Chapter 4 - The Meeting

             I woke up at my normal time, and for the first few minutes of the day everything else went normally too. It was around the time that I poured my second cup of coffee that I started to realize how truly strange the night before had been. I carried my mug to the futon and sat down to look over the legal pad I’d scrawled my list of questions on.

              I supposed I was just going to have to go in to the office that evening to see what was going to happen. Sometimes I still questioned why I paid rent on an office space when I had my own home, but I always came back to “it’s worth it.” When I had first started my transcription business I did work out of my one-bedroom apartment. I had set up a workstation in my living room area, and aside from some disruptions when the parking lot got loud, it really hadn’t been too bad. The problem had been one of schedule and routine – I would either struggle to get going and twiddle around the apartment trying to find motivation or I would work 18-20 hours straight, since I always had tasks on hand and could always feel them looking at me.

              Once I had enough regular clients and steady income, renting a little office room in the building up the street had seemed like a logical solution. I posted set work hours, I kept my workload reasonable, and I *only* worked from the office. I did have some equipment at home, but I pretended I didn’t, to keep myself from working off the clock.

              And that Saturday I found myself glad that I didn’t work out of my home anymore – I could only imagine how intrusive it would feel to have the Crone appear in my apartment without notice. Of course, this meant I had to break my own rules and go in to the office on a weekend, but it isn’t like anyone would know or care. I was pretty sure no one else in the building tended to work Saturday evenings, but there was no rule against it. Each office had its own locking door, and we each had a key fob for the building. As long as we didn’t bring anyone in with us we were welcome to come and go as we pleased. I did hesitate for a moment as I mulled it over, but decided I wasn’t breaking any rules – after all, I wasn’t going to be bringing anyone in with me. The Crone was handling getting in and out her way, whatever that meant. I was in the clear.

              The day crawled by, and I nibbled on a few snacks and zoned in and out of conscious thought. Finally, I gave up waiting and decided to head over to the office. I was too distracted to accomplish anything at home, so I might as well go in early and see if I could distract myself with something billable.

              I got to the office building and let myself in the side door. I was the only car in the parking lot on a Saturday afternoon. I did often walk, but since I had no idea how late I would be staying I figured I should drive. If nothing else, the abandoned car in the parking lot would be a sign to the building manager to come looking for me if something happened. If I walked, they wouldn’t even know I was there unless they thought to check the security footage from the door for some reason.

              The hall was lit only by the standby lights. I didn’t bother switching on the overheads. I unlocked my office door, then locked it back behind me. Just in case someone else decided to come in on a whim, I didn’t want them walking in on me and… whatever was about to happen.

              I sat down at my desk and pulled the folded-up paper I’d torn from the legal pad out of my pocket and smoothed it out. It felt just as absurd as it had when I’d looked it over that morning. But when I leaned back and looked around, I realized there were still papers scattered from when I had bolted out of my chair when the Crone first surprised me. At least that had definitely happened. I stood back up and started gathering up the papers. Before I knew it I was busy tidying and putting things away – all the end-of-week things I hadn’t finished doing the day before. I noticed a sticky note I had left for myself to resend an updated invoice to a client who had requested additional revisions after the original project had been completed, so I sat down to knock that out. I set the email to send Monday morning, since I didn’t want to let them see I was working on the weekend – I certainly didn’t want that to become an expectation.

              “Especially if I’m taking on this fairy tale project, I’m going to need to keep my weekends clear,” I said aloud to myself.

              “I’m glad to hear that, it sounds like you’re at least considering accepting!” I jumped and whirled in my chair to see the Crone standing in the corner, just where she had disappeared the night before. “We are going to have to come to an understanding about not sneaking up on me if this is going to work!” I took a deep breath and forced my body to relax as she smiled sheepishly.

              “So sorry, you’re absolutely right. We can discuss that as part of the terms of the project and find a solution, I’m sure.”

              I nodded, and gestured for her to sit across the desk from me. “Would you like a water? Or, um, I think there’s some Mountain Dew?” I pointed at the minifridge. She shook her head. “Thank you, I’m fine. Would you like to start with your questions, or shall I begin with an overview of my proposal?” I glanced down at the paper in front of me. “I suppose you go ahead, I might have more questions or less by the time you’re done, it’s hard to say.”