Never Buy A Stripper A Drink

*********************************************************************************
*-author’s note-
hello again, here the fourth installment in the series from my story ‘Company Loyalty‘. Be sure to catch up with the other parts first if you haven’t already. Thanks!
-jw

Catch up with part 3 here:
“Company Loyalty” - Part 3
*********************************************************************************

At home that night John-7 examined one of the many bags of K-Tall coffee in his pantry. He opened it, smelled it, poured some beans out in his hand and smelled those too. He dumped a healthy portion of the beans in the grinder and decided he’d make a pot to see if there was indeed something wrong with the batch from the office that day. When the brewing cycle of his K-Tall coffee machine had come to an end he poured a cup, and brought it to his nose to smell. It smelled the way his coffee normally did, but something was a little funny about it, a little off. Figuring he was just imagining it he took a healthy swig of the coffee and let it coat his entire pallet before swallowing. John-7 placed the cup on the counter in front of him and stared at it. There was no denying it now, the coffee had the same sour taste it had at work that day. An odd, unsettling feeling washed over John-7 as he stood there. He was beginning to realize something was not right, and it scared him.

He continued to stare into the black fluid of the cup when he saw a fly break the tension of the liquid and crawl out from the inside. John blinked his eyes hard and saw a second fly rise up out of the coffee. To the side of the cup he saw several other flies perched around the brim of his K-Tall coffee machine. He grabbed his cup, spilling some of it over the sides and onto his hand, and dumped it into the sink taking a step back as he did. He expected a swarm of flies to come at him from the sink, but there were none. He stepped back up to the sink and looked in, but the flies he had seen in his coffee only moments ago were not there. Looking back at his coffee machine he saw no flies there either.

John-7 dumped the rest of the coffee into the sink and turned toward his pantry. He grabbed an empty garbage bag and began filling it with all the bags of K-Tall brand coffee he had. There were nearly twenty of them and his bag was filled to the brim and heavy. He dragged it out to his trash can and slammed the lid down on top of it. One thing was for sure, John-7 would never drink K-Tall brand coffee again.

* * * *
That night John-7 could not sleep, though it was not for lack of trying. He lie in bed tossing, turning, and trying to think of anything else besides the events of that day. A couple of times he thought he heard the faint buzzing of flies coming from his kitchen, but after getting up to check it out twice, he decided his mind was playing tricks in him, or at least that’s what he hoped. After his second inspection he knew that sleep would not be an option for him this night so he sat in his oversized recliner with the current book he was attempting to read. John-7 attempted to read many books, but usually ended up getting only half to three quarters of the way through them before his interest waned. He used to be able to finish books when he was in college. He remembered enjoying reading at some point; at least he thought he remembered, but all that changed when he started working for K-Tall.

He found that many things that used to spark his interest no longer did, in fact he found that just about all of his hobbies had fallen by the wayside and reading was only one of them. He used to sit on the porch weekends and play his classical guitar, but it had been months since he had removed it from its stand in his den. He also used to take walks in the woods for hours almost trying to get lost just so he could find his way out again. Now he spent the bulk of his weekends watching television, and basically doing nothing much in general. His stomach was beginning to grow round with his apathy and he was sure that if he continued on this way he would have to by new pants by the fall. He was always going to start exercising tomorrow; or at least that’s what he told himself continually to ease his mind as he slowly moved further away from physical fitness.

John-7 was almost dozing when he heard the buzzing again. His book fell from his hands disappearing into the side of the recliner as he leaned forward. This time he knew that he distinctly heard it coming from outside. He stood up, listened, and headed toward the back door grabbing the wooden baseball bat he kept in the corner. The sound grew louder as he approached the backdoor. John-7 could see the trash can he had thrown all the coffee in earlier through the windows in his door, and he knew that without a doubt the buzzing was coming from there.

He placed his hand on the door knob, still clutching the bat in his free hand. The buzzing seemed to grow even louder as he turned the knob, but when he threw open the door he was greeted by the still silence of the night. John-7 cautiously stepped outside and turned toward the trash can. He held the bat up over his head in a striking pose as he reached for the lid with his other hand. His heart was racing and his hand clutched the bat so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. John-7 snatched the lid from the can and threw it aside, stepping back not sure what to expect. He peered into the can now holding the bat with both hands and saw nothing but the bag he had placed in there hours ago.

