Emily's Seams

I set the bottle of scotch down on the table. The whiteness of the room made the amber liquid sparkle. I looked over at Doug. His eyes were shining.

“Did you bring any soda?” he asked. At that moment I could picture exactly what Doug had looked like at the age of five, asking his mother for a cookie, oh pretty please.

I reached into my bag and brought out the two litre plastic bottle. Doug looked absolutely delighted.

“Two fingers please.” he ordered. Normally I rage when anyone asks me to get them anything drinkable or edible because the only person that does it is my boss, and I hate him. Doug, however, had said please and I couldn’t help but think that this scotch would be even better to him if poured by someone else and served.

I actually had no idea what two fingers meant so I just poured a sloppy mess of the stuff into one of the short plastic cups I had brought, and then topped it off with soda. Doug didn’t even seem to notice the wet sides of the cup. He breathed in the sharp aroma of the scotch that was already hanging in the air and took a refined sip.

I hadn’t noticed Angus beside me until he spoke. “That good, huh?”

Doug looked up at us like nothing could ever bother him. “Some people drink to forget. I drink to enjoy.”

Angus chuckled beside me. “Em, why don’t you have a sit? I’ll pour you some.”

I took the chair between Dolly and Francine. Angus slid a glass over to me and proceeded to pour glasses for Francine and Dolly, and finally himself. “To whatever the hell is keeping us here, because it also lets this sweet, scotch-bringing little lady come over for a visit once in awhile.”

“Here, here!” Doug added in.

I suddenly felt very self-conscious. I took a deep swallow from my glass and it traveled warmly down my throat and sat like a purring kitten in my stomach.

Angus laughed, reached for my glass and poured me another.

“Oh, this is just nasty stuff!” Dolly whined after draining her glass. I guess like me, she too was unskilled in the art of savouring fermented grains. Angus poured her another.

I don’t quite know how it happened but before long we were talking about our bosses.

“Mine used to grab my fanny. I’d slap his greedy paws away but he just wouldn’t quit!” Dolly said cheerfully. The smile on her face as she described the sexual harassment she had experienced was out of place but I was too drunk to mention it. I looked over at Angus and saw that his face was dark, like he was thinking about punching this probably long-dead boss in the face.

It disappeared as soon as Francine added in her story. “I was on disability from my thirtieth birthday on, so I worked under the table for this friend of mine. Turns out the company I was doing some cleaning for was paying three hundred a month to have it done, but I only saw a hundred of it. When I found out later what had been going on, she said that she had to pay for cleaning supplies. Maybe I just knew where to find the deals but some soap and water never ran me two-hundred bucks!”

“So, this friend was kinda like your pimp.” Dolly said to no one in particular. We all stopped and looked at her. I thought Francine might slug her for the street-walker reference but she just nodded.

“Yup, that was pretty much it. Except I was getting dirty instead of lucky.”

Doug sat forward. “When I was first starting out, I was managing accounts for my boss. He told me that this was only a small lot of his overall clientele and that I was doing it to learn the ropes. Slippery bastard was a fall down drunk but had the good sense to put me in charge of all his accounts. Kept the commissions, the dirty bastard. I know what you mean, getting taken for a ride like that. That’s when I went into business for myself.”

“Now that’s the way to do it!” Angus said a little too loudly. “Bought myself a truck and did as I pleased. Drove the routes I wanted to, charged what I thought it was worth. Never made a better choice.”

I smiled and wavered a little in my seat. “I have a degree in microbiology and my boss expects me to get him coffee. That’s about the worst of it.”

Dolly was the first to say anything. “What’s microbiology, hun?”

I must have fallen asleep. I woke up with a fantastic headache and my breath smelled like I’d downed a bottle of hairspray. It hurt to move.

“Morning sunshine!”

I looked up and saw Angus. We were in the old hospital and I was laying on a very gross bed.

“We weren’t sure what would happen if you fell asleep in there so while you could still walk we got you out here.”

I sat up slowly, bracing my head as I went. “What if someone had come here?”

Angus shook his head. “Maybe a couple kids come in on the weekend but the paper you brought us said it was only Tuesday. No one comes here besides you. And I was out here with you the whole time.”

I looked around for my bag and realized that it had been my pillow. I pulled out my cell and saw that it was ten in the morning. I should have been at work by then.

“Fuck.”

“Did you oversleep, sunshine?” The smirk was clear in Angus’s voice.

“Oh fuck off, this is your fault. You were the one pouring.”

Angus laughed. “Pouring into a cup, not your throat.”

