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“The mail’s here. Would you like me to bring it in?”
“No, no,” he said. “Here I come.”
He’d been looking for a few notices to come in through the mail and they hadn’t yet. He told his secretary to look out for them, but he didn’t want to miss them when they came. As he walked out of his office the mail clerk was standing by the secretary’s desk. Richard immediately realized that he didn’t recognize him, which wasn’t terribly unusual. He didn’t always keep close track of everyone from every department.
The clerk few Richard’s attention, though just because of how odd he looked to him. Lanky, but not tall. Or at least not as tall as Richard. Dark hair and eyes and a smile that was a little too wide to be real in Richard’s opinion. He also looked young, yet a little too old to be a mailroom clerk. Usually, the mailroom clerks were young men, straight out of college or perhaps seniors in high school who want to get into business without having to take an unpaid internship.
This one seemed to be nearing thirty or maybe a little older. Something in the light stubble on his jaw or the dead look in his eyes read to Richard like a man who’d lived some life of some sort.
As Richard walked out, the clerk looked up from his conversation with the secretary. That’s when Richard noticed that he was a little too pale and his eyes were lined with red as if he’d grown accustomed to staying up all night. He looked up at him and smiled his fake smile just a little wider. Richard felt the twinge of instant dislike of him. He thought he looked like the kind of man who partied hard on the weekends and showed up hung over by Monday.
“Excuse me,” Richard said as he walked over and grabbed his mail from the secretary’s desk.
His secretary perked up, “Sir. Have you met the new mail clerk? This is Curtis. It’s his first day.”
Curtis put out his hand to shake and Richard just looked at him. Nope. He didn’t like him. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something about Curtis that just didn’t sit right with him. He looked him over quickly, then said blandly, “Nice to meet you.” He, then, turned to the letters in his hands. Nothing had come yet.
“So, you’re Richard Hollis,” said the mail clerk. He was still holding his hand out to Richard. “It’s a pleasure, sir.”
Richard looked at his hand, then turned back to the secretary. “Keep a look out for something from TLS agency, please?’
“Of course, sir,” she said, glancing at Curtis. Curtis, looking a little embarrassed, lowered his hand and cleared his throat.
“Mr. Hollis,” he said, “I was hoping to speak to you for a moment?”
Richard sighed. He didn’t have time for this. “I’m sorry, um…”
“Curtis, sir.”
“Right. Curtis. Listen, I’m a very busy man.”
“I understand that, sir. I won’t be but a moment. I just had some questions about some other departments. I was thinking of asking my girlfriend to apply here.”
Richard frowned a little. “I think that’s a question for our HR Department.”
“Sure, sure,” he said. “But I know she’d like to work here, you know, close to the CEO of the company. She’s the kind of woman that likes to be near the top if you know what I mean.”
“I most certainly do not know what you mean.” There was something about the conversation that was making Richard increasingly uncomfortable. Something…oily for lack of a better word.
“She’s ambitious is all,” he said. “Maybe she’s already been in here for an interview? She’s about yay high, dark curly hair, blue eyes--”
“No one’s been here that matches that description,” he said, cutting him off. This conversation was taking too long as it was. “Listen, if you’d like to discuss opportunities within the company, I suggest you speak to our head of HR. Otherwise, make an appointment with my secretary if you’d like a meeting with me.” With that, he walked away without waiting for Curtis to answer him. By the time he was in his office, he’d forgotten the mail clerk's name. He hadn’t forgotten how he felt around him though. He shuddered a little. The guy was creepy.
He was back to thinking about Rebecca coming by just to bother him. She was probably waiting for his secretary to leave, too. Just so she wouldn’t have to try to navigate around her. Crafty witch that one.
He buzzed his secretary and she answered quickly. “Yes, sir?”
“Could you come in here for a moment?”
“Yes, sir.”
She came walking in almost immediately and he said, “I need you to inform me whenever you leave your desk, please.”
She blinked dumbly at him. “I do, sir.”
“You didn’t for lunch,” he said. “Or did you just let Mrs. Hollis walk right by you?”
She adjusted her stance for a moment, then said, “No, sir. I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that you wanted to be informed when I go to lunch. I genuinely thought you already knew.”
