Chapter 2

“Okay, I love you. Good night. Yes. Night, Dad. Love you too. Okay, I’ll keep you guys posted.”

Heath hung up the phone, more pissed than before. Even at twenty-five, he really hated the idea of worrying his parents. He looked at the folders on his desk again. This was bullshit.

Reluctantly, he sat down, grabbed another pen, and opened the next folder. He had finished the three on his desk by the time he heard a door from the hallway open and then Dane’s whistling, which normally was kind of nice, but today seemed a bit obnoxious.

“How’s it going in here?” Dane called to him from across the room in an overly cheerful voice that made Heath want to slap him.

Heath waited until Dane was standing in the opening in his cubicle that served as a door before he responded.

“It’s great,” Heath said, looking up briefly to meet Dane’s eyes and then looking back at the folder in front of him.

“It’s crazy. Everyone has bailed. We’re the only people here,” Dane said. “I walked the whole building and didn’t see a soul. All the departments upstairs had their lights turned off. Even the security guard just left.”

Heath looked up again. “So how are we going to get out of here?”

“The same way we got in, the front door,” Dane answered.

“I mean, doesn’t the security guard lock everything up when he leaves? Doesn’t he set some sort of alarm when he takes off?”

“Nope. Our key cards work all hours. As long as they know who’s here, they don’t care how late we work. I work in here on Sunday mornings all the time.”

“Figures,” Heath said, almost involuntarily.

Dane paused and then glanced at Heath. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Heath said, not looking up.

“No, it was supposed to mean something. What?”

Heath shook his head.

Dane stood silent for a moment, and then spoke. “You’re pissed that we’re here.”

Heath looked up at him and asked, “You think?”

“I don’t get it,” Dane said. “We’ll get out of here earlier than usual. We just need to finish this stuff before the delivery truck comes. We planned on staying late like we do every beginning of the month. It’s the only time we’re stuck here. The rest of the month, you’re free to go on time. Right now though, if the docs that serve as collateral on these loans don’t get out, it screws everything up.”

“You don’t think the lending company would understand? I’ve been here a year, and we’ve always been on time, but today we’re having a major snowstorm.”

“On the news, they said maybe a foot over the whole day, and it’s not even bad yet,” Dane said. “They’re treating the roads. We’ll be fine. Do you know how much snow we got in Buffalo? I think you guys are overreacting.”

“We’re not in Buffalo,” Heath said. “We’re outside the DC Beltway. We don’t have the same equipment here. Road treating here means that they throw some salt on the roads and try to scrape the snow and ice fast enough, but usually we’re shut down for days with this kind of snow. That’s why everyone left. And I don’t think you’re the best gauge of how to react.”

“Because I’m new to the area?”

“That, and because you have a pregnant wife at home whom you should probably be with, but you’re here with me.”

“I’m here because we need to get a package ready before the delivery service shows up. Look, if you want to leave, go ahead and head home.” Dane paused. “I misunderstood. I thought you wanted to stay late and that we were going out for beers afterwards.”

“We were going to go out and have beers and celebrate getting this done, but that was before Snowstorm Satan, or whatever its name is, showed up. We’ll do it next month,” Heath said, standing up and putting on his jacket. “Also, no offense, but it’s one thing to work late tonight, but it’s another to go out boozing while your extremely pregnant wife stays home in this weather.”

Dane didn’t say a thing as Heath began to pack his belongings, he simply pulled up the extra chair in Heath’s cubicle and sat down. He quickly reached for one of the files from the floor and began working on it, keeping his eyes on the file.

“Okay, have a good one,” Heath said as he walked out of the cubicle and into the small hallway.

“She’s not at home,” Dane mumbled somewhat angrily.

Heath turned around and peeked his head back into the cubicle.