Two Strangers at Work

Allen had been with Tokem, Bruell & Duncan for over 15 years. He worked hard, stayed late, never complained and attended every ridiculous meeting. He didn’t really like the work, but it kept food on the table for his family and he thought someday he would be appreciated.

Donna had only been with Tokem for 8 months. In that short time, she’d learned that her short skirts opened more doors than working hard ever would. She was a Junior Copywriter and saw a

very clear path to advancement in the company.

    Allen and Donna didn’t know each other. They’d never even met. Tokem was a company of over 300 employees in the main branch alone. There were 23 smaller branches nationwide. It wasn’t unusual for employees not to know each other. Even though staff meetings, mass emails and pot lucks included everyone, they came in waves and Allen and Donna never crossed paths.

    They did, however; share one very specific trait. They both wanted to get rid of Thomas Bruell, the Senior Partner of the Main Branch.

    He was a vile human being. Everyone thought so. He was universally hated, even by the other partners. He’d been married three times and divorced twice. He had eight children from all three of his wives and various other lovers he’d wronged. He thought little of his children and even less of his wives (including the current one). He made a six-figure income and drove some Italian job that was custom made. His penthouse apartment downtown was the setting of many company get-togethers, so he had an audience for his pretentious art and rare pieces. He was extremely good-looking but knew it and every new female employee was warned about him. And to top it off, he was conniving and stabbed in the back anyone and everyone who got in his way.

    Allen’s hatred of the man was rooted in an event that happened over six years ago. Thomas was Allen’s intern and Allen was in charge of training him. Thomas was likeable in the beginning and Allen, being a decent man (and always seeing the best in people) never suspected Thomas’s sinister ways. Allen entrusted him, one night, while they were both working late, with a project he’d been working on for over a year. He knew this would be the big one. The one that finally got him that deserved promotion. It would save the company millions and increase production ten-fold with no increased cost. He called it ‘The Big Wheel’. It was a really good idea and they both knew it. The trusting soul that was Allen, made available to Thomas all of his files on that night. Working together, they packaged it with all the presentation materials and were prepared to show it to Mr. Tokem the next morning. Unbeknownst to Allen, Thomas phoned Mr. Tokem late that night. He told the boss that he was ‘afraid that, being new, his work and ideas would be brushed aside by Allen and he wanted to make sure that Mr. Tokem knew that the ideas came from him.’ Under any other circumstance, a new employee’s word would never be taken over a veteran hard-worker such as Allen; but Allen was quiet. Kept to himself. Never had come up with any ideas before this. So, of course, the new upstart was taken at his word. The entire office found out about it in an email 2 hours before what was supposed to be Allen’s presentation. He did go in to speak to Mr. Tokem about it, but he never was good at standing up for himself. And when Tokem came close to firing him for taking credit for an intern’s idea, Allen sulked away. Thomas got promoted and promoted again and finally given a partnership. While Allen hadn’t moved an inch. His resentment and anger festered for six long years.

    Donna’s hatred of Thomas was much more personal. She’d only been there for 2 weeks when he made his first move. She was a beautiful statuesque brunette beauty. Legs that didn’t quit but with a sharp wit and brain to match. She was in the breakroom when Thomas first approached her. She stood at the refrigerator wondering where she’d put her power shake (her afternoon pick-me-up). Thomas slid up behind her with his arms on each side asking if he could help her find something. ‘No. But I think someone took my shake. I know I put it right there,’ pointing to the top right shelf. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable and backed away pushing against him, forcing him to step back. ‘Hey. What was that for? I’m just being friendly,’ Thomas smiled. ‘That kind of friendly can get you sued for sexual harassment, these days, Mr. Bruell.’ ‘Call me Thomas. And I don’t think you want to do that, do you?’

‘I’ll do whatever I have to do, Mr. Bruell.’ Then she walked out of the kitchen. Two days later she was reassigned to the ‘basement’. Not literally a basement, but what the company called the lower section of the building that housed the miscreants. The lazy employees, the almost-retired employees, the employees they couldn’t fire, but wanted to force into quitting. She was given a new job title – instead of Jr. Copywriter, she was now a ‘Copy Trainee’ making 2/3 of her previous salary. She complained to her immediate supervisor to no avail. She complained to HR to no avail. She finally stuck around late one night hoping to catch Mr. Tokem and did. She told him everything that happened. He only said, ‘I know Thomas can be a bit of a pain, but I’m sure you weren’t demoted for what happened in the kitchen. I’ve seen your performance reports – they aren’t stellar.’ She wasn’t even supposed to have a performance evaluation until her year mark – which she hadn’t reached yet. There was no one else to complain to. She was stuck. Or she could quit. Or she could call the latest feminist news organization and report it. But her mother was ill, dying of cancer. She didn’t want that kind of publicity to upend what remained of her life. She kept quiet. And stewed.

    Thomas Bruell was found stabbed to death in his office on April 1^st. April Fool’s Day. Many employees commented on how appropriate that was. Investigators interviewed everyone, including Allen and Donna. Anyone that had any involvement with him over the past few months. They all had alibis. He had so many enemies in fact, the police began to wonder if finding his killer would perhaps, be to give him or her an award. They also interviewed his wife, his teenage son and his ex-wives. They found a letter that Donna had written to Emily (Thomas’s current wife) telling her what kind of horrible man she married. They had motive with Donna, but unfortunately, Donna’s apartment had a security camera and showed her at home at the time of the murder. Allen was a suspect as well. Until Mr. Tokem told the police that Allen was with him, having a drink in a local bar. He was a man of such importance, they didn’t question him further. So Allen was off the hook.

    If they had investigated Mr. Tokem’s story further, they would have found it full of holes. The bar had security cameras and both he and Allen were nowhere on them. Mr. Tokem had walked in on Allen attacking Thomas. Allen, ever the quiet, humble man, simply stood up and told him that he could call the police. That he wouldn’t put up a fight. To his surprise, Mr. Tokem went to the supply closet and got some cleaning supplies. He took a rag and wiped all traces of fingerprints off of the knife, the doorknob, anything else Allen touched. Without saying a word, he proceeded to change the computer time system, something only he had access to, to report Allen as leaving at over an hour prior to the murder.

    They exited the room, turned off the light, and left the building. Knowing the cleaning crew would probably be the ones to discover the body sometime around 2:00 am. They entered the elevator and rode down without saying a word. As they arrived in the parking garage, Allen couldn’t stand it any longer. “Why? Why did you help me? Why didn’t you call the police?” “He got my 17 year old daughter pregnant,” Tokem said. "I was going to kill him myself.”

No charges were ever brought against Allen or Mr. Tokem. Thomas’s funeral was attended by a total of 4 people – all hoping for information about the will to be mentioned.