Hey Readers! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out other posts here to read previous chapters of The House On Astor Street. Enjoy!
Chapter Twelve
“Happy Birthday, Jason!” Candace called from behind the desk as he made his way through the lobby. She was fussing with something on the floor near her feet and soon produced a pink box filled with donuts. “These are for you.” Candace handed Jason the box with a smile.
“Candace!” Jason said with a surprised laugh, “Thank you! But you really didn’t need to get me anything.” He opened the lid and took inventory of the variety of flavors and types of donuts inside.
Candace laughed and shook her head, “Oh no, sorry, those aren’t from me. They were sitting on the front desk here when I arrived. Oh wait, the tag must have fallen off.” She disappeared behind the desk again, then shot back up. “Here it is. Sorry about that.”
Jason took the tag, thanked Candace again for the birthday wishes, then began his way down the hall towards his desk. When he rounded the corner, he looked at the tag, “Happy Birthday, Jason. Twenty-five is an important birthday. There’s so much in store for you.” He flipped the card around in his hand looking for the name of the sender, but didn’t see anything. He turned the donut box around, examining each of the sides and underneath for some clue as to who gifted him the treats, but nothing.
A sharp whistle rang out in the hall, followed by a loud voice, “Jason?” He was so busy trying to figure out who sent him the donuts that he hadn’t realized he was stopped right in front of Shane’s office. “Jason… you alright there?”
“Hey, Shane, yeah, sorry…” Jason nodded to the box of donuts in his hands as some semblance of an explanation.
Shane looked at him awkwardly as if he was about to ask him about the donuts, then threw his hands up, “Right, anyway… Do you have that report ready for this afternoon’s meeting? I just need the quarterly numbers ready to be presented and I’d like you to also provide some projections on the next quarter’s productivity numbers.”
“Not a problem. I finished up the reports over the weekend and I’ll work on those projections this morning.”
“Great. Could you send me the reports you’ve already completed now and the projections when you finish them up? I want to review them prior to the meeting.”
“Absolutely.” Jason turned and walked away quickly, letting out a deep breath and wiping the small beads of sweat off his forehead.
Despite being invited out for a birthday lunch with some of his co-workers, Jason elected to spend the extra hour at his desk finessing his projections before sending them off to Shane. Each quarter, the executive team would get together to discuss the various aspects of the business’s performance, ways to improve, things to change, programs that worked well, and programs that didn’t work well. Although Jason was far from being on the executive team formally, he was one of the better analysts in the company and was often asked to contribute his reports and findings.
Everyone in the office was well aware of Jason’s talents and contributions, but he had often found it hard to fully earn the respect of his superiors. He’d put nearly four years into this company and had helped train dozens of new employees over his tenure. He was often referred to as the resident expert on a number of different tasks and issues, making him a pivotal component of the team. Regardless, he never failed to feel defeated and overlooked after these types of meetings.
As Jason and the executive team moved into the conference room, Kayla leaned over and whispered “happy birthday” with a smile. Jason and Kayla had always been closer with each other than the rest of the team, likely because she also shared similar opinions of the office dynamics as he did. Each of the department heads took their seats: marketing, recruiting, human resources, and so on. All-in-all, the conference room held a total of ten people, all prepared with their quarterly remarks.
Natalie walked the room through the marketing budget and the scope of the various campaigns that were executed over the last three months and offered her insight on the projected number of newly acquired accounts. Ben touched on the various new technological features introduced since last meeting and discussed the details of a number of IT issues and solutions he had encountered over the last quarter. He went on to offer a list of upgrades and new features and when he expected them to go into production for the company and customers.
After Ben finished answering a question about the new e-sign features on the customer app and walked back to his seat, Jason started making his way to the front to set up his presentation. “Sales Team Performance Analysis” popped up on the screen behind Jason when Shane’s voice called across the table, “Jason, I would like to have Deborah present this section today.”
Jason was sure he hadn’t heard Shane correctly. He started saying slowly, “I think…” as he turned and read the title slide again, pointing at the screen, puzzled. He looked back at the table full of the executive team with their coffees and computers, Shane seated at the far end of the conference table, “… This is the section I usually do?” It wasn’t supposed to be a question, but in Jason’s stunned confusion, he made it sound like one.
“Right…” Shane produced an exaggerated, mocking smile, “And I’d like Deborah to present it,” he snapped back. He looked over at Deborah, his legs crossed, lounging back in his chair, hands behind his head, “Deborah, could you please walk us through the sales team performance slides?”
