Missing Things - FIRST DRAFT

a lot has changed

Carl had only been to Elena's once before the pandemic.

Elena's had previously been located closer to the entertainment hub, but had moved to the area a year before the pandemic hit.

Rumour had it that the only reason Elena's moved was because the new CEO of a company in the area asked it to move.

The story went that the CEO had been a regular at Elena's when he was at his previous office, and he had asked the owner to move the restaurant so he could keep going to it for lunch. Accounts differed about what he had offered the owner as an incentive. Some said it was exclusive catering deals. Others said it was a substantial cash investment. In either case, Elena's moved, and everyone in the area went to it every now and then until the pandemic hit.

And now it was gone.

"I almost forgot to disable Collaborate Plus before I left," Mike said after they had ordered. "I forgot to disable it last week when I went to lunch and I spent the rest of my afternoon trying to convince a support guy that I hadn't stolen my own phone."

"Yeah, Kevin had his phone locked getting a package at his own house," Carl said. "Now he has a security strike against him."

"I have two of them. I got my first one when I took my phone to the bathroom at the office. I don't know who thought this was a good idea, but I want to meet them so I can personally thank them."

Carl laughed. "This is why I got a cheap work phone and laptop. As soon as I heard it could lock and reset my phone or laptop, I went out and bought them. I don't need the company telling me what I can or can't do with my own stuff!"

"That was smart. I should do that. The software blocks Spotify now! I can't even listen to music during the day! And half the time I can't listen to it at all, even when I've disabled the thing. Yesterday I tried opening Spotify on my phone at 10pm, long after I had disabled the thing, and I got a security warning!"

"You're lucky your phone didn't lock up."

"It only didn't because I turned it off right away!" Mike took a sip of his water. "And I think the company is reading our texts. I know they said they're only 'scanning for security violations' but I don't believe them. The other day my phone locked after I sent a text message."

"What was the message?"

"It was nothing," Mike said, looking uncomfortable. "Benign really. Just a message. But the fact that Collaborate Plus locked my phone has got me worried."

"Were you sending it to someone in the company?"

"Does that matter? The fact that my phone locked after I sent a private message is the issue! I had to call support and talk to them about a private message I sent to someone from my personal phone! I think I'm going to install Signal. If it'll let me."

Carl thought about the notepad in the bathroom and how that was the only communication that felt safe anymore — and it didn't even feel that safe to him.

"I have to admit that my messaging is a lot more restrained since that stuff got put on our machines," Carl said. "I was talking to Brad the other day and I wrote and deleted the same message to him three times."

"What were you talking to Brad about?"

"Nothing important. Just sort of talking about work and the office. But I've become so paranoid that I'm worried that even just mentioning the dwindling Nespresso pods is going to get me in trouble."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. You can't even talk in code because you don't know what'll set off the security system."

The server came and brought them their food. Carl's meal looked good. He had gotten the lemon butter grilled salmon with a side of spiced couscous. He cut into the salmon expecting it to be overcooked and dry, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was cooked just right. He smiled and took a bite. It tasted as good as it looked.

"You can really only talk outside the office now," Carl said, after he had taken a few bites of his food.

"Yeah," Mike said. He was busy eating his burger.

"That was one of the reasons I was hoping to see Brad today," Carl said between bites. "That way I could talk to him without worrying that we would be flagged."

"Have the two of you been flagged before?"

"No. I just wanted to catch up with him without worrying we're being spied on. Like we're doing now." Carl smiled.

Mike nodded. "Yeah."

"I don't really miss being in the office," Carl said. "But I do miss talking to people without feeling like I'm being watched."

"Yeah." Mike took a sip of his water. "If you want we can meet up again. I could come in on a Monday or something and have lunch with you. Or maybe we can even get after-work drinks that way we're not confined to an hour." Mike smiled.

Carl smiled back. "Sure. That sounds good."