~*~*~
The time passed. Somehow I managed to get on a clean pair of jeans and a brown tunic top. I even managed to straighten my hair while playing. All the while I laughed and played games with Chris online.
At four I logged out. It was time to get to work. Likewise Chris needed to be getting ready for his own job. He worked as the nighttime security guard at an assisted living facility. From what I gathered he patrolled every other hour and watched movies the rest of the time. I was slightly jealous because I worked the same shift and did real work.
I scurried out of the flat and loaded myself into the Rav. I secretly hoped to hit traffic. I almost thought about taking I-90 to ensure I hit traffic. I wasn’t feeling too optimistic about work today. But I didn’t want to be late so I hopped on Irving Park Road and took my usual, construction-free route to work.
I worked the five to eleven shift. We termed it the vampire shift. In the summer we do a lot of paperwork until the sun sets. In the winter we have clients waiting for us by the time we walk in the door. Since we were currently in spring we had a few hours of sunlight to catch up on paperwork until we needed to go to see clients.
I rolled into the parking lot at four fifty-five; a little disappointed I wasn't going to be late. I pulled the Rav into a spot next to Sean's Range Rover. I did a quick scan of the area. I was the last to arrive.
Most of the mid-shift people were still around. They worked the hours of one to nine. They worked a healthy balance between Others like witches and werewolves and vampires. There were times when I wished for such a shift, but only because I didn't always like getting home after midnight.
I powered up the stairs to the fourth and top floor. I rushed off for my office. The BSB held the fourth floor. Technically the BSB owned the whole building, but there weren't enough people to justify using all three floors. To make up for the error of buying the whole building the BSB leased out the other three floors. A law firm was on floor one and a clinic, generally used for drug testing, was on floor two. In comparison to the ten story buildings made of glass and steel all around us, the brick building looked more like an apartment complex.
The morning shift of nine to five were packed up and leaving as the vampire shift came in. The mid-shift was busy at work. Natural light mixed with the fluorescent lighting. The cubicles in the center of the floor were mostly empty of interns and file clerks, while half the offices of the case workers were dark. There were stripes of gold on the gray-brown walls where the sun managed to break through the shades. A few people pushed past me, trying to get out the door.
I went into my office, closing the door behind me. I had the shades up and the sun shone directly onto my desk. A beacon awash in gold for all to see. I put my lunch bag down, deciding an apple and some carrots weren't worth putting in the break room’s refrigerator. I drew the shades, but didn't bother to turn on the lights. I liked the gentle light of the setting sun.
I locked my purse into my three drawered filing cabinet, flipped on my computer, and checked my planner. I had only two vampires to see tonight. Leslie at eight-thirty and Jarell at ten. Other than that I had a meeting to attend and little else.
The sun continued its descent to the horizon. The shadows grew longer as I checked my emails. By the time it was too dark to work without the lights on, it was seven. Meeting time.
The workers of the vampire shift gathered in the conference room. It was supposed to be big enough for all employees in the building. Half the people could fit in there, standing room only. There was a bigger conference room on the first floor, but we had to ask the lawyers real nicely if we could use it. The conference room, like the rest of the floor, was painted a non-aggressive gray-brown. There was a large table taking up the center of the room. A projector screwed into the ceiling. Eight chairs were around the table, with more stacked up in the corner farthest from the door.
Sean stood at the head of the conference table. He was dressed in ironed, black slacks with a white t-shirt on under his blazer. I pulled up a chair closest to him. I caught a whiff of pomade. He'd attempted to tame his hair with it. At least I think he did. His unruly mane looked as unkempt as usual. I guess he could have been eating the pomade.
Brent and Jose came in together. Brent was about thirty-five. Barrel chested, no nonsense attitude and buzz cut. His eyes were a warm hazel. His nose had been broken several times and heeled crookedly. He was slow to smile, but was a generally nice guy. Jose was shorter than me, black hair, black eyes, and cheery demeanor. We joked about his reaction to vampires. He was skittish around them, but he managed to build rapport with everyone. He worked with witches and werewolves who worked nights like the rest of us. He was the only one on the vampire shift not to deal with a single vampire. Patrice came in just behind them. She slid in next to me.
“We're in for a slow night,” Sean began. “Samantha has two appointments tonight and I believe the rest of you are office bound.” There were nods of agreement. “We've been asked to sort through some files sent over from the downtown office.”
I stifled a groan, choosing to roll my eyes instead. Whenever the office downtown sent things to be sorted it was a tedious affair. Busy work intended to bore us out of our minds and ensure we earned our paychecks.
