"I don't know guys, it looks boring." One of the workers said.
"Yeah, but we don't want anything too big, he won't like it." Another responded
"Alright then, let's go and hide. He may be coming any second now." Another said. They all then hid behind their desks and waited. Suddenly Tullius's car came to the front of the building, he walked out, he hardened his gaze as if he was infuriated, something was surely bothering him. He looked over and saw the balloons standing near his company, he then loosened his grip and his gaze softened, something was bothering him but the moment he walked in he had a nice smile on his face.
"SURPRISE!" All his workers said,
"It truly is, isn't it?" He said smiling.
"We woke up early just like you and decorated the front office, it was exhausting but we did it for you!" one of the workers said smiling.
"Oh, is that true? How amusing." Tullius said.
"Yeah, we really hope you enjoy that vacation sir, you really deserve it!" Another said.
"Well thank you very much, I owe you all a huge favor for this but we really need to clean this up now. The deputy will be here soon and I have heard he doesn't like...like-" Before Tullius continued he saw a black truck park behind his car.
"Will you continue?" One worker asked.
"He is here." Tullius said. Then the room was quiet for a few seconds, "Oh great." Tullius said as he watched The man get out of his car.
"Should we clean it up?" One asked.
"No, he is already here." Tullius got nervous hoping that Derik wouldn't mind the balloons or decorations. Suddenly Derik looked at the building in front of him with all the decorations,
"This must be it." He thought. He then walked in and everyone was standing at the front office and looked at him while Tullius was standing nervously.
"Your here!" Tullius said. Derik did not say a word instead there was a strong scent of suspicion that everyone other than Tullius smelt coming from Derik.
"I am." He said looking around. A few whispers were going around,
"That guy seems a little off, don't you think?" One whisper in the back said.
"Yeah, I think so too." Another whisper replied from the back. Then it went quiet.
"H-hey I know I said we weren't expecting company and the building was clear but I-I just wanted to-" Tullius broke the silence and before he continued Derik laughed.
"Are you kidding? This really is a very nice surprise! I have never had such an unexpected surprise before! I really am glad that people are here, I am excited to meet you all!" Derik said, smiling. Everyone in the building quickly disliked him, something was rather very off about him. They thought. Tullius however, never trusted someone better before.
"Really!? Oh what a relief! I am so happy you understand." Tullius said.
"Of course, now that we are all here how about we get this meeting done and go ahead and introduce me after, alright?" Derik said, putting his arm around Tullius.
"A-ah! Alright then, follow me." Tullius said in relief. While following Tullius Derik had a long smirk across his face.
"Who is he and what is he up to?" One of his workers thought, squinting their eyes at Derik as he walked with Tullius, hoping to see through him. A few of them however, were ignoring the thought, thinking it was from the gut and were happy to meet him. Others didn't care and were sad to see their boss leave on a vacation, they were going to miss him. In the meantime Tullius was looking at Derik's resume while Derik looked around the office getting to know the place.
"I see that you get the best compliments from anyone you've ever worked with." Tullius said.
"Oh, yes, all I do is treat everyone with respect of course." Derik said.
"Well how did you end up coming to me? I must be lucky, respect is something I really do pay attention to." Tullius said.
"Interesting, guess it was meant to be, am I right?" Derik said jokingly.
"You really have a nice sense of humor Derik, I can't find anyone better to hire in this situation." Tullius brushed off his laugh and pulled out a contract for him to sign, "Here it is, now just sign here." Tullius said.
"Perfect." Derik said. He got a pen and was about to sign the contract.
"Wait. You are going to read the information aren't you?" Tullius said.
"Don't worry about it." Derik said as he was about to sign.
"Wait, I forgot to ask you something important." Tullius stopped him.
"Go ahead! Throw me those questions." Derik said as he was getting annoyed and impatient.
"You have a 4 year gap, care to explain?" Tullius asked. Derik then paused,
"I-I do? A-h-hah! Y-yes I d-do!" Derik stuttered. Finally the scent of suspicion hit Tullius like a brick.
