Yes, Boss-Part Two
Yes, Boss
Part Two
A Short Story by Eli A. Susman
The second Freddie opens his front door an overwhelming sensation of nausea rushes over him. He thought he was in the clear, if seeing his boss naked and passed out on the office floor didn’t make him throw up, what did now? He didn’t know, but after the green bile splashed into the toilet bowl, he felt a whole lot better.
After making plain pasta with olive oil for his late night dinner, Freddie tries his best to fall asleep. Too many thoughts circle in his mind. Whether or not he would go into the office the next day was still up in the air. But the idea of not going, and risking his boss growing suspicious of him, was something Freddie did not want to deal with. Whatever nonsense would occur when he eventually went back seemed worth the trouble. He almost calls his mom, to hear her advice, but even telling her about the incident felt wrong. Eventually, without even noticing, Freddie drifts off to sleep.
Like no time has passed at all, his eyes shoot open with the blaring sound of his alarm. He sits up and does the two minute breathing exercise he was taught to do from an online anxiety forum. Even though he doesn’t believe it works, Freddie does it every morning simply out of habit. There are worse habits to have, he thinks. His routine goes about the same, and for a good chunk of his morning, the thought of his boss fades from his mind. That is, until he pulls up in front of his Wilshire office building and is reminded of the experience the night before.
Freddie heads up to the office, praying that others decide to come in for once. Upon scanning his I.D. and walking in, he realizes nothing has changed, he is the only one in the office. In fact, even his boss seems to be missing. Freddie looks through the glass pane, and sees the boss’ desk empty. After a quick glance around the office and a shout of, “anyone here?” Freddie enters his boss’ office, deciding he needs to examine what is going on.
When he opens the door, a foul stench like rotten vomit fills his nose. He gags, but keeps it down, using two fingers to keep his nostrils plugged, desperately not wanting a repeat of the night before. It doesn’t take long for Freddie to notice the source of the smell. Not his boss, but his clothes, balled up in the corner of the room, covered in a green-brown goop. Instinctively, Freddie wants to touch or smell them, but he knows he can’t. His first thought is that the goop looks similar to his throw up from the night before, it even smells the same.
He turns to head for the office kitchen where there should be gloves he can use. Before he can do anything, the front door’s lock clicks, and his boss comes through. Freddie drops to the ground, needing to stay out of sight. He curses himself. Shit. He can’t let his boss see him in here. He crawls behind the desk and hopes that his boss heads for a different room before entering his own office. That would give Freddie time to escape before being seen.
He sits down and curls his legs up as close to his chest as possible. He knows there is no use, if his boss comes in, he’ll be seen. Footsteps grow closer, and Freddie leans to the side, trying to get a view through the cracks in the desk. His boss walks perfectly, like a trained soldier, his usual slump gone. His regular green eyes have become piercing, and the veins, a glaring red. Freddie is about to stand up and admit his mistakes all at once in an attempt to save himself when his boss stops at the doorway, and speaks in a low and raspy voice.
“Gargoon, I am back for youuuuu…”
Did he just say Gargoon?
The room shakes like a small Los Angeles earthquake. But Freddie can tell it wasn’t a normal earthquake. He can see the rest of the office sitting perfectly still. His boss’ eyes are staring into space, not even aware of his surroundings. Despite never believing in fantasies, Freddie is smart enough to realize that this is something out of the ordinary. He begins an army crawl around the desk in an effort to escape the office unnoticed. As he rounds the corner, he hears a high pitched, hoarse voice from across the office. This voice, Freddie registers immediately, is not coming from the mouth of his boss.
“We…are not…alone…” the voice rings out.
Freddie freezes. He wants to look around the corner to the source of the voice, but he can’t move. If he does, he’s worried either the owner of the voice, or his boss will notice him. His boss finally moves again, and with thick and heavy breaths walks strictly forward towards the back window of his office, where the stringy voice is coming from. Freddie counters his movement, dragging himself along the floor towards the door, towards an escape.
“STOP! Stop–right–there…”
Freddie stops, before realizing the voice means for his boss to stop, not Freddie.
“Behind you…”
Freddie notices his boss begin to slowly turn towards him.
It’s now or never, he thinks. Freddie leaps to his feet and can finally see the entire picture before him. His boss, clothes torn and eyes on another planet, and a tall, green creature with small eyes, a big head, spiky teeth, and a menacing grin stares at the two of them.
“Found you,” the creature says.
“Freddie.” A small remnant of his boss’ original voice breaks through. “Freddie, I’m sorry, please forgive me.”
The creature's shrill laugh explodes through the room. “Take him,” it commands.
“Yes, boss.”
To be continued…
To read part one, click here: https://elisusman.com/blogspubswip/2024/6/14/yes-boss-part-one-eli-a-susman