As the day dragged on, he received more angry emails from management. He replied that he was working on the reports and he would get them done as soon as he could. He then received several emails about his lack of communication and his poor work performance.
The day drug on. Clint felt like he existed in a vacuum. The world about him moved at an incredible pace while he was stuck in a bubble of slow moving time. It was him, the reports, the damnable blaring of way too many help requests, and the yells from angry coworkers constantly going off in his ear.
Rusty nails burrowed in his stomach, at least that’s what it felt like. His nerves were on end. Any small sound around him made him shoot straight up in his chair, and his heart revved similar to the speed of a stock car engine.
As his right eardrum was slowly ruptured by another yelling coworker, he fancied that this was his personal hell, an accommodation carefully crafted by the masterful torturer himself, Beelzebub. He would have congratulated this wicked demon on his beautifully heinous method of mental anguish he so carefully constructed, but like the other jackasses in charge, he was probably on vacation too.
It was 10:30 at night before he managed to start seeing real progress. One by one, he mailed off finished reports to their rightful owners. Their responses were a mixture of snide and scathing. Thank yous were punctuated with barely veiled suggestions that other members of staff could have done a better job faster. They probably would, if they were in the office.
There were four more reports remaining when he received a call. Surprised that someone was calling him so late, he pressed the button on his phone and placed his headset on.
There was happy music playing in the background and people were laughing. He thought he heard someone asking for a beer.
“Clint?”
Clint recognized Roger’s voice. “Yes, sir?”
“Clint, I’ve been meaning to contact you. I just received the report that was due a few days ago and there were a ton of errors. I’ve also gotten quite a few complaints in my work inbox about their help requests getting ignored. What is going on up there?”
“I’m very sorry, sir, but there has been a great deal of work handed to me and I haven’t had the time to finish it.”
There was a moment of silence over the phone. “Where have I heard that phrase before? I’m thinking back to a time when you were delinquent with your work, that you said the same thing. I’m getting really bad vibes from the past and I don’t like that. I thought you overcame that. Are you slipping back into old habits?”
“No, sir. Right now I have more work than I did then. I was able to finish that work because I motivated myself. I still motivate myself, but I’ve had so much work placed on me that I can’t get it done in the allotted time. Even with the help of coworkers.”
“Wait, you’re asking your coworkers for help? They have just as much on their plate as you do, if not more, and you’re asking them to take some of your burden? I imagine there are quite a few of them there now, working diligently.”
Clint looked around at the empty office. The lights were off. However the multitude of help requests made it seem as bright as day.
“There’s no one else here, sir.”
“That’s beside the point. The problem I have right now is a former star employee sliding back into habits I thought he broke. Not only that, but he’s also trying to unload his burden on the rest of our hard working team. Does that sound like someone you’d want working for you?”
There was more laughing coming from over the phone. Clint wished he could crawl through the line with a sledgehammer and bash their heads in.
“That would depend on if that employee was majorly overworked, sir. If he was, I would find some way to ease his burden if I could.”
“I wouldn’t, because I know he is capable of everything I’ve given him. I believe he is a machine who can handle that and more.”
Yep, a machine. That was his job saw him as, a machine they could work until it stopped, then throw it out and get another fresh part they could work to death.
“Did I overestimate what my star employee can do?” Roger said.
“I think you expected too much,” Clint said.
“I’m polite enough not to be offended by that remark. I’ve been in management for fifteen years, I think I have a good idea of what my employees can achieve. You are a very bright person Clint. You have the capabilities to complete all of the work you’re behind on, you’re just not using all of the means at your disposal to do it. Have you been asking your coworkers for help?”
“I have, sir. As I was reaching out for help Bonnie from Marketing, and I, came up with an idea to set up a company document to help employees fix their own issues. Cooper, also from Marketing, has been working with me to create it.”
“Was this approved my management?”
“No, sir. Last I checked, management is on vacation and this fix is needed now, otherwise the work won’t get done.”
“Clint, you know it’s company policy to have projects like that approved my management. Also, I don’t have time to be threatened by my employees about work not being completed if their demands aren’t met. Speaking of demands, I haven’t seen today’s accounting information. You know the company can be in serious trouble if that isn’t in.”
“I’ll make sure to do that before I leave.”
“See that you do, and see that you improve your outlook. Your work ethic for the past few days has been very lacking and I’m seriously considering finding someone else for your position. Now I have to get back to my party. Make sure we don’t have this conversation again.”
Clint aggressively pressed the button on his desk phone and threw off his headset. This was bullshit. Complete bullshit. He gave and gave at this job but he got nothing back. Disgust was on his face as he looked at the clutter of light blue holos running through each other.
He quickly put together the company’s accounting report and sent it in. He got another livid response back but he ignored it. Clint yawned and his nerves tore at his stomach. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then got up to leave.
Clint got into his car and punched the driver’s seat several times. It didn’t do much to alleviate his mood, but he felt better. He pulled out his phone and found several texts and two voicemails. All of them were from Mary telling him they urgently needed him in game.
