The Room

Scott let loose a deep sigh as he looked out into the raging snow storm that has placed the entire county under siege. Scott worked at the local Marty Mart, a department store chain that had been his means of employment for the last ten years. A decade of rude customers, laughable pay, and health insurance that are as present as a talking cow. However, it kept food on the table and a roof over his head, and that was something he couldn’t complain about. 

            The snow whipped through the barren parking lot, beating the closed sliding entrance doors like a thousand BBs. All Scott could do was shake his head. He was scheduled to be relieved by the closing manager, but the obvious natural disaster in the making prevented her from coming in, and him to finally take his leave. He already hated every second he had to be here; a blizzard keeping him pinned here was more of an annoyance than a threat to his safety.

            He huffed at his aged reflection in the clear door, and turned to the lone cashier who was texting a novel to her ex-boyfriend. She was a good kid, but her choice in men was not the best. Even worse, she would usually bring her drama to the work place. 

“You know, maybe if you quit talking to him he’ll get the message that you guys aren’t a thing any more.” Scott offered, just trying to make a little conversation to pass the time.

“Mr. Scott, what do you know about relationships?”

“Enough to know that if someone pulls your hair because they’re drunk, they aren’t the one.”

“Oh please, you haven’t had a girlfriend in like 15 years.” She snapped, sliding her phone into her pocket.

            Her words stung hard. Not because of her witty comeback, but because they were true. The last time he’d even been with a woman was 13 years ago, and that was mainly because they were both pretty drunk. Nothing came from that night except an awkward memory, and a pretty nasty hang over the following morning.

            Scott scoffed then power walked to the store room at the back side of the store. He didn’t need a woman in his life anyway. He always thought women were a money trap, and money was something he’d never had in abundance. Eating alone in front of the T.V. did make him feel pretty lonely most nights, but he was content with his life. Mostly.

            He brushed it off, and climbed the spiraling metal stairs to the managers offices on the second floor. He figured that he could at least prepare the cash drawers for the over night crew, just in case the storm did break. 

            The hallway stretched out before him. The walls were lined with various informational posters and the doors of the department manager offices, followed by the assistant managers offices, then capped at the very end by a large double wooden door which held the store manager’s office within. Scott always found it strange that there was no fire exit to be found in this dead end. It always seemed seemed like a death trap to him. Especially since the employee kitchen sat only feet away, and based on the intelligence of the people they hire, it was only a matter of time. 

            He turned into the his office, but stopped as something at the end of the hall caught his eye. The store manager’s office was open. She had gone home for lunch earlier in the day, but the blizzard had prevented her from returning. She ALWAYS locked her door when she left. Perhaps she thought she could beat the storm and hurry back, forgetting to lock up in the process. Scott knew this was a rare opportunity. He would just poke his head into her desk and see if he was up for the assistant manager position opening up in a few months. He cautiously made sure the break room was empty, and crept down the hall like a thief in the night.

            He pushed one side open, and silently closed in behind him, locking it to watch his back. It was a nice office. Her business degrees lined the wall behind her massive oak desk that was littered with various reports and invoices. Plants filled every spare inch that they could fit, giving it more of a jungle feel than a professional’s work space. Scott thought it gave it a soothing ambience. Being a store manager was a difficult job, so he figured what ever eased her mind during the chaos of the day was definitely necessary.     

            He quickly rifled through her desk, looking for anything that would resemble a letter of promotion with his name on it. Nothing. He felt the disappointment wash over him, knowing that he was doomed to be a lowly department head for the rest of his miserable life. There had been times before that she, and the other assistant managers, told him he lacked the leadership capabilities to climb any higher. It always angered him when someone younger, and less experienced than him would climb the corporate ladder. He knew he was a great worker, and has worked hard to improve his leadership skills. In a brief fit of rage he smacked the pen holder on the corner of the desk making it bounce off the small closet door in the corner. It popped open with a low click.

            Scott took a minute to recall if he had ever noticed a closet on that wall. Nothing came to his mind. He had put in ten years of service at this store, and he just now noticed this door. Maybe he was so caught up in the day to day operation that he simply never noticed it. Curiosity got the better of him as he shuffled up to the now slight cracked door. He grasped the brass knob and slowly pulled in open expecting to see a few coats, and maybe a change of shoes for more casual days. He was stunned. The closet was completely empty, but one feature stood out. There was another door on the inside. 

            Scott took a hesitant step inside, looking high and low for anything to stand out. He reached the other side, and the light quickly faded away leaving him encased by the darkness. He turned quickly and tried the knob, thinking he had some how accidentally pulled it shut.

“Okay, Rachel, you got me. Please open the door.” Scott called out not trying to expose his fractured nerves.

            No response came from the other side making Scott very uneasy. What if he was stuck in here until after the storm? He had no problem breaking down the door, but then he would have to explain why he was in there in the first place. That just wasn’t an option for him. His only choice was to go through the other door, and hope it led out to some kind of maintenance hallway. He felt around the darkness until his hand finally bumped into the knob of the mysterious door. He grasped it firmly, and with a deep hopeful breath he turned it and pushed.

            The door crept open revealing a strange, and familiar sight. It was the office he was just in, but at the same time, it wasn’t. It had the same desk, same degrees lining the wall, but the room was obviously bare of any kind of plant life that it was known for. Scott stood there, puzzled by exactly what he was seeing before him. Was this a secret office for a loss prevention officer that he wasn’t aware of? No, that can’t be. He knew absolutely everyone on the roster; a LP guy would’ve definitely made himself know to him.

            He stepped out, poking his head around to fully take in the room. The pictures sitting on the corner of the desk caught his eye, as not a single one was of his manager. It was a man. A man who’s face struck a chord of resemblance in Scott’s brain. He picked up one in particular photo to examine it closely, just to make sure his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him, and his eyes grew wide as his curiosity was confirmed. The photos were of him.