Deborah stood up, grinning, “Gladly.” She pulled out a copy of the slides – Jason’s slides – and walked up front to where Jason was still standing. Jason looked around the room, shoulders slouched, a baffled look on his face. His eyes met Kayla’s who had an equally confused look on her face. “Excuse me,” Deborah said in a mousy voice, motioning for Jason to take his seat with her eyes and an annoying smile. She looked up, the horrible grin still painted across her face, and began the presentation.
Jason took his seat and stared at the table in front of him for a few minutes, not listening to Deborah pour over the data he found and prepared. He was gritting his teeth, convincing himself to stay quiet, it would all be over soon and he could talk to Shane afterwards to see what happened. Jason could feel himself heating up with anger and betrayal stemming from the complete and obvious lack of appreciation. He’d spent weeks preparing the past quarters’ numbers, not to mention, his whole morning and lunch preparing the last minute projections. After the review of the previous quarter, Deborah proceeded on to the projection slides. Jason’s projection slides.
Jason could feel his mouth hanging open. He was looking at the same slides he made after telling his co-workers that he couldn’t go with them after they invited him out to lunch for his birthday. The same slides he spent all morning crunching numbers and reviewing spreadsheets for. Jason looked back down at the table in front him, teeth gritted, and his hands in fists under the tabletop. He could feel a deep heat in his chest and stomach. He couldn’t tell if he was nauseous, but he was beginning to feel dizzy.
“That was excellent, Deborah, thank you so much!” Shane called across the room, encouraging the table to join in on his clapping as Deborah gathered her papers. “Really good work there. Very insightful.”
Jason felt like he was floating above the room. He was still looking down at the table, but he could envision Deborah’s pompous grin, Shane’s haughty head nods, and everyone else’s congratulatory demeanor. It was so vivid, yet Jason was practically numb to the sounds around him. He felt like an orb of pressure and heat was growing around him, but no one was reacting. He closed his eyes and took a couple deep, inconspicuous breaths. The heat continued to build within him and around him. As Deborah made her way back to her seat, there was a loud clink, followed by a sharp electrical jolting sound, then the muted sound of ceramic rolling on heavy wood.
“Oh no no no no…” Deborah, panicking, started pulling her stapled presentation apart and dabbing that hot coffee that was drowning her laptop on the conference room table. A large puddle was pooling on the floor and on Deborah’s suede boots. Her chair was soaking wet and her computer was completely unresponsive. “Oh no. Oh crap! My computer… it… it’s ruined…” Deborah began to whimper.
Jason looked up. The heat was gone. His mind was clear. He was back in his body. He looked around the room expecting to see everyone looking at him, but instead, everyone was either tending to or reacting to Deborah’s mishap. Jason looked down at his hands, touched his shirt and his pants. He didn’t know what he expected to feel, but he was sure he would feel something. Sweat, static, heat, something. He didn’t know what happened, but couldn’t help thinking he had something to do with it. “But no,” he murmered to himself, “That’s impossible.”
“Well, if there’s nothing else for today…” Shane looked over at Deborah, then back around the room. He was getting up and gathering his belongings when Kayla put her hand up, “Yeah, Kayla, what’s up?”
“Sorry, I know we were just finishing up, but just wanted to remind everyone that it’s Jason’s birthday today…”
Shane looked up and squinted his eyes as if he were reading some small calendar placed high up on the opposite wall, “Oh! That time of year again, huh? Well, then, happy birthday, Jason.” Shane stuck his hand out and Jason, still perplexed by the meeting’s previous events, slowly reached out to meet Shane’s hand. They shook, Shane produced a toothless smile, before jetting out the door and back to his office.
Deborah was still sniffling while she blotted the dark liquid stains on her suede boots. She was surrounded by a couple of her colleagues, all of whom were offering their sympathies as if she was receiving the worst news in her life. Kayla walked over to Jason, her computer and notepad in hand, “Were you going to stay for the funeral too, or…?”
Jason laughed awkwardly and grabbed his stuff. He looked over at Deborah again, then at the now empty coffee mug. As they were walking out, Jason said, “That was one of the more eventful meetings we’ve had, huh?” As he said that, he looked at Kayla, judging her reaction as if she somehow suspected him of being responsible.
“Yeah, well, I just can’t believe Shane and Deborah could do that to you. I saw you working on that presentation all morning.”
“It is what it is, I guess.”
Kayla stopped and looked at Jason. Like a detective uncovering key evidence, she loudly whispered, “I bet Shane forwarded your slides to Deborah when you sent them to him after lunch! That’s why he wanted them before the meeting!” She turned and started walking down the hall again. She shook her head and mumbled, “Totally not cool.”
“Guess he won’t be forwarding her any more slides for a while with that busted computer.” Another awkward laugh and Jason again looked at Kayla to judge her reaction.
