Something about those pine tree
covered mountains sprawling off into the distance usually had Brad Pachett
enjoying the scenery offered by the glass walls of the
hallways. The refreshingly cold water from the cooler did wonders to him when he took these breaks from the lab, but
Morton and Celene were having a tiff, rather violent by the sound of it, and
all he was feeling right now was on edge.
“Now this is what you call eavesdropping.” It was Tyler, ex-military like himself and
best friend. He was in the Mechanical
Engineering Department, and he was talking in a kind of harsh whisper. “I mean, personally, instinct would drive me
away from a deserted hallway outside an office containing a quarrelling
couple. But that’s just me, you know?”
The whisper was beginning to weird Greg out. “And yet,” Tyler continued, “Can you believe
with this fine personality of mine, I tried not to barge in on a discussion
Sandra and Greg was having the other day, when it was most important to inform
Greg of something… waited on Sandra to finish her sentence and do you know
what? The b…, the woman accused me of
eavesdropping.”
“I’m kinda frozen to the spot.
They caught me off guard.”
Greg took a side-long glance at his friend and felt the concern
deepen. “Okay man, let’s get out of
here. He’s your boss, she’s his woman. That’s a very unstable powder keg.”
Just then they could hear the violence turn physical. Someone had been slapped. Greg twitched around, and Tyler grabbed his
arm to stop his start for the door.
“Hold it,” Tyler warned.
Two more slaps and both of them started for the door, but just as
quickly they could hear fast steps coming towards it from the other end, lady’s
shoes.
Impossible to look any less awkward, they simply froze as Celine opened
the door and jumped back a little in shock.
Morton came to find out what was going on and joined the frozen scene. For a slowly thawing moment their eyes were
the only moving body-parts.
Celine broke away first and brushed past Brad and Tyler; they could see
the reddening fingerprints on the side of her face, and that piqued the both of
them some.
Morton simply slammed the door in their faces.
At lunch break, Brad found Celine where he knew he would, up on the roof
of the complex. The mountain air would
have begun nipping at her already, and would start at him shortly. It’s the reason no one came up here.
“Why do you let him treat you like that?”
She snorted a nasal grunt of a laugh.
“Cliché concern for the cliché victim?
Really Brad… leave it alone.”
“I can’t take this anymore Celine.
I came to work here because it would allow me to be closer to you. I’m okay with things not working out so well
between us. But to see you mistreated is
just beyond me. I’ve had enough.”
She turned to examine him. He was
more than just brooding this time. She
knew what was coming.
“Brad, you’re the chief developer here.
You’re worth a lot more than we can pay you. I don’t know what to do with Morton. He’s fired Hawkins and Moore out of sheer
stupidity. Those were two good
scientists, but you are our linchpin.
Without you things will fall apart.”
She tousled his dark hair and had the odd thought of what color hair
their children would have with her sandy blonde added to the recipe.
“One more time Celine, and I’m gone.
And I hope if it reaches that far you’ll have the sense to come along
with me.”
He stood and left.
Everyone except security detail went into town on Saturday nights. With no other town for eighty miles they had
to make do with all this one had to offer.
Bob’s Jerk was a sure count on the list of places guaranteed to make
your mouth water the minute you got in the parking lot.
The day’s misgivings were slowly being eased with every bite Brad took
of the jerked venison. Throw in the swigs
of beer to quench the burn of peppers and wash down the tender but spicy meat,
and he knew he’d be sure to have a tipsy glow to go with the heartburn by the
time he was done.
Tyler was designated driver so he went for soda to compliment the less
spicy jerked chicken.
“How’s Andrea?” Brad asked,
tongue feeling unusually lively.
“Haven’t heard a mention of her for a while; she okay?”
“She’s moved on.”
“Oh, sorry; when did that happen?”
“Got the letter Monday. How’s the
yoga?” He took a series of bites until
his mouth was stuffed. Brad took the cue
and tried to think of something useful in the direction of the suggested topic
change.
“It’s getting pretty advanced.
Matter of fact, I’ve been applying some of what I’ve been learning to a
project I’ve been working on and I think I’ve got something.”
Tyler could only chew and raise his eyebrows.
“It’s pretty deep, so I’m not gonna go into it now. Plus it’s not the sort of thing I’d ever let
Morton get his hands on. Give it a couple
of years, maybe, and I’ll know for certain.
If it works, I’ve got a few friends in the European scientific community
I’d like to discuss possible applications with apart from the one Morton would be
interested in. I’d have it done in a
year if I left this company and worked on it at home.”
Tyler stopped chewing then started to swallow as fast as he could
manage. “What?” he asked, almost
choking.
“What?” Brad responded. “You know
I don’t really need to work here. Plus
I’ve got all the equipment for this sort of thing at home. If what I’m talking about can be done it
could mean leaps of technological advancement like you’d never believe.”
Just then a fracas broke out in a store across the street. Female patrons all around put their hands to
their mouths and looking into the shop Tyler could see why. From the look on Brad’s face his view was
unobstructed as well. He was up and
moving.
Beer, hot peppers and a generally foul day drove him faster than Tyler
could catch up to this time and as he got to the storefront a slap from
Morton’s hand to Celine’s face was followed by a punch from Brad’s fist to
Morton’s nose.
Tyler saw Morton reel backwards as if shot in the head by a
shotgun. He didn’t get back up, but he
was clearly still alive, blood pouring down from the smashed nose as he tried
in vain to collect his senses.
“You coming with me Celine?” He
didn’t wait for an answer. He was
striding out almost as angry as he was going in.
“Tyler,” Celine pleaded, “Please
drive.” Then she was running after Brad.
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