Old Town Alexandria.
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"I'm Hogarth Fallin," I reply as I smile and shake his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. Please sit," he says.
In the middle of his sentence his voice fluctuates and underlying tones of a smoother voice I can hear. Maybe that's what he sounded like before he sucked in tar?
"Please sit. I've been rude enough," he says, gesturing to one of the leather chairs.
"Thank you," I say.
Taking a seat as he makes his way around the desk to his, I notice the amount of work is quite some bit. Two stacks of one foot each of papers rest near his left arm, and a computer screen shows a document being written, paused now. The other screens on his desk show similar progress and also data.
"So," he says as he catches his attention, "Hogarth? I'm guessing that Levi has given you some idea of what you ought to do?"
"Yes. Assist in your work, not allow you to over-exert yourself. And make sure you are in good health, boss."
"Yes," he says with a guttural chuckle, "that pretty much sums up your job. Levi told me to give you this check sheet here," he says as he looks around his desk to find a sheet which he slides across the desk to me, "that has the things you have to do more in detail."
I take the sheet and look at it. I don't see the details, and it just has the three things on the list that I said.
Check-in with health
Help in reducing workload
Be a reliable helper
Same, but different wording: concept unchanged. It's strange that he's handing me this, and it's a little suspicious. As if he's hiding something. The list is short, and most of what I see is obvious.
But I just got here, and it really in my mind isn't a good idea to try and confront my boss why he's not allowing me the latitude to fulfill my job. For now, though, I'll just roll with it. Even if he is a tiny little guy and can barely stop tapping his desk with his fingers as right now.
"Yep, this looks good. I'll make sure to do this," I say with a smile.
"Okay," he says, with a smile, "I'll let you settle in and then I'll contact you when I get my first job for you."
"Okay. I'll do that," I say and stand up to leave.
Leaving the office, I look back at Azrael, but he's already returned to the paper on his desk, head grasped in his hand and pen writing away on the paper.
I close the door quietly.
........................................................................................
The day I did spend settling in. I took time with a note pad, some tape, and a pen writing down what to put where in the room and thinking of how to organize it. Not much work, but the first day of work I suppose is no meant to be as crazy as life outside the glass on the street.
Packing my things, and taking a look out the window to spot the sun hitting the bricks on the houses across the Potomac, my eyes take in the orange summer sunset. The tall Memorial and the neat rows of buildings in the afternoon.
Taking my bag, I walk out my office and stop a moment to look at the doors barely a yard away. Azrael didn't come to my office to bring my anything to do, and never dialed my office phone either.
Maybe he just forgot to do so?
I still don't want to bother him and confront him, but is does seem strange almost as if Azrael is just trying to hinder anything from coming around to me to do. Or, maybe I'm just being a little paranoid.
Taking another second to stand and think of knocking, I wait, but then shrug and walk off. It's time to go home anyway. Azrael might not even be in there anymore, especially if he's trying to improve his health.
Riding the elevator to the first floor and then walking out, I walk to the train station near and ride it back to my apartment. Texting Christine as I do. She's free tonight, so maybe we can go for dinner.
A reply comes back as I ride an escalator up from the tracks, and reaching my apartment and walking in, I look at the message.
I can go to dinner tonight. The usual?
Yeah. Be there in twenty minutes.
Checking the clock, I see it's almost six. Setting my backpack down but pulling out my wallet and my phone with my keys, I walk out my apartment. Taking a drink of water first though. My suit I leave on, and I think Christine will like me in it.
Riding the metro again, and then hopping off, I walk out and in Georgetown. There's a nice fish and chips store that Christine and I like to go to, as it's very quiet, not too quiet to imply bad business, just a quiet place in Old Town Alexandria.
Walking in, I order two meals and then take a seat. The store itself is on a street corner and a people go to and from in the summer evening. It's bright out, and the sun won't be down for a bit. Being from a hotter state, it's a little nice to be in a climate that isn't as hot in the summer.
My meals are ready, just as Christine walks in. Her long caramel hair and round kind face. Wearing a skirt that comes to just above her knee and a white shirt tucked in to it, she spots me and waves.
"Hi, did you order for me?" she asks as she takes s eat across the table.
"I did. I though you would like to eat when you got here," I reply.
"You look good in the suit," notes Christine as she smiles nicely. Not hungrily.
It's sometimes difficult to call ourselves a couple as we sometimes act more like polite friends instead of lovers. There's love, but it's piling up slower than sand in an hourglass. It wouldn't come as a shock to me if we went like this for maybe the next ten years.
"How was the job interview?" asks Christine as she pours some vinegar into a plastic cup to dip her fish in. What's great is that she talks in a soft voice that isn't very demanding, and maybe that's why I'm with her. Some women are very strange and demanding when being in a relationship.
"It was great. I didn't have any competition, and the office is a really nice environment. They said they were expecting me, so I'm guessing that nobody else applied," I reply.
