Nightmare in the Office

   The lateness of the hour made Greg’s heart skip a beat as he glanced at his watch while the other hand frantically steered his car through the maze of streets leading to his house. Greg was known for being late. Whether it was for soccer practice, an optometrist appointment or seeing his inlaws, he always lacked the courtesy of a timely arrival. It wasn’t so much that he was unable to thoughtfully manage his time as much as it was his general lack of interest in the things in his life that he considered trivial.

   He had made it a habit to always come home late, and it was no different on this foggy Thursday night late in December when the owl could be heard but not seen declaring the lateness of the hour as a stark green Mitsubishi Mirage grumbled onto the driveway and into the garage. Greg abruptly opened the door as the engine stopped and quickly came out of the car with his briefcase in his left hand. His breathing was erratic as he dashed toward the door of his three bedroom two-story house. He knew it was going to be like every other day, but he felt more disappointed because he knew Nicole’s parents were in town. He shuddered thinking about it as he opened the door.

   His wife was sitting in the parlor, stitching a small blanket. Her eyes focused on the delicate needlework. He went to his bedroom, put his bags down, and walked over to the dinner table. Nicole’s parents were ate the table. Charla looked up from her game. “Hello Greg.” She got up and hugged him. 

   “Nice to see you.” He quickly replied. Anthony looked at his wife, then at Greg.

   “How are things?” Anthony asked Greg while remaining planted to his chair, being in the middle of a game of hearts with Charla.

   Greg smiled wryly. “Doing well, just a lot of work at the office. You know how it is with the end of the year. Even with all this hard work, we probably won’t end up making quota.” Greg was exasperated inside but didn’t show it. He worked at a pharmaceutical company as a regulatory specialist. His job at XY Genetics was to monitor drugs and advise scientists on how to make drugs that follow all of the guidelines in the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). He had always wanted to be a pharmacist, but fell short and accepted a job working as a screener for the new lines of drugs that came out every year.

   Nicole got up from her chair and put the needlework down. She went over to the oven and took out the Green Bean Casserole. “Hi honey.” She said to him and kissed him on the head.

   “Where are the kids?” He asked.

   “They are in the living room, watching tv.” Replied Nicole while attempting to mask here frustration with him. She had had to pick up her parents from the airport, drop Joey off at soccer and pick up Clara from band practice. Clara was lead clarinet and a straight A student, while Joey was more of an athlete, taking a shining to soccer and baseball.

   Greg saw the pain in her eyes but chose to ignore it. He didn’t see a reason to give her an explanation at this point. Her bright blue eyes and lustrous, curly brown hair contrasted sharply with Greg’s jet black hair and his indignant expression on his face. She smiled at him as he bent over his casserole, and hugged him tenderly.

   She sat across from him at the other end of the table as he began talking between bites. “Did you get my medication?” He had high blood pressure.

   “Yes I did.” She assured him, unable to take her eyes off him while wishing she could. He frustrated her but she still adored him.

   “Have you made the brownies yet for the bake sale this weekend?”

   “Not yet” she said. “I was so busy today that I barely found time to take the day off.” She tried to hide her anger, but it was there. Her mother turned to her and reassured her that the end of the year is always busy and all is not lost as the new year is a new beginning. Nicole nodded her head.

   “Well, I have to say that the end of the year is nearly behind us, and there is much room for improvement. The boss let go of 6 good employees this year. That daytime drowsiness drug is going to be the death of me if it truly works to cure inattentiveness during the day. I don’t know what I would do with my self with the way Peterman treats me.”

   Nervousness could be felt around the room. No one knew what to say. At length, Anthony spoke up. “I remember, it was bad for me too when I worked at the factory 10 years ago.” He referred to his time spent working at the Clorox factory.

   Greg closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “My father-he would come home late from his shift. He would always bring us cool robotics from work. I remember one day he came home with an interactive backpack that could keep useful data in its memory. It really helped out at school. I know he was busy, but it would have been there more.” He had been saddened by the passing away of his father late last year. He had wished that he could have spent more time with him.

   Nicole reached out and held his hand. “Your father loved you very much, just like your kids do. I know you will do well at work.” She reassured him.

   “He smiled weakly. “Yeah.”

   Greg talked to Nicole’s parents about their flight and how their Christmas was. At 9PM, Greg got up from the table to get ready for bed. He found Joey nestled on the couch, fast asleep, watching cartoon. He picked him up and put him in his bed. He went back into the living room and pulled the couch out into a bed for Nicole’s parents. Nicole put a bedspread on the foldout while Greg walked over to Clara’s room. Finding her in bed listening to music, he kissed her goodnight, even though she felt that she was too old for that.

   He went to the bathroom to get ready for bed while Nicole finished cleaning the dishes and washing up the counters. He was very tired, and fell into a deep slumber when his soft head hit the pillow.

   The day started out like any other day. The alarm clock woke up his wife, who got dressed quickly and somehow managed to wake Greg up while helping his kids get ready for school. Nicole’s mom gave her some relief this morning by helping her out with breakfast. There was scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, with rye toast and blueberry jam. The fog from last night had lifted, and the sun lay heavy over the kitchen and dining room as the family ate breakfast.

   “Dad, my recital is this afternoon, could you give me a ride?” Clara asked in her sweet sing-song voice.

   “Maybe I should give you a ride.” Mom intervened, her shrill voice cutting through the air like a knive cuts through water. 

