Flaws:
At the end of the day, Andrew returned to his cubicle and eased into his office chair, grateful to be sitting for the first time since breakfast. He picked up the pile of mail that had been placed on his keyboard and started to sort through them. Andrea, his cubicle-mate heard the squeak of his chair and peeked over the wall between their cubes.
- Not listening to my gut
- Hypochondriac
- Constantly self-doubting
- Not detail oriented
- Procrastinator
At the end of the day, Andrew returned to his cubicle and eased into his office chair, grateful to be sitting for the first time since breakfast. He picked up the pile of mail that had been placed on his keyboard and started to sort through them. Andrea, his cubicle-mate heard the squeak of his chair and peeked over the wall between their cubes.
“How many today?”
“Five two- hours tours, only managed one 15-minute break.”
“Ooof.”
“Any gems in your groups that I should hear about?”
“Ohhhh yes.”
“Well? Dish!” Andrew opened his mouth to reply, but was
distracted by a small envelope tucked between the rest of his mail. There was
no stamp or address, so it had been hand-delivered. The front of the card had
his name messily scrawled on it. Beneath his name were the words “Mr. Docent,”
which had been crossed off.
“Oh, shit,” Andrew breathed. “It’s a letter from Henry Gates,”
he told Andrea, as if she would understand.
She silently came to stand next to him.
“Who?”
Andrew didn’t answer. He took turned the envelope over. On
the perimeter of the envelope flap was a quote, “They forever travel through
the waves and the earth and the fire.” There was a gold oval sticker sealing
the envelope shut where the initials HLD had been written. Andrew took his
letter opener and carefully sliced through the paper, extracting the card
inside. It was handmade paper with pressed flowers. He opened it, and Andrea
leaned over his shoulder to read it with him.
“Art is not what you see, but what
you make others see.”
Please
contact me via email at henrylgates@hotmail.com
Henry
“Sir Henry, Admiral of the Great
Navy, Lord of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Council of the Arts, Most High and
Illustrious Representative of the Duke of Hamilton”
“What the hell is this?” Andrew asked.
“A letter from a kook. Throw it out.”
“No, I met him yesterday. He’s a big donor.”
“Or someone with the same name as a big donor. Google him.”
“I did yesterday,” Andrew told her as he typed in the man’s
name into the browser on his computer. “He’s in the “Golden Friends” circle. He’s
donated somewhere between 10,000 and like 25,000 to the museum.” The search
results loaded and Andrew pointed to the first result. Andrea shook her head
dismissively.
“Go to images.”
Andrew complied, clicking on the Images search tab. The
thumbnails loaded slowly and several photos of a man Andrew did not recognize
loaded first. He scrolled down until he spotted the Henry Gates he had met
yesterday.
“What…the…fuck.”
The image was the man Andrew had met, but he was in a
courtroom in a pale blue jumpsuit with handcuffs, being led to sit by a police
officer. The caption to the left read, “Judge: ‘Scary Man’ Barred from USC
campus...’ Andrew took in the photo image of the man, who looked harder,
fiercer, with hooded eyes. He clicked through to the website the image was
from.
“A judge has placed a restraining order on USC alumnus,
banning him from setting foot on the campus for 4 years, calling him a “scary
man” who has repeatedly harassed students and employees,” the article started.
Andrew kept reading, forgetting to breathe, and losing sensation in his limbs. “Gates
was charged with sending threatening computer messages, resisting a police
officer, disorderly conduct and use of a dangerous weapon, and one count of
misdemeanor bail jumping…according to a previous criminal complaint, a staff
member at the campus museum had received life-threatening e-mails from Gates. "I
am going to put you in jail or in your grave," Gates wrote.”
Andrew finished reading the article and turned to Andrea,
whose eyes were wide.
“What do I do?” He asked softly, stunned.
“You have to report this to your boss, the ED, and security.
They need to make sure this man does not come here again, and they have to make
sure you are protected.”
Andrew nodded slowly, and quickly turned to his computer
while Andrea stood behind him and he drafted the email. She nodded her approval
over his shoulder and he pressed ‘send.’ He closed out of his email and turned
to her.
“Will you drive me home? I feel a little too shaky to bike
right now.”
“Of course. I’ll also drive you in the morning, and as many
days as you need. I can even stay over if you need me to.”
Andrew nodded slowly, then smiled at his friend.
“I need to take this a moment at a time, but for now, a ride
would just be great.”
Andrea nodded, disappearing into her cube to gather her
things. Andrew shut down his computer and picked up his messenger bag with
leaden arms.
This is so creepy!! I love the extensive honorary title your "scary man" has made up for himself, and the way that you reveal the man's true identity slowly, letting us discover the threat at the same time Andrew does. It goes from a slightly annoying thing to weird, to bad, to worse. I really appreciated the relationship between Andrea and Andrew and that, while Andrea helps to guide Andrew's discovery and reaction at first, it is ultimately Andrew asking for what he needs in terms of support, and setting limits. This feels like it connects to your experience, and I am really interested to read more about how Andrew ultimately resolves his version of the situation.
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