I was shoved against the wall, and before I could speak, or start crying, the lights came on. As best I could tell I was in a bar.
There was a pool table, a ping pong table, a full-sized refrigerator, along with a couch, and a couple of big easy chairs. Some guy was asleep in one of the chairs. And oh yeah, there was a flat-screen TV that took up a full wall. A replay of a Jets game was on, which may have explained the sleeping guy.
The knock at the door was soft, so soft I wasn’t even sure it was a knock. I concentrated and listened for it again, but it was difficult to hear anything over the industrial humming of the air filtration-cleansing-purifying-recycling apparatus in my office.
But there it was again, a soft tapping on the door.
Ahh, home early on a glorious fall day. And maybe even with enough time, and daylight, to get nine holes in. I was thinking all this and envisioning long, straight tee shots as I pulled into the driveway.
I let myself in and made a beeline for the fridge. There was just enough time for a little snack before changing. I opened the door and went to reach for a yogurt, one of those ridiculously expensive but good for you brands, when I stopped short. There were no yogurts. But there had to be. There were three in the fridge this morning.
The odor came floating into my office like a fog. It was rancid, putrid, like something was decomposing. Decomposing and now burning.
I walked out into the hallway to have a look around. Maybe something had caught fire. We had fire marshals for that, Steve in marketing a floor above me was supposed to don a high-vis vest, blow a whistle and herd us to the nearest approved exit like a corporate border collie.
Wilson must have sensed the despair as he passed my open office door. He stepped inside and took in the sight of me sitting behind my desk, massaging my temples.
“You look awful,” he said.
“Funny, I feel worse,” I said.
He hesitated like he was debating whether it was worth turning this into a full visit. After a few seconds he closed the door and sat down across from me.
The meeting took place in the big conference room, the one down the hall from the offices and cubicle farms. The one used for the important stuff. Big meetings with big decision makers.
There was a buzz of anticipation, lots of discussing what this was all about. The department heads and team leaders were all here, seated around the long rectangular table. The chair at the head of the table was empty.