Bereft - Jennifer Foor Page 0,2

little.

Some of us have to work our asses off, while others are handed the silver cup. Life isn’t fair, but us peons have to make it work.

Though the idea of being one of the only people left to work at his side, I knew I’d bite my tongue and make it productive. Besides, he’d need someone to show him the ropes when his grandfather could no longer manage. I wasn’t hoping for a promotion; I was happy with my salary. I’d worked my way up in the company like everyone else. I didn’t require special attention, especially when I knew it would cause my associates to question why they weren’t being treated the same way. My boss Charles Farrow was a kind soul. He’d developed his company from the bottom up, investing most of his time into creating a reputable business.

Most people wouldn’t understand how hard we worked for our clients, but in personal management, running an agency, nothing was considered too much. We went above and beyond, and carried a reputation to prove it. I was proud to tell people who I worked for and more to the point, which clients we represented.

Major corporations contacted us on a daily basis. I was there when we transitioned from landlines to mobile devices. I’d been an intern when the company went digital with their records. When PowerPoint became a thing, I was the person who taught upper management how to operate the software. My dedication had helped impact our future. We were able to keep up with the changing times, and offer the best degree of services because of it.

I was getting worked up over nothing, yet I couldn’t stop pondering on my achievements, as if I was silently telling myself not to worry. It would have been nice to speak to Grayson about it, but I didn’t want to alarm him for no reason. It was just another day at the office. Besides, I couldn’t even recall the last time we’d had a serious conversation. It made me wonder what I could do to rectify the situation. I missed him – needed him even. He was my other half, my partner in life; it was important he knew what was going on with me. If anyone could calm me down, it was him.

My journey to the office only left me more concerned. I thought about the whispers I’d heard going on; the secret upper management meetings which lasted into the night. Then there were the conference calls where no one was invited except the owner’s grandson.

Right before I was about to step off the train, I heard the alarms sounding. I was too familiar with what it meant. Someone had jumped onto the tracks to commit suicide, or possibly been murdered.

Talk about a Monday from Hell.

The doors remained shut and someone got on the intercom to make us aware of the situation. Luckily, I’d been early enough to score a seat, otherwise I’d be standing, waiting impatiently for emergency crews to arrive to cleanup and secure the area.

I blew a loose strand of hair out of my face, feeling annoyed I’d tied it up and it hadn’t even lasted until I reached work. I thought about my pores, and how big they’d look after I had to haul ass a few blocks to make it to my morning meeting on time.

The longer I sat there waiting, the more I knew I was going to have to make a call into the office. I pulled out my cell phone and scrolled through my contacts, finally coming to the operator at the front desk. After a few seconds a cheerful voice filled the line. “Good morning, Leviathan Agency, how may I direct your call?”

“Sasha,” I recognized the young blonde’s voice. “It’s me, Rachel. Someone jumped in front of the train this morning. I’m stuck here until they get it cleaned up.”

“Oh no. I’ll go in and tell Chad what’s going on. I think everyone else is here already.”

I sighed and thought about asking him to wait for me, but with twenty some odd people already in attendance, I couldn’t do it. “Just tell them to start without me. I’ll be there when I can.”

“Will do. See ya soon.”

I placed my phone back in my computer bag and looked around. I wasn’t the only person annoyed. There simply was not enough time in the day to have a delay. What calmed me down was thinking about the poor family of the deceased victim.