CHAPTER SEVEN

FIRST DAY

Part One

The cab ride cost eighteen dollars.

Alexander paid, got out, and stood on the sidewalk for a second. He had never once looked at a fare before. Now, the number stayed in his head all the way up in the elevator.

Seven forty. Five minutes early.

Don't be late. He had heard it in her voice all weekend, flat and easy, like a door closing. He had never been late for anything in his life. Somehow, it still felt like a test.

The woman at the front desk looked up and smiled the way people smile when they already know the answer.

"Can I help you?"

"Alexander Vale. I start today."

"Of course." She typed something. "Daniel's coming to get you."

"Thank you."

He waited. Two women walked past with their coffee and slowed down. One of them leaned close to the other.

"That's him."

"No way."

"It's him. I saw the news."

He kept his eyes on the wall in front of him. He had been stared at in a lot of rooms. Never like this, though. Back then they stared because they wanted something. These two stared because they felt sorry for him.

"Mr. Vale!"

Daniel came around the corner with a folder under one arm and a big, easy smile.

"Just Alexander," Alexander said.

"Okay. Alexander." Daniel held out his hand. "Welcome to operations."

They shook. Daniel's grip was firm.

"Thank you for doing this," Alexander said.

"I didn't do anything. Ms. Carter hired you."

"You told me she was hiring."

"I told you she was hiring." Daniel shrugged. "The rest was you."

He started walking and Alexander followed. The floor was wide and open, rows of desks with no walls. People typed, talked on the phone, laughed at something on a screen. It smelled like coffee and printer toner.

"So here's how it works," Daniel said. "Everyone on this floor knows who you are."

"I assumed."

"Nobody knows why you're here."

"Ms. Carter wanted it that way."

"She told me. She told Ethan. That's it." Daniel stopped at a desk and turned around. "So when people ask, you're the new guy. You came from a company that went under. All true."

"All true," Alexander said.

"Rule one. Don't call me sir."

"I wasn't going to."

"You almost did, back there."

Alexander let out a breath. "I almost did."

Daniel grinned. "It'll get easier. Or it won't. Either way, we've got shipping to do."

They kept walking. Past the kitchen, past a wall of sample boxes, past a woman on the phone who didn't look up. At the end of the row, by the back wall, Daniel stopped again.

There was a desk. One chair. A computer. And next to it, a big gray printer that hummed like it was thinking about something.

"This is you," Daniel said.

Alexander looked at the printer. Then at Daniel.

"It's the only open spot," Daniel said.

"Is it?"

"Mostly."

A woman at the next desk leaned over the divider. "It's cursed, you know."

"Tasha," Daniel said.

"What? It jams every Tuesday. Last guy who sat there quit."

"He moved to Denver."

"Because of the printer."

Tasha looked at Alexander and gave a small, curious smile. "I'm Tasha. Welcome. Good luck."

"Alexander."

"I know." She sat back down. "Everyone knows."

Alexander put his hand on the back of the chair. It was an ordinary chair. It wobbled a little.

"It's fine," he said.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Daniel looked at him for a second. Then he pulled a sticky note off the monitor and handed it over.

"That's your login. Don't use your old email for anything. Ever."

"Understood."

"I'll be back in ten minutes with your first job."

He walked away. Alexander sat down. The chair squeaked.

Behind him, the printer clicked once and started to hum louder.