John-7 chuckled as he picked the lid up and placed it back where it belonged. He returned to the living room and settled into his chair once again closing his eyes and beckoning to the sandman until he finally arrived.

Share This!

*-author’s note-
Alright, sorry for the delay between posts for anyone whose been keeping up, but I’ve been . . . well . . . I’ve just been lazy about getting the new post up, but no more. Anyway, here is part 3 an I assure you I shall keep this section updated regularly from now on . . . semi-regularly . . . semi . . .
-jw

Catch up with part 2 here:
*********************************************************************************
“Company Loyalty” - Part 2
*********************************************************************************

John-7 sat at his desk, his briefcase in front of him; the locks unclasped ready to be opened. The intercom fired up and as he stood to join in the singing of the loyalty song he opened the case. Taking a quick look around, he could see that Richard-1 was across the office not paying any attention. Mary-4 placed a cup on his desk without so much as looking at him, and as soon as she was safely past he took action.

He already had the lid of the thermos unscrewed most of the way so as to save time, and it came off quite easily with a flick of his wrist. He gave one more careful glance around before pouring the contents of his small cup into the thermos with one hand, and then immediately screwing the lid on with the other. John-7 then brought the empty cup to his lips pretending to drink for the sake of anyone who may be watching. As he sat down he closed the lid of the briefcase and placed it at his feet, scooting the empty cup to corner of his desk to be collected. His body was pulsing at the very rebelliousness of his act. His heart raced as Mary-4 took his cup and continued past him as if nothing was wrong and he nearly squealed with excitement.

Unable to sit still he decided he would get a cup of coffee, and as he rose from his chair and exited his cubicle he ran right into an approaching Richard-1. His heart sank into the pit of his stomach and burned in the churning acid. He thought for sure he was caught, he didn’t know how but it didn’t matter. He didn’t figure there was anyway to fool the company and he was right.

“John, I was just coming to see if you’d made any progress on those proposals. Say, what’s that on your sleeve?” Richard-1 gestured down to the cuff on the right hand sleeve of John-7’s shirt. There, screaming up at him from his wrist were several bright orange stains. It must have splashed on him when he was pouring the drink into the thermos.
John-7 opened his mouth to answer, but all that came out was a soft cracking noise.
“Did you have a little accident with your orange drink this morning?”
“I was . . . uh . . . picking it up and . . . I . . .” John was fumbling with his shirt now, tugging at the stained sleeve trying to think of the simplest explanation for this.
“Is Mary filling the cups up to high again? I’ve talked to her about that before you know one day mine was filled to high and when I picked it up, it sloshed all over the front of my pants. Needless to say, I didn’t come out of my office too much that day. You should consider yourself lucky it only got on your sleeve.”
“Well, I guess I certainly am lucky.” John-7’s heart rate was beginning to slow now and his breathing returned to normal. “Anyway, I’m working on a few ideas right now. I could have something rough ready for you at the end of the day if you like.”
“That’s not necessary John, I’m just happy to see your still cranking ‘em out. Just have me a final version by Friday.”
“I will sir. I was just about to get some coffee, would you like some?”
“No thank you I have some things I need to take care of. Keep up the good work.”

Richard-1 slapped John-7 on the back hard as he turned to walk away. John-7 watched him head over to Mary-4’s desk and she looked up at attention as he approached. Richard-1 started saying something to her, gestured over to where John-7 was standing, and then down to his own pants. John-7 guessed he was recounting his spill story to her as well, and he looked away continuing into the break room. It was empty and the fluorescent lights buzzed softly over head. John-7 poured his coffee and headed back to his cubicle. He didn’t look in Mary-4’s direction but he could feel her glaring at him as he passed.

Once he was safely at his desk he examined the stain on his cuff, and saw that it was very bright against the grey color of the shirt. He wasn’t sure if it would come out or not but he also didn’t particularly care. He sipped his coffee as he booted up his computer and noticed something he hadn’t ever noticed before. The coffee had a strange taste to it. Not just different from how it tasted at home, but different then it usually tasted at work. He wandered if it was just the coffee from that day, like it was a bad batch or something. Just then Adam-10 passed John-7’s cubicle carrying a fresh cup of coffee. John-7 talked to Adam-10 on occasion in the break room or on the elevator, and he thought he was a fairly decent guy.

