Worlds Collide

Daniel collapses into his high backed office chair. He’s exhausted and relieved now that the presentation is over. It went exactly as he had planned, after the whole car breakdown and appearance of his brother that is.

“Alice, can you come in here please?” Daniel asks as he loosens his grey tie and unbuttons the top button of his white shirt, feeling the need to get a little more comfortable.

Alice files into Daniel’s office what feels like mere seconds later. Daniel’s office isn’t like many of the other men and women in his position or above at AlphaTec. He keeps it simple, practical and tasteful. After all, it’s an office not an extension of his home. Though, Alice hopes that Daniel’s home isn’t as sterile as his office. It could well be, she has no idea and is sure she will never find out. Not that she really wants to. He is her boss and she respects him, like he does her. That is why she knows she doesn’t have to ask if she can take a seat across from him, she just does it.

The chairs opposite Daniel are adequately comfortable, at least for short periods. Alice wouldn’t want to have to sit on one for hours on end. They are only simple bent metal pipes welded together and then covered across the seat and backrest by thin black padding. The material isn’t leather, but it does have that appearance she notes as she stares across the conservative desk at Daniel.

His desk is much like the chairs, plain, except his desk is fashioned from wood and metal and serves only its purpose of being a base upon which he has a dock for his laptop and use the provided multi-screen setup, keyboard and mouse. Her own setup is much the same, except Daniel does have larger monitors. He didn’t choose them, they are a company standard for a man of his position. He’d even balked at the need for them and asked if they could instead he setup on Alice’s desk, but the IT guys had assured him they could not. Daniel had known better than to argue further, but he still didn’t like it, so had put in a request for larger monitors for Alice. The request had been passed, which didn’t surprise Alice seeing as many of the other assistants bosses had put in for far more luxurious and unnecessary upgrades which had also been accepted.

The wasteful nature at AlphaTec has never sat right with Alice, but she knows better than to voice her opinions on the matter. Those that have spoken out have rarely lasted more than a few mere months past their outbursts, and Alice needs this job to pay her bills. City living isn’t cheap after all.

“Can you cancel my appointments for the rest of the day please Alice?” Daniel asks politely. It’s how he always is with her. Alice knows he could order her to, but he never does.

“Of course I can Daniel. And would you like to know when I pencilled your brother in?” Alice asks gazing at Daniel who is clearly drained. She has never seen him look like this before, but then after the morning he’s had, which is has in fact only been a few hours at most, it’s no great surprise.

“You can cancel that to.” Daniel utters with his head back against the headrest of his chair, his eyes closed. If she didn’t know better, Alice would swear Daniel plans on sleeping. Though, his wish to cancel the appointment with his brother, Vince, surprises her.

“Can I enquire as to why Daniel?” Alice asks carefully. It isn’t any of her business and she never usually pries, but it just strikes her as strange that Daniel rarely even mentions his brother. But now that the man has appeared unannounced at the office and having to be convinced to leave and make an appointment she feels she has to ask the question.

“Can you close the door please?” Daniel says in reply. It isn’t the response Alice had expected, but without a word she rises from her seat and quickly covers the distance to the office door, which she gently pushes closed.

“He’s a criminal. Vince I mean. He runs drugs for a ‘living.’ Well he calls it a living.” Daniel admits. He sees no reason to mince his words now that they are alone and his office door is closed.

Alice gasps in shock. Her hand shoots up to cover her gaping mouth. She never would have guessed he was into such things. Sure he lied to her to get somewhere he shouldn’t have been, but lying to see your brother is a far cry from being a drug pusher.

“Why did he turn up?” Alice manages to ask after a period of silence. It isn’t how she wanted to phrase the question, but it has taken her this long just to get the words out because of her shock, so it’ll have to do.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in a couple years. But I can guess. He probably needs money. It’s usually why he rears his ugly head.” Daniel admits.

Alice feels sorry for Daniel. She can’t imagine what it must be like to have a criminal for a sibling. Her guess would be that it must be hard, which is why she feels she should say something. But what she hasn’t got a clue. What can you say to a man that you work for who tells you his brother is into drug trafficking?

Suddenly there is a knock on the office door. Alice almost jumps out of her skin because of it, but it seems Daniel doesn’t notice her physical reaction. Probably just as well, she thinks as she turns and then carefully opens the door.

She hadn’t moved from beside it since she’d closed it not long ago. Daniel had announced the information about his brother before she’d had the chance to move away. That’s probably why I jumped when there was a knock at the door, she concludes as she finds herself staring at several members of the buildings security team.

Alice wonders why they are here. She certainly hasn’t called for them and there is no way Daniel has since he returned from the presentation. It dawns on her that he could have requested they drop by his office because they ejected his brother, though that strikes her as unlikely, especially due to the timing of their arrival. Unless, that is, Vince proved to be more difficult than anticipated to remove from the premises. From the size and shape of the man, muscular, as well as what she has learned about him being a criminal, it seems like it could be a real possibility.

Alice realises now that Vince and Daniel have very little, physically, in common. She hasn’t got a clue why that enters her head now, but it’s true. Where Vince was muscular and bald, Vince is trim and has a thick head of hair. She wonders if Vince is older. He certainly seems it, not just in appearance but also manner.

“Can I help you?” Alice asks the security personnel filling the now open doorway. But the security guards don’t stay static. Instead they invite themselves in without a single word.

