Being
Gary Hobson [2/12]
By
Measer
Disclaimer
and everything else is in part one.
I would
like to thank Melodey, Paper Caper and Pawsu for beta reading...
-----------------------------------------------------------
[Part
Two]
"Excuse
me? What did you say?" Chuck asked.
"Oh!
Where are my manners? I'm Larry, the
custodian. On behalf of the workers of
the 7 1/2 floor, I welcome you." Larry wiped his hands on his coveralls and extended it to Chuck, who
looked at it in disgust. They were still
filthy.
"I
must have hit my head harder than I thought. Yeah that's it. I'm probably
still sprawled out on the elevator floor. I need to pinch myself and I'll wake up from this..." He grabbed a
piece of flesh from his arm and squeezed hard. "Owww...." he yelped, rubbing his arm until the pain subsided,
"so much for that theory."
"Do
you need help? I can help you."
"No,
that's okay. I'll just wander around,
if you don't mind."
"Okay. I'll be around if you need me..."
"Yeah...
Uh huh..." Chuck left Larry to his duties and wandered to the left."
Gary gets tomorrow's paper, so why can't there be a half a floor?" He
rationed it out to himself.
Everything
around him looked like an average office hallway, from the gray carpeting,
fluorescent lighting to the plastic potted plants, which lined the
corridor. Except for the low ceilings,
nothing was out of the ordinary.
Chuck
passed a row of closed doors, each with a nameplate and a small caption
underneath. He read the doors one by
one, but paid no attention to the captions. "Christina Adley... Pete Berkley... Sam Cooper... Gary Hobson...
Peggy Fisher... Reiko Kawamura... Gary Hobson?"
He back
tracked a bit and stared at the nameplate. Underneath the name the caption read "Chicago Sun Times". Chuck glanced at the previous door and under
the name said "New York Daily News". The door after it said "Washington Post" and the door after
that "Tokyo Reporter".
Curiosity
was getting the better of him. It wouldn't hurt any one if he took a peak
inside. He reached for the doorknob and
opened the door. Instantly pulled in by
some unseen force. The door slammed shut behind him. Chuck was propelled
downward through a dark tunnel. He
tried to grab onto the walls but they were covered in slimy substance that felt
like snot. Chuck closed his eyes and
screamed, until he came to an abrupt stop.
---
(Ooohhh...
That was nauseating ... tell the conductor to stop so I can get off...)
He
opened his eyes but there was something wrong. He was seeing everything through tunnel vision, nothing to the left and
nothing to the right, just straight ahead. He was outside but everything seemed different. Everything seemed slightly... taller.
(How
did I get outside?)
"Excuse
me... Are you Louis Camp?"
"Yeah. Who are you?"
"I'm
with the um... FDA. Did you ... you buy
that sandwich over at Phil's Deli on Deerborn and Clark?"
"Um
... yeah. What about it?"
"I'm
going to have to ask you to get rid of that sandwich right away?"
"What
are you crazy? This is my lunch."
"The
ham in your sandwich is tainted with insecticide. You'll get sick if you eat it."
"Sick?"
"Yeah
sick. You know ... diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting..."
"Vomiting?"
Chuck's
view shifted to a hand, holding out the bad sandwich.
(Eww...
Why the heck are you giving this to me? I don't want it.)
"Here
get yourself something else."
A navy
blue pea coat arm, with a white wool sweater peaking out from the end, came
into view and hand Mr. Camp a ten-dollar bill.
(Gary?)
Chuck
tried to shift his view but couldn't. He could hear Gary but couldn't see him.
(Gary?)
Chuck
wondered why Gary wasn't answering him. He didn't recall arguing with Gary about anything and he didn't think
that Gary knew about any of the stuff he had done while Gary was out with the
paper. So there was no reason for his
friend to be ignoring him.
(Hey
big guy? Why are you ignoring me? Is
this about the TV remote? Okay I broke
it. It wasn't the cat. Or is this about the fifty dollar you
thought you lost? I took it. I was going to pay you back.)
He also
found out he had no control over his body or his movements. The next thing he knew he was with in the
rest room of a local Taco Bells.
Then it
finally hit him as the bathroom mirror came into view. Instead of seeing his brilliantly handsome
face, he saw Gary's. He also noticed that Gary was the lone occupant in the one
stall rest room.
(Oh
man! I'm in Gary's body!)
-----
End of
part 2.