It was one of those blank stairs, the kind of stair you stair when you not looking at anything at all, or as it were you are looking at something but nothing that can be perceived in the outside world. His eyes were fixed on his desk where as his mind wandered around the many rooms of his house, searching out his iron. He got to the front room with the 19th century fireplace and the ironing board, no it was no good he couldn�t remember so he stood up, walked round his desk and wandered into his living room, their was the mantelpiece, and the Persian rug made from real dogs, but no ironing board, then realisation dawned.
�I don�t have an ironing board� he whispered to himself
Bzzz.
The Bzzz had gone off so he walked back to the desk and pressed on speakerphone.
�yeah let me hear it� he said in a voice changed completely from the one of a minute ago, this one rough and assertive where as the other one hadn�t been so much. His receptionist spoke �Hello Mr McCavity�
�hello Tina� Tina was a new receptionist, she didn�t really know how to do her job but that didn�t matter because McCavity did it for her, not because he was dazzled by her beauty and flirtatious tactics but because he didn�t trust his business in anyone�s hands but his self, plus she was to innocent to use her looks to her advantage so he�d taken her under his wing to protect her �who is it�.
�It�s Ice Cube agent� she said.
�What does he want?�
�Well I think he�s wandering if theirs anything new out their that he can get into. He says that Mr. Cube wants to branch out and try new projects�
�What? Tell him to do his own job what does he want me to do sort him out a role in a the next Hugh Grant movie�
�Do you want me to ask?�
�God no, don�t bother its awful�
�Oh, heehehe, ok so what shall I say�
�Tell him�� Sigh. Fingers to temple and concentrate, anything, one thing, sure, yeah, ok. �Tell him I got something for him yeah, its not a complete new branch he�d be playing a Cop who falls in love with a crook, and err has a moral dilemma, he�d be playing it with that fat guy off that program with that bitch who�s a lesbian Ellen, he also appeared in Malcolm in the middle, what�s his name� Click of the fingers, �David Higgins, he�s in it as a mood lightener, you know anyway blah blah moral dilemma ends up he manages to turn her round and she never did anything to bad really just misunderstood, I think its going to be Sandra Bullock, that�s if she�s still alive, any way it�s a 2 star movie but that�s all he�s ever gonna get, tell the agent he can have it if he wants I was gonna give it to Will Smith but he�s already played enough cops as it is, if he were to sell out any more I think he�d start turning white�
�Ok sir�
He turns off the phone and walks up and down a couple of times, he tries to think of the last time he left the building, this building that is so big and about six years ago he decided to move in feeling so fresh that he could just bang away. Had he been out since then? Course he had.
Bzzz.
�Speak to me people�
�Hi� Tony the new man, confidence, charisma and class, McCavity didn�t like him, but used him anyway he was clever and he could use all his optimism and young energy until he burnt him out and then just before he was turning mid thirties he could bunk him off on to some other company with a good recommendation and a wad of cash.
Doesn�t seem like much of a punishment, but it would be when it happened, �how are you Sir?�
�I am well, what can I do for you�
�Oh it�s nothing sir, probably shouldn�t even have bothered you with it, but I thought best to make sure, I�m looking after Britney Spears for the week for because her agents attending his brothers wedding, I just wanted to know what should I do just keep an eye on her or do I ring her up.�
�Tom��
�Tony�
�Tony, if you don�t ring her up and tell her to do something she�ll just sit their and wait for you too. She acts as well as looks like a dog, just give her a ring, tell her to put some tracksuit bottoms on and a skimpy top and go and by some stuff. Oh yeah and get her a black bodyguard it gives her more credibility and plus it scares her fans�
�Will do sir�
�Good, ok I�m gonna have food in the cafeteria I need the change of scene, we still have one of those right?�
�Yes sir�
�Ok well you meet me down their ok, I don�t like eating by myself in public, it looks stupid�
�Err�ok sir�
Tony had been sat in the cafeteria for twenty minutes, it was huge and it was empty except for the cook and the cleaner who were stood behind the scenes, and it was 12.27. Harris McCavity entered.
