The office building was like two adjoining row homes, one with three floors and the other five. As I finished the stairs approaching the fifth floor, the earlier round of joviality had ceased, and I only heard one voice bellowing through the space. I didn’t want to be a killjoy, so I walked into the area slowly, holding the finished job behind my back. A group of five people were lounging around in a circle with the current speaker standing with his back to me.
He was easily six inches taller than me, almost seven feet tall. An oversized white sweater made him look even more massive. His right arm was flailing freely while his left hand held an excessively large mug that he took sips from as he talked excitedly. The others saw me before he did, and they nervously waited to see what I wanted.
Turning to see me, the storyteller held his arms wide, saying, “Derrick, it’s about time you made it up here. Come join the circle.”
I had to stifle a laugh as I recalled the ghost of Christmas present from A Christmas Carol. Nodding to everyone, I moved closer and stood to his left, at the edge of his group. “Sorry to interrupt, but I had a job for you,” I said, holding it out for him to see. “Should I just leave it on your desk?”
He took the papers, tossed them gently toward his desk, and turned to me while taking an impossibly long drink. “Mr. Sadasky, life is too short to rush. Sit for a moment and tell us a little about yourself.”
One thing I know about myself is I hate to talk about myself, especially to a group of people I do not know. “Not much to tell, really,” I forced out, shrugging. “Today’s my first day.”
“Right.” He nodded aggressively. “What do you think of this place so far?”
“I’m trying real hard to remember everyone’s name,” I said, which made little sense.
“Do you know all our names?” he asked, and I felt myself stumble back. “They told you there would be a quiz, right?” The liquid in his barrel-sized mug sloshed over the edge as his belly shook visibly. He pointed at me and then took a sip. “You should see your face, white as a ghost.”
Another round of laughter from the circle made me want to run away.
“You got me,” I said, hoping to escape his trap. “I should get going. I’m running late.”
“We heard you went out for a power lunch today,” he said, blocking my path. “Tell us all about that.”
“I’m sure you all have plenty of work to do, so I won’t bore you with the details.”
My comment was not meant to be funny, but the group began snickering.
“Work?” the bard of the fifth floor sang.
Again, the group laughed.
“Derrick, you have earned a permanent place here anytime you want. Do tell, what can you say about your lunch?”
I could tell by the look in his eyes that there was no way out without taking part. “We went to a pretty nice place, and I got a club sandwich.”
“You can do better than that,” he insisted. “Who ordered all those tasty treats in the lunchroom?”
“Oh, WC thought we would like some appetizers.”
Their eyes grew wide at my comment. “What?” I asked, holding out my arms.
“Does he let you call him that to his face?”
They all waited for any sign of an answer.
I furrowed my brow and nodded slowly. You would think I did something no man had ever done before me.
“That is amazing,” he announced.
“What do you call him?” I asked.
“Why, Mr. Manor, of course,” he said like I should have known. “In one day you have climbed to the top of the social ladder. Lunch with the owners tops anything we’ve ever done.”
The circle nodded in unison like a bunch of bobbleheads.
“Tell us more.”
Going from the first floor of negativity to the fifth floor of overenthusiastic positivity had me wondering if some floor in between was just right.
“CS,” I started, enjoying another round of amazed looks, “talked to Alison and I about family and food. The whole experience was wonderful.” I moved toward the stairs. “I do need to get going. I’m only working late to make up the extra time I spent out at lunch.”
“Wait, what?” The crowd did not like that turn of events any more than I did.
“I was out for almost two hours, so my boss wanted me to make up the extra hour and a half tonight.”
No one liked what they heard.
“It’s okay, I’m hourly.”
The storyteller thumped his mug down roughly on a desk and placed a hand to his head like he suddenly had a fever. “There is always one in every group,” he said softly. “Always one.”
Nods told me the circle understood while I hoped to catch up.
“Always one,” I repeated, hanging my head like the rest. After their brief moment of silence, I perked up. “It’s been fun, but I really do need to go.”
Holding up a screwdriver, the storyteller moved close to me and bent down to my level. “There is something you need to see now that you are one of us.”
I watched as he waved the tool, slowly backing away yet still maintaining eye contact.
“The fun has not even begun yet.” Spinning, he grabbed a copier and pushed it aside like it had no weight. Waving the blade like a concert conductor, he grew serious, saying, “You tell no one, right?”
I crossed my heart and zipped my lip, which drew a wide grin from everyone. “You have my word.”
He produced a flashlight from what appeared like thin air, turned it on, and began working on unscrewing a white- framed panel from the wall. It was about three feet square, just big enough for someone to crawl through. Within a few minutes, he stood, holding the piece under his arm as he held out the flashlight to me.
“There is no going back,” he said as I took the light and crouched down to look into the darkness.
“What’s in there?” I asked, not really wanting to enter.
“Another floor. Go ahead in.”
I looked up and saw he was excitedly motioning for me to continue inside. I looked at the circle. “Have you all been in here?”
They all nodded in harmony, and it made me even more nervous.
“Okay,” I said as I crossed the threshold from light to dark. Standing up again, I shined the light around and could see exposed wooden beams and a few boarded-up windows. A fireplace with ornate carvings, having a mirror placed above it, lit up brightly when I turned in its direction. “Hey!” I shouted.
“Everything okay in there?” I heard him call.
“Yes. Why isn’t this being used?” I answered.
“Too expensive to renovate, and using it would require sprinklers throughout the whole building.” He thumped on the wall, making me jump. “So it remains dead space.”