"You're at Garner Inc., right?" asks Christine.
"Yeah. My boss is Azrael Durst," I answer as I eat some of the food.
"I don't really know much about him," admits Christine.
"I don't either," I say with a chuckle, "I actually searched him up while I was at work. Using the computer they provided me. There's a few pictures of him on the internet, but really nothing else. Just his name, his face, and maybe the title he holds."
"Maybe he's good at keeping a low profile," suggests Christine.
"I think so. The vice president, Levi, said that boss is good at that."
"You call him boss?" asks Christine with a smile.
"Well, he keeps some distance from me. He doesn't talk much, and I'm guessing he's a bit demure. So, naturally I just try to give him that space, and saying his name really doesn't strike me as giving him that space."
"Hmm. Well, maybe he'll warm up to you. I'm pretty sure once you two get to know each other more you'll get along more. Who knows? Maybe you'll be good friends and he'll give you a promotion," says Christine.
"Maybe," I say as I shrug.
Finishing the meal, I take the two empty paper trays and throw them away. The bill I already settled.
Walking with Christine to the park near the restaurant, we take a seat at a bench and enjoy the summer evening.
"How's your job. At the hospital?" I ask Christine.
"It's pleasant. It's not too busy, and most people nowadays are making sure to keep themselves healthy."
Christine works in the ER as a nurse and sometimes it's demanding. Sometimes she has to stay long into the night, and early in the morning. But it's her calling, so I don't really stop her from doing so. She supports my job too, so it's a nice relationship to have.
"Do you think you'll enjoy the job that you have?" asks Christine as she pulls out a rubber band to tie her hair with from her white purse.
"I think so," I reply honestly, "it's a nice place. Not far from my apartment. And even though my boss is cold right now, I think one day we'll get along better and maybe he'll bring his work around to me."
"Bring his work...what?" says Christine in confusion.
"Oh. I forgot to explain. So, he hired me for the main reason that he needs to lessen his work," I explain.
"How much does he work?"
"I honestly don't know. But seeing his...state he's in, I would say that he needs it," I say.
"Is he cadaverous or something?"
"Well, he has a shadows under his eyes. He's pretty lean and the lines under his cheek bones are pretty pronounced. He has burn marks on his fingers from smoking," I list off, "and he also has a really pale look. Not unbelievably pale. But not natural either.
"That sounds pretty bad," says Christine. She would now about health.
"Oh, and also, his voice is really scratchy. And it sometimes slides into a softer more natural voice. But most of the time he sounds almost like he's got a toad in his throat," I add on.
"He smokes right?"
"He chain smokes apparently."
"I want to be in you job because I want to to help him," says Christine, her nature to help people coming out more, "I mean, it sounds almost painful to be him. How old is he?"
"His Wikipedia page said he was twenty-six. But another site said twenty-seven. I guess he's good at hiding that bit of his profile too," say with a shrug.
"But he's under thirty, maybe younger than me," says Christine to which I nod to respond, "and he already is that much affected? God, I want to step in and help."
"Maybe one day I can introduce you to him. So that you can offer a spot in the ER," I say.
"Maybe. He might need it," says Christine with a smile.
"I think he does. My second degree might not be as good as yours," I say as Christine smiles with a nod, "but I do think he's pretty unhealthy."
"Well," says Christine as she smiles, "good thing you're his assistant. You'll step in and help when it's necessary."
"I will. As I can," I say.
We spend some more time on the bench, until the sun sets, and then we part. I give a kiss and she gives a hug. Maybe we'll have another meal like this sometime soon.
Riding the metro to my apartment, I make it back and shower and wash up for the night. Pulling out my phone I see that I've got two messages.
One's a message from Christine, saying how she enjoyed the evening. I reply back and then look at the other message. It's from Levi, and it has Azrael's number in it.
I just sent this so that you could put it in your contacts. That way if you get a call you'll know who it is.
I reply back a 'thanks' and then put the number in my phone. The part where you put a picture is the icon without a photo. That's not that nice.
Using my browser I look up 'Azrael Durst', which has results of him, as well as other ones that have to do with nothing I'm interested in. I look through the available images, and find one of him in a black jacket.
He's not smiling, and his hair is a little longer then right now, so it catches the wind. It must've been winter, and he's in the process of entering a building, which I think is a hotel. His head turned a little on his neck, and one eye hidden behind the bridge of his nose. The one visible spots the camera, and that's when the shutter closed, giving the image.
I'll use that.
After a few seconds of moving my fingers, I have the image in my contacts. Maybe I'll show him tomorrow, and we'll have a laugh. Honestly, the conversation we had, the only one we had, was rather strange, as there was almost a wall between us, made by politeness and the reason that he's my superior.
Hopefully we'll get along better. I'll have to wait until tomorrow though.