I really didn’t need a lecture on self-responsibility at the moment. I waved Angus off and shuffled out of the hospital. I really could have used a cold, overcast day but instead it was bright and warm. I threw up just outside the old building. I spit a few times, steadied myself and then started towards the trees.

It took me nearly an hour and a half to get to work.

Lynn, the newest and bubbliest addition to the lab, bounced up to me excitedly. I shook my head and held up my hand to push her out of my personal space. “Later.” I mumbled.

The neon lights were nauseating and the air conditioning was just too cold. I stumbled to the bathroom and vomited again. This one felt productive. My head started to clear a little more. I rinsed my mouth out and washed my face. It was all helping.

I slogged my way out of the lab and downstairs to the café. I ordered some tea and a cheese scone and sat by the window. I drank the tea and ate the scone precariously. My stomach was not over this yet.

“Emily?”

I looked up. It was Lynn.

“Are you okay?”

I sighed. “I feel like shit. My head is spinning, my stomach is ready to heave even though it’s already empty, and I would like to sit here by myself.”

She only half took the hint. “Oh, you probably have that nasty bug that has been going around. Hold on, I’m gonna get you some stuff.”

I don’t where she went but in ten minutes she was back with a big bottle of water, some Gravol and two mystery pills. “Those are ibuprofen, had some in my bag. I got you the rest of this at the drug store.”

Lynn annoyed the shit out of me but this was really nice of her. I reached into my purse and pulled out a crumpled ten. “Thanks, Lynn. Here.”

“No, no. It’s okay.”

I looked at her and she stepped back a little. “I know what our prick of a boss pays you. Take it, please.”

She smiled and took the bill. “It’s not so bad. My parents help out when they can and I babysit one day a week.”

I couldn’t help but pity her for having to make ends meet with a job meant for fourteen year olds.

“All the same. Look, I just need to sit for a minute and finish my tea. I’ll be up soon. Can whatever you need wait about fifteen minutes?”

“Oh, I don’t need anything! The boss wanted to talk to you, said he needed a project put together.”

I closed my eyes as I answered her. “Okay, sure. I’ll talk to him in a bit. Did he say when he needed it by?”

“Uh, I think the conference is tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

Lynn nodded.

“Okay, okay. Thanks again.” Lynn smiled and headed out of the small coffee shop. I hated our boss so much right then. I fumed as the Gravol and ibuprofen were crushed away by my gut, sending a light buzz to my spinning head. Everything got a little better with each minute I stayed seated in the uncomfortable wooden chair.

I didn’t go back up to lab until after lunch. By then my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls, but this was an improvement so I couldn’t complain. I tried to move quickly from the elevator to the lab but my boss saw me and shouted.

The cotton balls in my brain were suddenly replaced by shards of glass.

“Yeah?”

My boss was a short fuck. He was balding in the strangest pattern. He wore nice clothes that didn’t fit him and expensive glasses that didn’t suit him. He needed to wear leisure suits. He just looked too out of place in anything else.

“I’ve got a conference tomorrow. I need you to throw something together for me.”

“On what?”

“The stuff Robert has been working on. It’s all on here.” He handed me a small, silver flash drive. “Just put it into a nice slide show and bring it back to me.”

“Why isn’t Robert presenting his stuff?”

The boss looked up at me sharply. “He can’t make it.”

“Whatever. What colour scheme do you want?”

“Well…” he actually pawed at his chin as if that were going to help him think. “The keynote speaker there will be Dr. Kostuk from the Reeds Lab. He gets a lot of funding from the Dalton Foundation and their crest is yellow and blue, so let’s go with those colours.”

I could tell that he wanted me to ask why he would want that but I already knew. He was hoping to vaguely associate himself with a bigger fish through the subtleties of colour schemes. This was not the first time he had unveiled such genius to me. I just didn’t have the patience for it today so I didn’t take it any further.

“Fine. How much time do you have to present?”

He reddened at this question. “Well, they’re busy and there are a number of speakers...”

“Five minutes?”

He looked down and nodded. The keynote speaker would probably have an hour.

“Alright.” I turned and left before he could say anything else.

Thankfully the lab was slow. Only one order came in and everyone except Lynn was listening to a talk on the first floor. I organized five slides with the data the boss had given me. Just as I was about to finish up I heard a group of footsteps and the rush of conversation that accompanies a return from a riveting lecture. Thankfully everyone was well aware that I didn’t care and so no one tried to fill me in.

I got up from my desk and started to head out of the bench area when Robert made me stop. He had a confused look on his face.