He stopped on entering and looked around, then he checked his watch and walked over too Tony.
�What�s going on�its Tony isn�t it?�
�Yes sir�
�Don�t bother with sir in every sentence it loses meaning like if you say a word over and over and over in your head or out loud it stops making sense, like fire truck, no that�s not a very good one oblong, if you say that over and over and over in your head, loses its meaning�
Harris took a deep breath at this moment and sat down at his chair and put his jacket on the back of the seat.
�Anyway, what is going on, its dinner time and the place is empty.�
�Well their isn�t that much staff you passed on most of them to other companies, in a building that could fit 20,000 you have just under 200 employees.�
�Your kidding how does that work�
�Well theirs only one person who can answer that, and that�s you your notorious because of it, this company is one of the best oiled machines in the world, it�s the key bolt in the machine of the music industry, sport industry, appliances, we sort out manufacturing deals for every one even the business�s that do all their own work and self employment come to Kroy for tips from time to time, were the business mans business man.�
�That sounds familiar�
�Yeah it�s the company slogan, you came up with it�
�No I didn�t, I can�t remember who did though. Hey is this place self service or what.� �Well their used to be a restaurant on the 14th floor but you moved them on��
�Yeah because they weren�t getting enough business. I remember that, they were good cooks though I was sorry to let them go, shall we.�
Harris got up and waited for Tony to follow suit, they walked over to the counter in silence, Tony would have felt the silence awkward if he wasn�t thinking of other things, this was new Tony had worked their for 6 months and it was the weirdest job he�d ever had, sometimes it was like a dream endless corridors void of life sometimes on his breaks he would investigate the empty floors, endless floors all of them empty, he�d often wondered weather he should recommend to McCavity to rent them out but an old man who had worked here and looked after him for the first two weeks told him that the first 5 floor are rented out, but that McCavity was against the idea of filling the building up with other businesses just in case they ever needed the space, McCavity was famous among the right circles and worthless among the other one. People in Tony�s position who aspire to be so and so or such and such may never even here his name but they can be assured that if that�s the case that McCavity�s heard their name and is not interested in their business what so ever. Harris wasn�t a favoured man, but he was a respected one which is not necessarily a stable attribute in his line of business, being as the kind of people in that business were generally money grabbing thieves worse than any street thug but on a less personal level, but he was also feared which is a very unheard of thing, generally in this business they are all of them cowards and there fore if they are scared or threatened might be the apt word they gang up and attack not in McCavity�s case however. He was an over night success no one had time to feel threatened they went straight to being female-dog slapped, he came into the business and sorted out music he initiated the sixties, brought the Beatles to America and rolled Jimi Hendrix�s last ever reefa he even dialled the number for him to make that famous last phone call. Before anybody new him he was an important name and before anybody could make any ties with him he disappeared inside the building that became his home and became a name without the face, but also the man to go to. However by this time Tony and Harris had reached the counter, and Tony remembered something he was going to say, �Oh yeah just so you know I was checking up and one of our dangerous item lists and I came across this guy Bill Hicks, his work has being getting a bigger audience by the year�
�That�s just because he�s dead he�ll never make it into the fluent mainstream, he was arranged cancer and he died in 94�
�Sorry, did you say arranged cancer�
�Sure, come on it�s the simplest Idea in the world don�t you think, cancer incurable and a problem gets it, its just a matter of time and then its cash in time for the company that owns them, what did you think happened, Bob Marley breaks his toe next thing you know he�s got cancer in it but its against his beliefs to treat it, wham bam thank you Sam. Of course I�m lying though, that�s just some conspiracy nuts theory, and we all know you can�t trust conspiracy nuts, there nutty�
Harris laughed to himself, what seemed a bitter laugh too Tony. The cook and elderly man wore the appropriate attire, but all his clothes were clean, no signs of a long hard days work.
