A Day at the Office

An office worker finds out he has an unusual family tree. Contest entry.

“Steve, my latte?”

“Got it right here, Ms. Morgan,” I said as I scurried into her office and placed the cup carefully into her outstretched hand. She didn’t even bother looking up from her computer screen.

“One ounce of sweetener, two of pumpkin spice?”

“Yes ma’am.” She sipped the drink and gave a slight nod.

“Yes, you did get it right this time. I’m pleasantly surprised.”

“I do my best.”

“Sadly, that’s all too true. Still, I suppose I’ve had worse assistants. Now, I need you to get the Morrison contract revisions from legal. Those idiots were supposed to have it done yesterday. Kindly remind them they are not in private practice and shouldn’t be tacking on extra hours to pad their bills.”

“On it,” I said, heading out the door. Once out of her sight I paused to take a cleansing breath and release the tension. Working for Faith Morgan, CEO of Camelot Investments, LLC, required energy, tolerance and a complete lack of ego. Granted, I made half again as much as I would at any other job I could get right out of college, but some days I just felt like running her through with a sword.

“Hey you,” Cindy said as I walked into the legal department, her smile brightening my day like always. “Let me guess, her royal high-n-ass wants the Morrison revisions.”

“Got it in one,” I said, as I leaned against her cubicle wall, giving her a smile of my own. “Please tell me it’s ready. I don’t feel like getting verbally flayed this morning.”

“If you did feel like it, I’d be worried. Never fear however, we just finished.” She handed me the folder.

“Thanks,” I said, sighing with relief. That was one less thing to go wrong.

“Hey, some of us are going out for drinks at the club tonight. Want to tag along?”

“I’d love to, but I’m going to be working late. The dragon lady has a presentation she wants done.”

“Seriously? It’s Friday night, for God’s sake. What about work-life balance?”

“Balance? With her? I don’t think she even knows what a scale is.” We both chuckled at that, and I headed once more into the breach.

The rest of the day was spent in the usual running of errands, taking notes at meetings, and basically catering to her every whim. When five o’clock rolled around. I was plugging away at my computer in the empty office when I suddenly realized someone was standing by my desk. He was a tall, distinguished looking man with silver hair, a full beard and piercing blue eyes.

“Uh, can I help you?” I asked, wondering how he’d gotten past security.

“Yes,” he said in a deep voice. “Tell your boss her old friend Merle is here.”

“Okay,” I turned towards her office, then saw Ms. Morgan was already standing in the doorway. She looked like she’d seen a ghost.

“It’s been a long time,” she finally said.

“You always did have a talent for understatement. Not to mention a fine sense of irony. Camelot Investments? Really?”

“I’ve as much right to the name as any. Why are you here?”

“You know why. It is Time.” The way he said it, I could hear the capitalization.

“Are you sure you’ve read the signs correctly?”

“You know better than to ask me that. You’ve read them as well. That’s why you hired him,” he said, nodding towards me. “You wanted him close.”

“Wait, what?” I asked. He turned to look at me.

“Uther Pendragon was a lusty man and had many bastards. Arthur was the best, but there are others of his bloodline. You are one of them.”

“Uh, what?” Not the most intelligent response, but I could see we were heading into twilight zone territory.

“Oh, seriously Steven, could you be any more dense?” Ms. Morgan said, exasperation dripping from every word. “Why do you think I pay you so well? Trust me, it’s not because of your incredible competence. You are a descendant of Uther Pendragon. You are capable of retrieving Excalibur and finally completing the Grail quest. A quest that you will complete for me!”

“The power of the Grail is not meant for you, Morganna,” the old guy said. I could feel power resonating from him.

“We shall see, won’t we?” She responded, and electricity actually began to crackle around her.

“Okay, okay, time out here,” I said holding up my hands. “I don’t know anything about a sword or a Grail, and I’m not going on any quests. I have a life.”

“You have no choice. It is your Destiny,” the old guy said. Once more, the capitalization came through.

“A life? Hah! You’re a sniveling little worm. You have no life worth living.” That got my blood boiling.

“I don’t have a life because I work for you! Well, that’s over! I quit!”

“Quitting is not an option!” she said, and her eyes actually glowed green. The old guy stepped between us.

“This is going to get messy,” he said to me out of the corner of his mouth. “You might want to leave.”

I didn’t need any more prompting. I bolted for the door. I was almost to the stairs when a massive detonation knocked me flat, engulfing me in a cloud of powdered plaster. I got to my feet coughing and looked back. The wall of the office had been blown apart, as well as the outside windows. There was no trace of either Ms. Morgan or the old guy.

Obviously, we were all out of a job the next day. The fire department couldn’t find a cause for the blast, and Homeland Security was all over it, but could find nothing either. As for me, well I’m still looking for work. I’m also starting to read up on Arthurian legend, and I signed up for a fencing class. I have a funny feeling I’m going to need to know how to use a sword.