“Hey Adam,” said John-7 leaning back in his chair trying to flag him down as he passed. Adam-10 stopped and turned toward the opening of the cubicle.
“Hello John, how are you this morning? I saw you talking to Richard earlier, is everything all right?”
“Oh yeah, he was just checking on my progress. You know how he is.”
“I know all to well my friend, all to well.” As he spoke he took a sip of his coffee.
“Say Adam, do you notice anything different about the coffee this morning? I mean, does it taste a little off to you?”
Adam-10 sipped, thought for a moment, and sipped again.
“No not really, tastes like the same old stuff to me. Why, does it taste bad to you or something?”
John-7 took another sip, and then shook his head.
“No, your right I guess I was just imagining it. Well, I’ve got to get started here so I’ll talk to you later.”

With that Adam-10 nodded and continued on his way to his cubicle. John-7 took another sip of the coffee and decided once and for all that there was something different about it. It had sort of a sour taste to it. He pushed the cup to the corner of his desk and there it sat until he trashed it on his way out of the office that evening.

To be continued…

Let us know what you think. Leave feedback in our “J-Dub’s Freaky Fiction” thread in our forum or via voicemail @ (206)339-7771

Share This!

*-author’s note-
hello again all, in case you’re just joining the ‘Freaky Fiction’ category before you read this part go back and read part one. Otherwise you’ll be all sorts of confused! Anywho, thanks for coming back, and remember I welcome all feedback on these stories good or bad. Drop me a line in the forum and we’ll talk. Enjoy!
-jw

*********************************************************************************
Read part 1 of “COMPANY LOYALTY” here
*********************************************************************************

The button marked “7” lit up red and the shiny steel doors parted allowing John-7 to step off the elevator and into his office space. Mary-4 was at her desk as usual with her head down studying some form of work she had started for the day.

“Good morning,” she said mechanically as John-7 passed by. He said nothing figuring that she didn’t pay attention anyway. He noticed the same K-Tall cup on her desk in front of her filled to the top with orange drink. She took a sip as he continued on, her eyes never wavering from the documents in front of her.
John-7 was in a dismal mood this morning. When he had gone home the night before he couldn’t sleep very well, and the little sleep that he did get was black and dreamless. In fact, John-7 couldn’t remember the last time he had dreamt or even what it may have been about. He took his seat and booted up his computer. The familiar K-Tall logo appeared on the screen while he placed his briefcase on the floor at his feet, and attempted to mentally prepare himself for the new day.

Rick-12’s voice sounded over the intercom at exactly nine on the dot and Mary-4 was already pushing her cart down the aisle dispensing the orange drink to the other employees. She placed a cup on John-7’s desk without making eye contact and continued to the next desk. The company loyalty song was beginning to play and Richard-1’s voice was loud and booming as he sung along from the other side of the office. John-7 stood up, but did not even make an effort to pretend he was singing. As the song approached it’s end he picked up his small cup and held it to his lips like the rest of his fellow co-workers, but as they all tilted their heads back in unison to drink he stopped. He had decided right then and there that he was not going to drink this anymore simply on the grounds that he had to. Still holding the cup to his mouth he closed his lips tight and made a quick head motion to make it look as if he drank. John-7 sat down quickly behind the safe cover of his cubicle walls and looked the small space over.

His first instinct was to dump it in the trash can, but he knew that he would be easily found out doing that. He was sure that Mary-4 probably emptied each one herself and would surely turn him in. He could already hear the cart approaching to pick up his empty cup. One of the wheels squeaked as she pushed. John-7 grabbed the briefcase at his feet, opened it, dumped the contents of his cup into it, closed it again and set it back at his feet. He placed the empty cup on the corner of his desk just as Mary-4 appeared to collect it as usual. He typed on his keyboard pretending he didn’t even notice her in the same way she acted when at her own desk.

