Night At The Office

My boss isn’t a bad man. He’s just too absorbed in work, too obvious of anything else. Not to mention that he is absentminded too. And for this reason, on this Sunday evening, he bid me go to the office to fetch him some important papers. 

"Bring me the file on those Floor and Curse people,” he barked into the phone. "I have a meeting with them tomorrow. I forgot the file.”

"You want the Flour and Crust file, sir?” I asked, trying hard to crush a giggle.

"Yes, yes! You know what I am talking about Rohit. It’s on my table. Or in the cabinet. Or somewhere around there.” He tried to be helpful. 

"Do hurry Rohit. I am wasting valuable time here. Your voice sounds funny. Got a cold?” he asked as an afterthought but didn’t wait for an answer.

The boss ordered, and the subordinate obeyed. That was the unsaid, unwritten rule. That it was a Sunday, meant very little to my boss. And that it was Halloween, meant nothing at all. I shook my head, shrugged my shoulders, threw my hands in the air, and cursed under my breath. I was all but dressed. Halloween night is what I look forward to eagerly. I enjoy dressing up. My best have included a spider, Annabelle, King Tut and Tughlaq. For this year’s party, I was initially thinking of the COVID-19 virus but finally zeroed in on Felonious Gru. 

This has been one of the easiest costumes I have worn. I even had the bushy eyebrows and the pointy nose taped in when the boss called. One doesn’t refuse the boss; he wins hands down. Always. So I said a prayer and sent a message to my friends telling them that I would be delayed. At this point, I was so glad that I had not taken up my over-enthusiastic friend’s suggestion and wrapped myself in toilet paper to look like a mummy.

In my pocket, the phone was constantly chiming. Angry friends were demanding answers. I thought it best to not respond. The mood was festive in my residential complex. Children were running around, filling their tummies and bags with goodies. Teenagers in weird costumes were huddled together, perhaps making parent-proof plans for a party. And a few official adults, like myself, were already partying.

I drove and promptly lodged myself in the thick of a traffic jam. I love the traffic. Unlike what the majority says, traffic gives one time to introspect and reflect. I do all my planning in a traffic jam. I switched on the radio. What luck, my favorite song was playing. I grooved. I closed my eyes and sang along. The music soon reached a crescendo. And all of a sudden, without warning, it went quiet. The silence might have lasted a second or two.

"Beware,” said a husky voice. Then the music was back. 

I froze. My hands in midair, I stared blankly at nothingness. Did I really hear that? Did a voice say "Beware”? I was one hundred percent sure that it was not a part of the song. I had heard this song a million times. It was my favorite song. I knew every word of it, every beat. Was I imagining things? No. I was very sure that I had distinctly heard that husky voice. I don’t know why, but I was frightened. I turned to look at the rear seat. I don’t know what I was expecting to see there. It was empty. The radio kept churning music, but I was hardly listening. My brain was coming up with possible explanations, the most logical being that it was a glitch that I mistook as a voice. 

The honks brought me back to my senses. After about half an hour of uneventful driving, I took the intersection and found myself at the threshold of the busiest road in the city, though it was anything but busy that evening. Barring a couple of vehicles, the road was surprisingly deserted. I picked up speed, and so did my spirits. At this rate, I would reach the office in about fifteen minutes. I laughed out loud; for on a working day, it would be a crime to even think of accomplishing this feat. 

I estimated that retrieving the file, driving to my boss’ and then to the party venue would take nearly an hour. Worst case scenario, two hours. Not bad, I thought aloud, the party would have nicely warmed up by then, and I can make a grand entrance. I was so looking forward to this party! Had the boss not forgotten the blasted file, I would be in the thick of it by now. 

Well! No use complaining. It was just a matter of an hour or so. Thinking of the ways to prank my friends, I sped along the road. It was a wide stretch of road with streetlights doting on either side. Presently, the farthest of these began blinking. I thought something was wrong with the bulb, but then, every streetlight was blinking. I slowed down, staring at the lights, not knowing what to make of it. 

There was no vehicle in front of me, and neither could I spot any in the rearview mirror. It was bewildering that the lights behind me seemed absolutely fine, but those in front of me were literally off the wire. I was once again filled with fear, the same I felt a few minutes ago, of something ominous, something unknown watching me, waiting for the right time to strike. 

A minute later, all was fine and the lights were back again, as if nothing had happened. This blinking episode lasted long enough to convince me that it was real. Or was this a glitch too? "Focus. Get the job done,” I told myself as I reached the office building.

"Screeeeech!” said the elevator door when I bid it open. This was new. I left it in perfect condition yesterday afternoon. I shook my head and made a mental note to report this to the maintenance manager. Preoccupied with this problem, I took one step forward. Instead, I gasped and leaped backward. My heart was in my mouth and I felt a sudden urge to bolt, cause in front of me stood a hideous man. He was wearing black from head to toe, with an equally hideous striped scarf thrown around his neck. He had bushy eyebrows that almost covered his forehead and a ridiculously pointed nose. I stared at him. He stared back. Then the elevator door closed.

I slapped my forehead. "Fool!” This time when the door slid open, I smiled and my reflection smiled back at me. The elevator took me to the ninth floor. I unlocked the office. It was strange to walk into an unlit, silent, deserted office. 