“What?”

“Uh, hey Emily. Was that my stuff you were just working on?”

I nodded. “The boss wants it in a slide show for tomorrow’s conference. Why aren’t you presenting it?”

Robert’s cheeks flushed. “Uh…uh, it doesn’t matter. Thanks.”

I should’ve just left it. Dumb Emily. “Wait a sec. You didn’t know he’d be presenting this tomorrow?”

Robert shook his head. “No.”

Robert didn’t have enough of an ego to say what was really going on but I’d seen the boss do it to him before. He was standing on Robert’s work which wasn’t horrible in itself. This was the hierarchy on which research was built. But Robert had been here long enough to present his own work and needed to start making a name for himself. Thankfully his work was good enough that it was already speaking for him. All the same, this pissed me off.

I didn’t say anything to Robert. I just turned around and went back to my desk. After a few tweaks to the slide show and a little extra work I went back to the boss and handed him the goods.

“Slide show is on the flash drive and here are some cue cards to go with the slides. Good luck tomorrow.”

I’d seen the boss work before. I knew he was up to his eyeballs in grant writing and article commentaries. He had no time to actually review what I had written and he was just going to say whatever was already on the cards. This strategy made for choppy speeches where he was figuring out what he was trying to say as the audience was trying to figure out why they were wasting their lunch breaks there.

I didn’t feel like a complete bitch. The data was good, and it was being clearly presented. All I did was make sure that credit was given where it was due.

I still had that haze that accompanies a night of drinking. I headed home by five.

The next morning was quiet. I received a few shipments, prepared a staining agent and read an article by Jones. The lab was empty because everyone had gone to the conference the boss was speaking at. I took a long, quiet lunch at a nearby café and read the junk magazines the owner kept around for singles like me. A movie star I had never heard of was pregnant and a director I never cared about was dead.

The isolation of the morning was like a warm blanket. My mind stretched comfortably and safely, thinking about the Jones paper, the pregnant starlet and what I would pick up for the spooky crew today. That all shattered as soon as I stepped in the lab.

They were buzzing like flies on shit.

“Oh my God, can you believe it? I thought our boss was a total douche but that was amazing!”

“And how everyone clapped? You’d think we’d actually produced some worthwhile data here or something!”

I hurried past them and settled at my desk. I was about to turn my computer on when Robert called out to me.

“Emily! Emily!” he was elated. “Thank you so much!”

I looked at him like he was an idiot.

“Uh…the speech! I know you must have written it. No way the boss would have said all that stuff about all of us.”

Oh God. I had done it to teach the boss a lesson, and mainly chose to be so horrible because I had been living through a terrible hangover. But this? I hadn’t done it for this…gratitude.

“All him. Told me what he wanted and I just made it happen.”

Robert looked confused. “But yesterday…you didn’t know till you talked to me that he had jacked my stuff.”

“Robert, think about it. How could I have written that in without him noticing it? I mean, everyone at least looks at the slides they are presenting before they do. He must have done it.”

“But I saw you working on it.”

I shook my head. “No. But that’s great, glad to hear it went well.” I turned my chair around. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, Robert.”

“Oh. Okay. The boss got a great reception. We’re heading out for dinner to celebrate. You should come.”

As if. “Okay, bye.”

I heard him shuffle away as my stomach turned it down a few notches. I felt sick.

I left the lab early again. On my way out, the boss caught me in the lobby.

“Emily. May I speak with you for a moment?”

I looked at him. “What?”

“I wanted to say that your addition to the beginning of the speech, although unexpected, was generally well received.” He coughed. “However, I would like to make it perfectly clear that such additions should be run by me. You should not have taken such liberties.”

“Well, if you didn’t like it why didn’t you just decide that when you were going over the notes I had made you?”

He turned red and mumbled something I didn’t understand.

“I mean, sure, I didn’t need to put it in but I figured you’d run through the speech at least once before going up there. I thought I’d leave it up to you to decide. But I’m glad you decided to keep it in and give Robert and the other students the credit they deserve. I mean, it would have been pretty shitty of you to present someone else’s data without acknowledging their hard work. I guess I just figured a guy like you would have wanted that part in.” The elevator dinged and the metal doors opened up. “Have a great celebratory dinner!”

Sure, it bothered me that the boss was trying to make sure everyone knew he was top dog and that he called the shots. And true, what he did was something that a lot of lab heads did. I guess I just felt like being awful to him.

I decided on Chinese food for the residents of the defunct Creekside Institute. I even splurged for five fortune cookies.