“You all need to turn in your reports every day. I don't know how many times I have to tell you this.” We were required to turn in status reports on our clients. They were brief updates for the central BSB to review, looking for suspicious and potentially dangerous activity in Others. Like work sent over from other offices, they were boring to do.
“I'm not going to get yelled at again because you miscreants can't be bothered to do your work.” I'm the youngest person on our shift, then Sean. It was funny to hear him call Patrice, Brent, and Jose miscreants. “Finally, Brent, would you mind taking Samantha's newest clients? Jessica and Melvin Klein? You can hand off two of yours in exchange.” All eyes cut to me.
“I guess, but why?” Brent watched me intently.
I felt my face get hot. I knew I was turning a bright red. I scooted down in my chair, trying to disappear. I knew Sean was going to ask this in the meeting, but I hadn’t imagined the level of embarrassment it would cause in me. I had been threatened. I shouldn’t have been ashamed to want the troublemaker gone, but I was. I had failed somehow.
“There were some differences of opinions and to keep things running smoothly I feel it'd be better if you took them.”
Under the table Patrice gave my knee a reassuring squeeze. She hadn't told Sean what she'd seen the night before. And for Sean's part he sold the personality differences story to Brent, though I don't think he believed it himself yet.
“I was thinking you could give her the Patels. You've only just starting working with them.”
“Yeah, that'll be fine.” Brent gave me a thumbs-up and one of his rare smiles. I smiled back, embarrassed with myself.
“Off you go. And if even one of you forgets your reports tonight I will personally flog you.” He waved us out.
Four
It was seven thirty when I plodded back from the meeting. I planned to grab the Klein file and give it to Brent before heading out to meet my client. To my chagrin the little, red light on my phone blinked relentlessly. I frowned, not wanting to deal with anyone at the moment.
I picked up the phone and punched in my voicemail code. “I still need Angie's information” was all it said. My body involuntarily shook a little at the voice. That cool, collected, utterly crazy vampiric voice. I knew I should have run directly to Sean’s office and told him the truth, but I didn’t like the idea. I could handle this and it all started with my own phone calls.
I quickly dialed out on my phone and waited as the other line rang. Five rings passed before the voicemail message kicked in. “Hi Johanna, this is Samantha calling from the Cumberland BSB office. I wanted to talk to you about...” I searched my brain a moment to find the right words. “About a friend of yours. Pl
ease call me back.” I clicked the phone back onto the receiver.
I set the receiver down and tapped my fingernails on my desk. The staccato beats mimicked my heartbeat that had yet to slow down after hearing Jessica’s voicemail. I picked up my office phone again. I dialed and waited for a familiar voice to pick up.
“Yes, Miss Dunmore?”
“Hi. I just wanted to let you know one of your friends has been bothering me, trying to reach you.”
There was silence for about thirty seconds. I was sure she had hung up. “Friend?” she finally asked. Her tone indicated to me I was mad for even suggesting she had friends.
“Yeah, her name's Jessica.” I couldn't give last names for the same reason I couldn't give Angie's number out. I had never been given permission to do so. First names were okay and Jessica was a fairly common one. “She said she was a friend of a friend and you told her to contact you if she was ever made a vampire.”
“I don't know any Jessicas...”
“She also called you by a weird name. Agatha or Agacia, something like that.”
“Agacia?” It was strange to hear a vampire become nervous, but I could hear Angie's voice waver at the name. “She said Agacia?” Even through the phone I could hear the wall of confidence she built crumble at the mere mention of the name.
I moved the phone away from my face to stare blankly at it. She sounded odd, almost worried. I returned the phone to my ear. “Yes, that was it.”
Another thirty seconds of silence fell. “I don't know any Jessicas.” Click.
That was it. I knew something was wrong. I had hit a nerve with Angie. That made me feel weird, uncomfortable. If someone as ferocious as her could be rattled, what hope was there for me? I suddenly needed something to do with my hands. Normally I cooked or baked my stress away, but I didn't have anything to cook with here.
I opened my desk drawer in search of a project. I was supposed to be doing reports, but as I opened my computer to work on them, I found myself staring blankly at the computer screen. My mind was scattered by Jessica and by Angie's response. I needed to distract myself, not just pretend to be working. My desk didn't hold any answers to my terrified boredom.
I grabbed a stack of post-its and some tape. The Little Mermaid figurine my mother bought me could use a castle to live in. It would pass the time until I had to leave. It would also ease my troubled thoughts for a little while, while I decided what to do.