November Rains

Calluna shook out her umbrella over the rug as she swung through the doors at work, shivering from the dampness. The cold November rains nipped at her heels until the doors banged shut behind her, barring them from entering the tiled space. “Good morning!” she called out to those at the security desk.

“Morning! Morning!” A twin chorus called back to her, one with a bit of sleepy sigh, hanging on to his coffee mug for dear life.

Departing for the stairs, a glimpse of a figure stepping in through the doors stopped her in her tracks. “Are you following me?” Calluna turned to Ryan with a twinkle in her eye.

With a barely perceptible pause, Ryan gave her a small, amused smile in return, wiping his well shod feet on the mat. Though unexpected, it wasn’t an unpleasant surprise. “Well hello to you too Calluna. What are you doing here?” The second phrase more of a calm statement than a question as he studied the figure in a beige coat and black boots.

“I work here, Reception.” Her grin broadened. “How can I help you?”

“I’m here to see Amelia Harper.” Ryan didn’t fail to see the irony in this either.

“Come. This way.” Calluna gave her umbrella one last shake before leading him up the stairs, her booted steps ringing on the tiles. Calluna’s workplace was only on the second floor, so it was quicker to walk up than to ride the elevator.

Slinging the loop of her umbrella over the corner of her desk to drip dry, she peeked a head in her boss’ office to see if she was in just yet.

Nope, just the grey drizzle of rain outside the window.

“Is she expecting you?”

“I’m a few minutes early.” Ryan settled down a little more comfortably in the chair to wait.

Calluna sauntered back to her desk, unbuttoning her coat. The pressed nickel buttons tinkling gently as she hung it over the back of her chair. Sitting down, she could just see Ryan’s head over the low partition of her desk as she powered on her computer. His black hair hung onto a few beads of rain despite his short walk from the car to the door, his black, wool jacket fitting just right.

His intelligent grey eyes surveyed her as intensely as she did him, noting the quick, intelligent look in her eye, her blonde hair pulled up into a loose bun.

Calluna turned away, unsettled by his perceptive gaze. Though pleasant enough at the moment to deal with, there was a hardness in his eye and a rigid sense of purpose within.

The sharp click of heels announced the arrival of her manager, breaking the troubled silence. But before Calluna got a chance to announce their visitor, Amelia came sailing down the corridor. “Good morning Ryan. Sorry to keep you waiting.” Amelia reached out a hand to welcome her visitor, looking sharp as per usual in black kitten heels, perfectly tailored slacks and a fashionable white blouse.

“Good morning.” He returned the greeting, surveying her as intently as he did Calluna, always wanting to get a good measure of the person he was interacting with.

“Come, we can speak in my office.”

Calluna, took a breath, relaxing her shoulders, breathing a little easier with Ryan gone and turned back to her emails.

“Morning Calluna!” Emma Riley cheerily greeted her, tote bags full of work, returning from a late evening at home.

“Morning Emma,” Calluna hadn’t any breakfast, so now that her backup arrived, she went to make herself a cup of coffee and heat her brekkie. The thought of breakfast made her smile, it was her favourite meal of the day.

“Who is that in Amelia’s office?”

“Oh, his name is Ryan Bertram. I have no idea why he’s here.” Calluna shrugged her shoulders, swinging clumsily around, nearly knocking her empty mug onto the floor. Her personal mug’s home was her desk.

Her co-worker chuckled, “careful.”

Calluna breathed out sharply, catching her mug before it hit the floor and beat a hasty retreat to the kitchen, which was also conveniently close to Amelia’s office.

The hum of the microwave blended with the scent of the nutty, toasted coffee beans, as Calluna turned to putting the dishes away. Dishwasher duty also fell to her and she began to pull out the damp dishes while waiting for her breakfast to finish warming.

Keeping a sharp ear out for any interesting developments, straining to listen over the hum of the microwave, a plate slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor with a crisp, snapping crash and tinkling of little pieces. Calluna gasped, the shattering of the ceramic, sudden and keen, sliced through her and the quietness in the office like a knife, waking her up fully without the aid of caffeine.

