"Have you met any of the people who were hired during the pandemic?" Carl asked Terry as they looked out the kitchen window at the almost-complete office building that had gone up where his favourite restaurant used to be.
"No," Terry said. "But Gerry says he sees them when he's in on Tuesdays. Apparently they're all young. Fresh out of university. He thinks they might actually be interns and co-ops. That's how young they are."
"Does he know what they're working on?"
"Nope, but as far as he can tell they're all on Darren's team. He said he hasn't really talked to them, though. They weren't here before and it's weird. There's a disconnect between us and them. They don't remember how it was before, and now the whole culture of the place is shifting."
Carl nodded. "Yeah, I feel that. Everything is different now." He took a sip of his bad coffee. "I wonder if they're going to open a restaurant in that new building."
"They are. I saw a sign that said, 'Coming soon: Sandwich Select'. As if I was supposed to know what a 'Sandwich Select' is."
"Sounds like a downmarket version of Panini Plus."
Terry shrugged. "They don't care. Why bother having anything good. No one's around anymore. Even the St-Amour Diner closed."
Carl turned to look at Terry, shocked. "The St-Amour Diner closed?! It's been around for decades!"
"Yup. I only noticed because last week I wanted a souvlaki and went there because Mykonos closed. In the end I had to get a bagel from Tim Hortons. It wasn't quite the same."
"No, it isn't quite the same."
YOU ARE READING
Missing Things - FIRST DRAFT
Aktuelle LiteraturA first draft of a mess about a guy, a pandemic, and an empty office. It's about missing things. One of the things that's missing is a plot. As I said, this is a first draft and it's here for funsies. At some point it'll be taken down because I'll w...
