Meeting Ian
It was an interesting sight, to be sure. Sitting on the small desk was a very old looking computer. Stacked around this ancient piece of technology was a large mass of paper, magazines, books, CDs, empty candy wrappers, and so many different odds and ends it was nearly impossible to see there was a desk at all.
On top of all these a pair of black converse all-stars was neatly crossed, while the wearer of the shoes was leaned back in his rickety old chair, fast asleep. In his ears were his headphones attached to his Ipod, still playing his music loud enough to be heard through the headphones.
The man observing all this simply shook his head. Then he leaned in and, pulling one of the headphones out, whispered:
"Riley, you're fired."
Riley started up so suddenly that the man had to jump back. The book went flying, banging against the wall of the tiny cubicle while the Ipod fell to the floor, pulling the headphones with it and, for a time, Riley's head.
"Ow!" Riley exclaimed, pulling the headphone out of his ear. Then Riley turned to see just who it was that had fired him.
"Ben!" Riley jumped up and embraced his best friend. "What are you doing here?" he asked, pulling away and looking his friend over. "And what do you mean I'm fired?"
Ben laughed. "Well, if I was your boss you would be fired."
"Haha very funny." Riley punched Ben on the arm. "But seriously, what are you doing here? It's been forever since I last saw you!"
"Not quite forever. And as for what I'm doing here I could ask you the same question. Do you know how long it took me to find you? How did you end up working here?"
"You mean in the smallest, most boring cubicle in the entire world?" Riley responded. "I only got the job because I'm good with computers, but of course they gave me the slowest computer in the entire universe!"
"Smallest cubicle in the world and slowest computer in the universe. They don't seem to go too well together," Ben remarked with a smile.
"Tell me about it," Riley groaned. "But come on, tell me what's been going on and why you're here! And who is this?" Riley exclaimed, seeing another figure standing outside the doorway of the tiny cubicle, looking around. He seemed to be just out of earshot.
"What, am I not allowed to come see my best friend?"
"You know that's not what I mean." Riley glanced over at the figure again, taking in everything from the man's long blond hair to his shiny black shoes.
"Well, Riley, you know I went to try to find someone to fund my, uh, expeditions..."
"You mean your treasure hunt?"
"Riley!" Ben hissed. "Not so loud!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're still going after it?"
"Of course I am, Riley, you know me better than that!"
"Yeah, I do." Riley lowered his voice. "But, really, Ben, if you believe in something so much why are you so defensive about it?"
Ben sighed. "I don't know. I guess I shouldn't be. People just think my family is crazy already."
"Well anyway, how did things go? And who is that outside?"
"That's exactly why I'm here today," Ben smiled. "And that's who that is. Riley, I want you to meet Ian. We're all going to go down and get some lunch."
"Wait, we? We who?"
"Me, Ian, you, and Shaw."
"Woah, slow down Ben!" Riley exclaimed. "First off, who is Shaw? And secondly, where are we eating?"
Ben smiled at his friend. "We haven't picked out a place yet, but don't worry, I won't let them pick somewhere you don't like. And Shaw is a friend of Ian's."
Riley rolled his eyes.
"What?"
"Well, it's just that, I thought maybe when you came back just the two of us could go hang out," Riley answered.
"Don't worry, we will." Ben smiled. "Come on, come meet Ian." The two friends stepped out of the small cubicle. Ian smiled kindly and walked over to them.
"Ian, this is Riley Poole," Ben said. "And Riley, this is Ian Howe."
"Pleased to meet you, Riley," Ian said kindly, reaching out his hand. Riley shook it and smiled.
"Nice meeting you, too. So, you're funding Ben's, uh, search?"
"Yes, I am. And I will also be accompanying him. Me and a few of my friends."
"Huh. I see," Riley answered. There was something about Ian that just didn't seem right. "Well, I'm glad he found someone," Riley added, trying to make things feel a little less awkward.
"And I'm glad he found me," Ian answered.
"Well guys, we'd better not leave Shaw waiting. You ready to go?"
"Yeah, let me go tell my boss I'm going to take my break," Riley answered.
"I'm ready anytime," Ian said with a smile.
When Riley returned the three men headed out the door. Riley and Ben climbed into Ben's car, while Ian got into his.