            He scrambled through the various invoices, each one of them containing his exact signature. He turned in a panic to read the degrees on the wall which state his completion of the master’s program at Purdue University in business. That just couldn’t be. He dropped out of college when he was 20, why would someone perfectly forge his signature, and make replica degree certificates? This had to be a sick joke by his co-workers. They always joked he would work at Marty Mart forever, but taunting his past failures was just a new low. He balled up him fist, and slammed it into the frame. 

“Ah, I was wondering when you would show up.” A voice rang in his ear, snapping him from his fit of rage.

Scott turned to see a horrifying sight. It was himself leaning against the door frame, only in much better shame, a tightly kept beard, and perfectly combed hair. Scott stumbled back, and stuck his hand out in front of him. “What. What the hell is this?”

“This would be the third time I’ve had this discussion with myself.” The other said chuckling, closing the door behind him.

“Are you an actor or something?

“No, no. I’m definitely you, excuse me.” The other stated motioning his hand for Scott to allow him into his chair. 

            Scott reluctantly moved from behind the desk, making sure not to touch this strange man and he hurried by the door. The other plopped down into his expensive chair, and quickly organized the papers Scott had thrown about into a pile. The two took a moment to study each other. Scott couldn’t help but recognize how handsome the other was compared to himself. If this was truly him, how could he look so good, and he look so, not.

“Scott, take a seat,” The other commanded, nodding to the chair in font of his desk.

“No, you tell me what you are right now, or I swear to God I’l snap.”

“I already told you, Scott. I’m you. Well, a more successful you I would say based on your appearance.”

That comment struck a nerve so deep in Scott he charged the desk and pounded his fist on the oak surface. “You listen here, if you don’t start explaining very quickly things aren’t going to end pretty for you.”

“Oh please, Scott. We both know you’re all talk and no balls. Sit down.” The other spit back matching his intensity.

Scott eventually caved, and did as commanded by his look alike. He had such a commanding force about him that he felt compelled to follow his words. The other undoubtably had the leadership qualities he lacked, which was probably how he was able to achieve the position that Scott knew he would never get himself         .

“Listen, I have a meeting with corporate in ten minutes, so I’ll try to keep this quick. The door that you finally discovered is unlike anything that can be explained.”

Scott blankly stared at the clone in front of him, and tried to digest what he was trying to spell out for him..

“I’m not sure where the door came from , or what its actual purpose is, but it leads of other worlds.”

“Other worlds.” Scott echoed unsatisfied by the other’s explanation.

“Uh, more like alternate realities I should say.”

“You’re insane.” Scott condemned.

“Insane as the guy who went through a closet door, and is now is now talking with himself? Look, Scott, I’m not sure which world you came from, but all I really know about how it works is we are the only ones that can use the door. Other people can’t even see it. Believe me, I’ve tried to get others involved.”

Scott tried to rationalize what was happening to him, but all of this just didn’t make sense. If there were truly alternate versions of himself, could some be bad? Some good? Why him out of all the people in the world?

“Wait, is this your world?” Scott questioned.

“No, I come from a world complete unlike this. In my world the God damned commies took power of the White House in the early 1980s leading to the collapse of the United States in the mid 90s. I was working on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana when the door came to me. I went to take a leak, and when I returned the door plopped its self smack in the middle of my wall.”

Scott took a second to analyze his story. If this wasn’t his world, how could he have possibly become a store manager, when he himself couldn’t. A thought appeared in his head. A burning question that needed to be asked. His face turned pale as he met the eyes of his mirror image. He slowly stood up from his chair, and backed away from the desk.

“What happened to the Scott of this world?” He asked, the other’s face turning from relaxed to annoyed.

“I had to do what had to be done, Scott.”

“What did you do!” Scott demanded, feeling the intensity growing.

“You don’t understand. The world where I come from there is no ladder to climb. You get what was handed to you and that’s it. The Scott of this world had it all. Money, cars, women, a house unlike anything I’ve seen. I refused to let this opportunity slip by.”

Scott stared in horror at his clone. He had done something that he couldn’t even comprehend. 

“You killed him!” Scott accused.

“Keep your voice down, or I’ll do the same to you. Listen, there are endless worlds through that door. Do yourself a favor, and find one that fits what you want.”

“You don’t know what I want.”

“Oh, but Scott, I do.” The other said pasting a menacing smile on his face.

            Scott made a mad dash for the closet door, and yanked it open. He ran inside turning to see the other staring at him from his desk. He slowly rose, and strolled over to the closet placing one hand on the door.

“Remember, Scott. It’s just us. It’s not like we’re doing anything wrong. We are just removing one, and replacing it with another. Good luck, and see you soon.” The other said smiling as the door slowly closed. 

            Scott was once again enveloped by darkness. His hand shook as he gripped the door knob, unsure if he wanted to find out where this one led. His mind bounced around as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. He had to be dreaming, there’s no way this could be possible. However, this was his only way out. He couldn’t go back the way he came. He took a deep breath, turned, and pushed the door open.  

            The door creaked open revealing an empty hospital room, the bed surrounded by various medical equipment. Scott felt the door close behind him, and when he glanced over his shoulder, it was gone. In a panic, he placed his hands on the walls trying to make it appear again, but nothing came. A loud crash came from behind his, startling him out of his panicked state.

            Scott turned to see a nurse dressed in an archaic white skirt, carrying a lite oil lamp. He glanced down to see supplies she had been carrying sprawled all over the floor. She looked upon him with a look of absolute horror.

“Mr. Scott,” She spoke quietly, her voice shaking. “You just passed away but an hour ago.”