectly toned arm. Connor’s perfectly toned arm which flexed rhythmically while he ran. He ran with such speed that I was surprised the treadmill could keep up. He didn’t seem to be sweating, just glistening a bit, the way that girls are supposed to sweat. He almost sparkled in the light. I felt all my self esteem drain from my body as I tried to picture myself with such a man. The picture never worked; in my mind’s eye I looked too plain and dull standing next to him.