He dialed her number and she responded after two rings.
“Hey, Clint. Where are you?” Mary said.
“Work,” Clint said dejectedly.
“Oh, could you hop online when you get the chance. We’re trying to start our investigation of the docks but Krug and I got chased away by some halflings. It was a little disappointing, but we figure with your help we can get something done.”
“Sorry I’m not on. You’re not the first person disappointed with me today.”
“I’m not disappointed, I was just worried. Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Bullshit. What’s wrong?”
All of the rage of the day was boiling in his stomach. He tried to put a lid on it but he’d bottled it up for too long. He needed to let it out.
“I’m doing everything I can. I work until I’m barely awake. I put in more hours than most of my coworkers do, and it’s still not enough. I’m sick and tired of being this company’s bitch,” Clint yelled out the last word.
Clint cringed. “Crap, Mary I’m really, really sorry. I’m sorry for missing the game today.”
“Clint, chill. You’re a ball of nerves right now. Relax. I’m not mad at you, Krug isn’t mad and I’m sure that sexy tiger girl or that halfling isn’t mad. We’re just wondering where you are.”
“Sometimes I wonder where I am and why I’m even here, because I hate it. It’s hell.”
Mary was quiet for a while. “This is going to sound really asinine, and I really don’t mean for it to, but you’re the one keeping yourself there. Your job is mostly to blame, but you are t
oo. The economy sucks, but you can do something, anything, better than that. Even working at Virtuality would be better than there.”
Clint laughed as he remembered his teenage years working at the game store. He got no respect and his boss treated him like crap, but at least his manager didn’t expect him to run everything by himself.
Mary laughed as well. “I know, sad right?”
Clint sighed. “It is. I like the money, but damn is it worth all of these ulcers?”
“You have ulcers?”
“Probably.”
“If you do, you need to quit now. That job isn’t worth you ending up in the psychiatric ward, or worse.”
Clint imagined his death. On his tombstone it would read Death by Work. Beneath it would be his company’s slogan with a picture of a goofy looking dog, the company’s mascot. He laughed again.
“You weren’t supposed to laugh at that,” Mary sounded really worried.
“Couldn’t help it, it created a funny visual. I do want to leave, but I’ve been working on something with my coworkers to make the job I do easier. I want to see it through before I just give up.”
“I can respect that.”
“This is probably going to sound pathetic, but I really wish you were here.”
Mary playfully gasped. “Why is that pathetic? You think it’s pathetic to spend time with me?”
Clint smiled. “No. It just sounds wimpy. I like spending time with you. Things are always more fun with you around, even when you’re Tarka.”
There was a long silence before Mary answered in a small voice. “Things are better when you’re around, too.”
Mary quickly picked up the conversation. Her voice had a higher pitch than normal. “Tell you what. Come over and I’ll make you some coffee. We’ll take the night off from the game.”
“That sounds awesome. We can talk about how evil the Crimson Kingdom is and how sexy tiger girls are.”
“You fucking perv. I was going to yell at you for gawking at Tatarna’s ass yesterday. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“Hey, what can I say? I’m a connoisseur of fine asses. I hang around with a kobold with the finest ass in Unexplored, don’t I?”
Mary laughed. “Hurry up and get your ass over here so I can kick it.”
Clint hit the hang up button and drove toward Mary’s apartment. The pain in his stomach wasn’t quite so bad.
TWENTY SEVEN
Clint spent most of the night sipping coffee with Mary, reclining on her couch and talking about anything that crossed their mind. They joked about memes they saw online, talked about their old friends from highschool, even when they worked together at Virtuality.
His mind regressed back to the time when he was fourteen and before all the stress of real life. Island of Kismet was all the rage then. He would always go over to Mary’s house and play it in her room while her mother and father were out working late. They would team up and take out a really wicked boss, and then log off to gush about the loot they’d accumulated from the fight.
Looking back, it all seemed kind of silly. The graphics in Island of Kismet were crappy, and there wasn’t any immersion. He’d gotten way too excited about getting a magic staff that’d given him a small bonus to his casting skills, crowing about it at the top of his lungs while Mary bragged about her new Boots of Stealthy Jaunting. They were way too excited about those virtual items that could have been purchased for pennies from a black market dealer online. Then again, they were fourteen.
There wasn’t any stress back then. It was just them, the games, and a wide open world laid out before them filled with adventure and excitement greater than their minds could comprehend. No worrying about a future filled with menial paperwork, rent payments, and narcissistic bosses who expected two or three times more work than an employee could ever produce.
Fourteen was also the time he’d started to notice how pretty Mary was. She didn’t use all of the makeup or wear the tight fitting clothes that the other girls did, but she was exuberant and carried herself with a natural confidence that always filled him with a longing for her.
