Chapter 69

“Esther,” Kimberly says. Unlike Lila, she’s actually come out of her office. Standing in front of my cubicle wall, she reaches over it to hand me a paper. On it is an idea for an honest to God legitimate article and a few bullet points she wants covered. “Get me this assignment ASAP.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say, unable to contain my excitement. This isn’t busying work. This is a real story with real leads. Something that could make the front page if I find the right angle. “I’ll do my best.”

Kimberly rolls her eyes at me, but she’s smiling too, just a little. “Don’t try. Just get it done.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say again, no less enthused.

For the first time since I started this new job, I feel like I’m actually a part of something.

The good feeling lasts for a full thirty minutes before Amber saunters up to the opening of my cubicle. I expect the usual sarcasm and combativeness. Though her face twists like she wants to say something nasty, instead she says, “Hugo wants to see you in Meeting Room C.”

That’s strange, I think. Why wouldn’t Hugo want to just see me in his office? Unless he’s in a meeting?

In that case, I better not waste time. Immediately, I stand.

“Thanks, Amber,” I say and walk past her.

“Don’t mention it,” she calls after me.

I hurry across the room and then cut down another hallway where the meeting rooms are. Meeting Room C is a smaller-sized room used for more personal meetings of 3 or 4 people. The windows are fogged so I can’t see much inside, but the shadows indicate figures there.

Not wanting to just burst in, I knock.

A moment’s silence follows. Why does it feel so long?

“Who is it?” Hugo calls. Shouldn’t he know?

“It’s Esther, Mr. Harbinger. I’ve been told you needed to see me?”

There’s some discussion within the room that I can’t hear, then after some shuffling, Hugo pulls open the door.

“Who told you that?” he asks me.

Behind him, I see a pair of board members. They seem to be in serious discussion. One of them, I notice, is Erica.

“Um. Amber,” I say. “Did I misunderstand?”

Hugo’s hard face softens somewhat, looking at me. “No, Esther. This isn’t your fault. Go back to your desk. I’ll speak with you later.”

My face burns with embarrassment. “Forgive my intrusion.”

Hugo nods and the door closes, shutting me out of the meeting room.

Amber set me up. She wanted me to look like a full in front of our bosses.

She did a good job of it, too. I feel humiliated, having interrupted what was clearly an important meeting.

My head low, I rush back to my cubicle, eager to hide myself away for a while and work.

Yet right as I cross the threshold of my cubicle, my ankle catches on something and already unbalanced on high heels, I tumble into my cubicle, smacking my head off my desk on the way down. It makes a terrible crack that I feel all the way down to my spine.

“Esther?” someone says.

“Rookie? What was that you okay?” says another.

People gather around me, but I’ve having trouble seeing. My field of vision has narrowed, the black creeping in around the edges. I’m going to pass out, I can tell, so I start to lower myself further to the ground before I collapse.

“Esther?!” someone sounds more worried now.

“Call an ambulance!”

Meanwhile, behind the worried voices of my co-workers, I hear Amber stifle a laugh. “It was just a prank!”

When I blink awake again, I’m on my back on the carpet, staring up at the work ceiling tiles while a EMT kneels over me from my side. He’s checking my vitals. A few other co-workers are scattered around, Kimberly among them.

Father off, I hear Amber arguing with someone. “The tripwire was only supposed to make her stumble. How was I supposed to know that she would topple and hit her head? That’s on her, not me.”

“You alright kid?” Kimberly ask.

I tried to focus on her, but it was hard. “I don’t know,” I admit.

“You hit your head pretty hard,” Kimberly says. “You’ve got a nasty bruise.”

The EMT asks me what my name is, what year it is, and who is the current president. All concussion questions, I realize. I’m able to answer correctly but God, “My head hurts.”

“We need to take you to the hospital and have you scanned,” EMT said. “Just to be sure there’s no swelling in your brain.”

Swelling in my brain? Worry sparks within me.

Kimberly is the closest thing to a friendly face that I can see so I focus on her. “What happened?”

“Amber thought it was a good idea to set up a string across the bottom of your cubicle so you’d trip,” Kimberly says with clear disgust in her voice. “We’ve alerted Hugo. He’s speaking with her.”

“I don’t care what your reasoning was, Amber,” Hugo says, his voice ice cold. I can hear him now that I know to listen for him. “You have seriously injured your co-worker and there are ramifications for that. Effective immediately, you are fired.”

“But Mr. Harbinger!”

“Clean out your desk,” Hugo says. Louder, presumably to someone else, he asks, “Please call security up here right away to escort Amber out.”

“It was just a joke!” Amber shouts, but my co-workers don’t bother looking toward her. Mostly, they seem disgusted.

“Can you sit up?” the EMT asks me.

“I think so.”

With his help I’m able to pull myself up, then he helps me to stand so that I can sit on top of the stretcher. With the back propped up, I can finally see the room and all of my co-workers worried faces. Hugo pushes to the front of the crowd.

“Esther,” he says. The ice thaws from his face, and he looks worried too.

“I’m okay,” I say. “I think.”

“We’ll call your emergency contact and have them meet you at the hospital,” Hugo says.

I don’t think much of it at the time, simply thanking him as the EMT’s wheel me away.

Only when I’m at the hospital and being led to a room do I realize that my emergency contact is still Garnar.

Hours later, he still hasn’t arrived.

The nurses are starting to talk about me, I can tell, whispering to each other and giving me sad looks. Even when my scans come back okay and the doctors clear me to leave, they still watch me with pity.

I don’t have my phone, so I can’t call a cab. I can’t remember Cynthia’s number off the top of my head, but I also remember her telling me that she’s going out of town for a couple days with her newest fling. So I likely couldn’t reach her even if I did try to call.

I could try my parents maybe? But Father is often busy during the day, and Mom likes to do her gardening and social clubs. Plus, we still aren’t on the best of terms right now with Thea’s influence corrupting them.

In my mind, I try to calculate the distance from the hospital to my house. My only option might be to walk home.

Yet just as I give up home, Miles comes waltzing thought the front door.