Hereafter

Hereafter: Part III The Soul Stitchers, Chapter 47

KNOWING HE HAD TO ACT quickly to have any chance of saving his business, Egoor called an emergency meeting before the morning shift began. He wanted to fire them all on the spot, but knew he hadn’t thought through how he was going to manage alone. He’d gotten to the office early to begin working out the details. With everyone assembled, he brought the meeting to order. Envelopes had been passed out, labeled with each employee’s name.

“Something has come up and I have to cut back on staff beginning today. If you open your envelop you’ll see the day that your services here will come to an end. I want you all to know that you’ve been an effective team and that this drastic action was forced on me. Frankly, I’m not sure just how I’ll be able to carry on without you, but this is the cold business reality I now have to live with. You’ll also find in your envelop a favorable letter of reference to use as you seek other employment. Except for the one person who’ll be leaving us at noon, I’ll see the rest of you tomorrow. That’s all . . . .”

Everyone just sat there in stunned silence. The rustle of tearing open their letters was the only sound in the room.

“Let’s go . . . get up . . . we’ve got orders to fill!” Egoor barked.

The morning shift supervisor was the first to be let go. The others would be leaving at the rate of one a day giving Egoor the chance to adapt by finding ways to take over more and more of their responsibilities. The workers who manned the warehouse and filled ordersduring the day, who by night were his crew of thugs, were also scheduled to be terminated.

Egoor knew he could never run the operation by himself, but he had a factory floor full of indentured servants—the girls. His plan—what he couldn’t handle, they’d just have to work even harder to pick up the slack.

By the end of the week everyone was gone. I knew something was up on Wednesday when I saw Egoor wheeling the carts through the aisles instead of our normal supervisor. Our plan was working but walking past, Egoor didn’t give me so much as a glance. What guarantee did we have that he would notice me—much less recognize that I was his long-lost daughter.

At least Antonio’s part of the con was unfolding right on schedule. He stopped by on Saturday night to go over the week and plan our next move. He materialized around midnight when all the other girls were sound asleep.

“Hey, it’s Saturday night . . . date night . . . any chance you can shift into your normal glorified body just while you’re here at least?” I pleaded, all but desperate for a little normal in my otherwise austere life.

“I suppose, but how about you . . . did you ever think that I might like to see my old friend the way I’m used to seeing her?” he teased, reaching out to hug me.

“Well . . . I suppose . . . .”

We both took a few moments to transform.

“That’s better,” I sighed while leaning in to finish that hug Antonio started.

“Yeah . . . I agree . . . let’s head to the upper lounge to talk,” he suggested.

“Sure.”

Another moment to execute the transport and we were there, settled into the old purple velvet couch cushions.

An accidental touch as Antonio reached behind me to turn on a lamp, his right arm brushing past my neckline, caused an embarrassing blush sending a rush of sensation surging through me. Unaccustomed to such feelings, I drew in a deep breath. Why did he always saturate the air around me with charged thoughts I was taught to push aside? Pulling back just as quickly, he took a hunk of my heart with him. The moment lost, I tried to regain my composure. Wheneverwe’re close I feel so complete, as if all the mysteries and problems of the world just don’t matter.