Foreword

Chapter 4

It turned out that Rob had made the right choice by driving to work by his normal route. However, although the traffic wasn't running as smoothly as he had hoped, it got him to work albeit with some extra time as planned.

The accountant waved at the receptionist in the lobby, who nodded in acknowledgment, smiling. He had been working here for many years and was rather familiar with everyone.

He stepped inside the polished, elevator and punched in the number 6 in the side panel to go to the sixth floor. Then, seeing as there was nobody else in the elevator with him nor heading towards it, he pressed another button and the doors slid shut with a quiet hiss.

Jazz music played quietly from the abovehead speakers- the music that Rob had been listening to for the past six years as an employee here. He subconsciously wished for a change in music; it all seemed the same nowadays. It's like walking into a shoe store: there are hundreds of variations of the same style, yet they're all the same.

The sleek doors slid open and the man stepped out smoothly onto the carpeted floor, his footsteps muted. Raw sunlight streamed through the glass walls and the city stretched out far into the horizon. He continued to walk across the sixth floor, pausing to lift a hand or wave at his coworkers, then headed into his room, 6G.

It was rather cozy for such a modern building, but it was well-maintained by its users. Rob frequently worked with others- usually Danny Esquivel and Jared Malinofsky- on certain projects. As colleagues, the three men had grown close and were aware of each other's pet peeves, working techniques, and little bits of trivia about each other here and there.

Danny was sitting at one of the tables listening to Nirvana through his earbuds via his phone, his back facing the door. Once the door creaked shut behind Rob, Danny swiveled around in surprise, quickly hiding his phone and ripping off his earbuds in case their boss or another coworker had entered the room. Then when he realized who it was, his mouth stretched into a wide grin.

"Hey, it's Rob!"

"Hey, Danny, how are you doin'?" he laughed, setting his stuff down in his designated area and sitting down in the black swivel chair. After all, this office was shared between him, Danny and Jared and they each had their own section of the room.

"I'm good, thanks! And you?"

"I'm well, thanks, Dan," he replied, emphasizing the word 'well' to correct the grammatical error that his friend had made.

Danny was completely oblivious to the trivial mistake as he continued to chatter eagerly.

"So should we pick up where we left off? Jared apparently called in sick today so we're forced to work without him."

Rob swore under his breath. The three of them made a great team and could tear though assignments lightning-fast as long as they worked with each other. If they were separated...

His colleague placed a hand on Rob's shoulder encouragingly, hearing Rob's words.

"We can do it; don't worry, man."

"I hope so," he murmured.

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Around 5:45, work began to wind down and the two began to pack up and organize what they had done today.

After stuffing his planner in his messenger bag along with a small notepad with all of the two men's thoughts and notes, Rob stood up and wiped his glasses clean with his suit sleeve. He slung the bag across his shoulders, balancing his weight on one foot.

"Shall we head out now?" he inquired, cocking his head towards the door.

"Hold on a sec, dude. I'll be only a moment; I just need to... shove... this... ungh... in... no comments from you, Bourdon..." Danny grunted irritatedly, attempting to fit in a marble composition notebook into his bursting work bag, while the other man smirked.