GLASS

GLASS

THE DISTRICT

The old cotton district was being revived and renewed. Old abandoned warehouses were being converted into luxury lofts. Companies flocked to the neighborhood, followed quickly by high-end dining options. One such company that took up real-estate in the cotton district was the sixty-year-old architect firm founded by two college friends, Carl Knoxs and Stuart Pillman. Together, they created K&P Designs.

THE FLOOR

Once upon a time, the firm’s main floor had open concept workstations and one office. Eight workstations with large drafting tables were generously spaced out. Resting against the North wall was Christine La Forte’s office. LaForte was a senior architect at the firm, and the only one with an office with glass panels. Her office and drafting table had the usual items: pencils, pens, rulers, markers, drafting paper, and the clear glass owl paperweight.

It was Wednesday, and the new intern, Eddy Pillman, stepped out of the elevator onto the main floor with a coworker, Amanda Palette. The janitor was vacuuming the hard wood floors with one hand and dusting with the other, while wearing headphones.

Eddy had a large smile. “My folks are so happy I’m here. This is a great firm to work for,” he said.

Amanda looked down the hall. “You’re new here. Do yourself a favor and stay out of La Forte’s office. Don’t take any liquids near her or her work, especially her drafting table.”

Eddy looked down the hall. “Wow! Must be nice to have your own office.”

“Call it what you want. Just keep clear of her area.”

“Sure, just remind me. Sometimes my brain gets foggy,” he said with a smile.

Amanda fixed her eyes directly at him.

Eddy took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Right. Stay away from La Forte. I got it,” he said.

Amanda began to walk away. “She’s already having a bad day, so good luck to you.”

“How can you tell she’s having a bad day?” asked Eddy.

“She’s pacing,” said Amanda.

Eddy quickly turned his head and looked behind him. “What was that?”

“What?” asked Amanda.

“I thought I heard something breaking.”

“You’re hearing the vacuum cleaner,” she said.

Amanda walked over to the janitor and tapped him on his shoulder. He turned around and pulled off the headphones.

“Please go home, the office is sparkling clean.”

The janitor nodded his head. “I just have to pass the vacuum around your area and I’ll leave.”

The janitor seemed young, at least in his early thirties. Yet, his salt and pepper hair stated otherwise. He was moving his hips softly from side to side, with slight upper body movement when Amanda interrupted.

Amanda smiled, “Mark, let me introduce you to our latest brilliant mind, Eddy Pillman.”

Eddy walked over and extended his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Mark, your music must be really good.”

Mark turned off the vacuum cleaner. “You’re a Pillman?”

“Yes,” said Eddy. He lifted his head high, and moved his shoulders back.

“Welcome to the firm,” said Mark. “The music is good, it keeps me in shape.”

“Cool. So how long have you been working here?” asked Eddy.

Mark adjusted his headphones. “A few years. It’s helping me pay for Med school.”

“Wow!”

“Mark is in his final year, and starts his residency in a few months,” said Amanda.

“I’m going to finish up and get going before La Forte comes out of her space,” said Mark.

“Good idea,” she said.

Mark turned to Eddy. “It's best that you leave soon. La Forte’s a handful when she’s annoyed.”

Eddy glanced at La Forte’s space. “Thanks for the advice, but she can’t be that bad.”

Mark coughed with a smile on his face, shook his head from side to side, and took hold of the vacuum cleaner. “I’m done for the day. See you around!” He gathered up his cleaning supplies and walked off.

Amanda was at her drafting table and placed her laptop in her tote. She rested the bag on her shoulders and started walking towards Eddy.

“Where are you off to?” Eddy asked. “I don’t stay in the office when she paces. Nobody does.”

“What happens when she paces?” Amanda started walking towards the elevators. She peered into her tote and pulled out her car keys. “You heard Mark, she’s a handful, so consider working from home for the afternoon. See you tomorrow, and welcome aboard.”

“Thank you.”

The elevator doors dinged and opened. Out walked the courier guy as Amanda walked in.

The courier scanned the box. “Package for La Forte.” He looked down the hall. “Oh boy, she’s pacing. I’ll leave this right here.”

“I’ll take it to her,” said Eddy.

The courier handed the package to Eddy and shook his head. “Whatever, man.”

Eddy looked down the hall and started walking towards La Forte’s office with the package in hand. The elevator doors dinged, and the courier took his leave. Meanwhile, Eddy reached La Forte’s door and knocked. La Forte slammed down her mobile on the desk, charged to the door and opened it.

Eddy took a step back. “Hello, I’m the Intern. My name is Eddy Pi-“

La Forte snatched the package from Eddy’s hands. “I didn’t ask you to bring this to me.”

“I was-“

La Forte whipped the package past Eddy’s head as he dodged out of its path. “Go fetch the damn package, and leave it at the front desk. Go now, bloody moron!” She slammed the glass door shut.

