Lives and Trims (Daniel's Day One)
Nov 18, 2015 17:20:52 GMT -5
Post by Apprentice on Nov 18, 2015 17:20:52 GMT -5
“Finally!!!” Daniel said as he walked out of the office. Working twelve hours straight for the sixth straight day in a row was killing him, the fact he was working twelve hours on a Saturday was merely rubbing salt in the wound.
Shaking his stiff neck he sighed, where were the other two nit-wit designers? Both just disappeared within the past month and now he was juggling three workloads. Looking through each individual art file and its four language variants, for 675 files?!?! FOR ONE CLIENT!! This while actually setting up other client artwork, and creating instruction sheets, and talking to vendors for project managers and….and…and…. This three workload nonsense has to end soon. A 72 hour week was not what he signed up for, especially when thinking about how much going in tomorrow on a Sunday might be worth it. “Stupid salaried bulshit”, thinking about how he wasn’t even making extra for all of this work and covering for the guys’ bulshit.
With a tisk he slowly arched his back until he placed his palms flat on the ground. Here he held this pose letting his body stretch from having been seated for so long. Even slower, he tightened his core and raised himself back into a full standing position. Asthma may have knocked him down as a child, but hockey, swimming, spin, volleyball and new weight lifting boyfriend seems to have kicked asthma on its’ own ass.
Gone was the chubby cry baby. He was proud of himself taking a moment to think about it. At eleven he couldn’t reach his toes with his gut in the way, but now…. A child hockey player became a former life guard and swimming instructor who then took up volleyball, then spin at the same time as volleyball, and had now moved into spin, volleyball, and weight lifting with a special somebody. He chuckled at the last part; the weight lifting was a relatively new thing. Baby steps, but then again he couldn’t stay with one activity for too long before he wanted to try new ones. After a shift from cardio to strength training, why not wrestling next?
Daniel slowly placed his hands on his hips and twisted his back to do one final back and core stretch and looked back at the building. There were so many mistakes made with those files, so many. It would be shocking if he had approved a hundred of them for production. A misspelt word here, a shape out of alignment there, a color two shades to dark next to a word that should have been .05 millimeters to the left. Having graduated early from art school and be noticed for a great eye for detail in design….. To become the live action Microsoft paper clip for real designers. But hey, he did get to call out that one smug bitch…..
He pulled out his key and took one last slow breath of the cool night air; he had entered the dull windowless building before the sun had risen at this time of year. He began his walk to the back of the building parking lot where he had parked.
He kept a brisk pace; this area was not near his home. Even after a year at this company the areas was still unfamiliar to him and at night when nobody else was around the area seemed imposing. Several times he could’ve sworn he had seen movement in the bushes. Raccoons and possums were nothing; he had several that live in the trees in his backyard. But these were too large to be rodents. A few days ago the labored breathing did sound like a man was waiting, hiding. Then the next day, there was silence in that spot and trampled grass near another bush farther down side of the parking lot.
Daniel kept quiet and although he moved at a speedy pace, with his hand skirting the building to his left, he did so in silence. His eyes darted to and fro and his ears listed to the sounds hidden in the night winds. If he was right, and there was somebody getting ready to go at him, he needed to know the instant they came for him. At that point he stopped walking.
Where had that thought come from, he was only walking to his car after a day’s work? Where was this paranoia coming from? Who would be after a graphic artist, in the middle of a corporate center, on a Saturday?
He began walking again more relaxed but not any slower. He may have been thinking odd things, but he knew what he saw over the past few days. He could have easily misinterpreted sounds, but he knew what he saw: snapped twigs, rustling bushes, trampled grass, solid forms moving in the distance. All of those were real, and he was not going to question them. Two thirds of the way to his car and he began cursing the day he had thought “park in the rear for more cardio”.