�What do you have in good sir� Harris asked in a jovial manner that didn�t have an ounce of falseness about it.
�Chips� the cook responded with the energy of a corpse.
�Is that it� Harris said looking put out but none the less good-humoured.
�Fraid so�
�Oh�
�There good chips� Tony chipped in.
�I�ve no doubt they are�
�I could probably rustle you up some soup if you want� the cook said.
�Very well good sir, you rustle away� Harris said, and the cook wandered off down past some of the machinery that was their for cooking and stopped at the end and began to smoke his pipe in full view of Harris and Tony.
�Tony, do you think he knows we can see him?�
�I shouldn�t think he�d care either way�
At this juncture they realised the cleaner was staring at them with a certain severity, �we�ll go and wait� Harris said and the cleaner gave a slight jolt of the head to acknowledged she�d understood and Tony and Harris went and reseated themselves.
As they sat down a woman entered the cafeteria, �Jesus� Harris said �it�s Merlyn I thought she�d retired�
Tony turned to look at her �no that�s Carolyn�
�Are you sure?�
�Yeah�
�Merlyn� shouted Harris and then looked nonchalant, �did she turn round� he asked Tony in a whisper.
�Yes, but that�s because you shouted Merlyn at the top of your voice� Carolyn made her way over to the table.
�Hi� she said, Harris examined her at last he spoke.
�Your right it�s not Merlyn�
�You knew my mother� Carolyn said
�Oh so you�re her daughter�
�Yes, how did you know her?�
�She used to take care of the fast food chains, McDonalds, Subway stuff like that.� �Wow that�s my job, so who are you I�ve never seen you around before are you new, jeez we haven�t had a new worker for about 2 years�
�Hey I joined 6 months ago� Tony pipped in,
�No you didn�t silly you joined in 2002 you�ve been her nearly 3 years.�
Tony checked his watched, then stopped. �Don�t know what I was expecting to find there.�
�Yeah time is strange like that, it this place� although Harris said this in a flippant manner he saw Tony�s eyes lighten up and he was sure he was going to ask questions but Carolyn repeated her question of before
�So who are you� she asked holding her hand out.
�Harris McCavity�s, I�m your boss� he said with a glance at her hand meaning lower it.
Carolyn�s eyes lighted up too and she sat herself down on the chair next to Tony, �Wow, I mean wow, it�s such an honour to meet you, I�ve heard of you before but I never met you, my mother never met you once the whole time she worked here, it�s like Charlie and the chocolate factory, gosh you look so young�
�Is there a mute button on you?�
Carolyn laughed at this but stopped abruptly �do you think I could do an interview with you?�
�Oh yeah that�s right you mother wanted to be a reporter as well didn�t she, yeah I remember she sold her story when she left�
�Yeah it didn�t get printed publicly in the end unfortunately, and soon after she err, she got very ill and died�
Tony put a hand on Carolyn�s shoulder as if to comfort her �aww, what did she die of, if you don�t mind me asking�.
Through sniffles that may or may not have been real Carolyn said �cancer� Tony stiffened and his grip tightened on her shoulder as he darted a look at Harris, who instead of avoiding his eyes look straight back at them.
�Ouch� Carolyn said.
�Sorry it�s just a touchy subject for me�
�Ok but you don�t need to break my collarbone about it, so do you think I can get that interview� she said with a smile so sweet that it would rot your teeth on impact.
�What would you possibly want to interview me for, I don�t have anything interesting to say you just want to get it on your record of achievements so you can add some weight to your name, so I�m going to say to you what I said to your mother. No and if you ask me again you�ll regret it, and just so you know, she did ask me again, now tell me do you smoke?�
�Yes why?� Carolyn said sternly.
�Because you have bad skin your mother did too�
�I thought you never met� Tony said when Carolyn strode off to get some food. �We didn�t but I kept photographs of my staff and changed them on a regular basis� The cleaning lady arrived and gave them their food and then started to wipe down their table.
