Look Both Ways (Complete)

1. Who Is Quincy?

"Quincy!" shouted the receptionist Stella above the cubicles on the fifteenth floor, "Is there a Quincy here?"

The din stopped, and everyone poked their heads above their short dividers, like a field of gophers. It was rare for anyone to shout across the room unless it was urgent. They looked at her, as if she was a musician on a stage.

After a moment of silence, John from the farthest corner lobbied the query that was on everyone's mind.

"Who wants to know?"    

"The Penthouse," she replied, and the silence became ominous as they scanned the room for their unlucky co-worker.

There were only two reasons to go up there; to get a promotion, or to get fired; however, employment issues on this low-level milieu were normally handled by human resources a mere four levels away.

They waited with bated breath.

This was a typical close knit office group that spent more time at work than at home, and therefore knew each other better than their spouses. This 'Quincy' mystery was a concern, like the reveal at the end of an Agatha Christie novel.

The elevator ding broke the silence. They turned their heads in unison, like fans at a tennis match.

The door opened and Tie stepped out. The group let out a collective sigh. Stella greeted him.

"Do you know Quincy?"

Tie froze; his forehead furrowed.

"That's me," he replied, and the room let out a simultaneous 'oh'. The gophers gradually retreated back into their stations.

Tie was confused. He stood like a statue with a mug of coffee in one hand, and a half-eaten rainbow sprinkled donut in the other. No one had called him that  since his first day of work two years ago.

Stella gasped with wide eyed concern.

"You're requested upstairs," she paused and gulped, "the Penthouse." Tie swallowed too.

"You'd better hurry," she whispered.

He dumped his mug and half donut on her desk, and then dove into the elevator as the doors closed.