The Board – Part 5
That night, Aidan sat on his bed thinking. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole thing. He thought about everything he did to get to this point. Was it worth it? Was it worth his soul? If that meant spending eternity working in the IT department of an insurance company with an occasional vote about sacrifice, was it really all that bad? Or was there more to this? There had to be.
Without realizing it, his thoughts drifted to Cassidy. She seemed sad, as if she were questioning everything like he was. He still couldn’t imagine what a girl like her could have done to get on the board. How long had she been there? Time seemed to mean nothing to the inner circle. Horatio was constantly hinting at his being exceptionally old, so maybe she was the same. Maybe after so long, she was changing her mind about her choice.
The next morning, Aidan almost forgot that his job wasn’t normal. After breakfast, he stopped at a coffee shop, picked up a large coffee, light and sweet, and headed toward the office building like any ordinary commuter. On the way up to his office, Aidan passed Jayna, the young blonde from the board who seemed to flirt with everyone.
“Hey, sexy,” she purred.
“Jayna, right?”
“I’d be insulted if you didn’t remember my name,” she cooed, getting very close to him.
She was gorgeous, but Aidan knew feeding into her advances was a bad idea. It was one of the first rules he learned, besides keeping quiet and not asking questions. Aidan was pretty sure he knew how Jayna got here. It had to be sex and seduction for sure. And she didn’t seem to regret it, considering her behavior.
“We have a meeting today at eleven a.m., by the way,” she said with a grin. “I think it’s about the festival, but Horatio seemed off this morning, so we’ll see.”
“Ok, thanks,” Aidan said, backing up.
Jayna got closer and whispered, “You smell delicious.”
She turned and walked toward the lefthand corridor, looking back at him, making sure he was watching her swagger. Aidan swallowed hard and continued toward the elevators.
***
There was a plain cardboard box on his desk when he got to his office. It was sealed with packing tape, and across the top in Sharpie was written, “Aidan.” As he was about to slice open the tape, he heard someone approach from behind.
“They always give a welcome package to new board members,” Lucien said. He was a tall man, skin the color of rich coffee, with a graying beard closely cropped to his aging chin. His voice was gentle, and he seemed to smile with every word.
“Should I brace myself?” Aidan asked, half-jokingly.
Lucien walked toward the desk, smiling. He seated himself in one of the red guest chairs and looked at Aidan.
“You are quite young, son,” he said. “I’ve seen many young people pass through here over the years, and it always makes me sad. I worry that our board gets younger and younger.”
“You’ve been here a while, huh?” Aidan probed, hoping the older man would give him a little more information than everyone else.
“Long enough,” Lucien said quietly. “You see, I’ve accepted my circumstances. This is the best place for me. And Aidan, a bit of advice I give to every new member. Just do your job. Do your mundane job here and keep the company running. Do your board job. The more you toe the line, the safer we all are.”
“Everyone keeps telling me that,” Aidan said with a nervous laugh. “It’s as if everyone expects me to break the rules, rules I haven’t even been told yet.”
“There’s only one rule, son,” Lucien said grimly. “And believe me, you are happier when you keep to that rule. Don’t ask any questions and do what you need to. Information is on a need-to-know basis, and it’s better that way. It’s really not a bad deal when you do your job. It could have been much worse.”
Aidan nodded and turned to the box. “So, about this box?”
“Mostly paperwork, benefits package, 401K, etc. There are some supplies, probably coffee, chocolate,” the old man explained. “Sometimes Horatio will give a bottle of spirits. Oh, and some information on your new city.”
“Yeah, about that,” Aidan said, “We don’t change our names, so how are we dodging legal….”
“First and only rule,” Lucien reminded. He stood up and added, “Things get taken care of.”
After Lucien left, Aidan opened the box and found exactly what the older man had listed. There was one item that he didn’t mention. At the very bottom of the box was a book. It looked to be a journal, bound in leather with the number four on it. Aidan looked up at the painting over his bar, Fourth Circle from Inferno, and remembered he was in the fourth seat at the board meeting.
***
“As you can see, time is ticking away, and we need to decide on the festival’s activities, including the candidate, Edward Lansing,” Horatio explained as he handed out thick folders filled with papers that outlined how this year’s celebration would work.
“This gets thicker every year, Horatio,” Victoria laughed. Her voice was thick and sounded like rocks scratching glass.
Horatio didn’t laugh with her. He only half smiled and glared at the middle-aged woman.
“Victoria,” Lucien began calmly. “You know that things get more complicated every year. We have to be careful, and with technology and everything else the modern world has to offer, we must be safe during our festival.”
“Lucien, I get it,” Victoria snapped. “All I’m saying is sacrifice is getting friggin’ complicated.”
“You can leave anytime you want,” Richard said curtly. He glared at Victoria, and Aidan suddenly realized that the board members didn’t seem to care for the woman. She was blunt and outspoken, two characteristics that would surely get anyone in these circumstances in trouble.
Victoria was a manager in the Human Resources department. He overheard Cassidy and Richard talking about her in the hallway the day before, and Aidan surmised that she was a teacher before getting entangled in the insurance company. In the sixth seat, if Aidan followed Inferno correctly, Victoria was their heretic.
“Right,” Victoria laughed a little too loudly. “Leave? Leave means death around here.”
“Or redemption,” Cassidy said quietly.
All eyes turned to her, and Horatio smirked. Cassidy caught his eye briefly then lowered her head.
“Tomato, tomahto, right?” Horatio teased.
Featured Image: Laptop and Notebook by StartupStockPhotos on Pixabay