   Greg looked up, just realizing that they were talking. He had been busy reading the Wall Street Journal on an article about the benefits of probiotics to the daily functioning of the human body. “Ok” he said simply and went back to the paper.

   He nearly forgot about the recital until Clara brought it up at the table. He was nervous about missing it, but he had a busy day planned today at the office. He was to attend an important meeting regarding the use of a new line of drugs that would help aid against pneumonia.

   Clara made a face. He responded “I will make sure to be there.” He furrowed his eyebrow, not sure of the statement he made.

   Joey got up from the table and grabbed his lunch from the dinner table. “Bye dad.” He ran off out the door and was gone. He was staying at his friends house today afterschool.

   “Have a good day.” His dad called after him.

   “Can you pick him up after your shift at work?” Nicole inquired.

   “Yes” Greg replied.

   “It is such a nice day today.” Commented Charla. “I feel like it is a great day for a picnic.”

   “That sounds like a great idea.” Nicole replied. “We can pack lunch in a brown bag and eat after the museum of natural history.”

   “Sounds good.” Anthony consented.

   Clara got up and went back to her room to get her backpack. She walked toward the door, but not without first looking back at her father. His bloodshot red eyes and lackluster demeanor was worrisome. Nicole got up and fetched her lunch to give to her. By now, Greg had finished his breakfast. He got up and walked over to her. “Have a good day at school.” He hugged her and she left.

   Greg went back to the bathroom to shave, while Nicole went into the kitchen to clear the dishes. He could feel a lump in his throat as he called out to his wife as he left the house. At that, he got into his car and drove away.

   He got to work a few minutes late, but everyone at the office was so busy that no one seemed to notice. He reached his desk, put his briefcase down, and went back to his current project. He was currently doing extensive research on a drug that would make the central nervous system more alert and provide more energy to the user. This drug would be able to fight drowsiness while possible aiding in defending the body against viruses. It practically took the place of in-home care, making it possible to work while combating sickness so that a worker could use time off instead to spend with family or on hobbies.

   It was what could be a marvelous breakthrough. His job was to make sure the drug followed all of the requirements of the FDA. He needed to ensure that this drug could be made legal and be innocuous to the consumer.

   He had been working on this project for a week, and was very nervous about the outcome. A lot rested on his shoulders.

   At lunch, he met up with his team. He felt weary of this burden on him but somehow found the strength to go over the data for the analysis of the drug and how it should be presented to push this drug to the buyers. 

   At one o’ clock, he went back to his desk, fully satisfied that they had a good argument for promoting this drug in the mainstream. For once, he felt relaxed. It would be a quick meeting, and then he could catch a break and go directly to the recital. He would just give his leave to his team so that he could depart afterwards with one of the team members leading the way while he is away.

   He couldn’t see a flaw in his plan. That was probably because he was more focused on the presentation than on his plan to make it in time for his family. He hardly noticed that his hands were folded in front of him and his head began to lean toward his shoulder.

   He looked at his watch. It was 2:30PM. Any minute, now, Peterson would be coming down to the east wing where Greg worked to start the meeting. 

   Nothing. Nobody called to him. He couldn’t understand. He stood up and started walking around. All of the desks were empty. There was no sound anywhere.

   He didn’t have time for this. He had to do the meeting fast so that he could get to his daughter’s recital. Someone was going to pay for this.

   He entered his boss’s office but apparently he was too late. Peterson was nowhere to be found.

   Greg hastily exited the office, still confused. Then, he thought he heard a woman’s voice. It was faint but clear. It sounded like his wife’s voice calling him. He looked around but couldn’t find her.

   He felt lonely here. The white walls seemed to be a blur to him as he made his way toward the conference room. He opened the glass doors. It was dark inside. Nobody was there.

   He sat at one of the seats around the glass oval table. He closed his eyes, and tried to focus again. Faintly he could hear Nicole’s voice. He got up and left the room.

   In the hallway, he saw a figure dash rapidly into a storage closet. He couldn’t make out the person, or even if he worked there. When he walked over to the door, he thought that he never remembered there being a door there. He opened the door and walked through. As he closed the door behind him, he saw the figure move quickly between a pile of boxes and strangely disappear. He pursued and found himself face to face with another door.

   He opened the door. The room he found himself in was all to familiar. He was in his parent’s house. 

   A cold shiver went down his spine as he walked around the house. Memories began flooding in. He remembered when his father had missed the time when he won the science fair. He recalled when his dad couldn’t seem to find the time to attend his basketball game when they beat their crosstown revivals. He shouldn’t be crying over theses things, he told himself. It is not important.

   But deep down inside, he knew that they were important.

   He slowly walked around to the hallway. The dank walls smelled of rotting flesh. Greg opened the door at the far end of the hall and waked into a large bedroom. 

   It was dark, and at first appeared empty as he walked into the room. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, he could see a figure lying on the bed. He walked over to it.

   His father was lying on the bed. His ankles were both chained to the footboard. He looked at his son. “I am here as I lie before you” he said, “unable to pass into the next phase of the afterlife. You must heed my warning. What matters is not the time you spend at work but the quality of the work.”

   Greg nodded slowly, not sure how to interpret this. He kneeled and rested his shoulders on the bed. He looked into his father’s dark, empty eyes.

   “Work can wait, but family can’t.” These were the last words spoken. The figure vanished, and he looked up and found himself back in his office, with the earth below him and the boundless clear sky that he saw through his window, and the road that lay before him.