Chase (#ONC2022) ✅

an oat latte

"Good luck," Michael said to Chase. "We'll miss you in the office. But don't forget that we'll all definitely still see each other for meetings and conferences."

Chase looked up. He was crouched beside his desk, filling the large IKEA bag beside him with the miscellaneous assortment of things that he had found there. He leaned his arms on the swivel chair beside him and smiled at his colleague. "Thank you. Hopefully I'll be a little more accomplished the next time we meet." 

Michael laughed at that. The office was empty apart from them: and it was only logical that it was, because it was nearing 9 PM. Chase was grateful that Michael had offered to stay with him until he had packed up, so he wouldn't be the last to leave. A spontaneous act of kindness. "You know how good at this job you already are, Chase," he said, running a hand through his short salt-and-pepper hair. "I was nowhere near as knowledgeable as you when I was that young."

Chase chuckled, brushing off the compliment, and inhaled deeply. It was much later than he'd expected it to be and he felt guilty for taking so long. It had been a long day at the office, even though most of it had been spent on goodbyes and thank yous and clearing out all his belongings. He turned his phone on to check the weather, groaning internally when he saw that it would be a cold night when he stepped outside. 

Standing up, he unplugged the computer mouse from the monitor in front of him and stuffed it into the bag at his feet. He glanced around at the empty desks filling the room and the rows of dark screens. "I think that's it. Feel free to throw away anything that I've left behind." He lifted the IKEA bag up- god, it was heavy. "Thank you so much for staying. You know you didn't have to."

Michael shook his head in reply as they headed towards the glass doors of the office. "My pleasure." He shut the doors behind them; Chase knew that they would lock automatically. "Any plans for tonight? Or are you just planning on resting up for the move tomorrow?"

Chase shifted the bag in his hands as he looked at their distorted reflections in the metal elevator doors. He watched the numbers glow above the elevator. "Nothing planned at all. Apart from: go home and go to sleep and wake up to a new day." 

"Can't go wrong with a plan like that," Michael answered. He buttoned up his suit jacket as they stepped into the elevator. "I'm sure my kids will be asleep by the time I get home."

Chase toyed with the idea of family and children in his mind. It wasn't something he often thought about, and he hadn't ever found himself aspiring to be a father like Michael was. He thought briefly about how one of his friends from college had already gotten married and had a daughter on the way. It was a funny age to be, twenty five: an age where you found the path that you'd chosen for your future diverging with the people who you used to surround yourself with. 

The heels of their shoes resounded loudly on the marble floor of the empty lobby as they walked across it towards the large automatic doors leading outside. The sky was completely black now; the sun had set over four hours ago. The shortness of winter days had always given Chase an indescribable forlornness. There was just something about both leaving and returning home in the darkness. He hadn't even left the office for lunch today, which meant that the only sunlight he had seen had been through the window next to his desk.