The Office

James Wright rests his head against his hands while scratching his short black hair under his grey security guard cap. He pays half attention to the twenty monitors in front of him. James stares at the monitors and shakes his head, letting out another deep sigh. As his eyelids get heavier and heavier and his head begins to slide off his right hand, he’s saved by the vibrations of his cell phone. James snaps his head up and blinks a couple of times, trying to clear his vision. His phone practically dances in front of him, flashing “Melissa” on the screen repeatedly.

“Crap.”

James hesitates answering the phone. His boss’s strict policy about cell phones in the office echoes through his head. But he picks up the phone anyway because his boss doesn’t have to go home to his wife. James rubs his neck as he touches the answer button on his phone and raises it to his ear.

“Hey, babe. No, I’m not really doing anything right now. I…what took me so long? Took me so long to what? Answer the phone?”

James rolls his eyes and sighs.

“My boss has this thing about phones. I told you that before I took this job. He said it in the interview like a dozen times.”

James smirks as he straightens up his cap and clears his throat to impersonate his boss’s gruff tone.

“No cell phones on the job. Period, plain and simple. Don’t even bring it with you if you can help it. I don’t care if your wife’s pregnant. I better not see a cell phone on you. You’d better keep it in your car so you can check it on breaks!”

“Why’d I answer it? What do you mean by that? Wait a minute. First, you’re on me for not answering fast enough. Then, I remind you I’m not supposed to have it. Now, you’re getting on to me for answering you? That doesn’t make any sense.”

James scrunches up his face in confusion and lifts his eyes to the ceiling before one of the monitors focusing on the fine arts gallery picks up a shadow passing over one of the paintings for a second. He turns his attention back to the monitors, but the shadow is gone. He does a quick scan of the monitors before leaning back in the leather office chair and groaning.

“Really? You’re bringing up this again? You’re the one who convinced me to take this job in the first place! Now you’re complaining about the hours.”

James throws up his hands.

The door silently cracks open behind him. He doesn’t notice the large man clad in all black with a ski mask sneaking into the control room. As James leans forward on the desk in front of him, the man in black begins to creep behind him, slowly raising a blackjack over his head.

“Look, I’ve gotta go okay? No, I can’t. No, I can’t. That I can do. Okay, a gallon of milk and two-dozen eggs. Got it. Okay. See you.”

James’ voice trails off as a shadow appears in one of the monitors in front of him. His eyes narrow as he hangs up the phone and turns around to see the man in black bringing the blackjack down toward his head. James throws his hands up in front of his face and cowers in his chair, turning his face away from the impending blow.

“Please don’t. I have a wife and child on the way.”

The man in black stops in mid-swing as he catches a glimpse of James’ face. As James turns back toward the man, the man snatches his mask off and puts the blackjack away with a huff.

“Kid! What did I tell you about phones on the job?” the man said.

“Not to use them and keep them in the car,” James replied. “Where have you been, Marcus? You’re late.”

“Never mind about that. Why are you wearing that guard’s uniform? I almost clocked you.”

“I was wearing it in case one of the other guards came early for his shift.”

“You took out the sensors and cameras?”

“Yeah, Marcus. They’ve been set up on a loop for an hour. You ready to get this done?”

“I’m ready. We’re going after…”

“The three Rembrandts in the gold frames on the red wall, the two Picassos on the south side and a partridge in a pear tree.”

“Cute, kid. Let’s get this done.”

James smirks as he shoves the guard’s cap into his bag and puts his black ski mask on. Marcus rubs his hands together as James puts his black leather gloves back on, slapping them together before both men exit the control room and head towards the south side of the museum.