Matt lay in his bed soaking up the early morning sun that crept into his bedroom. He lay on his stomach as the alarm clock went off. He hit the snooze button, but too aggressively and the radio alarm fell to the floor.
He groaned and rolled over onto his back. He hated Mondays. His weekends consisted of nonstop partying and seducing women as he was a bachelor and enjoying every moment of his single life. Over the past weekend he had sex with three different women – two of them at the same time.
He sat upright on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. His head was still a bit dizzy from the binge drinking and his mouth tasted of vomit, lubrication and pizza –though he couldn’t remember eating pizza.
“Come on Matt.” He told himself, “Get your ass out of bed.”
He got up and walked over to the closet, picked out a blue suit, got dressed and marinated himself in aftershave. Marinating was the best way to hide the lingering smell of a great weekend.
He entered the bathroom and brushed his teeth and was relieved when the odd mixture of tastes was gone from his mouth. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment; he looked quite good for someone who only had about six hours’ of sleep the entire weekend and decided not to shave as the day-growth beard complimented the suit.
“Off to the coalmine.” Matt told his reflection.
Matt’s studio apartment was only a few blocks down the street from the Johnson Incorporated building so he walked to work every day.
As he walked across the parking lot he waved at Freddie the security guard stationed at the wooden outpost for the past who-knows-how-many years.
He entered the building and smiled at the security guard behind the reception desk.
“Morning.” Matt greeted.
“Morning sir. Elevator is not working today.”
“No problem.” Matt said with confidence, “I’m young and a few flights of stairs don’t intimidate me.”
Matt flashed a bold smile at the security guard and made his way up the stairs – skipping a few stairs at a time.
Matt worked on the third floor, but each morning he’d pop in on the second floor and flirt with the ladies he believed were lusting after him – though none of them were to his liking. Being one of the sexiest guys in the building had its perks. Women – and the occasional gay guy – would jump at the opportunity to assist him with anything he wanted. Some of the older women on the second floor lusted after him and didn’t hide it very well. He loved the attention and would seek out any type of limelight. In this universe he was Dorian Grey and loving it.
He walked over to Gladys’s cubicle just as she finished a call on her mobile. He always liked her with her long red hair and silky white skin. She was a real beauty for someone who had two boys and the pinnacle of what a woman should be. He’d try over and over to get her to go out with him, but she declined every time, but it didn’t stop him from trying. Sooner or later she would give in to his charm. She was his Moby Dick and one day is one day…
“Good morning.” Matt greeted.
Gladys looked up, but wasn’t really surprised to see him as he came around every morning. Some of the other women would lean over their cubicle walls to get a look at the hunky man who worked on the third floor, but Gladys, however, showed little interest as she knew what kind of party animal he was.
“Morning Matt.” Gladys greeted.
“How was your weekend?”
“It was too short.”
She always tried to keep her responses to a minimal; hoping that he’d pick up that she wasn’t interested in a twenty six year old male slut.
“Mine too.” Matt said, “I had many functions I had to attend and people I had to meet.”
“Sounds fun.”
“It was. It would’ve been more fun if you were there with me.”
“I’m seeing someone.” Gladys said bluntly.
“It can’t be serious if this is the first I hear of it. When did this happen?”
“A while back.” Gladys said.
“Just because you settled for the next best thing doesn’t mean I’ll give up. I’ll get you to go out with me sooner or later.”
Matt noticed Alice was approaching rapidly down the aisle. He hated her. She was so dorky and desperate and was one woman he definitely didn’t want to talk to.
“Morning Matt.” Alice greeted with a big smile.
“Morning.” Matt said bluntly.
He just wanted the bag of bones to go away. She seemed starved of food and sex and wasn’t his cup of coffee.
“How was your weekend?” Alice asked.
“Fine.”
“Mine was lonely.” Alice said candidly, “My vibrator broke.”
It was a little too much information for Matt. Did she break because she used it too often? He cringed at the idea and turned back to Gladys. Perhaps if he ignored Alice she’d leave? He’d rather not risk it. The sooner he left the sooner he would get the image of Alice and sex toys out of his head.
“I’ve got to go.” Matt said to Gladys, “Have a great day.”
Matt touched her shoulder as he left and she felt like jerking her shoulder away, but resisted. She could see Alice and three other women were lusting after Matt as he left and could never quite understand why.
“What do you see in that boy?” Gladys asked.
“He’s so sexy… I just want one night with him. He’s had almost all of the girls on his floor and rumour is that he’s quite big and knows how to please a woman. I just hope he is circumcised. I hate an uncut one. I bet he is circumcised.”
“I feel dirty when he talks to me.” Gladys said.
“I don’t understand why he’s so interested in you. He can have any other woman on this floor, but he only talks to you. And the way he talks to you... It sounds like he wants to take you out on a date – the other girls he simply bangs in his car or in the supply room. You have a special place in his heart.”
