Thursday afternoon bled into evening. Jenna had struggled to focus ever since her argument with Felicity. Mr. Ternal’s files were still on her computer. She moved on to another project to try to clear her head and make some semblance of progress, but the twisting knot in her stomach refused to relent. Felicity did at least apologize before she left, as had Jenna. But now she sat by herself in a slowly darkening office with absolutely no sense of closure. She let out a long sigh and decided to take Felicity’s parting advice to just leave it till tomorrow.

She packed up her bag and went to the kitchen to collect her lunch. The day’s ordeal had ruined her appetite earlier, and she figured she could just bring it home for dinner. The dark hallway lights flickered on automatically as she made her way out the employee entrance, badging out at the turnstile.

The sun had gone down, but some ambient twilight remained as she stepped out into the chilled air and stopped to savor it. The night felt so refreshing after sitting in front of her monitors most of the day. She took a deep breath and started off down the sidewalk that ran between the main building and the adjacent parking structure. The click of her shoes echoed into the otherwise still space. The further she walked, the more Jenna realized there was something odd about the reverberation. The echo sounded too loud. She hesitantly peeked over her shoulder to see that the sound was actually a second set of footsteps. A tall figure was walking behind her - a man who hadn’t been there a moment before. Jenna was shocked by how abruptly and physically her body reacted. Her blood seemed to chill instantly and the knot in her stomach, while momentarily relieved, came back with vengeance. She instinctively quickened her pace, spying the bright blue glow of an emergency call kiosk at the far corner of the parking garage – a good hundred yards away.

“Jenna, wait,” a hauntingly familiar voice called.

Jenna clinched her eyes shut as she slowed to a stop. She gulped in a breath of air and steeled herself just long enough to turn around and face Mr. Ternal. He had also stopped and stood about fifteen feet away. He dropped his shoulders and sighed.

“Look,” he said. “I’m really sorry for the way I acted. That was a really surreal and painful experience, and I just wasn’t prepared.”

“Mr. Ternal, I really don’t think this is appropriate,” Jenna said, avoiding eye contact. Her heart was beating out of her chest. Her teeth were clenched painfully tight.

“I know. I know,” he said. “I get it. I… I just had to come back and ask that you delete those files.”

“Mr. Ternal,” Jenna began.

“You can call me Rob,” Mr. Ternal interrupted. It wasn’t really a suggestion.

“I told you they would be deleted per company policy,” Jenna replied as professionally as possible.

“Would be deleted?” Mr. Ternal repeated. “So you haven’t done it yet?”

“It’s been a weird day for me too,” Jenna replied more passionately than she meant to. “We have procedures for that and I will do it first thing tomorrow.”

There was a long, tense pause. Jenna chanced a glance up to see Mr. Ternal’s eyes boring into her. She also noticed that he held something in one hand, but she couldn’t quite make out what it was.

“I mean, you’re right here,” he said more flatly than before. “You could probably just knock it out and put me at ease.”

“It’s late,” Jenna said as firmly as possible. “It’s late. I’m tired, and I just want to go home.”

“You watched them, didn’t you?” he said abruptly. “I can’t believe you. Some professional you are.”

Jenna’s chilled blood suddenly caught fire. Her anger and frustration with Felicity’s bureaucratic apathy boiled anew and she snapped back before she could stop herself.

“Some professional you are!” she echoed.

His shadowed eyes narrowed.

“I am a very well-respected professional, actually,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve accomplished for the safety and well-being of others. I literally save lives. So, I’m not going to take this nonsense from some glorified data clerk.”

“We’re done here,” Jenna said as she slowly started to back away.

Mr. Ternal suddenly took two big steps forward, nearly halving the distance between them. Jenna averted her eyes from his and was able to see the object in his hand as an overhead light glinted off the glass. It was a small bottle of some dark liquid.

“You get those files deleted,” he said. “Just get it done.”

“Yeah, the sooner the better,” Jenna shot back.

Mr. Ternal scoffed. For the first time, he acknowledged the bottle, pulling it to his mouth to take a swig. He wiped his mouth with his other hand and slowly looked at Jenna from head to toe and back again.

“You seemed so nice and polite this morning,” he said. “Too bad you turned out to be so rude and nasty.”

Jenna shook her head in disbelief as she slowly backed away. She didn’t turn her back to him until they were over twenty feet apart. When she finally turned to hurry off, she repeatedly glanced over her shoulder. Each time she did, Mr. Ternal was just standing there, taking a pull from his bottle.

Matt Hebert is an engineer and self-published author. His dopamine-fueled creative pursuits have spanned from chicken keeping, sand sculpture, acting, and public speaking, but writing is nearest and dearest to his heart. He lives in Bellevue with his wife and two daughters. You can find him on Instagram at @jerkofalltradeshebert or email him at matt.hebert.books@gmail.com

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