“Yeah, I think so,” I say with a smile. I get up and offer him my hand. “Cassius Carr.”
He takes it and shakes. “Frankie. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I take it you’re from maintenance?”
“Good guess. So, what do you need done in here?” he asks, planting his hands on his hips.
“Uh…” I look around. “For starters, I’d like the desk over here by the door. New chair, of course. A filing cabinet that can go in that corner over there. Am I allowed to ask for a couch or something?” I ask.
“You can have whatever you want—that’s what I was told.”
“Right… well, okay then. How about—”
“If you’d like, once I get your computer hooked up, I’ll get you on the website for the company we order furniture from. You can order whatever you want.”
“Okay,” I say, feeling weird about all this. “Does, uh, everyone get to do this?”
He shrugs, taking the chair and moving it by the door. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“We’re told that employees can decorate their offices how they want and to get them what they request… in moderation. The moderation part? It was left out about you.”
I huff a nervous laugh. “And, uh, who said that?”
“Ken.”
That lets me breathe easier. The last thing I want is for people to think I am Harmon’s favorite. Especially now, when I’m the exact opposite.
The desk in this office is an L-shape and solid, but apparently not too heavy for Frankie to slide across the room and set it in the place I want it. He makes it look like it’s no heavier than a stack of papers.
“Impressive,” I comment.
He smirks. “Thanks. Preference on a chair?”
“I have options?”
He chuckles. “You can come with me. Sit in them all and decide which one you like best.”
“Lead the way.” I gesture to the door.
I’ve never had friends before, no one other than Abe, and I haven’t talked to him in a while. He doesn’t have a cell anymore, and I haven’t wanted to go by the trailer because of the witch. As far as I know, she’s still living there, and I don’t think a restraining order will keep her away from me if she lays eyes on me. And if I’m going there, well, that’ll likely get me in trouble. But Abe knows where I live, and he hasn’t shown up either. It is what it is. I’m sure I’ll talk to him at some point, but I do know that’s not a normal friendship. That’s… convenience.
Maybe now that I work, I can make friends. Real friends. Have healthy relationships. And I can start with Frankie the Maintenance Guy because he’s nice.
I follow him to the back of the office and into a small elevator.
“I didn’t know this was here.”
“It only runs along the Stone floors. Convenient for moving things around.”
We go down a floor and exit into a large room. Filing cabinets line the wall to the left, two to three rows deep. Desks are not far from there. Trash cans. Glass coolers. Cabinets. Unopened boxes that could be holding anything. And then, the chairs.
“Wow,” I say as I make my way over to them. “This is a lot.”
There has to be forty of them, at least.
“Told you,” he says. “Try them out while I find you a filing cabinet that doesn’t have a jammed drawer and comes with a key.”