“I’m being transferred?” I looked at the email on my computer. Miriam slid beside me, the wheels of her chair squeaking noisily against the smooth floor. “I never asked for a transfer.”
“It only means one thing,” she said, pointing at me. “The Big Boss saw you.”
Fear crawled up my spine. “What do you mean?”
“Mr. CEO thinks you’re doing great. Your annual review must be good if they’re sending you to the…” Miriam peered at my screen, “…London office! Wow! Biscuits and crumpets!Harry Potter!”
I shook my head, bile rising in my throat. “No.”
“No?” Miriam tilted her head. There was a sharpness in her tone that surprised me. “Don’t you want to go to London, poppet?”
“N-no, I—I—Of course, I want to go to London!” I said, laughing hysterically. “I just can’t believe I’m actually going there. What’s so special about me? Wow, I’m so—so….” I stood up so fast, I nearly pushed my chair to the floor. “Wow, I need to get some air. Is it just me, or is the AC still broken?”
Miriam gave me a tight smile. “It’s being repaired, honey.”
I nodded. “I need to go to the restroom.”
“Oh, by the way,” Miriam said in a sing-song voice,“the eleventh floor is completely unusable now. They’re doing construction in one of the rooms.”
My heart was lodged in my throat as I gave her a quick glance. “Oh, thanks. Good thing I have no reason to go there anyway.”
“Good, good. Just wanted to let you know that because of that, the elevators are down. Good thing we just work on the third floor, right?”
“W-what about the ones working on the other floors?”
“What other floors?”
My heart dropped. I turned around and ran. I didn’t bother to look at Miriam, but I could feel the pulsating wave of smug satisfaction emanating from her. I ran down the hallway to the elevator and pushed the buttons, but they didn’t light up. I took deep breaths and dashed towards the stairwell.
Eleven floors. I threw off my black heels and my blazer, slightly thankful that I had worn slacks today. I braced myself and ran up the stairs.
* * * *
“Don’t you have a bigger hammer? This is a kid’s toy.”
“It’s a wooden door for fuck’s sake. You don’t need much to—hey!”
I rounded the corner to see two guys making holes in the door with hammers. They spotted me, and one of them—a bald man that only came up to my chin—raised his hammer in my direction.
“This is off-limits, lady!”
“Not to me, it isn’t.” I ran past him and jumped against the door—and got flung back onto the floor.What the fuck. I groaned.
“Fucking weirdo,” the bald guy said. “Ted, get her outtahere.”
When the other man—over six feet tall and sporting a mullet—approached me, I rolled to my feet and grabbed his hammer.
“Hey!”
I raised it and brought it down on the doorknob.
“Fuck, stop her!”
I rammed my shoulder into the door. It gave way, and I fell into a pit of darkness.
* * * *
I screamed before I slammed against a white-tiled floor. My shoulder ached, but I had all my limbs. I looked up at the ceiling, and it was a massive void, filled with nothing but darkness and a small rectangular source of light from far away. I realized it was the door I had just come from.
