Second chapter is now up! Thanks for your support.
Chapter 2
Sarah's body was motionless, her breathing still. Wide eyes froze on the man looming over her sprawled body. Despite her static form, which by the way was still strewn about on the office room floor, her mind was reeling. The resemblance was uncanny. There was no mistaking it. The mouth, the nose, the eyes, the hair, as fresh as if she'd seen him yesterday, the exact image of the Goblin King was conjured in her mind. Suddenly she was a 15-year-old girl again. All of her defenses, her reasonableness, were completely stripped away. All of the rationalizing she'd done over the years of what she thought a very peculiar "dream" came tumbling down around her. All the convincing, and conviction that she had just had a very, very overactive imagination in her teens was in the end fruitless, as her self-delusion lay beside her in a heap on the very real, very hardground.
'No. No no no no no. What is happening? No way, no way, no way! That's it I've gone crazy. I am verifiably insane. Cuckoo. Looney. Need to visit the hardware store because my screws are not only loose, but completely gone.' Immediately Sarah was startled back from her thoughts when the man in front of her moved to crouch down to her level. His legs bent as his arm darted towards hers and Sarah could only instinctually close her eyes, imagining the worst. She was panicking and far too addled to think or process rationally, and she was about to shrink away when-
She felt a hand curl around her arm and she was suddenly, very unceremoniously hoisted up. Her held breath came out in a small 'oof' as she was jerked upright, her legs floundering slightly for a firm footing.
"Excuse me, but are you all right, miss?" Sarah cautiously returned her gaze to the man in front of her, shaken from her musings by a deep, caressing voice that held a very distinct, very familiar accent. 'Even the voice is the same. It's obvious.' Were all of her senses betraying her? Weren't visual and audible hallucinations the sign of a serious case of schizophrenia?
In the brief moments that followed, Sarah thanked God that she managed to regain some composure. Her deer-in-the-headlights induced lapse in action allowed her addled brain a much needed moment to think. To realize that yes, this man in front of her looked, sounded, and had the same exact presence as the Goblin King 'from her dreams,' her mind supplied , so her dreams were now in her reality. She could deal. She was tough, she could roll with the punches. So what if her subconscious was suddenly becoming something concrete and a bona fide reality. Weirder things had happened... right? Yeah? Right?
Sarah, still unconvinced despite her brain's frantic churning, looked around to confirm her whereabouts. Office? Check. Irate Travis? Check and double check. Okay, she was undoubtedly at work. Which meant she was also undoubtedly on the chopping block, due to her lateness, and extremely clumsy maneuver upon entering the room. That thought brought her a moment of clarity. Her job could be at stake. And maybe it was the shock, or maybe she finally had the grace to accept her untimely decent into insanity, but whatever it was, Sarah's legs finally listened and she was allowed to straighten her skirt, and reply to the man's question with a curt, "Yes, thank you."
She returned to her perch on the ground to collect the fallen packages that had been strewn about the floor in her earlier tumble. Her hand reached for the box wrapped in that brown parchment-like paper. 'Okay. Just one thing at a time, Sarah. If you're going to have a mental breakdown, you're not going to do it in public. Let alone give Travis the satisfaction of seeing you unravel in his presence.' She hoisted the first parcel into her lap, and was reminded once again that books, by nature, were unfairly heavy. She needed to start exercising again, or do more squats or something, because the weight on her thigh was very unwelcome and caused a bit of a struggle as she began to stand up again.
Despite her outward appearance, Sarah's senses were still in overdrive. That pesky adrenaline had put her on paranoid full-alert. With her hackles raised and ears on primed, she had to consciously restrain herself when she felt him stoop back down immediately to her left. Turning her head she saw a hand, 'a gloved hand,' she noted, approaching to rest on her shoulder.
