The September Outcome

Chapter 10: Gathering

 Dwight looked up at the clock in his office. The hands were pointing in the same momentous time as they did at a certain point every day, which could only mean one thing. Lunch time! The time that was unanimously loved by any working man. Unless you were a scuba diver, so that meant that your job was just fantastic in every single faction. That would be a fascinating profession. He quit day dreaming and stood up from his desks and walked from the office, stretching his stiff and exhausted legs. 

 It was a Thursday; twenty four hours after Sloan had appointed him as campaign supervisor and promoter. He had a recollection from his economics course about this, his job was to assist in the mayor's affairs, and his business related objectives and all sorts of different things. Dwight wasn't in charge of the whole bundle that was Orson Greer job, the mayor's personal assistant. It was disgusting how Greer worshipped the man and kept in total secrecy with it. He seemed a little malicious for Dwight's type, the skinny little man, with the greases back hair and the thick glasses. Dwight had no doubt their separate personalities would ultimately clash. 

 Time was lazily passing him by while he remained unproductive, caught up in a whirlwind of fear, trepidation and doubt. He waited for some sort of gesture from the mayor but nothing was really happening. Dwight remembered to get a hold on himself as only a single day had been and gone. He still felt haunted by Sloan though and he couldn't even begin to vouch for his collapse in his house. Audrey had undoubtedly been frantic about the whole business and went on about his cholesterol and the rest but Dwight just shushed her. The woman was being awfully persistent about everything including his 'work'. He tried to tell her that it was top secret and that she was not concerned in it but that wasn't her personality. When Mrs. Mathers was intrigued Mrs. Mathers was bothersome and impolite. 

 Donny was apparently still 'working on it' which might have meant any large number of possibilities. Donny could have cracked the case and received evidence that would bust Sloan wide open or he could be sitting on his desk chair sipping a cup of tea, doing nothing. The latter of the two seemed more likely but less satisfying. It wasn't enough though, the slow process of investigation. Though frightening, kissing up to Jeslop Sloan was probably the best course of action. While promoting the campaign, he could have casual conversations with Sloan and maybe the old geezer would let something slip.  The best way to gather nuts is straight from the ground and not from the tree, as his poor old mother used to tell him. It still proposed how he and Sloan could in somehow become 'bosom buddies'. This reminded Dwight, that the first day of the campaign had yet to be announced. 

 As he reached the end of the long corridor and began slipping nimbly down the stairs, a shock of people hit his vision. On the ground floor of the building around the secretary's office stood a group of numerous people, all wearing suits and elegant gowns and skirts. Each of them chatted, bumbling along as they sipped from their glasses of rich sherry. Dwight stopped dead, perplexed by the matter until he spotted, in the very heart of the crowd, Sloan. He was wearing a purple suit, tisk, wearing a cowboy hat and leather boots. Sloan smiled gracefully and nodded his head at the people in agreement despite not listening to them. Dwight felt slightly sick at the casual purgatory in front of him. The mask Sloan wore was too putrid to behold, after knowing what conflict the man was truly capable of. 

 After about a moment of standing there, Mayor Sloan's snake eyes slowly maneuvered their way around the room until they fixed themselves upon the distraught looking gentlemen upon the staircase.

 ''And here we have one of my main men, himself'', Sloan hollered out. He raised his arm upwards in the direction of Dwight. ''This is Mr. Mathers, who will be organizing my funds and such other businesses for this upcoming election. He will definitely be of great usefulness! Give him a round of applause everyone''. Sloan lifted his champagne in the air and sunk back into his crowd. while the fanciful men and women clapped their hands systematically, not particularly interested in the accountant but more on the mayor. The only person who didn't clap was Orson Greer was stood in the midst of the crowd looking bereaved with envy at Dwight.