Yes, Boss-Part Four

Yes, Boss

Part Four

A Short Story by Eli A. Susman 

His first thought? “I must be imagining this.” But when he turns and sees the horrifically red eyes of the green alien squatting behind him, he knows it’s real. After everything, he shouldn’t be surprised. After the naked boss, the first alien, and the body switch, he should be well aware. 

“Hello Freddie,” the alien repeats. 

“Am I Freddie?” 

Waking up in the body of his boss left him in a strange spot. He did not know when he became the boss, and when he became Freddie. Suddenly, his brain felt split in two, and the memories of the two blurred together. 

“You are Freddie. And I am Gargoon.” 

“You’re Gargoon,” he says.

“Yes, and you and Freddie.” 

“And I am Freddie.” The words fall from his mouth without his control. 

He takes a step back, worried Gargoon will react. He does not, and so he turns and runs as fast as he can back into the office building without a single glance back. 

He enters, and a jolt of shock runs through his body again. He had forgotten that another Freddie, the real Freddie, is sitting at his desk. How he can know he is Freddie, but see Freddie before him, he does not know. 

“Hey boss,” Freddie says. 

He grunts, ignores Freddie and goes into his office. If he gives it enough time, he thinks, Freddie will leave, he can fall asleep, and when he wakes up, everything will be okay. Wait for Freddie to leave, fall asleep, wake up, and everything will be okay, he repeats to himself. He sits down at his dusk in a huff and lets out a deep breath. 

“Back so soon?” 

Gargoon appears, causing him to almost fall from his chair. 

“How?” He jumps up to run out to Freddie, the only other person around. He doesn’t know what he will tell him, but it is worth a shot. 

“Sit down!” 

Gargoon’s words freeze him in place. He looks through the glass at Freddie and wonders how he didn’t react to Gargoon’s shout. He sits back down at the command of Gargoon. He knows he shouldn’t, but he can’t help himself. He smacks himself in the face. 

“Wake up, wake up!” 

“This has to be a dream. This can’t be real.” 

“Wake up, wake up, wake UP!” 

One hard smack causes tears to form, and he throws his head down onto his desk and allows the emotions to run through him. He cries and cries and cries until he can’t anymore. When he lifts his head, Gargoon is gone without a trace. 

“Thanks God,” he whimpers to himself. “He’s gone.” 

He places his head down and takes a deep breath. “Thank God.” 

Before he knows it, he has fallen asleep. 

***

When his eyes open, he realizes the sun has begun to lower below the horizon, and the florescent lights of the office feel brighter than usual. He looks around, still no Gargoon. “Good,” he thinks. “So I did imagine that.” 

Just then a sound behind him. 

“Think I would leave that quickly?” 

Gargoon is now standing over him, his long and slick body hanging like an old tree. Green goo drips from his mouth and sharp teeth. 

“Now,” Gargoon spits out. “You do as I say.” 

He nods. What else can he do? He’s no match for an alien. 

“Tell the boy to leave.” 

He sticks his head out of his office, trying his best to hide the tall alien behind him. He can’t even imagine how Freddie would react if he saw. Luckily, Freddie is still typing away, facing the other direction. 

“Freddie!” he shouts. 

Freddie turns, almost spills his now cold coffee, and says, “Yeah?” 

“What are you still doing here?” he spits his words out. 

“It’s only thirty past.” 

“Go the f home.” 

“Go the f home right now before we BOTH die,” he thinks.

“Yes, boss, I will, I will.”

He closes the door, and looks into the eyes of Gargoon. Gargoon laughs, and the sound makes him want to cry. It takes him over, pulls him forward, and drops him to the ground. He begs for mercy, but Gargoon has none left, not after the million times he has done this. It’s routine at this point, really. Before he knows it, he is ripping his shirt from his body and pulling his tight jeans down to his ankles. Gargoon kicks him in the gut and with one long windup, punches him in the face. He feels teeth sink into his neck, and everything begins to fade away. Gargoon’s shrill laugh is the only sound he hears as the lights go out. 

Minutes later, Freddie walks into the office looking for his unresponsive boss. 

“Hey everything alri–WHAT THE FUCK!”

And the cycle begins again.