Page 14

THIRTEEN

The hallway feels even more strange and isolated, knowing that everyone has left for the day. She hurries down it and comes into the main newsroom.

The overhead lights have been dimmed for the night. The office looks as though it has been suddenly abandoned. Half-full coffee cups left on desks. Sweaters draped over the backs of chairs. Inside one of the cubicles a shadow moves slowly. She steps closer, her heart hammering as she catches sight of the thin cord dangling from the ceiling. It leads all the way down into one of the cubicles where a large shape sways very gently back and forth. Her heart thuds. She nearly screams until it bends, catching the fading light from the window, and she realizes it is actually a sign hanging from a piece of crepe paper, remnants from a sad office birthday celebration. The sound of Alex’s startled laugh bounces around the empty room.

She continues through the newsroom, surprised to see a yellow glow coming from behind the blinds in Howard’s office. His shape is barely visible moving behind the blinds. He is pacing, his limbs long and jerky like a shadow puppet. His muffled voice rises angrily from inside.

Curious, Alex moves toward the glass wall where there is a thin space between the sides of the blinds. Now she can see Howard. His jacket is off, his cuffs rolled up. He presses his phone to his ear. Alex watches his fingers clench as he speaks. “What can I possibly do about it?” she hears him say, the anger in his voice barely constrained. His hand runs through his hair, gripping it nervously. She moves closer, putting her face nearly up to the glass. His desk is in disarray, papers scattered across it. A mug sits on top. He picks it up and tilts it to his mouth, gulping from it.

“I don’t know. I just don’t know.” His voice drops, the anger receding into a helpless monotone. Alex holds her breath trying to hear him. “Isn’t there anything you can do?”

Suddenly he spins toward her. Alex clamps her hand over her mouth and jumps quickly away. She prays he hasn’t seen her there. She draws back into the shadows, her heart pounding, then ducks into a cubicle, pressing herself into the fabric-covered partition as she hears him come out of his office.

“Hello? Is someone there?”

She keeps her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from making a sound. Just what everyone needs on their first day of work, to be caught spying on their boss, she scolds herself.

“Sorry, I thought I heard something,” he says in a lower voice, to the person on the phone. When she is sure he’s back in his office, she dashes as quickly as she can to the elevators.