“Now that was something!” Angus said as he leaned back and patted his gut.

“Oh my, this chow mein is just divine!” Dolly added.

I passed out the fortune cookies. Everyone giggled as they cracked theirs open.

Francine was the first to share. “Ha! You will experience material wealth! Oh sure, sure! These are the robes of a queen!” she said, tugging at her very unattractive and dowdy dress.

“Oh! Expect the unexpected! Now isn’t that exciting!” Dolly chirped. I laughed because I knew she was completely serious.

Angus smirked. “Be true to yourself and you will be happy.”

“You will find love just around the corner.” Doug read.

I looked at mine and for a second my breath caught in my throat.

You will experience great loss but happiness is still possible.

“Hun?” Dolly said. “Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah. Just says that I’ll be happy and prosperous and all that shit.”

“Now who comes up with these?” Francine asked. “I mean, what kind of a job is that?”

“I think I would have been pretty good at it.” Angus said.

Francine laughed. “Oh yeah? Let’s hear it.”

He cleared his throat and sat up straighter. “Francine, you will find yourself in a white room with some other dead people. Doug and Dolly, the same goes for you.” He turned to me. “Emily? I haven’t got a fucking clue.”

I couldn’t help it. My face cracked a big smile.

“Well done.”

He slightly bowed his head. “Why thank you.”

A momentary surge of confidence told me it was time to ask something I had been meaning to ever since I’d found this place. “How would you guys feel if I got your last names and where you lived. Stuff like that? So I could find out how you all died.”

They all stared.

“Why would you wanna find out a thing like?” Angus asked. His tone was clearly asking who the hell do you think you are?

“It’s just that none of you remember and none of you seem to know why you’re here. I thought maybe if I could look up how you all went, I’d find a pattern or something.”

Angus’s face didn’t change. I was so close to apologizing.

“Yeah, sure. What the hell? Francine May Tate. I lived in Chicago.” For some reason, I wasn’t surprised that Francine was the first to give me the green light.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Franny. Can’t hurt nothing now.” Dolly piped up in her baby voice. “Moira Natalie Seeley.”

“Moira?” Angus asked incredulously.

Dolly looked down and blushed. “Yeah, doesn’t really suit me, huh? My momma thought the nurse who looked after her when she was having me was the smartest thing ever, so she named me after her.”

Angus kept staring. I couldn’t help but think about how learning Dolly’s real name must have been kind of a like a cold shower. That’s correct Angus, this is a person. Not just a play thing, a Dolly.

“Oh come on, it’s not like Dolly is ever anyone’s real name!” I said. He snapped his head back to me and he had on a look that told me to mind myself.

“I was originally from Jersey but I’m pretty sure I was living in Las Vegas when I died.” Dolly continued.

“I sure as shit hope so. What other excuse would you have for wearing that?” Francine quipped.

“Douglas Alistair Wells. I ran the Wells Investment firm in Toronto.” Little balding Doug didn’t even look up from the finance section of his newspaper.

“This ain’t right. We don’t remember anything for good reason, I’m sure of it.” Angus said gravely.

Dolly looked scared. Francine just huffed. Doug kept reading his newspaper.

“Oh come off it, Angus! We’re not supposed to be getting these trash magazines and Chinese food hand delivered to us but for some reason it’s working. If Emily here wants to learn a little more about why she’s the only freak who can see us and this place, well, fine!” Francine shifted her ample self towards me. “I’m not gonna lie, Emily. I’m a little curious myself. Go on and look us up if you want.”

Dolly nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’m wondering about it too.”

I looked back at Angus but he wouldn’t meet my stare. “Okay, great. So...you all want to know, right?”

Francine and Dolly nodded their heads. Doug kept on reading. And stubborn ass Angus just kept looking down.

“Okay, I gotta go. I’ll try to come back tomorrow. Angus?”

He looked up at me like I had just shot his dog. “What?”

I didn’t take guilt on too easily anymore. “The wall.” I answered impatiently.

He moved silently to the wall, keeping his eyes away from me the whole time. The wall peeled away and just before I stepped through, he caught me by the arm. His grip meant business.

“It ain’t right.” he said.

I shrugged my arm and his hand dropped away without a fight. “Well, good thing I don’t have a clue who the hell you are.” I stepped through the hole and didn’t look back.

On the walk home I had planned on looking them up right away. But I was tired. Very, very tired. I wrote down their names and the cities they had lived in and fell right into bed.

So gross, I forgot to brush my teeth.