Midnight Creek Tales

#5. Lunar Darkness / Chapter 1

"Richard headquarters wants to see you immediately! I'm not sure why, but by the urgency in Mr. Marchisio's voice it seems quite important."

I stirred my coffee and looked up, "Thanks Jane, ever since Mr. Marchisio laid off the manufacturing team I've really had to pick up all the slack."

"Sounds horrible sweetie, but sometimes that's just what you gotta do to make a living."

I nodded my head and stared up at the clock, "Oh shit, I better hurry! He can't stand tardiness for the life of him!" I waved to Jane at the desk and turned the corner.

All of a sudden I heard her call out to me again, "Richard!"

I came back with my head peeking out from the corner, and the rest of my body still in the hallway. "Mr. Marchisio also said to bring Simon with you to the meeting."

"Ok, thanks again!" I said leaving her at her desk and continuing on my way down the hall to where Simon was stationed. "What would Mr. Marchisio want from us?" I began to think... "Oh crap, I bet that dumbass got us in trouble again!"

Simon is one of the smartest guys I know, but he is also one of the dumbest too. He and I have been friends for years, with us even sharing a dorm in college! But it was typical of Simon to pull shit on people and be a smart ass with authority. I remember once he got kicked out of a seminar for telling our professor that he should teach high school because he couldn't handle college-level material.

When I reached his office, I started to bang my fist on the wooden door, but after no compliance from him I frustratingly barged in.

"Jesus man! What did you do this time?"

Simon had his headphones blasting to their maximum volume while he was scribbling on some blueprints. He apparently had not heard me enter the room, so I walked over and yanked the headphones off him and got his attention, "What the hell was that for Rich?" He jeered, dropping his pencil on the desk as he brought the headset down to his neck.

"Marchisio wants to talk to us."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Probably! The last time he called us in was because you were using the work phone to dial a sex hotline! And you always have to drag me into things and use me as an escape hatchet, and I'm sick of it!"

"I swear to you Rich I haven't done anything this time! I've been sitting here for about a week coming up with some outlines for the new shuttle that's under development."

"Well whatever he wants from us, Jane said it was 'urgent!' So we better get a move on before we make things even worse."

"Gee Rich, I don't get why you're so afraid of him."

"I'm scared of him because he is the deciding factor between a lovely comfortable home, or living on the streets and eating out of garbage cans!"

"Marchisio would never fire us; we're his best men! I know we're not perfect, but everyone makes mistakes. And he's hard on us because we're the best fit for the job and he tries to straighten us out like an iron board. The day he fires us is the day that pigs will fly!"

"I hope you're right Simon, I really do..."