After she passed he glanced cautiously down at his briefcase. The beginnings of a small orange puddle were already forming around its base. He knew he was going to have to act quickly before the leak got out of hand. While still pretending to type something he decided he would get up, go to the break room for a cup of quality K-Tall coffee, and bring back pockets full of paper towels to clean up. John-7 swiveled his chair to the side and was about to stand when Richard-1 entered the tiny opening of his cubicle. John-7 could feel the blood rush to his face immediately as his heart jumped into his throat. He was unsure if he should remain seated hiding the leak with the position of his legs and chair, or try to stand leading Richard-1 out of the cubicle all together.

“Good morning sir,” said John-7. He stood quickly unable to yield to the adrenaline that had flooded his system. “I was just about to grab a cup of coffee, would you like to join me?”
John-7 was still standing in front of the slowly growing puddle, but was gesturing toward the break room.
“Actually, no thanks John. I’ve already had my coffee for the day, but I’ll walk you there.”
Relief washed over him as Richard-1 turned and exited his cubicle with him close behind.
“I just wanted to tell you,” said Richard-1, “not to be discouraged by those bastards rejecting your proposal yesterday.”
“Oh, no sir you don’t have to worry about me. I understand its all part of the job. You win some, you lose some.”
“That’s the attitude I wish everyone in this department had. I’m sure that what you’re working on now is going to knock them on their asses. Keep up the good work.”

With that Richard-1 headed in the direction of his office, leaving John-7 at the door to the break room. He watched his director walk away, and proceeded to the coffee machine. Minutes later he was back at his desk with a cup of coffee and half a roll of paper towels stuffed into his pants. He checked the aisle to make sure no one was approaching as he conducted his clean up mission. When he was sure the coast was clear, he turned the laid the briefcase down on the floor and opened it. The interior was a complete mess; the contents were soaked through and stained orange.

John-7 first went to work on wiping up the remnants of the puddle, and then set to work lining the case with towels to soak up the remainder and prevent any further leaks. John also placed all the towels he used to clean up with in the case before shutting it up and returning it to its home at his feet.

For the rest of the day he worked as usual, checking the floor around him ever so often for any further evidence of his deed, but there was none. As he became more comfortable he found that he was actually able to get some work done. He started the outlines for three more proposal ideas, and they were all pretty damn good. One was an elongated bastardization of his picnic idea in which you saw, through a series of jump cuts; the mother and newly added father figure grow old while the kids grew up. It was along the same lines as the first idea, but not so abstract so he thought they might buy into it. The second featured a woman going through belongings in the house of her recently deceased mother while a voice over told us so, reiterating the importance of having insurance for the benefit of your loved ones. The third idea featured an older couple traveling across country showing, once again through jump cuts, all the places they had stopped. The magical voice over would once again tell the viewer of how care free you can be when your covered by the K-Tall insurance umbrella.

John-7 hated all of these ideas, but he was sure that his director and the directors of the insurance division would love at least one of them. He thought of ways to look busy for the rest of the day as he went to the break room for another cup of coffee. Just as he neared the doorway he ran into Mary-4 coming out of the room he had been reprimanded for entering. They both stopped and she looked at him momentarily startled; her eyes widening then returning to their normal glaring size. She continued on her way without saying a word. John-7 noticed she was holding her K-Tall cup filled to the brim with orange drink.
John-7 sat at his desk for the remainder of the afternoon drinking coffee and doing half-assed rewrites of his proposals. As the work day dwindled down John-7 was sure of one thing; he was not going to drink that orange drink ever again. Even now he could glimpse Mary-4 at her desk sipping from that cup. Something just wasn’t right about her.

At home that night after a solid hour of cleaning out his briefcase and having to trash nearly its entire contents John-7 devised a way to dispose of his daily orange drink. He dug out an old thermos that he hadn’t used since he was in college that was perfect. It fit just right in his case and he was sure he would be able to get away with it. Not partaking of the daily drink seemed like a small thing, but it was the only time John-7 had ever done anything to go against K-Tall and it made him feel good.

He was so excited about the whole thing that he had trouble falling asleep that night, but when he finally did something out of the ordinary happened. He hadn’t had a single dream in as long as he could remember and this was no exception, but as he slept that night he could see something dancing on the horizon of where dreams live. He saw colors.

To be continued…

Let us know what you think. Leave feedback in our “J-Dub’s Freaky Fiction” thread in our forum or via voicemail @ (206)339-7771

Share This!