“Excuse me!” Alice says loudly. She doesn’t know what this is about but she’s appalled by the men’s manners.

Daniel pulls his head forward and opens his eyes as soon as he hears the exclamation from Alice. At the sight of the security guards however, his face drops.

“Mr Jameson, Mr Vermont has asked we escort you off the premises effective immediately.” One of the security personnel announces ignoring Alice.

“What?” Alice blurts without thought before adding, “What is this? What is going on?”

“Mr Jameson’s employment has been terminated, effective immediately.” The security lead announces without a hint of pleasure as he steps into Daniel’s office now. The security lead likes Daniel, because he’s always been decent to Dexter, but orders are orders, especially when they come from Mr Vermont himself.

“Why?” Alice spits angrily.

“Because of the criminal, his brother, who managed to gain entrance to AlphaTec HQ.” Dexter answers wishing that he were anywhere other than here. If only I’d taken the day off as I’d planned a couple weeks ago, Dexter thinks as he tries to not make eye contact with Alice. He can fully understand her reaction and its one, which if he were permitted, would be his own reaction too. But he has a job to do. That’s why he wastes no time in nodding to his two fellow team members. In response, the two security personnel with Dexter waste no time in quickly crossing the office to meet Daniel who has only now risen out of his office chair.

“This is ridiculous! He didn’t even know his brother was here! How is it his fault if he talked his way in?” Alice continues trying to defend Daniel while the two security personnel grab him by either arm, ready to escort him out of his office and then the building.

Daniel, for the first time, since the security guards arrival shows some sign of refusal. It’s taken him this long to wade through the fog of his thoughts and reach comprehension of what is going on. Now that he has though he declares, “Let go of me. You can’t do this.”

But the security personnel pay no attention to Daniel’s words and proclamations as they drag him out of the office, his office.

Alice follows adding choice words of her own about how they need to stop and about how this is not right, fair, legal or justified. While she does Daniel continues to struggle and protest his innocence about how he didn’t know. However, the tone of his voice comes across sounding more like pleas for mercy than angry ravings. Not that it makes any difference what it sounds like as he can’t even manage to escape the clutches of the security personnel, Christian and Miguel.

Then Daniel catches sight of some of his fellow colleagues. They stare are at him eyes wide and mouths agape like goldfish because he is being pulled across the floor.

At the sight of their judging shocked stares Daniel falls silent and drops his head in shame. He knows that his time at AlphaTec is over, there is no way he can talk his way out of this or reason with anyone. No one is going to listen to him. This order has come from the CEO himself, Alfred Vermont. He wants to blame the man for this, but he can’t. The blame falls solely on his own head and so he urges Alice, “You’ve got to stop now Alice. If you don’t they might fire you too.”

Those are the last words Alice hears him say as the elevator doors slide closed, leaving her stood there blinking in shock and fear. She had never considered that her outbursts might cost her her job as well, but now that Daniel has pointed it out, she is acutely aware of that being a real possibility.

Alice hates herself for considering her own needs over those of Daniel, one of the nicest most brilliant men she has ever had the pleasure of working with or for. However, she can’t doubt that he is right.

By the time the elevator reaches the lobby Daniel has completely given up. He doesn’t try to fight the security personnel in any way now. Instead, he simply complies with their wordless demands for him to keep in step with them as they escort him across the vast lobby, past the reception and security desks, as well as the turnstiles, toward the set of normally sealed automatic doors that can be found between two of the revolving doors. Usually these automatic doors are reserved for if there is a fire drill or encase of an actual fire, but it seems like this is how they plan to eject Daniel from the building. He could resist right now, maybe even break free. There is a chance that Christian and Miguel wouldn’t be expecting that, but Daniel attempts no such thing. He’s too tired and somehow utterly unsurprised that this is how his time at AlphaTec will end. What he’ll do next he can’t say. His career is dead. No one will ever hire him again. Alfred Vermont will make sure of that as he, Christian and Miguel continue to across the polished marble floor of the lobby growing ever closer to the open automatic doors that are the line which once crossed will signal the end of this phase of his life.

Christian and Miguel say nothing to Daniel. They don’t know what to say. Neither of them wants to do this. But they have to think about their own jobs, lives and families. Christian has a newborn and Miguel has three children between the age of four and nine. If either of them disobeyed this direct order from Alfred Vermont they’d be escorted to the same set of doors and ejected along with Daniel. Not that it makes it any easier for either of them to do this because they would give anything for it to be someone other than them fulfilling this demand from on high.

If Daniel had earned this fate then they might not feel the same, but he hasn’t. They know it as much as Dexter, Alice, Daniel and Mr Vermont, if he were not such a callous bastard.

The trio reach the door. Christian and Miguel hesitate for a moment and then physically shove Daniel out the open doors and onto the street. It’s quiet at this time, much like the lobby had been as they’d crossed it without only a few people milling about.

Daniel stumbles a couple steps but then manages to right himself. Christian and Miguel made sure not to be too rough with Daniel. Still, they have to offer the standard statement mandated by the company. Its Miguel’s turn this time, but he takes no pleasure in saying these words. “Don’t come back Daniel, ever.” It’s a less impersonal version of what he would normally say, but it has the same meaning behind it whether he uses the person’s first name, like he has with Daniel, or surname preceded by title, like he normally would.

Then the doors slide closed, silently but quickly. At which point Christian and Miguel turn and then walk away heading back for the security office, while Daniel is left, head hung low, on the street.