"Are you going to tell me why that is?" Tullius said, looking at him as if he had done something. Derik then sighed.
"Fine, this is embarrassing but I had to get out of my job to take care of my neighbors. She was an elder, she recently lost her husband and her son has died in a car crash. She also had a daughter but she is very young and now no one can take care of the two. I felt really bad and decided to be there for them. I know it is ridiculous but it is the least I can do after they welcomed me to the city." Derik said, looking upset.
"What!? I am so sorry! I got suspicious of you for a second there! Where are they now?" Tullius asked, the suspicion for him had quickly vanished and his heart for him became bigger.
"Well that elderly woman passed and, is it alright if we end this discussion?" Derik said as he started getting emotional.
"Oh yes of course, I am so sorry for asking." Tullius said. Suddenly Derik quickly changed his mood back to as it was before as if nothing happened.
"Now then, May I?" Derik said as he was smiling ready to sign the paper.
"Ah, yes, continue!" Tullius said as he watched Derik sign the contract.
"There you have it." Derik said.
"Alright then, let's welcome you to your new business!" Tullius said. Derik then started meeting the people who worked at the building, getting to know them and so on. In the meantime Adam was asleep, he usually goes to work at 7 A.M. and wakes up at 6 A.M. However it was 5:49 A.M. and he was dead asleep. He fell asleep between 3-2 A.M. last night which made it worse. Meanwhile his cat was awake and was trying to wake him up, she finally gave up and jumped out of the bed. The cat looked around for food, she was hungry. She looked everywhere in the kitchen and didn't find anything. The cat got really irritated and walked all the way back to Adam's bedroom. The cat jumped on his stomach instead of the bed and was about to do the craziest thing possible. Suddenly Adam woke up.
"Aw, hey Soda, how are you?" Adam said talking to his cat as if he didn't forget to feed the cat before he went to bed. The cat jumped off the bed and ran to the kitchen. Adam then remembered he didn't feed her. He then jumped off his bed half naked to go and feed his cat. He went to the kitchen and looked through the counters, "Looks like I need to go get groceries today, here you can have some leftover chicken I made yesterday." Adam said as he pulled out a container from his fridge. He then put it all onto Soda's bowl. "Here you go you little monster, I need to get dressed now." He said as he put the bowl on the ground. Suddenly on his way to change he noticed the living room window's curtain fully open. He ran to shut it. He also forgot to close the curtains after coming back home yesterday. He was starting to be pretty forgetful. He then went to his closet to find clothes to wear for work. He pulled out a shirt, pants, coat and a pair of socks. After getting his clothes prepared he went to take a nice cold shower. He was then done and grabbed everything he needed. It was 6:45 and he was getting ready to leave his apartment. Adam had the money to buy his dream house but he didn't want to move into a big place alone and having to clean a lot. He was fine with cleaning his tiny apartment and cooking but he couldn't do the same with a big house. It would be a lot of work. He then got into his car and drove off. His cat would usually be alone all day but he didn't mind, he would get 2 hours for a lunch break then go back to work so during that time he likes to head back home and play with his cat on the balcony. He hasn't checked his phone this morning so while there was a red light he went to check it, it was an email from his new boss.
"Hello, I would like to introduce myself to all those who I haven't met. My name is Derik Waver, I am 24 years old and I have the same expectations as Tullius, I would love to meet you all one day. Hopefully we all get to know each other well. I do also value the respect I deserve so please be respectful towards me. Tullius has already gone to his flight and I am temporarily going to be here instead of him. I wish you all the best of luck -Derik Waver" The email said.
"24 YEARS OLD!?" Adam said as he was spitting out his coffee, he was going to look at Derik's profile picture to make sure it wasn't who he thought it was, suddenly the light turned green and he had to get off the phone and continue driving. Adam felt stressed and worried that moment so he kept drinking his coffee. Finally he reached one of the PCLA buildings where he worked. He parked his car to the side of the building and went inside. He then walked to his desk and checked the time, "6:55 A.M." It said, he didn't live far from his job so he does get on time a lot. Him and Timon were always early so they would do small talk while everyone arrives.
