AROUND THE HEART IN 80 DAYS

Seventeen

He woke up the next morning, his usual six, this time though feeling so lightheaded that he returned to his pillow at once, five minutes extra. Tops. He was in deep regrets that he had stayed up for most of the night contemplating how life would be now that he had totally cancelled on his forever flight.
Light illuminated from his large rectangular screen into the warm darkness, followed by a ding. He knew it was a business message that had just come in. No other explanations. How convenient! Just when he needed to rest more.

He sat up tiredly and unlocked his phone then went to his inbox. It was from Callum Ajiberi, one of the senior advocates in their Sales Department. While he, Edrei, had been acting as the President of said department -as a certain man was still on 'Vacation' with his lovely family- Callum had been acting as the vice, or a hand-in-hand actually.
Edrei was aware that if the position of Head of the Department was ever given to him, Callum, without a doubt would be no second guess for vice. He was that good.

*Board Meeting. 11:00am. Sharp. Schwartz will be there*.

Edrei read from the lit up screen and almost kissed the phone. He would still have time for a sweet hour's rest.
But the Brand Manager was coming. He didn't want to be caught off guard as not being diligent. And now that he was staying put in Vancouver, he was forced to actually be diligent with work ethics.

So, as a working individual he was, he jumped out of bed and swiftly went to splash cold water on his face, his eyes were on fire. He then went to make a fine choice of suit selection. The day looked like one for the darkest of blues, and he did love the fine edges that the woollen material allowed.
If it was a board meeting, he had to look smart. He was already doing a swell job at the office, he just had to look it.

He allowed himself shave and take a long and hot shower, getting rid of any prior fatigue and using the time period to broaden his mind going through every project that had been achieved since the past month.
All of a sudden, he actually felt the need to appear smart to work in the longest of times.

After the much needed cleansing, he focused on dressing up. His hair combed and neat (the ends were longer than they should be, he had said a trip to the barber was a tasking one but he could see now it was much recommended), his tie up to a brilliant knot and his shoes shining with extra gloss. Before him in the mirror, he clearly made out the small decolourised map that beautifully graced his left jaw. He ran the ball of his left index finger over it, testing to see if a nerve was affected. A bit.
The girl sure knew her way round her upper body strength, he would give her that. Small price to pay, however, for a symbol of life turning around completely. He would try his all to take on life.

Definitely, Herman Schwartz had to know he could run the entire department well without Mr. Fitcher and maybe try and quell the previous moods of his colleagues. He wasn't kissing up butts, he was showing that he was capable of leading a department even in his current situation.

He secretly wished he'd thought about this two years back.

Knowing all his paperwork never left the office, he gave himself a once-over in his clear large mirror and headed out the door.

A strange aroma stopped him.

Merde!

He almost had forgotten the main reason behind him not being able to travel anymore.
And he couldn't get to the front door without being caught.

He just breathed out and shut his eyes softly, then gathered courage and started to walk. He saw her immediately he stepped into the small lobby leading to the entrance. She had on a large lime sweater for the cold with black jeans and... socks!!!
Had she not heard of slippers? Wouldn't those socks be dirty?