Main Character Vibes

A fresh manner of seeing things

Monday morning appeared to be the agreed-upon day, during which, as a collective, the city slowly recovered from the sluggishness and unproductivity of its weekend laze. So, at the start of every workweek, the city idled before it found its workweek rhythm. Before it could shift into the grinding gears that would spring it into whirring economic motion. It was as if the people stalled while revving up their bustle in a drudging demonstration of insecure automation...all except for Elias.

Something was different. Elias walked on the sidewalk with unusually sprightly strides. His face was also carrying an unfamiliar smile. Passersby were like huddled masses who seemed to be irritated by his beaming face. It was as if all the fatigued frowning faces that they cast towards Elias were aggravated by his violation of some unwritten rule; an unwritten rule in society that stated that no one should be happy on a Monday. But Elias's mood was incorrigible.

He walked through the cold October streets with wandering eyes that were finding curiosity in the slightest of things. What was once hazy and pixelated now existed in high definition. The warmth of the morning sun, the shadows swaying to the melody of an October breeze, the white and puffy cumulus clouds passing through Toronto, the skyline twinkling under amiable rays, the traffic, the crowds...all of it.

Elias was walking under the eternal sunshine of an unfettered sun that was blitzing his senses and sensibilities with a newly found sense of dynamism. And in that dynamism, for the very first time in three years, he did not go into the café to meet the nameless redhead.

His eyes reveled in a new mode of perspective that delicately balanced the pragmatism of adulthood with a renaissance of the playful and curious sensibilities belonging to the childhood spirit...before the strange and dangerous world of bills, rent, boredom, familiarity, and fear maimed it into submission... and coined the term adult for it in order to shroud its character flaws and the shame of knowing how weak it was.

Arriving at his office, Elias walked through the pit of cubicles with an air of cool detachment. It was the same detached coolness of meeting those whom he never expected to see again. He sat down and logged onto his workstation.

He paused for a few moments and hesitated before putting his headphones in to commence his routine of combing through his emails. Despite his sincerest efforts, Elias could not get himself to conduct his tasks with the same effortlessness and ease that he was accustomed to...he suddenly didn't see the point of it anymore.

"Morning," Francis said as if on cue from behind the cubicle partition.

"Morning..." Elias replied hesitantly as he was slowly getting up from his desk.

Having convinced himself that playing it smart was not synonymous with playing it safe, Elias knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Do you have a minute to chat?" Elias asked after he knocked on the doorway frame of Jason's open office. In spite of his many flaws, Jason always maintained an open-door policy.

"Yes, sure, have a seat," Jason said as he reached for his coffee mug. But not because he wanted to, but because it was an unconscious reaction to distract away from his nervousness; ironically with more caffeine. He was unaccustomed to have Elias initiate a chat with him outside of an official meeting setting. In the three years that Elias had worked at the company, the hiring interview was, in fact, when they had spoken most. Jason prided himself about not being a micromanager. But not that he needed to. He delegated most of the team's tasks onto Elias whose autonomy and productivity only made Jason look even better in the eyes of his superiors up the chain of command. Which as a consequence, further made him rely on Elias, it was like he was a coach depending on his star quarterback to clinch him the laurels of game victories.

"How are you?" Jason asked a middle-management formality that had to be observed in accordance with the countless communication seminars, training, and many workshops that Jason and his peers received in order to hone their managerial interpersonal skills. It felt clumsy and inorganic...it showed.

"I'm good, thanks," Elias replied before clearing his throat as he took a seat.

"I know that this might seem to come completely out of the blue, but I want to submit my two weeks' notice."

Jason immediately choked on the coffee he was drinking before it spilled all over his desk, blotchily staining his white shirt.

"Damn it..." Jason kept trying to wipe it clean but to no avail. "Why do you want to quit? Are you unhappy?" he grumbled in the fervor of the coffee incident, effectively abandoning all communication protocols that his framed certificates of achievements supposedly conferred upon him.

"No, no, the company's great... it's not you, really, it's me," Elias replied before a sly smile stubbornly broke on his face despite his sincerest efforts to cull it. He could not help himself but notice the similarity between him submitting his resignation and a boyfriend wanting to spare the feelings of his girlfriend while he attempts to break up with her in a way that inflicts the least possible damage...it's not you, it's me.

"It's just that I've always had plans to take a year off and travel...it's something I've wanted to do ever since I graduated, but I always kept postponing it...and it's been three years already...and I feel that if I don't do it now, I'll never get around to doing it..."

Jason kept nodding conspicuously in a way that displayed what he had learned from all those communication seminars; concealing the frivolity of his nature in contrived pensive silence in an attempt to regain authoritative dignity despite a glaring coffee stain. He was not nodding righteously but more so to impart to Elias the notion that he was being heard. Jason was listening intently but not in a way that indicated that he was listening to understand nor internalize where Elias was coming from. But rather it was as if he was listening just to formulate what he needed to say in return. Jason's worried eyes were twitching as if he suddenly had the nervous system of a squirrel. To lose Elias, a highly productive employee, would spell disaster for his upcoming performance review...and consequently would be disastrous to his yearly bonus...employee retention and turnover were metrics that middle management bonuses depended on.

"I understand, as you know I was your age once..." Jason paused for a moment. "You know, back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth..." he said jokingly.

"What if you just take some time off? I mean, if I'm not mistaken, you still have all of your vacations and sick days saved up, don't you?" Jason asked.

"I'm going to be taking the year off, Jason..."

"What if I gave you another raise?"

"I genuinely appreciate what you're trying to do...but it's not the money, you guys already pay me well...I need some time off and I've already made up my mind."

After a few moments of silence, Elias stood up slowly as he deliberately did not want to make any sudden movements in front of the already jittery Jason before he extended his arm for a handshake. Jason shook his hand gravely, finally coming to terms with realities. Throughout the grasp, Elias consciously maintained intense eye contact and nodded amiably before he turned around and briskly made his way out of Jason's office.

Filled with middle-management insecurity, Jason nervously swiveled in his chair as the grinding gears of his mind hurriedly began their machinations to find a replacement for Elias. He desperately required another cog in the now compromised machine, which up until this moment, had been seamlessly whirring towards producing his end-of-year bonus...

Sitting down at his desk, Elias was breathing differently...freer in a way.

His spirits were fanned by the fresh breeze of some looming liberty. He could not help but take a deep breath of relief. A smile was stubbornly persistent on his face. Now that there was a definitive light at the end of the tunnel, he happily carried on his work. Seeing that light at the end of the tunnel was more comforting than carrying the frail hope of there being a light at the end of it.

Elias was working with the conclusive attitude of the falling action that comes after the climax of some dreary plot. And to his surprise, for the first time, he was even looking forward to lunch with Francis.