the alpha

Part 8

15:43 pm International Tower
229 Peachtree St
Suite 1000

"Tom, can you come in here please?"

He's not called into the back office that often but seeing as how it's within earshot of the break room, and he's currently retrieving a can of Mountain Dew that happens to be his craving for the moment, and it's definitely a perfect moment, kind of.

To be frank and honest, Tom has literally no idea why he is being called in.

Looking down at the bottle of green fluid in his left hand he wonders for just a moment if it would be prudent to take it with him, or just wait and come back for it.

Opting to take it with him, he closes the refrigerator and makes his way into the back office. There is no doubt that their office is the best in the building, but it has to do with the fact that this is their firm, and Veronica is the type of woman that wants her office space to reflect a professional but comfortable vibe.

That is why there are curtains on the back window that offers a view from the rear of the
building, there is a recliner in the far corner, and they have a full set up with a mini fridge, a microwave, and even a small sink along the right wall.

Even their desk is a testament to comfort since it cost around two grand, easily, as it was a solid cross-section of a tree that had been fashioned into one massive desk that they both used. File cabinets had been set into the underside of the table, one for each side.

Silas is a pleasant gentleman at least, as he is 43 and is just starting to go gray at the temples, where his otherwise black hair is still holding strong against the lighter strands that are creeping in. Veronica is a bit sterner than her husband, but as far as Tom is concerned she is just as nice, though she does demand a little more than he does. Her vibrant blonde hair is kept in a braided ponytail most times and is usually draped over one shoulder or the other. A couple of Tom's coworkers started a rumor that it means something when she drapes her hair over one shoulder versus the other, but he is learned that's a crock of shit.

Silas looks up as Tom walks in, "Ah, Tom, have a seat."

The older man gestures to one of the comfortable chairs that sits only a few feet from the desk. Their office is large enough that no matter where one looks, there is plenty of space to move about. The room is actually close to the size of the conference room.

Both Veronica and Silas turn to face Tom, making him wonder if he is here to be dismissed or if there is something really wrong. He knows very well that Dan was in here earlier going on about how he could not possibly be losing the current contest to Tom. It would be so satisfying to silence the whining, entitled 40-something man-child for good, but that might not go over too well, especially since Tom might be questioned in the case of such a disappearance. Dan's not worth the trouble.

Veronica speaks first, "I assume you heard Dan when he came in earlier. We will not pretend that you're stupid or deaf.

I heard him raise his voice a few times," Tom admits, "Is everything okay?"

"Just fine on our end," Silas replies as he lays his hands gently on the desk before turning his head to look at Tom squarely.

"But ah, he did have something to say about your sales. I do not want to believe that any of it is true, but despite being kind of a, well..." "A drama queen dear, just say it," Veronica chides, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, well, that too. But anyway, he did mention a question about your sales that I only want to pose to you once." "It's not that we don't believe you're doing a great job," Veronica says, giving her husband a sidelong glance, "It's that any time we hear someone say that there's a realtor out there that's omitting certain information and making side deals with their clients, we need to check it out and make certain that there's no truth to it."

Tom's thinking chuckles darkly within the depths of his morbid beliefs. That little prick, Tom thinks to himself, he has been telling stories that he has no business telling, and worse, he's telling their bosses. It is as though a door opens in the back of his mind. Nothing comes through it, no dark thought, no dire promise to make things right. It is simply open, and the implications therein are liberating in a way.

"Tom?" Veronica asks, raising her eyebrows, "Are you okay?" He looks right at her and nods, "Yep, I am fine. Do I get to know what else he said, or was that it?"

Silas clears his throat, "Now, we do not want to foster any type of retaliation. That is not what this is all about."

"Oh, no," Tom replies, waving his right hand in a dismissive gesture, "I did not mean it like that. I just want to know what he might have said so that I can tell you the absolute truth. I know Dan well enough; he does not like to lose and was even trying to get me to say that I might have done something to trick my clients into buying their homes."

"Did you?" Veronica asks, "I don't believe you did, but..."

"If showing them the homes they wanted to see and telling them everything I knew about each one so that they could make an informed decision counts, then yes, I tricked the hell out of all of them. Of course, if that is a trick, then it's one of the most well-used tactics in the book."

Silas and Veronica are silent for a moment before they share an easy laugh and a look that Tom cannot fully decipher. He cannot help but notice how they don't quite meet his eyes in the next moment.

That is not good.