Tap Tap Tap, his feet hit the pavement as he walked; a low sounding tap of his shoes on the asphalt, only now there was another sound, one that sounded like meat being pounded in the same rhythm as his steps. Daniel took two steps at a slightly slower pace than he had been moving, and heard it clearer. What’s more was that it was coming from behind him, and at a much faster pace than his own.
Daniel took off in a full sprint, carefully passing his key from his right hand to his left. After doing so he hand dug down into his pocket looking for something he had hoped had not been left on his desk. Finding it he closed his fingers around it and pulled it out. Getting closer to his car he landed a step and it the same movement spun throwing what he had retrieved from his pocket. Years of boredom at Boy Scout camp with pocket knives he knew how to throw the knife to stab; his industrial strength x-acto blade flew straight at where he knew the figure would be.
It connected, but the figure was unfazed and kept coming. At this rate he would be on Daniel in seconds. Quickly climbing into the car, Daniel turned it on and put it into drive when his window shattered. Arms shot into the car and began pulling at him, lifting him from the seat but not before he could step on the gas and throw the attacker off balance. He kept his foot on the gas as he adjusted himself, speeding down the parking lot with his attacker hanging on to the window frame of the driver’s side door.
The attacker pulled himself up and Daniel got a clear look at him. His face was gaunt and ashen gray, which stood out against the red blood coming from the blade stuck in his neck. Focusing on driving, he looked ahead and saw that the road ahead of him was filled with abandoned cars. He couldn’t get out.
The attacker reached in and started pulling at Daniel again, if he continued he would lose control of the car and would probably be thrown from the car. Doing the only thing he could, Daniel pressed the breaks hard, feeling the ABS kick in but it was enough to dislodge the….thing from the car.
After finally skidding to a halt Daniel got out of the car and took one look at his would be assailant. He was covered in filth and grime from head to toe, literally, he was bare foot. Was he a homeless man who had gone insane? Whatever he was, Daniel was sure human was not one of them. His assailant began propping himself up. Low moans could be heard coming from him.
It was not worth hanging around to find out anything else, he had everything he needed to know. The breathing, the sounds, and the disturbed flora near the office. They were all from this man. And that was enough for Daniel. He turned and ran, having one last thought.
Would his boyfriend be home, at work, or the gym? He needed to find him first.
Shaking his stiff neck he sighed, where were the other two nit-wit designers? Both just disappeared within the past month and now he was juggling three workloads. Looking through each individual art file and its four language variants, for 675 files?!?! FOR ONE CLIENT!! This while actually setting up other client artwork, and creating instruction sheets, and talking to vendors for project managers and….and…and…. This three workload nonsense has to end soon. A 72 hour week was not what he signed up for, especially when thinking about how much going in tomorrow on a Sunday might be worth it. “Stupid salaried bulshit”, thinking about how he wasn’t even making extra for all of this work and covering for the guys’ bulshit.
With a tisk he slowly arched his back until he placed his palms flat on the ground. Here he held this pose letting his body stretch from having been seated for so long. Even slower, he tightened his core and raised himself back into a full standing position. Asthma may have knocked him down as a child, but hockey, swimming, spin, volleyball and new weight lifting boyfriend seems to have kicked asthma on its’ own ass.
Gone was the chubby cry baby. He was proud of himself taking a moment to think about it. At eleven he couldn’t reach his toes with his gut in the way, but now…. A child hockey player became a former life guard and swimming instructor who then took up volleyball, then spin at the same time as volleyball, and had now moved into spin, volleyball, and weight lifting with a special somebody. He chuckled at the last part; the weight lifting was a relatively new thing. Baby steps, but then again he couldn’t stay with one activity for too long before he wanted to try new ones. After a shift from cardio to strength training, why not wrestling next?
Daniel slowly placed his hands on his hips and twisted his back to do one final back and core stretch and looked back at the building. There were so many mistakes made with those files, so many. It would be shocking if he had approved a hundred of them for production. A misspelt word here, a shape out of alignment there, a color two shades to dark next to a word that should have been .05 millimeters to the left. Having graduated early from art school and be noticed for a great eye for detail in design….. To become the live action Microsoft paper clip for real designers. But hey, he did get to call out that one smug bitch…..