�Do you still do that� Tony asked from behind the cleaners big beefy arms.
�No, I installed some cameras in the offices most concerned with me�
�What� Tony sounding more concerned than he would probably have liked
�Yes� Harris said eyeing him �you might want to remember that next time you want to�relieve stress�
The cleaning lady snorted at this and Tony made a fuss with his chips.
�So, why don�t you meet with your staff much, why so secretive?�
�I�m not secretive� Harris said dipping his chips in the soup �S�good� he said to the cleaning lady while slurping it up.
�Well you are secretive if you think about it I mean some of your staff never even saw you�
The cleaning lady drew back the chairs and started to wipe them down.
�What you may call secretive I may not, I�m not secretive I�m just not very good with people and had no wish to rectify that.�
�Must get pretty lonely though�
�Sometimes�
The cleaning lady coughed.
�What are you� Tony said snapping �Pushed for time? Wait till we�ve left�
The cleaning lady hmph!ed and then left.
They finished their meal in silence
They let it settle and then stood up and walked together to the elevator.
�This place is weird though isn�t it, it has a strange effect on you, its so big and when you come in it feels like your stepping into some where new, it actually takes an effort to leave. I mean I�ve spent the last 4 nights here because I couldn�t be bothered to go to the elevator.�
�A month�
�What�
�You�ve slept here for just under a month.�
�See, when was the last time you left�
�I�m not sure, a while. I know what you mean and I wont lie this building is strange, I even went to one floor when I was more adventurous it came out onto a pathway made of marble that went straight to a staircase but was surrounded by water, and the stare case only went about 5 steps up before going diagonally upwards, but back on itself. Do you understand what I mean?�
�Do you mean like in the labyrinth when she�s chasing that baby�
Harris smiled �Precisely, TV Nation eh, anyway I didn�t stop their, i didn�t even get out of the lift.�
Tony looked at Harris as if trying too judge if he was telling the truth, then on thinking about what he had said felt an over whelming sensation of sickness, but worse like his mind was leaving him and he was going to be left vacant and useless, and lose control of his body he felt panic stricken and begged pardon to Harris. �No feel free take the day off and get out if you want� Harris said �I know it can get stressful but you get used to it�
Harris got into the elevator alone and went back up into the lobby that was before his office it was empty and the leather seats were dusty, the plastic plants were dusty also and there was a plastic cup of water that had turned a nasty yellow colour. Harris went into his office and channel flicked for a time. He new the businesses in which he dabbled were dead, although he still helped the few scraps of talent to get gigs and record deals but mainly he was just their to stop the ball rolling, he thought to himself a lot �here, here is your Pop star Female, Pop star Male, there is your Rock pop, you�re rap pop, here is your indie, here is your emo (something not even he could repress his guilt from surfacing), here is your moody actor, here is your funny one, here is your action one and here is your romantic one.�
He sat in his desk and cursed his mind that roamed non stop; it would take him on average 2 and a half hour�s to get to sleep when ever he tried he wasn�t one of these easy consciences that could switch off at switch off time. He resolved a matter that was on his head urgently, he stood and opened a cupboard and went and switched on the lights to examine himself in the mirror that was hidden inside, he had to dust it down but then he looked at himself, he was a bit podgy is what he noticed, his hair was a dark brown and matted, but not in a greasy teenage way, it was somehow becoming, he moved it out of the way to examine his face, there was still the scar above his right eyebrow, he liked that scar it reminded him of simpler times.
He frowned and looked at himself he didn�t know what to think really. Then a nagging voice in his head said �something�s up�, the world needed to change and he was damned if he wasn�t going to have his finger in a bit of that pie, somewhere out their there was a saviour of mankind. And by somewhere out their, he didn�t mean the Earth where you live. He meant the city Ora of Vita where he lived of course. You big dummy.
End of Part One
By Owen York