“I’m not interested in him.” Gladys said, “He’s too young for me. And besides I think Alex and I are going steady.”
“Really? Is he the one with the crooked eyes? Oh wait, that’s my brother. Is he the one with the red hair?”
“Alex has black hair.”
“Wasn’t there one with red hair?”
“No.” Gladys said.
Her thoughts drifted away to happy days with her husband. He too had red hair. It was a rare combination – two red heads falling in love.
“Not for a long time.” Gladys said in thought.
The Elevator is out of order
The alarm went off, but Elias still wanted to sleep. It was four in the morning and the cold was seeping in through the broken window. Some kids threw out the window the night before and he mended it with duct tape and card board, but the chilly evening wind cut through it like a knife.
“Elias.” Martha, his wife said next to him, “Get up. You don’t want to miss your bus.”
Elias had his face buried in the pillow and wanted to stay there forever.
“Just five more minutes.”
“You missed your bus the last time you stayed in bed for five more minutes, “Martha reminded him, “You had to take the next bus and got to work ten minutes late. You almost lost your job.”
Elias rolled onto his back and stretched his limbs. Getting up at four in the morning five days a week for almost seven years takes a toll on the body and he was getting old now.
He got up and lit the candle that stood on a little table next to the bed. He and Martha lived in a one room shack in an informal settlement about twenty miles outside of the city and had very little earthly possessions besides the bed. Not that they needed anything else except each other and the love of God to get them through the day.
Just like many of the other men in the informal settlement, Elias had to get up early to get to work in the city.
He quietly put on his security guard uniform, but paused when he heard Sophia turn in her crib. He turned to the crib tha
t stood next to the bed on Martha’s side and glanced down at their sixteen month old baby who looked like an angel as she lay sleeping on her back.
“Is Sophia awake?”
“No.” Elias said in a hushed tone, “Go back to sleep.”
Elias leaned in and kissed Martha on the forehead. She was a wonderful wife and always made sure he woke up every morning in time as to catch his bus and then she would stay at home with the baby. Martha used to work as cleaner at one of the magistrate courts until she lost one arm and sight in one eye during a bombing. The intended targets of the bombing were drug lords that appeared that day and she just happened to be cleaning at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The chilly air tugged at Elias’s soul as he walked down the dusty road of the informal settlement and glanced at other men who were leaving their shacks and making their way to their minimum wage jobs to put much needed food on the table.
Elias stared up at the full moon as he walked and longed to see the sun rise before getting to work. He left for work while it was still dark and got home after dark.
He made his way to the bus that stood at the terminus at the end of the unpaved road. The bus trip was long and cold and the windows of the bus fogged up from passenger breath that eventually warmed up the creaking, old bus.
Elias rubbed his hands together for some heat and watched the informal settlement move by outside the window; giving way to the freeway, suburbs and then finally an hour later the city streets.
Elias got to the Johnson Incorporated building just after five thirty and had another ten minutes before he had to report for duty. He was a man that took pride in his work and reported for duty even when he was early, but his pride also prevented him from claiming overtime.
He walked across the parking lot and glanced at the security outpost; Freddie wasn’t on duty yet and always arrived just in time.
He walked towards the main entrance and saw one of the night guards taking a smoke break outside the entrance. He hated it when they did that as the smoke got carried into the building by the morning breeze. They might just as well be standing inside.
“Good morning.” Elias greeted.
The night guard just nodded and took another drag from his cigarette as Elias entered the lobby and walked over to the reception desk. He sat down behind the desk as the night guard entered.
“I guess I can clock off.” The night guard said, “Since you are a few minutes early I can leave a few minutes earlier. Oh by the way, the elevator’s not working. You have to log a call to technical support for them to send someone to repair it.”
The night guard walked around the reception desk, grabbed his bag and left. Elias sat there for a moment in silence; dreading the telephonic battle with technical support. It was the second time in one month that the elevator wasn’t working. He had the unfortunate task of informing everyone that they would have to use the stairs for the next few days. Most people didn’t mind, but the higher up in the building they worked the more agitated they became.
Maybe the elevator had overcome its kink and was working? He got up, walked over to the elevator, pressed the button and waited a moment, but nothing happened. He pressed the button again and then tried to pry open the doors.
“Elevator not working again?” Alice asked behind him.
Her voice nearly made Elias jump right out of his skin. He turned to face the deathly skinny girl with the freckles and glasses and smiled.
“Miss Simpson.” Elias gasped, “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“I’m sorry Elias.”
“You’re working overtime again?”
“Every day.” Alice said with a smile, “Have a good one.”
Alice made her way up the flights of stairs to her office as she hummed a song that got stuck in her head the night before, but the more she hummed it, the more it got stuck in her head until she finally had to sing it out loud.
Alice is no longer in Wonderland
The sound of the alarm beeping next to her felt like a sledgehammer banging against Alice’s