Tick ticktick. The clock ticked in time with Guy’s heart, the constant thumping like a hammer tapping away at his patience. How long can it take? How long can it take? He asked himself repeatedly. Guy was always tensely strung; he thrived on the pressure that big tasks brought him, even the most tedious chores in the world – some people might have called it unhealthy, but he was happy with it that way. Tick ticktick, the clock pounded on as Guy sat quietly in the waiting room of the medical agency; dying to pitch his new invention to the corporate giant: Visor Chemicals
The pristine room glinted with an unnatural perfection, the armchairs a very light shade of cream that was barely visible over the spotless, white wall; the only sounds being the tick tick tick of the clock fixed smartly to the wall and the tapping of Guy’s foot on the immaculately polished marble floor. This particularly austere room would have bored any normal person out of their mind, but nobody who had ever met Guy would have even thought of the word normal when describing a man like him.
He sat in the waiting room, his brown suit jacket and trousers contrasting everything in sight, alienating colour and thought from the entirety of the fifty-sixth floor. This floor belonged to Mr Cole – the biggest man in the medical industry and at the same time, the smallest; being only five foot one and missing a certain kindness which most would consider plain courtesy. Apparently, he had been a simple chemistry teacher before his climb to chemical fame.Guy thought to himself, and if he came from humble beginnings, why can’t I?
This had been on his mind all morning and was no doubt all he was going to think of for the rest of the day. But he had a meeting to go to, he had to keep a clear head if he wanted to present his idea with as much confidence as possible. He had to focus. With every tick he grew more impatient, the hands of the clock inching around its face; drawing closer and closer to the time of the appointment and to the young man’s fate. The pressure was building with every movement of the second hand, the time was coming closer and closer, Guy’s heart pumped fasted and faster. He waited, and waited, and waited. The agonising time passed – one minute… thirty seconds… twenty… ten… three… two… one…
Guy breathed deeply, waiting for the moment when he would finally meet the man he had been waiting to meet for what seemed like a lifetime. But minutes passed one by one without a single sound from the office, not a single movement or footstep or even cough… He had been stood up! The man tapped his foot faster, angrier. The more time passed, the worse Guy felt about the horrid, twitching clock and the more Guy wanted to rip it off of its smart fixing. He thought it couldn’t be possible, but he got angrier and angrier until he was in a silent fit of rage; his nostrils flaring and his brain boiling inside his head. How could he be so rude? And then he thought of something maybe he’s just in a meeting that’s running long, he is a very important man, after all.
This didn’t console him, the fact was this man was not where he said he would be, he did not think enough of a simple chemist to honour the agreement and turn up to the appointment, he thought to himself, ready to burst and then he heard it… Laughing, it was laughing coming from the office; was he here all the time? Had he been kept waiting here for nearly half an hour for somebody on the other side of the phone? He had had enough. He leapt up from the cream armchair, striding up to the wall opposite and in one swift movement the clock lay on the floor. The only sound being the panting of an exasperated young man in a brown suit jacket.
The silence was broken by footsteps coming from inside the office; loud, exaggerated steps that tried to seem bigger than they really were. The tiny figure of Mr Cole emerged from the plain white office, his handkerchief crooked and his face contorted into an image of silent rage. For a moment, Guy thought he was about to explode, sending wave upon wave of unrelenting fury uopn him… but he didn’t. Instead, he pressed his slicked-back hair back into place and swallowed his anger, revealing instead a rather dangerous, forced smile as if he had been invited to some awful Christmas party. He spoke between gritted teeth ‘you will be paying for that’ he said, his words barely audible over the angry low grumble that followed each vicious syllable. Guy was petrified, he had blown his only chance to impress the king of the chemical industry. With his pride in tatters, Guy turned and started to the lift; he pressed the call button and didn’t dare look back at what was probably the most resentful face he would ever see. He slumped into the lift and pressed the button to the ground floor, his head down and his face painted with shame. How could I be so stupid? Why didn’t I just wait like I should have? What kind of- But he stopped his train of thought when he heard a deafening crash from above him and in moments, he was falling… fast.