"Hey Adam, looks like I am here before you this time." Timon said.
"Yeah, I had many things that I forgot to do last night." Adam said as he was taking a sip of his coffee.
"Really? interesting, actually I forgot my car today." Timon lied.
"What? How is that possible, where did you forget it?" Adam said.
"No you moron, I drive it everyday to work. How can I forget to bring it?" Timon laughed.
"Oh, well played, I thought you forgot it at someone's house, something like that." Adam said. Timon looked at him concerned,
"You alright? You walked in looking like you didn't sleep last night, is something on your mind?" Timon asked.
"I appreciate you looking out for me but I am just having trouble sleeping lately, I guess I should talk to Jack or someone about it, they might help." Adam said.
"You really should but definitely don't tell the Chief, he might rage quit." Timon said jokingly.
"Yeah we all know him" Adam laughed.
"Hey you know Jack and Landon seem pretty close lately they have been arriving at the same time and a little late." Timon said.
"I mean they do have a lot in common but they look like each other's opposites." Adam said.
"I thought I was the only one who thought that, Landon first came quiet but then started talking to Jack a lot, they pretty much bonded from there I guess." Timon said.
"Yeah, exactly, they are twins in different dimensions!" Adam said.
"That is the best way to put it." Timon said. Suddenly Hallen walked in.
"Hey, what are you guys up to?" Hallen said.
"Just chatting, how are you doing today?" Timon asked.
"I am doing just fine, thank you." Hallen said.
"Did you enjoy your morning tea mate?" Adam said jokingly.
"Oh, put a sock in it, and yes I did." Hallen said, then all three of them laughed, "Alright you have me on that one, how is your everyday coffee then?"
"It is alright, thank you for asking." Adam said.
"Good because it looks like you need it today. Oh sorry, I meant everyday." Hallen scoffed.
"Why is this the only conversation that me and you ever have? You get 5 cups of tea a day and I get 5 cups of coffee a day. It is just as fair." Adam said.
"WHOA! DID YOU SAY 5 CUPS OF COFFEE! DUDE YOU GOTTA CHILL!" Timon said.
"That is what Jack and I said! Bro, he doesn't want to listen." Hallen said. Jack and Landon arrived
"Hey dudes, what's up?" Jack said as Landon quietly opened his desktop.
"Everything is fine, Timon and I were wondering why you two show up last and always come here together." Adam said.
"Oh was it that obvious? He is my neighbor. I moved in and found out that he lives across the street from me, so we just take turns on each other's cars unless we are going somewhere different after work." Jack answered.
"Oh that answers everything then." Timon said.
"Yeah, anyway Adam you don't look so good, did you sleep alright?" Jack said.
"No, I was planning to talk to you about that today, I think my caffeine intake is high and I don't know what to do, I mean what else should I do to stay awake during night shifts?" Adam said.
"Finally you made up your mind, Timon and I will talk for a while, you guys will figure this out." Hallen said.
"Alright, thanks." Jack said.
"So yeah, any tips?" Adam asked.
"Well you first got to start wanting to change that, try drinking less coffee every three days and tell me how that goes." Jack said.
"That seems simple enough, thanks." Adam said.
"Yeah, no problem, anyway did you get that email from the new boss?" Jack asked.
"Yes I did, he reminds me of him. What if he is still alive out there?" Adam said.
"You need to let go, if you want you can get to know him, he said he is happy to meet anyone anyway, maybe he can help you feel better." Jack said.
"Yes, but he has the same name and is also 2 years older than me! How can that be a coincidence!?" Adam said.
"Well did you try looking at his profile picture? Maybe if it was him he would look similar to him." Jack said.
"Oh, you reminded me! I was going to do that in my car but had to keep driving, I will do that now." Adam said.
"Alright just click on the email and click on his account it should show up." Jack said. Adam then clicked on Derik's account, and suddenly Adam looked at the profile picture.
"So, is it or is it not him?" Jack asked. Adam then stayed silent for a few seconds.