The Love Pill

26. Lunch Break

Freen Sarocha

I heard a soft knock, so I looked up. My boss was standing in my door opening and had such a neutral look on his face that I knew he was trying to hide something. He walked into my office and instead of sitting down he kept pacing around. He opened his mouth to break the silence, but then his eyes noticed the yellow splatters.

'Trying out some new colors?' he smirked, making me chuckle and breaking the awkward tension. I shook my head in amusement, both of us smiling.

He coughed and I saw his smile disappear.

'Sarocha, that man you were looking for, well, he doesn't exist?

'What do you mean?' I frowned in confusion. I had looked him up and I found his file.

'Well, technically he exists. He has a driver license, an ID, a social security number, a birth certificate. He even has a library card on his name. But they are all fake. He only exists on paper. Someone who knows the mazes of our system must have created.' 

I groaned. That explained why no one picked up to phone. Just my lucky day.

'But someone must be using him. You don't just make a person for fun' I logically reasoned, my mind making all kind of scenes from kidnapper to bank robber to pirate. I know, pirate isn't that likely but hey, you never know.

My boss shook his head. 'I'm trying to find out who's behind him, but for now, I can't find anyone with any ties. From what I know, he is just a facade, but a facade created by our government, so tread carefully.'

'Maybe he was used for money laundering and when they finished the job they didn't need him anymore and just let him be?' I suggested, thinking aloud.

'Maybe. I'm still trying to determine that.'

'Men like this aren't created without purpose and discovering it might lead to other issues, so we need to be cautious. I don't think I need to explain to you how delicate this situation is' he spoke, making me nod.

Of course, I understood that if we went digging in the wrong place, something nasty could come out of it. We could be sabotaging another company or exposing a fraud. And for neither, my company wanted to take responsibility.

'In the meantime, keep trying to get Armstrong to just tell you the information.'

'Ask her on a date or something?' he said ending our conversation. He made his way to the door and then something popped into my head.

'Boss. A quick question. If I want to resume my relationship with Becky after all this, can I tell her about the pill and you know, work?' I asked, my insides cringing since I was hoping for a positive answer.

He stared at my grey wall; his eyebrows furrowed in thinking.

'Up until a certain degree. But you can't explain her the specific details. Just like talking about the company, you can give her an idea of what you do, but you never elaborate too much. I hope that I can count on your discretion when you try to explain this mess to her. Hope that she understands and doesn't flee the scene.' my boss finally said, but the tone he used made me question if we were only talking about me.

"Thank you, sir.'

He waved his hand, dismissing my gratitude gracefully and walked out of my office, obviously sunken deep in his own thoughts.

I turned back to my computer and looked at the man. There went a lot of thought into making him. He was so casual, so invisible, so neutral. His picture, his name, his profession, ...