“Right!” She laughed. “The weirdest thing is that I watched the whole thing happen like it was in slow motion. She was nowhere near her seat when that coffee knocked over. It was like some invisible thing pushed it over.” She paused at a corner in the hallway which lead back to her desk and looked at Jason, “I mean, who knows, maybe she bumped the table really hard or something.” She shrugged, “Whatever, she had it coming after that little stunt she pulled with Shane today.”
Jason forced a half-hearted laugh, “Yeah…” Kayla turned and walked back towards her desk, waving over her shoulder. Jason stood there staring at the long hallway ahead of him, lost in his thoughts. All he could hear was Kayla’s voice in his head saying over and over again, “some invisible thing pushed it over.”
Chapter Thirteen
Jason’s phone dinged as the screen lit up with a reminder: B-Day Party Tonight – 8:00pm. It was only five, plenty of time to head home and clean up a bit. He turned his computer off, packed up his stuff, and threw his bag over his shoulder. He hadn’t been able to work much over the past hour or so since the meeting, still a little thrown off by the professional slight he’d experienced followed by the odd coffee incident. He walked up the hall towards the lobby, past Shane’s office, whose door was closed, lights off, desk vacant. He wasn’t the least bit surprised to also see Deborah’s desk empty, long since vacated, and the desks of a couple of the other executive team members.
Jason passed by the printer alcove where Kayla was busy copying some documents. She noticed Jason and called out to him, “No invite to Shane’s happy hour?”
“Ah, you know, I told them I couldn’t make it this time.” Jason joked.
“Righhhht.” Kayla didn’t look up as she sifted through her stack of papers. “Well, I have just a couple things to finish up here, then Josh, Maggie and I are going to grab the bus up to your place for the par-tayyyy.”
Jason laughed, “Great! I need to get home to help my neighbor clean and set up, but I’ll see you all there.”
Later, while he was walking towards the train, Jason saw the homeless lady waving at him enthusiastically. He waved back. He had finally relented a week or so prior and thought that the least he could do was reciprocate her kind gesture with a simple wave. He waited at the crowded crosswalk for the walk signal to flash on when he heard a soft voice say, “Did you enjoy the donuts this morning?”
Jason turned quickly, startled by the closeness of the vaguely familiar voice. The homeless lady. She only came up to his chin, but she was standing no more than a foot from him. Her tapestry of blankets in her hands, a huge, yellow grin painted on her face. “I…” He looked around, but no one was paying much attention, eyes glued to their phones, “I… yes.” A soft, uncomfortable chuckle, “Yes. Um, thank you?”
“I figured chocolate was your favorite, but one can never be too sure, so I threw in a variety.”
“Wait… those were from you?”
She smiled, taking pride in her surprise, “Of course.”
“How did you know where I worked?” A wave of confusion swept over Jason. “Wait… how did you know it was my birthday?”
She was silent. She took a deep breath and smiled again.
“Hold on… what was that message on the card all about? Was that you too? ‘In store for me?’” Jason was whispering excitedly, embarrassed about what he was saying, and embarrassed to be seen so seriously engaged in conversation with this lady in public. His face contorted into a range of inquisitive looks.
She again smiled and pointed across the street, “The walk signal is on.” Before Jason could get a word in, she sank back into the crowd, moving against the train of people pushing into the intersection. Jason, completely bewildered, walked across the street, towards the train station.
On his ride home, Jason grew more confused the longer he thought of the days’ strange events. From the coffee incident to his run in with the woman on the street, he had an odd feeling of nervousness brewing inside of him. Checking his phone for the time, Jason saw that he had a slew of unread text messages and a couple missed calls. He flipped through the mostly “happy birthday” texts and a few messages asking the address for the party that night. He had several messages from Ryan, most of which questions that he answered himself, but still nothing from his dad.
Jason’s dad was an important and wealthy businessman, but not much of a father. He was one of those men that tried to buy his son’s love, neglecting to realize that a simple call or visit from time-to-time was more valuable than a car at sixteen or a trip to Europe after high school graduation, a trip his dad couldn’t find the time to go on with him. It wasn’t that they had a bad relationship, it was that they had no relationship at all. Today, for example, was Jason’s twenty-fifth birthday and as the clock ticked closer to six in the evening, he hadn’t received a call or a text, nor had he received a response to the birthday invitation.
