.Life... The Story of Valkyrie Corvus

Present

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

Why did Bell ever have to invent this stupid device?

“Hello?” I look at the clock. It’s 8:00 A.M. why is someone calling me right now?

“Val! Oh good, you’re up. We need you to come in today. Kat had to go home sick, cramps you know,  so we need you to cover. Is that ok?” My boss. She’s one of those people who is always happy even if something is going terribly wrong. Like last month, her uncle died of a stroke. She came in singing. Not an expected reaction to the passing of a close family member if you ask me.

“Sure, I’ll come in today.” Not that I wanted to or anything.

“Great! We need you down here in half an hour. Alrighty? Ok! Bye-bye!” Dial tone.

Half an hour?! Is she mentally insane? Ponytail, suit, papers in hand, toothbrush in mouth, I’m out the door in five. My work is a fifteen minute drive from my apartment and resides on the tenth floor. I hate real estate. I dash to my car and drive off as fast as my Mercury will go. Speeding was sometimes a necessity. I made it with ten minutes to spare. I walk in through the doors and stare in disbelief at a sign posted on the elevator saying “Out of Order”. My day just got so much better. Stairs it is. The floors go by. 1st floor, 2nd, 3rd. Working as a messenger for Abe was way easier than this. With one minute to spare I burst through the offices main doors.

“Good morning Ms. Corvus.” The voice is coming from the right and I look to find a pair of Coke bottle glasses staring at me across the high counter.

“Morning Doris.” Doris is the only other person here that I think is normal. Well technically she’s the only normal person here. I am far from it.

“Val! Oh thank heavens you’re here! The Feathermans are here and they need an agent lickety split! Oh my gosh! What have you done to your hair? I love it!” My hair was not appeasing what so ever. It was dark brown pulled back into a ponytail with loose hairs all around from my adventures of the morning.

“Where are they?” The Feathermans I mean.

“Oh, they’re at your desk sweetie. Have fun!” Yeah, because this job is the definition of fun.

“Thank you ma’am.” Oh no.

“What have I said about using title here? We use our work nicknames silly goose! You’re Val, I’m Becky. You have got to get it. This business is supposed to represent a home not a job.” The nicknames are the only things she really cares about. Being called Val and working for a perky bag of joy is not where I want to be in life.

“Sorry.”

“I forgive you. Now go and help dear Ron and Pat over there.” Back to work. I head over to my desk and see the most vile creatures of the suburban section of our real estate district.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Featherman. I’m Valkyire Corvus. How can I help you today?”

“Hi Valkyrie, we came to discuss our plan. We are not happy. You see…” I just smiled. Of course Katherine left. These are our biggest complaining customers and I was the only one who hadn’t had to deal with their ridiculous issues and harsh accusations. The maids were less whiney when good old Mary chopped off their heads.

“…the money is way too much for us to handle. We can’t even begin with all of the problems we are having with our financial standing. We don’t think that we should have to pay this much for a house. We have way too much to do and it is your job to satisfy us.” Really? I didn’t know houses were expensive.

“Mrs. Featherman, You have already purchased the house. If you would like to discuss your mortgage your bank is the one you need to talk to, not your real estate agent.” You put money in a bank. I’m so glad these people weren’t alive during the depression. They would have been a pain!

“Oh.” Yeah, oh.

“If you want to talk about money, please contact your bank. Thank you and have a nice day.” I put out my hand and they regarded it with disgust and walked away.

“You handled that well.” Ms. Rebecca, or Becky, stood beside my desk.

“Really? It wasn’t all that difficult.” That wasn’t even a negotiation. They just wanted to complain and have someone else fix their problem.

“You’re the only one who hasn’t cried.” With that she walked away. That had to have been the saddest thing I’d ever heard. Sappy women just can’t be real business people.  

I was there until Katherine’s shift ended and then I went home. Filing papers was hard work.

                                                                               …

Something’s wrong. I woke with a start. The hairs on the back of my neck were pin straight. I looked around my room. My apartment was oddly little as I looked around for the cause of my panic. I crept out of my bed and took out my baseball bat from underneath my pillow. I felt something moving through vibrations in the floor. I was not alone in my apartment, someone else was here.