I moved around, looking at everything in disbelief. They simply walled off the area and left it like it didn’t exist. A set of stairs looked extremely unsafe, so I simply looked up and decided falling through was not how I wanted to end my first day. A thick layer of dust covered everything, so I wrote “Derrick was here” on a table before heading out of the place.
“So, is that some sort of initiation for all new employees?” I asked handing back the flashlight.
“Of course not,” the storyteller admitted as he replaced the panel and moved the copier back into place. He stood and brushed off his sweater. “You are probably the last person that will ever see that. I told you, Mr. Sadasky, that you are at the top of our social ladder. The last person to see that entered more than two years ago. Cherish the experience and tell no one.” He put his arm around my shoulder and gave a little squeeze.
“Well, it was nice to see you all again, and I promise I will stop up here whenever I can.” Waving, I turned with a new upsurge of energy and a silly smile on my face.
Everyone shouted good-bye wishes as I hurried toward the stairs. Once those in charge left, it seemed like most others snuck out too or stuck around and did no work. I was really glad that I came in early so I could work in peace and leave before everyone went idle.
I hopped down the steps and stopped when I saw two people carrying boxes. “Do you need any help with those?” I asked, feeling motivated now that I was ready to leave.
Both turned almost in unison, and I knew immediately that I should not have said a word. They had obviously been crying, and now it made sense what was happening. The contents of their desks, knickknacks collected from years of dedicated service, extended out from the top edge. These were the two Alison had talked about during lunch. She had fired them on her first day. After a few awkward seconds of silence, they continued on their rapid exit from the building.
Stopping by Alison’s desk, I found her resting her head in her hands with Ms. Cedar standing over her.
“You did what was best for the company,” Cedar said, trying to console her.
I backed out of the room without being seen and continued all the way down to my hallway office. I wanted to talk to Alison, so I straightened up my desk, trying to stall until I was sure she was alone.
“Polly,” I said when my sister’s answering machine picked up. “I’m going to be home a little late tonight. No problems, just wanted to go out with a friend before heading home. Don’t wait up.” I hung up and sat back in my chair. After ten minutes, I figured it was safe to head back up to Alison’s desk.
I poked my head in quick and only saw Alison packing up her bags. “You in a rush?” I asked, moving in silently.
She wiped her eyes and turned, trying to act like nothing was wrong. “I’m so glad to see you made it through your first day.” She pulled her glasses from her pocket, put them on, and pulled her hair back and over her shoulders. “You heading out?”
“Yes. I was wondering if you wanted to go out for a drink to celebrate.” She put on her coat, and I could see she didn’t want to go. “No problem if you don’t want to,” I added, giving her a chance to bow out gracefully.
She grabbed her bag, slipped it on her shoulder, and stood looking at me, still deep in thought.
I gave her the time she needed to form her thoughts.
“My day did not end well,” she began looking down. “Do you really want to listen to me complain?”
I moved closer and stood over her. “Hey,” I said softly.
She looked up, and I could see tears welling up.
“Get over yourself,” I said, grabbing her by the shoulders.
She forced out a laugh that ended in a sob.
“Seriously, do you want to?” I stepped over to another desk and pulled a tissue from a box and held it out to her.
She took it, lifted her glasses, and dabbed her eyes gently. “I’m sorry,” she said, like crying was a weakness. “You know a good place?”
“I know a place.” I shrugged. “Not sure if it’s any good, but it’s close, just around the corner.”
“Are you sure you want to be seen outside with me? I’m a mess.” She pocketed the tissue.
“Alison, it would be my pleasure.” I bowed and motioned for her to take the lead.
She pushed me as she passed and took the steps leading to my hallway. She went through my space and entered the bathroom as I turned off my computer, put on my coat, and slung my bag over my shoulder. When she emerged again, I could tell she had applied some lipstick and combed her hair.
“Ready?” she asked.
I nodded, and we walked out toward the front of the building.
“Working late?” Mr. Manor asked, looking at his watch as we entered the front lobby.
“I was making up the time,” I said.
He pursed his lips and rubbed his nose. “Really?”
“Since I’m hourly, Ike thought it would be a good idea to get the time out of the way tonight,” I said, feeling like I was being a tattletale.
He nodded. “I’ll talk to him about that tomorrow. Besides that, how was first day?”
“I have to do a better job on remembering everyone’s name,” I kidded. “Other than that, I think the day went well.”
“And you?” he asked Alison. “I heard it got difficult.”
“Difficult is a fair assessment,” she admitted. “I’ll be back tomorrow, so it couldn’t have been all that bad.”
“Well, now you can start rebuilding your team your way.” He held out his hand to me. “Take care of this one, will you?” he said, shaking my hand.
“You have my word,” I said, meaning every word of it.
He slapped me on the back and walked away toward the basement door across from the bathroom in the lobby. “You two get out of here so I can set the alarm.”
We left quickly and walked down the front steps.
“What do you think about the owners now?” I asked Alison as we reached the corner.
She looked at the tall building that was abandoned across from our office. “They are both nice people doing what they think is best for the company.”
“What kind of answer is that?” I demanded.
“It’s the kind of answer you get before I’ve had a few drinks. Remember to ask me again later.” She smiled evilly. “Is that building empty too?” she asked, pointing to the building on the other corner.
A sign on the side of the building was looking for a renter.
“Looks like it.” I hadn’t noticed that the area was a little run-down. “The place is just a little further.”
Actually, the bar was the second property after ours. Smaller unlit neon signs in the windows under a much bigger dilapidated one above should have been enough for us to find another place. After the day we both had, I figured nothing could have been worse.
“Is this really the place?” Alison asked, slightly concerned. “Are they even in business?”
“Only one way to find out,” I announced, pushing open the door.