Eddy stepped back. His eyes grew wide and his cheeks turned bright red. He walked over to the package and picked it up. “I hope there’s nothing fragile in here.” As he reached the front desk, he stopped and looked back at La Forte who was still pacing. He placed the box on the desk.

“I hope she finds inner peace and makes space for love,” he said. He walked over to the fire-escape door, pushed it open, and walked through. Eddy turned around and grabbed the door before it had a chance to close. “I wish, she finds happiness.”

THE REUNION

It was later that evening when La Forte’s back was turned towards the elevators and the lights on the main floor started flickering. She was too busy turning the pages of her planner to notice the light weighted objects in the whole space had started to vibrate. She looked up from her daily planner and saw water in the clear water bottle splashing up in all directions. La Forte quickly turned around with the planner in hand, and knocked over the glass owl. She looked up to see small objects from the drafting tables swirling around in a circle in the air. She dropped her planner and slowly walked to her glass door.

She turned the door knob, and a loud clap of thunder caused her shoulders to suddenly rise up. Then, lightning bolts flashed from the elevator doors down the hall towards her. She quickly moved back from the door and banged into the desk that inched forward from all the rumbling. La Forte placed her hand in front of her eyes shielding them from the lightning. She noticed more objects were flying around, and the heavy drafting tables were sliding around the floor.

She turned around, grabbed her mobile phone and tried frantically to make a call. “What’s going on here? What is this?”

There was another clap of thunder. She dropped her mobile and covered her ears. The walls of her office were shaking, and flying debris were slamming into the glass from all directions. Then, the drafting tables took flight. Everything on the main floor was in the air, violently moving around in a circle, accompanied by thunder and lightning. The glass panels of La Forte’s office were vibrating against the outside forces.

La Forte squinted as the lightning and fire storm grew larger in the center of all the flying debris. Her arms were the only shield against the light.

The thunder got louder, and La Forte pressed her hands against her ears tighter this time, and curled her shoulders over. The walls of her glass office were covered in cracks followed by a soft popping sound, as if a glass filled with hot oil just broke. Flying out of the center of the storm was a barn owl. Its wings spanned the width of the main floor, and the length of its body seemed to stretch from the elevator stopping near La Forte’s office. It hovered in place, showing its dark eyes and snowy chest. Its wings flapped and the glass office imploded. The invisible force of wind pushed La Forte over her desk and into the brick wall. Glass fragments rushed towards her and froze in mid-air. The owl flapped its wings and screeched. Everything on the main floor, including La Forte and the contents of her office were spinning around the owl.

The owl growled, and La Forte stopped spinning. She hovered off the ground facing the owl. Her body shook, and her eyes were wide open. The owl barked, and its auditory vibrations turned into words that glowed with a silver blue lining.

“Why do you go down people’s throats like bad medicine?” it asked. She looked down.

The owl barked. “Where did the joy and happiness go?” She slowly raised her head to the image of herself as a little girl drawing pictures with laughter. Her shoulders dropped, and her eyebrows rose up.

It barked, again. “Rekindle your joy and happiness. This is your one and only warning.”

She inhaled, and tears streamed down from her eyes.

The barn owl released a soft barked and flapped its wings. “You’ve never been alone. I’ve always been by your shoulders. Now, harness the spirit of your owl, and live. And so it is.”

A loud clap echoed through the space and everything went dark.

La Forte jumped up from the floor into an upright stance, as if she overslept an imaginary alarm clock. She quickly looked around the space and saw that everything on the main floor was back to normal. She took one step forward, and stopped quickly. The crunching sound of glass beneath her feet caused her to look down. She quickly inhaled air and smothered her mouth with both hands. She pushed the chair out of her way with her hips and walked out of the space that once was her office. She dropped to her knees, and released a loud cry that pushed her hands to the floor.

The next day, the elevator doors opened and out walked Amanda to a team of maintenance people cleaning up broken glass. La Forte was off to the side packing a box. She looked up, stopped what she was doing, and walked towards Amanda.

“I’m sorry for the chaos, maintenance is sweeping up broken glass,” said La Forte.

Amanda took a step back and moved her head off to one side. Her eyebrows collapsed inward and her eyes widened. “Are you alright?”

“I’ve emailed the team. I’m taking my leave effective immediately.”

Amanda took another step back. “Oh.”

“The guy who was with you yesterday, will he be in today? I need to apologize to him in person.”

“Excuse me?” asked Amanda.

“Where is he?”

Amanda took one step forward. “His name is Eddy Pillman. He dropped his internship and took an early morning flight back home.”

“Pillman?” La Forte asked.

“Yes.”

La Forte lowered her head and placed her hands in her pants pockets. Her diaphragm raised up and slowly lowered down. She raised her head and cleared her throat. “Okay. Okay. Well, I’ve left notes for everyone, and I apologize to you for my behavior. I’m done packing and will take my leave. Thank you for everything,” said La Forte. “I’m not sure he wants to hear from me, but I’ll reach out to him.”

Amanda took one step forward. “That’s a very good place to start.”

******

‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.’ Hebrews 13:2

THE END