Spilling Guts

Part 26 - Little Walks

Milton Balcuwitz gently closed the door to his office, banishing the disarray at this desk, and the lingering smell of candy for the fluorescent hallway. "Why don't we walk while we talk?"

Louis stood back, arms loosely crossed. "You can do that?"

"Why not? Physical motion can do wonders for one's mental processes. And I heard the upper office building has a viewing deck."

Milton walked, he hoped, in the direction of the elevators, not giving Louis the chance to agree or disagree. The agent looked like he would welcome the excuse to cancel or move the meeting to another time. Milton would rather reward Louis' motivation to come of his own volition. So they would walk, and they would talk.

His sweater vest buttons were straining a tad at his middle.

And Milton would be blessedly free of the mess he had made of his desk. All in the name of mapping out Yanif Retten's head. He had requested any file or log that mentioned Retten and his affiliated groups. He hadn't realized how much of it there was. Or that so much would be on paper. He imagined the workload was akin to the punishment given to agents Will and Louis.

A walk was the perfect excuse for escape.

Also, talking in the same room as a sleeping person was rude.

Louis matched his stride. Milton took that as a sign that his sense of direction was right for once.

"Why was Will sleeping in your office?" asked Louis.

"Doctor Samson gave him an order to sleep, and my couch was fit for the task." At the elevator he punched the button for up.

"Rachel ordered him to sleep?"

"Some people need to be ordered to sleep. Like a some people need to be ordered to eat, or bathe, or wake."

Ding! The doors opened and the pair entered, alone. The main elevator for Watch Two only went up to the first basement floor, and then deposited the occupant to go through security. According to the briefing Milton received for the Watch Two base, the elevator had the ability to go to the very top of the building but it needed a bypass key. Odd information to have, but it reminded him somehow of the Die Hard movies.

Louis tapped his pass to the screen as they passed through security. "Word of advice, doc. If Watch Two goes into lockdown, don't lend out your couch. You'll want it for yourself to sleep on. Someone nabs it, you'll get a cot."

"Hm, I'll keep that in mind." He had wondered why every office seemed to have a set of blankets and a pillow on hand.

The woman behind the screen nodded at Milton as the pass beeped green, and then stared at him as he left.

Odd.

The corridor led to a chamber behind an office space, specifically the space behind the United States Patent Office of Denver. Another beep of their cards and the two men entered the expansive lobby of the Novak Tower. The front of the building up to the fifth floor was tinted glass, slats of light painting the lobby at dawn and dusk. At noon, it illuminated the bustling courtyard and people outside finding lunch.

Milton aimed for where he thought the main building elevators might be. "Have you been to the viewing deck before?"

"Twice," said Louis, pivoting from the doors that lead outside. "Once for orientation and the second time I was in a hurry to catch a helicopter. Not much time to admire the view."

Milton made a humming noise, perusing a small placard with an arrow pointing to "elevators". Very helpful those signs. There should always be signs with helpful arrows. And maps with cardinal directions.

Louis gestured to the people walking about the lobby, briefcases in hand and ties around their throats. "Are you sure we're allowed on the upper floors?"

"The Patent Office owns the building. Why not?"

"We're grunts compared to the suits and ties." Louis glance down to his un-tucked burgundy t-shirt, wrist brace, and sneakers.

"The world runs on vital grunts."

The elevator dinged open. Milton and Louis joined a few suits going up. All kept silent until the suits disembarked at the sixth floor, glancing back at Milton, puzzled. Louis mashed the button for the door to close and the elevator climbed again.

"Is it so strange for them to see a sweater vest?" wondered Milton. "I thought the Mister Rogers style had come back into fashion?"

"I think they were wondering why you're not wearing shoes," said Louis.

Milton looked down. A pair of socks with hot-rod flames and jalapenos clung to his feet. A gift from Lily after viewing a documentary about fire-walkers. That would explain the odd looks he had gotten.

"Oh... I usually take my shoes off when I have to spend a lot of time at my desk. I must of forgotten to put them back on."

"Do you want to go back and get them?"

Ding!

The elevator doors opened. The ceiling was higher than Milton expected. Rounding the elevator landing, the two of them squinted. Sunlight bounced off black tile and potted plants of a garden area. Real potted plants, not plastic facsimiles to soothe a cabin fevered computer worker. The center of the floor gave way to scattered benches, pathways through elevated plants and a reflection pool. A few people taking their lunch lounged by the garden area or looked dreamily outside. The viewing deck, circling the whole floor, was floor to ceiling glass, overlooking buildings, streets, havens of green parks and trees, and in the distance the mountain line. A panoramic of Denver any way you looked.

"And miss the view?" replied Milton, already feeling the warmth of the sun-baked tile through his socks. "I think I'll manage."

Louis adjusted his shades and followed Milton in his circuit of the viewing deck.