"Are you quite sure? You seem a tad shaken." His eyes appraised her, and settled firmly to look upon her own. Taking in her silence, he continued. "Here, let me assist you with those." As she watched his hand approach the package that she was practically white-knuckling, Sarah considered his voice. And maybe she was imagining the almost mockingly pitying tone in the man's expression, or maybe that superior quality was just so associated with the Goblin King of her imaginings that she couldn't begin to separate from the notion that he had a major superiority complex.
And it was when she quickly averted her gaze, and rocketed to a standing position, packages still firmly in hand, turning her back to- whoever that was' hand still outstretch to receive them, that Sarah realized something. That it wasn't fear(or wasn't entirely fear) or some suppressed survival instincts that kept her reaction in check, but her deep-seeded stubbornness. Her down to the bone conviction that if this man was who her mind was trying to convince her he was, then god damn it she was going to make sure to be a force to be reckoned with. She wasn't a 15-year-old girl any more. She knew how to handle herself and conduct herself in a manner utterly intimidating and respectable. Placing the packages on the long table they used for meetings, Sarah turned to address her… still less-than-pleased boss.
"Sir, I'm very sorry about my tardiness. It was completely careless and short sited of me, please accept my apology and allow me to make it up to the company." Sarah was very careful not to say 'make it up to you,' because goodness knows how he could have twisted that thought in his head. And if she may have arched her back slightly to help, ahem, seem more amiable, that was purely coincidence.
"Yes…well, Sarah, we'll discuss it after the meeting." She noticed his eyes struggled to stay trained on her face. 'Good thing I didn't have time to get dressed for work this morning. This V-neck t-shirt may have just saved me from finding a new job.'
"Yes, of course. If you will excuse me, I'll get back to work now." Sarah was never present during these meetings. Something about 'having to earn her chops,' before she could be seen as a credible junior-editor. And it was how many months later now? She was mid-step in her turn to march directly out that door. Towards freedom from the bizarre and horrible day she'd experienced. To a return to normalcy, where hopefully she'd never have to see that man's face ever again and she could go on with her life-
"Well, about that." That deep, accented voice caused Sarah to abruptly stop mid-pivot. With one foot suspended in mid air, her mind supplied her with dreams of escape. 'You could make a run for it. Pretend not to have heard. Come on feet!' but to no avail. She was frozen to the spot.
"Yes, Sarah. You'll have to stay this time." Travis interrupted. "I was speaking with our visitor here just before you… arrived, and we think it best if you would stay for the meeting." At that moment, Sarah would have felt very justified to murder Travis on the spot. Instead she settled on a very pointed glare, which would have to do the job for now.
"Oh?" Her voice was poisonously sweet. "What do you need from me?" Please, please change your mind. What are you doing Travis! The one time I need to count on your pig-headedness, you let me down? Under normal circumstances, Sarah would have jumped at the chance to sit in on a meeting with an author. Normally she would have been elated at the prospect of progressing within the stagnant office-environment, at getting closer to her goal of being a full-fledged editor. But at this moment, she cursed her situation.
"Well, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to have a new pair of eyes on the latest project. A sort of fresh breath of air, if you will. And, well, perhaps, you might start off with some basics, like attending these meetings, getting some of the grunt work out of the way…" Travis obviously was not too keen on the idea, if his shuffling around, and disgruntled face were any indication. He was flounder for ways to make this seem like an insignificant matter, that he put minimal thought in to, when to the onlooker, it was appent it vexed him to no end.
The stranger- or whoever he was- interrupted.
"What your boss is trying to spit out, is that the new author isn't satisfied with any of the editors currently on staff, and after taking a look at your sparkling resume, believed you to be up to the task." He grinned a not so sincere grin, focusing his gaze on hers. Sarah could only hear Editor. Editor. Editor. Like a chorus resounding in her mind. She then remembered she needed to reply.
"And who is this new author, by chance?" She addressed with no small amount of tartness in her voice. What could she say, he brought out the worst in her without even trying.
His grin widened even more, and a ruthless mirth entered into his eyes. And somehow it felt like the word was holding its breath, and Sarah realized a moment too late what his lips were parting to say.
"Me."