Sighing, she knelt to pick up the pieces, feeling a blush creep across her cheeks for being so clumsy. Peering into the dishwasher, a glint of light caught her eye and she reached for a shard that had wedged itself under the element at the bottom.

The door of her manager’s office opened and Calluna turned to see what Ryan’s visit portended. “Oww!” Calluna felt the sharp edge of the fragment slice through the heel of her thumb.

Ryan, hearing her cry and seeing blood, tore himself away from his conversation and hustled her into a chair. “Let me see.” He squeezed her wrist, forcing her hand open and pressed a handkerchief to the offended digits.

Emma stepped into the kitchen moments later. “Calluna, your phone. . .” Emma’s voice trailed off, “are you okay?”

“She’s fine.” Ryan answered for Calluna, sedately going about his business, inquiring if there was a first aid box on the premises.

“Here Calluna.” Emma spoke softly, looking a bit uneasy as if she was about to faint.

“Thanks.” Calluna reached with her free hand for her cell phone. It was tricky navigating it with only her left. She had two missed calls, both were from her dad. Calluna’s stomach twisted. “Hey dad, is everything okay?”

Hearing the touch of alarm in her voice, Ryan tipped an ear to the conversation, while instructing Emma, “hold her hand still, here.”

It wasn’t an emergency and Calluna exhaled deeply. Rather, her dad was super excited. “Sorry for calling you at work Calluna, but I just heard back from my friend at the university!”

Sitting so close, Ryan could just make out what her dad was saying.

“What did he say? Oww!” Instinctively, Calluna tried to pull her hand away. What was Ryan doing?

Crisply, “what’s wrong? What happened?” It was her dad’s turn to be alarmed.

“Nothing, just cut my hand on a broken dish. What did he have to say?”

“They’re real, they’re real gemstones.”

Ryan stiffened for a moment, taking in a sharp breath of excitement.

“They say one is a microchip. There was another they weren’t sure about. It appears to be made up of thin layers of crystal. They would like to run a few more tests on it to figure out what it is.”

Ryan was floored. She had them? Calluna had them this whole time? Here Ryan was worried that John Brislauer had already passed them on to his bosses, and it turns out that she had them? Holding a pad of gauze to her injured hand, he began to wrap it up in a long fabric bandage and resist the temptation to wrestle her to the ground and demand his property back.

“It might be a few weeks before I can get them back honey.”

“It’s okay dad. If John comes looking for them, I’ll let him know that they’re somewhere safe and it’ll be a few days before I can get them to him.”

Ryan had a hard time sitting still and pretending that he knew nothing of what she was talking about. So it was John who took them! He grinned, at least he wasn’t totally wrong!

“Bye.” Calluna hung up the phone. Hearing Emma beginning to clean up after her, “careful, there’s a piece jammed in the dishwasher.”

“Will she be okay?” Calluna’s manager spoke from behind her, leaning on the door post that divided the kitchen from the hall.

“Yes. She’ll be fine. Deep cut on her thumb, but it doesn’t look like it needs stitches.”

“Can she work?”

“Yes, but go easy on it.” Ryan counselled Calluna his eyes boring into hers, “if it starts to bleed badly, have Amelia give me a call okay?”

Calluna nodded, excitement leaving her feeling slightly shaken.

“See you.” He stood up and pulled on his coat, the hard glint in his eye changing to a twinkle. “Next time be more careful, dishes can be slippery when wet.” And trotted off, down the stairs.

“Well, you heard him. Excitement’s over, time to get back to work.” Amelia sashayed back to her office.

“Thanks again,” Calluna turned to Emma as she finished cleaning up her mess on the floor, taking up her coffee in her left hand and her rapidly cooling breakfast in her right, which felt stiff and was beginning to ache.

Calluna shook her head as she slipped back into her chair in front of her desk, feeling as if she walked through a nightmare to wake up at the switchboard. The parting glint in Ryan’s eye haunting her, what was that about?