The Day I Fooled Death – Part 2

Richard walked without any apparent aim for a while. So much had happened, in the last few hours, that he could not absorb it all. He finally ended up in his cubicle. It was one of the few places where he felt safe. The narrow walls and the friendly glare of his computer monitor greeted him. This was where he spent most of his waking hours. It was more his home than his little apartment in a housing complex nearby. He only used his apartment for his daily ablutions and sometimes to sleep. He did not turn on the lights, as he seated himself in front of the monitor. Richard loosened his tie and leaned back in his chair. He keyed in a few commands on the keyboard resting near his right hand. With a glazed look, he watched the screen. As the disassembler begun its works, rows of figures started scrolling on the monitor. His mind was not on the problem at hand, but he liked the pattern of the data on the screen. He hoped that he could keep working in his cubicle. He did not relish the idea of moving to an executive office, where he would not have time to do some programming or troubleshooting.

As his mind drifted toward some much needed rest, his attention was drawn to the sound of a hushed conversation going on in a nearby cubicle. He could recognize one of the voices. It was Kenneth Price’s. A heated hushed argument was going on with an unknown person. Richard could hear some parcels of the exchange.

“… find… way… rid of her…”

“…I know, but… a way… parapsy… Thanatos…”

“…proceed… no one… find… involved…”

“…never… ready… next week…”

Richard did not move from his cubicle until the office was again quiet. He looked around the room but found no one. Not knowing what to do with what he had eared, he decided to leave for the day. He stopped at the guard desk to sign out. He notice from the list that Kathleen was still present. Phil, the night watchman, told him. “Mr. Richard, I see that you are leaving us early, but before you go, Miss Kathleen asked me to tell you to meet her in Mr. Frederick’s office.” He winked at him, and continued, “I hope you have a nice evening.” then winked again.

Richard acquiesced with a nod of his head. He proceeded wearily toward the designated office. He felt uncomfortable in going to his boss’s former office. It rarely was used by its former owner, who preferred to direct by mingling with his troupes. Richard had only been there, formally, on one occasion: the day of his job interview. He stood in front of the darkly stained oak door, still trying to decide if he would go in. He finally knocked. Kathleen’s muted voice instructed him to come in. With a slightly trembling hand he opened the door.

Kathleen was seated at her dad’s large oak desk. She was going through some papers. She looked up at Richard with bleary eyes. She sighed deeply and said with a tired voice: “I’m glad that you came. I will need your help to direct the business. I wish that dad had prepared me better to take over from him.”

“You should look at somebody else for help. I don’t know, myself, how I will be able to cope with my new responsibilities.”

“Don’t worry, dad always had the greatest admiration for your potential. He really looked to you as his son. At times, I was even jealous of you.”

Richard blushed sheepishly. He replied: “You know that I greatly admired your dad, but you should not have feared for his affection. He was always talk about you with such pride.”

It was Kathleen’s turn to blush. She raised from her chair and came to Richard’s side. She said: “Lets stop this mutual admiration society before it gets out of hands. I have some projects that I need your opinion on. But first I really do need your help, I hope that you will always be there for me.” With this, Richard found himself at he receiving end of her embrace for the second time that day. He did not know what to say. He contented himself by just patting her on the shoulder until she let go of him.

“I’m sorry” She said. “I only needed a shoulder to cry on for a while. All of this is so new to me. I hope I have not offended you.”

Hurrying to answer, Richard said: “You can be assured that I don’t mind. Please feel free to hug me anytime you wish.” This seemed to break the ice. She gave him a drawn smile and pulled him to the desk. She pointed to some papers that were laying on its top and said:

“These are some of the projects that Dad had some doubts about. As you can see most of those are low priority purely experimental stuff that can be only useful in their theoretical content. Also thrown-in, are a few dead-ends that have not progressed in years. I think that these should be shelved.” Richard nodded in acquiescence while she continued. “But there is a major project that dad had some doubts about, and it scares me. It is Kenneth Price’s “Thanatos” project with the boys in the nuclear physics department. He is trying to extract energy from interstitial space, where the lads in the parapsychology department think that our “soul” goes after our death.”

As he eared this, Richard’s mind froze. His worst fears were becoming realities.

As the blood drained from Richard’s face, Kathleen stopped talking. She looked at him, wondering what was wrong with the man. She worried that he might collapse in front of her, like her father had done at the board meeting. She rushed to him and embraced him in her arms, fearing for his health.

The warmth of this contact brought Richard out of his trance. He responded by circling her slim body with his own arms. They stood in their embrace for a timeless moment. Slowly they relaxed, and she started crying softly on his shoulder.

Richard did not have the guts to let her know of what he had eared earlier. As their embrace lingered, he hugged her tightly. This seemed to calm her. She finally sighed deeply, and murmured in his ear:

“Dear…, Dear…, Richard. I wish that dad was still with us. I don’t know how we will cope with all of this.”

The emphasized “we” in her plea, made his heart grow warmer. In all of this crazy situation at least something was going his way. They talked late into the night and agreed to meet early in the morning, in her office, to further discuss the situation.

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From 7/2006: The Day I Fooled Death

The Sass