For some reason that is totally beyond me, the switches are at the far end towards the right. I cursed my boss once again, as I walked through a dark hallway, my footsteps echoing loud and clear, were giving me the creeps. I was just two steps away from the switches when I thought I heard something. Was it the darkness, or was it the silent darkness that seemed to enhance my senses? I have noticed many times that we tend to be keen and over-observant in darkness and silence. My eyes were the size of saucers, my ears were like the dish antennae, and my body was filled with adrenaline. I was ready for action.

I rushed ahead and switched on the light. I swirled rapidly anticipating someone or something behind me. But the hall was as empty as it should be on a Sunday evening. I switched on all of the dozen lights in the hall. The illumination calmed my nerves. I snaked my way through the cubicles and had my hand on the doorknob of the boss’s cabin when I heard a screech. It was the same that the elevator had made when it opened its door for me. Was someone coming up? I waited. After a long minute, I felt I was wasting time.

I turned my attention once again towards the boss’s cabin. As soon as I opened the door, a weird smell hit me, a cross between a rotten egg and a dead mouse. Or was it the boss’s leftover breakfast of the previous day? Whatever it was, I couldn’t be bothered.

I thanked my stars when I found the file on the table. I grabbed it, hurried out, slammed the cabin door shut, and heaved a sigh of relief. I had the file. Now all I had to do was to deliver it to the boss. 

And then I saw it from the corner of my eye; something was moving. A chair. It slowly rolled on its wheels out of the cubicle and onto the walkway. What on earth was happening? My heart skipped a beat and I froze. This time no adrenaline flew through me. I was stiff as a log on the forest bed. 

Then there was the sound of a pen-stand getting knocked over. I could distinctly hear them falling on the floor, one pen at a time. From some corner came the sound of rustling of paper. The copier at the other end of the hall whirred, while somewhere close by, a stapler snapped. These strange occurrences happened in quick succession, and I was left gaping like a useless bystander. The chair rolled again, this time it disappeared into the cubicle. Surely these things can’t happen on their own. 

"Who…who is it?” I stammered. There was no answer. 

I couldn’t go on standing like this. If nothing else, I would die of fright. My heart was racing so hard that I could hear it thumping in my ears. My mouth had gone dry. I could sense my knees going weak. My brow was sweating and my eyebrows got itchy. I dared not lift a finger though.

Then without warning, the lights went out. It was pitch dark, so dark that I could hardly see my own self. Involuntarily I let out a scream that rang through the hall. I would have run, had I been able to see where I was running. As the echos of my scream died out, the lights came on. This was the last straw. If I was being encouraged to leave, then I needed no more encouragement. I ran without looking back. I didn’t switch the lights off, neither did I lock the door. 

I reached the elevator. I extended my hand to press the button, but before I could do so, it opened as if on cue. It gave a loud screech that seemed louder than ever. It slowly opened to reveal the full-length mirror within. Just a few minutes ago, I had seen myself and had got flustered. Though my nerves were on edge, I knew what to expect. 

As I stepped in, I glanced at my reflection. There was something behind me. It looked like a cape. My costume had no cape. I swept my hands behind me. There was nothing. In the mirror though, I clearly saw a cape. I scanned my reflection till I reached my face. It was smiling. But I wasn’t. The smile grew broader. It was eerily hypnotizing. I felt my spine turn to stone.

That very minute, the phone in my pocket rang. In the stillness of the moment, it sounded deafening. I might have jumped a few inches into the air. That broke the spell. The man in the mirror, or whatever it was, was still smiling at me. I didn’t waste another second. I bolted out, squeezing myself out of the elevator door, that was determined to keep me in. 

I rushed towards the stairs and practically hurled myself down. In between I paused, but all I could hear was my laboured breath. I hurried to the car, fumbled with the keys, and finally was able to let myself in. When I say I was shaking like a leaf, it is an understatement. I fumbled some more before I could get the car started. Pressing the accelerator to the floor, I sped out of the gate. 

As I drove away, I could see the building in the rearview mirror. While the building itself was dark, one of the floors was lit up. Apparently, it was the one which I had exited in such a hurry. And then the lights went out, plunging the building into darkness. 

Never did I look back the whole ride. When I found a traffic jam, I was a relieved man. Needless to say, I was shaken. There was no iota of doubt in my mind that the happenings of the last hour were real. I could bet on my life that I was not dreaming. I had seen someone in the mirror, were there more? Was my office a dwelling place of spirits, or were they just meeting and partying tonight? Should I tell the boss? At this point, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to know the answers. All I needed was a stiff drink and a willing ear.

By the time I had reached the boss’s residence, I had calmed down considerably. Before I got out of the car, I took the precaution of removing my false eyebrows and nose. I didn’t want to scare the boss out of his wits. When he opened the door, he looked surprised. “Rohit! What brings you here?” he asked. 

As I handed him the file, I felt I deserved applause. Instead, he said, “What’s this?”

“You asked for it, sir.”

“Did I?”

“You had called me sir.”

“When?”

I was puzzled. He did call me. Has he forgotten?

“Have you had a drink too many? Go home Rohit, go and sleep.”

Didn’t he call me? I was feeling dizzy.

“Been at a party, I guess. Had a nice time, I presume.” He smiled as he shut the door on me.

I stood speechless. Nice time indeed.