He pulled out his key and took one last slow breath of the cool night air; he had entered the dull windowless building before the sun had risen at this time of year. He began his walk to the back of the building parking lot where he had parked.
He kept a brisk pace; this area was not near his home. Even after a year at this company the areas was still unfamiliar to him and at night when nobody else was around the area seemed imposing. Several times he could’ve sworn he had seen movement in the bushes. Raccoons and possums were nothing; he had several that live in the trees in his backyard. But these were too large to be rodents. A few days ago the labored breathing did sound like a man was waiting, hiding. Then the next day, there was silence in that spot and trampled grass near another bush farther down side of the parking lot.
Daniel kept quiet and although he moved at a speedy pace, with his hand skirting the building to his left, he did so in silence. His eyes darted to and fro and his ears listed to the sounds hidden in the night winds. If he was right, and there was somebody getting ready to go at him, he needed to know the instant they came for him. At that point he stopped walking.
Where had that thought come from, he was only walking to his car after a day’s work? Where was this paranoia coming from? Who would be after a graphic artist, in the middle of a corporate center, on a Saturday?
He began walking again more relaxed but not any slower. He may have been thinking odd things, but he knew what he saw over the past few days. He could have easily misinterpreted sounds, but he knew what he saw: snapped twigs, rustling bushes, trampled grass, solid forms moving in the distance. All of those were real, and he was not going to question them. Two thirds of the way to his car and he began cursing the day he had thought “park in the rear for more cardio”.
Tap Tap Tap, his feet hit the pavement as he walked; a low sounding tap of his shoes on the asphalt, only now there was another sound, one that sounded like meat being pounded in the same rhythm as his steps. Daniel took two steps at a slightly slower pace than he had been moving, and heard it clearer. What’s more was that it was coming from behind him, and at a much faster pace than his own.
Daniel took off in a full sprint, carefully passing his key from his right hand to his left. After doing so he hand dug down into his pocket looking for something he had hoped had not been left on his desk. Finding it he closed his fingers around it and pulled it out. Getting closer to his car he landed a step and it the same movement spun throwing what he had retrieved from his pocket. Years of boredom at Boy Scout camp with pocket knives he knew how to throw the knife to stab; his industrial strength x-acto blade flew straight at where he knew the figure would be.
It connected, but the figure was unfazed and kept coming. At this rate he would be on Daniel in seconds. Quickly climbing into the car, Daniel turned it on and put it into drive when his window shattered. Arms shot into the car and began pulling at him, lifting him from the seat but not before he could step on the gas and throw the attacker off balance. He kept his foot on the gas as he adjusted himself, speeding down the parking lot with his attacker hanging on to the window frame of the driver’s side door.
The attacker pulled himself up and Daniel got a clear look at him. His face was gaunt and ashen gray, which stood out against the red blood coming from the blade stuck in his neck. Focusing on driving, he looked ahead and saw that the road ahead of him was filled with abandoned cars. He couldn’t get out.
The attacker reached in and started pulling at Daniel again, if he continued he would lose control of the car and would probably be thrown from the car. Doing the only thing he could, Daniel pressed the breaks hard, feeling the ABS kick in but it was enough to dislodge the….thing from the car.
After finally skidding to a halt Daniel got out of the car and took one look at his would be assailant. He was covered in filth and grime from head to toe, literally, he was bare foot. Was he a homeless man who had gone insane? Whatever he was, Daniel was sure human was not one of them. His assailant began propping himself up. Low moans could be heard coming from him.
It was not worth hanging around to find out anything else, he had everything he needed to know. The breathing, the sounds, and the disturbed flora near the office. They were all from this man. And that was enough for Daniel. He turned and ran, having one last thought.
Would his boyfriend be home, at work, or the gym? He needed to find him first.