Jason knew that his dad was busy, and time and again, forgave him for it. Jason also knew that his dad really didn’t stick in one place for too long because of his incessant traveling to one of his various offices around the world. But what Jason did know was that the annual convention for his dad’s company was in Chicago that weekend, as it had been for the previous three nights, and his dad couldn’t even find three hours in a year to come wish him a happy birthday. What Jason also knew was that his dad likely forgot his birthday this year, as he had the two previous years, and would undoubtedly send him some outlandish gift as a substitute for the words he neglected to say or the time he neglected to spend. And Jason would forgive him for another year because what were his options?
Jason finished replying to the text messages he had received and gathered up his bags. When he got to his stop he decided he’d better call Ryan to see if there was anything he could pick up, seeing as how he passed the grocery store on his way home.
“Hey birthday boy!”
Jason laughed, “Hey Ryan…” there was a lot of commotion on the other end of the line and some muffled talking, “…Ryan? Can you hear me?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Clanking. Water running. More muffled voices. “It would just be soooo nice if I could get a little bit of help over here!” The end of his sentence grew louder, but also more distant. Jason knew Ryan was directing his dramatic rage at Mike who was probably helping, he was sure, but undoubtedly not up to Ryan’s standards.
Laughing again, Jason asked, “I just got off the train, heading back home and wanted to know if there’s anything I could pick up at the store?”
“Absolutely not! It’s your birthday and you will not be buying anything for your party!”
“Are you sure? I honestly don’t mind…”
“I’m positive. Just get back home and come over, I need your opinion on the color scheme I’m working on.” A few more muffled words, a long, drawn out groan, then, “Listen, I’ll see you shortly. Gotta run!” Click.
Jason got home a few minutes later and figured it was best to change before heading over to Ryan and Mike’s because he knew there would be no escaping once he walked across the hall. He got home and ran upstairs, two at a time, half attempting to avoid Ryan before he had a chance to change and clean up a bit, and half because he had to admit that he was getting excited for the impending festivities. He tossed his bag on the couch and threw his shoes in the coat closet and made his way into his room. He took off his slacks and button up shirt, then started digging through his closet for a fresh outfit.
“Meowwwww” Jason jumped, not expecting an unwelcomed guest to be hiding in his closet again. It was Patriot, of course, the fat one. His yellow eyes were staring up at Jason, who looked down at the cat and asked, “Did you claw your way through the window again?” Jason picked out a shirt and some pants and was putting them on when Patriot let out another elongated meow. “Why thank you, Patriot!” Jason responded, pretending Patriot’s meow was a birthday acknowledgement. He laughed to himself as he became glaringly aware of his subconscious descension to animal small talk as he ran into the bathroom and washed his face and fixed his hair. Satisfied with the result, he walked back to his closet and scooped up Patriot.
On his way out, Patriot in hands, Jason swung by the back window to make sure it was shut. As he got closer, an odd feeling enveloped him because he noticed that the window looked closed. He got closer and tried pulling the window up. Locked. Jason’s mind began swirling for some semblance of a rational explanation, but was interrupted of his investigation by a rattle on the door, “Ummm, helloooo?”
It was Ryan. “Coming!” He ran to the door and opened it.
“What are you doing with Patriot?” Ryan asked before shrugging off his own question and turning towards his apartment. “We have so much to do and people will be here in less than an hour!”
As Jason followed Ryan into his apartment, he heard an unrecognizable, gentle voice behind him, “Oh, Jason, sorry to bother you.”
Climbing up the last couple of steps was the older man that lived downstairs; at least, that’s who he thought it was. He was wearing a brilliant patterned green robe that looked like it came from some Middle Eastern bazaar. His grey hair sat wildly atop his head and his glasses were perched at the end of his nose. He wasn’t wearing shoes, but who was Jason to judge him? Jason turned and with his brows furled in confusion responded with a meager grin, “Um, yeah? That’s me…?”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt the celebrations, I just wanted to drop of this card.” He held out a green envelope that matched the hue of his robe.
Jason hesitantly reached for the card, “Thank you… I appreciate it…” Jason paused, “How did you know it was my birthday? I don’t even think we’ve ever formally met…”
His neighbor laughed and let out a couple weak coughs, “Twenty-five is an immensely important birthday, you know.”
Jason’s expression slowly morphed as he hung onto the old man’s words, remembering the similar things the homeless lady had said to him earlier that day.
“Jason, come on, we do not have time for this!” Ryan yelled from his kitchen.
Jason turned his head to reply, “Yeah, sorry, coming. I’m just saying hi to our…” he turned his head back and the old man was gone. He heard a door downstairs close and lock, then looked at the envelope in his hands. In utter confusion, he walked into Ryan’s apartment and shut the door.
Within an hour, Ryan and Mike’s expertly decorated apartment was full of Jason’s friends. The food, the drinks dwindled as the night went out, the excitement thrill of the night freeing Jason from thoughts about work, about his father, and about the inexplicable events from earlier in the day.