Unfortunately for him, a few of the jocks noticed it too. Mary was always going out on dates with taller, stronger, athletic guys that Clint couldn’t compete with at the time. He asked her out on dates a few times in their high school years but she always turned him down. He stopped asking by the time he went to college, figuring he’d never have a chance with her.
Now as he watched her, laughing at a dumb joke he made about orcs, he saw the same girl he was fascinated by years ago. She had a similar zeal and even greater conviction than she did as a teen.
Mary stopped laughing and her brow furrowed when she noticed Clint staring into space.
“Clint, you good man?” Mary said.
“Sorry, I was busy reminiscing,” Clint said.
“Bout what?”
“The old days, back when we were fourteen and nothing mattered.”
“I remember. Those were some great times. Remember that time when were were playing Island of Kismet and we took out that Giant Remorab?”
“Oh, big mama? Yeah, that was amazing. We partied it down all night after we beat that thing. We got that really cool armor and mage robes that let us go invisible, and people at school thought we were nuts because we couldn’t shut up about it.” Clint laughed. “That one football guy threatened to beat me up if I didn’t stop talking about it. But I couldn’t help it, it was that awesome.”
“Remember the clothes I used to wear back then? All sorts of super loose stuff, I think I was trying to go for a hood rat look or something. And then that time I wore a pink thong and you told me you could see it. I was so embarrassed, I never wore all those loose clothes again. I must have been really annoying.”
Clint fidgeted in his seat a bit. The memory of his fourteen year old self seeing his friend in a thong sparked excited memories and he reasoned that was where his fascination with butts began. “Not really. I actually thought you were really cute. I was going to ask you out freshman year but I was so afraid to.”
“I don’t know why. You were the same fantasy dork I always hung out with when I got my fantasy groove on, which was almost all the time.”
“I really didn’t think you’d go out with me back then. I was a scrawny nerd, I still am. I think a part of me hoped you’d feel sorry for me and say yes when I finally did ask you out sophomore year.”
Mary rested her chin on her knee. “I think I said no because I was a stupid kid. All kids are dumb, or maybe it was just me. I don’t know. I stayed a kid a lot longer than most of the people in high school. That’s one reason I don’t think I didn’t quit Virtuality or go to college. I didn’t want to grow up.”
Clint sighed. “I wish I wouldn’t have grown up so fast. I wouldn’t be so neurotic and stressed out. Adulting is hard. I want to be a kid again.”
Mary giggled and leaned into Clint’s chest. There was an uptick in his heartbeat.
“I think you’re adulting fine, better than me anyway. You just have to learn to let go. Life doesn’t last very long, so you have to make it awesome. That’s one reason I quit my job and wanted to go to college. I couldn’t do anything else where I was and I want to see the world.”
“What part of the world?”
“Some place with sushi, pretty landscapes, and a really unique foreign culture.”
“Japan?”
“Nah, California.”
Both of them laughed.
Clint tentatively placed his arm around Mary’s shoulder. He relaxed when she didn’t stop him. “I have no doubt you’ll go. You’ve always been the type to chase your dreams. Maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to.”
“You will. You’re already hanging in there with a job that treats you like shit. That takes more balls than I have. You just have to chase after what’s right for you.”
“I’ve been way too afraid to do that. I think I like the idea of being safe, like having some ground to stand o
n.”
Mary snorted. “I don’t think Cleave would ever say that. Cleave faces the danger, no matter the odds. That’s what surprised me the most when you told me you were him.”
“That’s because Cleave is the video game me, the latent part of me that wishes he was awesome.”
“Then you should try to be more like him then. He, or rather you, inspired me to quit my job and start going to college in the first place.”
Clint tried to hide the joy that cascaded through his chest. He never thought anyone would tell them that he inspired them, especially someone like Mary. He didn’t realize it, but a euphoric, eye crinkling smile was on his face.
“Bet you didn’t think I was such a pervert, huh?” Clint said.
“You like to think you’re a pervert. You’ve never seen some of the stuff I’m into. Nothing super extreme.”
“I’d love to try it.”
Clint was stunned by the words that came out of his own mouth. Mary looked up and laughed at his stunned expression.
“Maybe if you’re good and if you’re ready for it. Don’t want to scare you off too quick.”
“I don’t think you’ll scare me. I’ve already seen too much. There’s no going back.”
“Hey, I don’t think I’m that weird,” Mary lightly pressed her fist against his chin.
“I don’t think so either, but the jury is still out.”
“Fuck you, you jerk.” Mary said with underlying mirth and gently jabbed Clint in the stomach.
Mary settled back into Clint’s embrace and she snuggled into his chest. Everything was quiet and the atmosphere was perfect. A profound sense of calm came over him. He feared that a raging boner or an ill slight of hand would ruin the moment, but nothing did.
There was only the sound of his heartbeat, Mary’s peaceful breathing and her calm face. Her eyes were closed. At that moment, he was in heaven.
Mary stretched and pulled away from him.
Crisis at Clearwater - A LitRPG Virtual Fantasy Adventure (Book 2 Unexplored Cycle) Page 14
