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No time like the present

Jimmy thought the next stop should be to see Angelica.  She'd been the one in the office last year.  Jimmy wasn't sure anyone in the family had spoken to her since.  No one was taking sides, as far as he could tell, and he didn't remember her calling.   "She's got the penthouse," Twist pointed out after a long time in the elevator. "How do you know everything about my family before I do?  I didn't even know she'd moved." "I listen." The view from the 29th floor was impressive.  Being greeted by a maid was a little less so. "She knew we were coming, right?", Jimmy asked.  Twist nodded. Coffee was brought in and Jimmy poured a cup after the maid left.  He offered it to Twist who waived it off.  It was that good stuff from South America.  He wondered where she got it.  He sat on the sofa next to Twist. Angelica came in quietly and nodded at Twist.  Jimmy got a peck on each cheek.  "How are you?", she
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Drinking before noon

"What?"  Jimmy was whispering.  "You've worked with these guys a really long time."   "Yeah.  But I got a feeling the other day when I was talking to Cane." "What kind of feeling?" "He said: I'm going to fucking kill you." "Okay." After a minute, Jimmy pushed the button for the first floor.  Twist was confused.  "Where are we going?  Should I lock up?" "Fuck locking up.  No one's coming today.  And fuck coffee.  I need a drink."
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Rumours

"Twenty four thousand, one hundred and seventeen." "Precisely?" "Precisely." Twist led Jimmy out and locked the door.  "I have the only key," he said quietly.  "Not even the old man knows about this.  If you could keep it on the down-low, I'd appreciate it.  I don't want word getting out that one request took down the whole system." "No, we don't want that," said Jimmy.  They rode back up in silence for a bit before Jimmy turned to Twist.  "You want me to keep this from my father." "Yes.  If you could." "Is there anything else I should be hiding from him that you haven't told me?"   "You mom is living in Brazil.  With a man." "Okay."  "With a younger man." "Anything else?" "He's a dancer." "Okay."  Jimmy needed more coffee.  This was that sort of day.  His mother shacked up with a dancer in Br
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You never know what you'll find

"You're impossible.  This situation is totally impossible.  We have shit to do.  Get the crew in so we can get to work." "I gotta finish this first."  Twist turned his back on Jimmy and returned to his cubicle. Jimmy stood there, unsure what to say. "You might not get this done in time.  We do get a lot of requests.  Lots are in already." Twist got up and started walking.  "Come on," he said.  "We're going for a walk."   Jimmy followed him to the elevator down to the basement.  After walking through a long corridor, Twist took out a key and opened the very last door.  There before them was a room the size of a high school gym.  Covered in piles of letters.  Jimmy couldn't guess how many. "Just so you don't think I was putting this off until the last minute..."  Twist looked tired. Jimmy took a minute to take it all in.  He coughed from the smell of paper, dust, toner.  "So, when did you sta
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Burnt Brew from the Crypt

"I was at my real job.  I had to take a leave of absence to be here for...  this.  What are we doing?  Exactly?" "I'm going through all of last year's requests to see where we went wrong..." "Genius.  I can help put all this in the computer.  Let's get everyone in to help.  We can get this done lickety-split."  Jimmy couldn't believe his luck.  "I've been trying to get you guys to use the computers for ages.  This is fantastic!" "Not using the computer." These guys were supposed to be so happy all the time, but not Twist.  He had no sense of humour.  And no computer. "So, how are you going to..."  Jimmy waived at the sea of letters. Twist pointed at his almond-shaped head.  "It's all up here.  We missed something last year.  I'm just looking for that one request..." "One request?"  Jimmy was agape.  "You think it's about one request?" "I'm p
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Dusty Office Stuff

"It's your dad's crew and one day it'll be yours.  You won't find another." "What are you doing?' "Trying to analyze last year's requests to see where we went wrong." "Hold on.  We didn't go wrong.  Dad went wrong."  Twist rubbed his nose again. "The guys think it's my fault."  Twist looked up.  His eyes were red.  "Your dad thinks so too." "He never said that."  Twist put a letter under the shoe pile by his chair.  "Hey, is that my shoe?  And my bowl?  Wait!  That's my picture of mom!" "You weren't here last year when the shit hit the fan.  The old man is blaming me for that and I'm going to be the first sucker in company history to get fired."  He looked over at the frame.  "It's a nice picture of your mother." "Did you just go help yourself to my stuff?" Jimmy kept walking and opened the door to his office.  The
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There is no prologue because you never know where the story begins.

Tuesday, November 2. Jimmy Lear walked through the office to the coffee pot.  "Where is everyone?" he called. Twist peeked out from behind his partition.  "Bit of a party last night.   The guys are nursing massive hangovers this morning." "Who gets hammered on a Monday night?  Month-end is Black Friday." "We all know Christmas is coming." "Who said anything about Christmas?  Two people in the office because everyone is hungover." "They'll make up for it tomorrow." "Seriously?  I should fire them all." "Your dad would never allow it." "Fuck."  Jimmy poured the coffee and added milk.  "Why are you here, then?" "Wasn't invited to the party."  Twist rubbed his nose and pulled his head back into his cubicle. "I thought you guys always party together." "Not last night." Jimmy took a sip.  The coffee was putrid.  He took another. 
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