"We're going to meet Shaw at the park, ok?" Ben said as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"Yeah that's fine. So what kind of guy is this Ian, anyways? I mean, it's hard to tell from just meeting the guy."
Ben paused before answering. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "He doesn't really let you know. He seems to be nice but he's also a little reserved. He's smart and he has money, and he believes the treasure is real."
"Hard to find someone who does, isn't it?" Riley said softly.
"You wouldn't even believe how much it is," Ben sighed. "That's why I was so surprised when I first told you about it!"
Riley looked down at his lap a little sheepishly. "It's just that, well, when you first told me about it, I wouldn't of believed it if it was anyone else," he said softly. "But when you talk about it, it's obvious that the treasure is real to you. So real that you made it real to me."
Ben smiled, then his smile turned into a frown. "Riley, I'm going to be leaving as soon as I can."
"Why?"
"It won't be for a while I'm sure but after I do some research I'm going after the Charlotte."
"So she wasn't a person?" Riley asked, trying to hide his disappointment at hearing Ben say he would be leaving.
"No, I don't think so. My family has believed for a long time she was a ship, because we don't think the free masons would have done something involving someone living back then. If "the secret lies with Charlotte", then the secret would have died with her, leaving the treasure lost. So we think she must have been a ship."
Riley nodded slowly. He didn't want Ben to see how disappointed he was. Ben was obviously so excited about finding someone to fund his search that Riley didn't want to ruin it, but it was hard for him to hear that just as his best friend got back he would be leaving again. It was then that Riley made one of the biggest decisions in his life.
"I'm coming," he said suddenly. So suddenly in fact that Ben didn't know what his friend meant.
"Coming where?"
"With you of course."
"With me where?"
"To find Charlotte! Or the Charlotte or whatever. To find the treasure."
Ben stared in surprise at his friend.
"Drive, Ben! Drive!"
"Sorry!" Ben exclaimed while swerving over to the other lane just in time. "Are you sure, Riley? I don't even know the treasure exists! I believe it does but..."
"Well that's enough," Riley answered. Ben tried to say something else but Riley interrupted him. "Look, Ben, I was thinking of quitting my job a long time ago. Going with you would be more exciting I'm sure than anything else I might do. If we find it, cool! I helped my friend find what he'd been dreaming about his whole life. And if the treasure doesn't exist and you're wasting your life, I'd rather waste my life with my best friend than in a tiny cubicle."
Ben smiled. "Thank you, Riley. It'll be nice having you along. But don't quit your job too soon. Like I said before, we won't be leaving immediately. It might actually take a year or two, but we'll be leaving as soon as we can. Well here we are," Ben added as they pulled into the park.
Getting out, Riley followed Ben over to a picnic table where a man was sitting by himself. When he saw Ben he stood up and started walking towards them.
"Hey Ben."
"Hello Shaw."
"Shaw, this is my friend Riley Poole. Riley, this is, uh, Shaw.".
Riley nodded and shook Shaw's hand.
"Well, gentlemen," Ben said, "we should probably pick somewhere to go have lunch."
"Anywhere is fine with me," Shaw said.
"Same here," Ian agreed.
Riley looked at Ben out of the corner of his eye, not wanting to say anything and silently pleading with Ben. Ben, of course, saw the pleading look.
"How about Wingers?" Ben suggested.
Ian and Shaw nodded their approval and Riley gave Ben a look as if to say 'thank you'. All four stood and walked back to their cars. Ben and Riley got in Ben's car while Ian and Shaw got into Ian's car.
Once inside the car and driving along Ben turned to Riley. "So what do you think of Ian?"
Riley wrinkled his face together and didn't answer.
"Well?"
"I don't know," Riley muttered. "He seems nice but there's just something about him that I don't really trust."
"Why not? He's a good guy, Riley."
"I know, I know. I don't know, maybe I'm imagining things."
"Don't worry about a thing, Riley," Ben said kindly. "It'll all be fine."
"Yeah, I probably just need food in me!" Riley laughed.
A/N-Yep, this is my tribute to the "windowless cubicle". :) This story's kind of old and I don't like it very much, so tell me if it's any good or not! :)