Outside the Mirage

#17: Cast the First Stone

It had been only twelve hours since Merlyn was admitted into the Department of Magical Studies' Medical wing. Despite her attempting to get permission to stay with him during his rest, Dr. Sanford insisted she return to her life as normal and Merlyn would come back the following Tuesday like nothing had happened.

But the part about it that Vanessa disliked the most was Dr. Sanford's assumption that her life had a normal flow without Merlyn. Since she had been made his apprentice, the two of them had spent more time with each other than anyone else. When she wasn't at work or going on a crazy adventure with him, she was usually just sitting at home, killing time. So to try and do that for three days seemed impossible to her.

So instead of sulking around at home, she decided to go to work anyway. She woke up early Saturday morning and caught the first bus to work. Arriving at the Gerald R. Ford Building just after 7am, she was able to freely walk across the lobby of the building as there was no one present except a handful of security guards. She took the elevator up to the seventeenth floor and made her way to her office.

She thought back to the first time she had ever been in this hallway; it seemed like it was years ago, but also it felt like it had happened just yesterday, despite her brain knowing it was actually only six weeks ago. Six weeks ago was the day her life changed forever. At the time, when she first walked through the hall, she had been most struck by the flying paper, folded into various origami animals and flowers, floating from one office to another; now, however, it was the other details of the hallway that caught her attention. The paintings on the wall, for instance, she had barely even noticed before, but each of them were beautiful, all of them depicting a scene that looked like it had been ripped out of an epic fantasy film series but she guessed were probably at least somewhat true. Vanessa also noticed for the first time the appearance of other offices besides her own; where Platt's office was at one end of the hallway, a straight shot from the elevator, and her own office rested in a corner near the elevator, it was now obvious there were no less than four other offices on the floor. Looking through, she checked out the different names on the doors: the next door neighbor to Merlyn's office belonged to a 'Special Agent Panzer'; across from that was an office given to one 'Special Agent Jiminez'; the door across from Merlyn's office was dedicated to one 'Senior Agent Chilcott'; and the final of the offices, the one across from Vanessa's own, was dedicated to 'Special Agent Layfield'.

Satisfied with her exploration of her workspace, she walked into her office. Looking at her world map hanging next to the secret panel that led to Merlyn's office, she decided that it would be nice to have some more decor in her office. Nearly jumping into her office chair, she started looking up various wall ornaments to attempt to discover something new to put in her office. After a second, she decided she was bored and started to play some of her own music, a luxury she rarely was given due to Merlyn's control of the aux cord when they drove together. Unlike his melodramatic pop music, she preferred something a bit more complex; she turned on one of the most fast-paced and rhythmic AC/DC songs she could find, blasted the sound and scrolled through the internet for something cool.

It did not take very long for there to be a knock at her door. It was seven rapid bumps, hitting her door as though someone were ready to tell Vanessa off. Frowning, Vanessa stood up and paused her song before answering the door. Standing there was a small man, not an inch taller than Vanessa herself, red-faced with a blond mustache that was curled at the ends. The man looked rather irritated.

"Can you please turn that infernal noise down, please?" the man grunted.

Vanessa frowned at him. "Who are you, exactly?"

"I am Agent Trainee Christopher Jordan," he spat, his nose turning up as he said it. "I have an incredible amount of work to do and I cannot be bothered to be bothered by the racket you're putting on!"