Chapter Fourteen
Over the next few weeks, Jason kept to his routine: happy hour on Fridays, basketball on Saturdays, nights on the back balcony with Ryan and Mike, and the monotony of work. He didn’t exchange anymore words with the homeless lady outside of his office building, although they still waved at each other most mornings. He saw no signs of life from his downstairs neighbor’s unit since the day he dropped off the birthday card, not even when he knocked on the door to say thanks a couple days later. Jason continued to find Patriot in his closet at least 2-3 times per week and, although it was still a mystery, he spent less time trying to figure out how he got in and learned to appreciate the weird little surprise.
As Spring drifted into the long, hot and humid days of Summer, Jason’s reunion with his college friends was quickly approaching. Tracy, Becca, Zach and Jason had all met in the same class of the first semester of their freshman year. As if by divine intervention, they had all been put on the same group project before anyone at the university had made any substantial friends. So, it was no real surprise when, after accumulating immeasurable hours in library study rooms and countless nights and weekends pouring over books and internet articles in crammed dorm rooms, the four of them were inseparable. In truth, through thick and thin, those three had been Jason’s surrogate family while he was away for college.
Since school, Becca had gone on to pursue a doctorate’s degree with an eventual goal of becoming a university professor. She was a literary genius and the single biggest influence when it came to Jason’s burgeoning love for books. This was most likely the case because Becca also shared a deep, albeit, nerdy obsession for the sci-fi and fantasy genre. Despite her preferences, she knew the classics inside and out and always had the perfect recommendation for Jason when he needed it.
Zach was the ultimate class clown, but the kind that people actually liked. He knew how to make every single person laugh, but in an endearing way that showed his ability to connect with people emotionally. Although he was studying pre-med in college, life eventually dropped him at a software company that worked on video game graphics. In hindsight, nothing could have been more complimentary to his true passion and lifestyle, so, Zach, to say the least, was thriving.
Out of the four of them, Tracy was the least like the rest, but for no other reason than her interests in fashion and the world of beauty. She stood out in the best ways possible and loved to give each of the other three mini-makeovers for any and all events, whether it was a school presentation, or some overcrowded frat party. Tracy’s internship her senior year landed her a junior account manager job at some fashion magazine straight out of school. Although Tracy had explained her career exploits to him since, Jason simply did not understand the world of fashion one bit, but knew she was a rising star.
None of them had been to Chicago before and was set to be their first time together in years. Needless to say, the level of excitement was high, as was evident with the lengthy and growing list of things to see and do during the visit. Thankfully, several of the items overlapped, so Jason figured they actually had a chance to get through most of the things they hoped to experience.
At home one weekend in the middle of June, Jason sifted through the various excursions his friends wanted to do and realized that many of them would require tickets or reservations of sorts. Figuring that, with a group of their size, he may want to plan ahead, he decided he wanted to surprise them. He looked over at his kitchen counter, where Jason eyed the pale blue envelope. He walked over and picked it up. He saw his name scrawled across the front, along with his address. He studied the stamp that featured the face of the Queen of England, then his dad’s name written on the top left corner and a return address somewhere in London. The envelope had arrived just a few days ago, a little over three weeks after his birthday.
Jason shook his head in disappointment, then opened it to reveal its contents. A cheap, grocery store birthday card, no doubt purchased when the itching thought that his father was forgetting something finally evolved into full realization. Jason didn’t bother reading it and instead reached into the envelope. A check for $2,500. Apparently, the cost of Jason’s love this year was his age multiplied by 100. He shrugged, went back to his couch and started purchasing tickets for the only family that ever mattered to him anyway.
The next few weeks flew by and before he knew it, Jason was on his way to pick up his friends at the airport. As he pulled up to O’Hare, he immediately found himself stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. Blasting the air conditioner in his car, Jason texted his friends, who all managed to land within 30 minutes of each other, letting them know he was close. Crawling forward a few yards at a time, Jason didn’t immediately notice the man standing in the cell phone lot staring in his direction. When he did, though, he got the chills. There was a stillness in the man’s face, yet an intensity in his wide-open, unblinking eyes. Jason shivered and resolved not to look in that direction again.
The traffic slowly allowed Jason to reach the outer curb of terminal 3, where he saw Becca, Zach and Tracy swinging their arms wildly over their heads. Jason hopped out of the car and, with a goofy grin and watery eyes, hugged his friends. He helped them with their bags, they hopped in the car and buckled up, then made their way to his place in the city, reminiscing, laughing, and carrying on about life after college.
