Agency

In Which Trays of Sushi Go Missing

sequentially, over the next hour

Margot

Using her rounded bottom, Margot pushed open the heavy stairwell door. Her hands were otherwise occupied, carrying large trays of sushi, each stacked precariously on top of the other.

The Atrabax celebration would be starting soon. Shanti, who was in charge of preparing for the event, had enlisted Margot's help carrying things from the third-floor kitchen up to the fourth floor — a cavernous, window-lined space with no desks or offices, at which the elevator did not stop and so was only accessible by the stairwell for reasons nobody understood or cared enough about to investigate.

The Agency didn't host many events. There was a frisson of excited energy around the office that day. All the women had gone home early to get changed, returning with blowouts and fresh manicures — except for Margot, who would never have spent money on things like that anyway.

As the stairwell door clicked shut behind her and she stepped gingerly upward, sushi trays obscuring her view, Margot heard something. A distinctly human something. Sniffing? No, sniffling. The sound of a woman crying.

She paused and peered upward through the railings. Struck with embarrassed horror, she realized it was the new Managing Director, weeping into a cell phone, her free hand over her ear, face turned toward the wall. Thankfully, Allegra hadn't noticed Margot yet.

"Please," she heard Allegra practically moan. "Please."

As silently as she was able, Margot and her many trays of sushi inelegantly reversed down the stairs. Back at the stairwell door (which could only be operated by one's bum from the outside), she placed the sushi on the concrete floor and made a quiet escape. She'd come back for it when the coast was clear.

Berenice

Still unsettled by the thought of what lay under the earth in her Cabbagetown backyard, Berenice decided it was time to leave Rafael's Tapas Bar. She and Simon had both had too much wine. She waved the handsome waiter over.

Simon caught her wrist and gave it a squeeze.

"Don't worry, Bee. Try to think of it as an exciting mystery. Whatever's buried beneath... could be worth something. Newsworthy, at least. It'll be an adventure."

"The last thing I want is an adventure," she replied, a yawn pricking at her jaw.

He pondered her for a moment, glancing toward the waiter who was on the way with their sizeable bill.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go back to my place? Have another drink?"

Berenice considered Simon's offer. It was still early.

Berry

He stood at the lucite podium, hands confidently loose.

"Thank you," he finished, as the applause roared around him. "... and enjoy the party," he added magnanimously before leaving the podium to shake Fraser's outstretched hand.

"Well done, Berry. Incredible speech. Didn't realize you had it in you." Fraser whispered, clapping Berry on the shoulder.

He hadn't realized it either, that he had it in him. But as it turns out, he did, and he felt the potential of it absolutely at this moment. Berry felt alive.

He straightened his tie, smiled to himself and headed to the bar table where he poured out a small, celebratory scotch.

Allegra intercepted him there.

Allegra

She shouldn't have made that call before the party started. It was weak and left her emotions raw and open like friction burned skin.

It could be related to her emotional state, but she'd never noticed how commanding Bertrand Ross was. Or how handsome. In fact, she'd just assumed he was a waste of space. She couldn't imagine why now. His attractiveness was clear as day.

She intercepted him at the bar table.

"That was very impressive," she said, looking Berry in his blue eyes. Her fingers unconsciously trailed the neckline of her silk blouse. "I think you have a real future here, Bertrand."

She paused, scanning the table between them.

"Where's the sushi?"

The Bones

The bones — of course there were more than one, bones having a tendency to travel in sets — were feeling the weight of the earth that was left over them. Having had one part of their whole carted away by people in white suits was disturbing enough. But now, more than any time since they were first laid down there, they felt an echoing in their hard shell.

Find us, they vibrated into the universe. We're ready to come back.

Shanti

Having just located a stash of sushi on the landing, Shanti may have been the only person who saw Allegra leading poor, hapless Berry into the stairwell. Shanti shook her head and helped herself to a Dynamite roll. Her skin tingled strangely.

Something was shifting. And with mercury still in retrograde, she thought darkly, it almost certainly wasn't going to turn out well.