Power Microcosm

Chapter 2

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.

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   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.