Adam leaned back in his chair, the leather creaking as his weight shifted. Motes danced in the light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling window behind him; the same light shone through his dark blonde hair, leaving him just slightly warmer than was really comfortable, but not warm enough to overcome the sucking lethargy that kept him from getting up to dim the shade.
He sighed in boredom, and stretched his arms above his head, flexing them against his rolled-up sleeves. His eyelids flicked shut, and his head tipped back into the sunlight, warmth spilling across his throat. He ran his hand through his hair, pushing it back, and then swiped through the light sweat on the back of his neck. He sighed again, brushing his hand on his slacks.
Shoving back from his dark wood desk, Adam groaned and pulled himself up, walking to the front of his office, past large built-in bookshelves filled with books he'd never read and nicknacks he'd never purchased. The front of the office possessed the same floor-to-ceiling windows as the back, and looked out onto the open floor plan office in the center of the floor. He breathed a sigh of relief as he moved out of the sun, and swiped a finger across the thermostat, dropping the temperature by a few degrees.
Adam leaned a hand against the door jamb and looked over the office with languid interest. The early afternoon sun that had so rudely aggressed the back of his own neck hadn't found an angle into the main room yet, but the ambient light from the edge offices still met with the lights nestled in the high ceilings to provide a surprisingly bright atmosphere. Plants and various couches placed strategically at corners and edges of work zones lent a sense of relaxation, while wood and dark metal partitions framed work areas, allowing for focus and privacy when needed. Adam's first order of business on joining the company had been to complement the interior facilities team on their choice of layout and design.
Adam's eyes drifted across the room, before latching onto a trio of men walking his way. The man in the middle, Marcus, was flanked by the usual cronies: a couple of shorter men whose names Adam rarely remembered.
Kyle and Rick? Kevin and Ryan? Meh.
Marcus was, as usual, laughing loudly—likely at his own tone-deaf joke, Adam's mind contributed savagely—and jostling the other two. Adam watched with cynical interest.
The trio slowed as they neared the cubical just to the right of Adam's office, and Adam's hackles rose as Marcus shushed the other two and brushed his dark hair out of his face. Adam shoved himself away from the door jamb, a wary readiness settling over his broad shoulders.
The cubical in question belonged to Miles, one of the web coders for the company. Miles, while generally friendly and personable when among coworkers, tended to be on the quiet side, and generally kept to himself in the office. Adam ran into him periodically in the kitchen when grabbing coffee or in the copy room; while they'd had a couple brief, if friendly conversations, they had never really interacted much on a personal level. Aside from hearing from upper management that Miles had a private disability and should be allowed to work on his own for most projects, Adam didn't really know much about him. A sign on Miles' cubicle read, "Please knock lightly on the wall and announce yourself before entering," which
had
struck Adam as a little strange—though not particularly concerning—when he first noticed it.
As Adam watched, Marcus flattened himself against the side of the cubicle, and slowly moved closer to the gap in the partition, motioning again to the other two for silence. An immediate flare of concern flooded down the back of Adam's neck, and he grabbed for the door while keeping his gaze locked on Marcus. He stumbled as his hand slid off the handle, setting him slightly off balance. He cursed lightly and grabbed for the handle again, this time looking as he wrenched at the cool metal. Whipping the door open, he spun to the right just in time to hear an echoing "BOO!" ring through the office.
—
"BOO!"
Miles' vision darkened briefly as cold fear shot through his slight frame, warring with warmth, leaving him trembling and swaying.
"KURT," came the harsh bark of his sixth-grade teacher's voice. "What in the HELL do you think you're doing?" she nearly shrieked, anger overwhelming her usually unflappable composure.
Miles squeezed his eyes shut, his heart dropping out from under him as his shaken mind returned to him. He appreciated his teacher's concern, but it was too late. The damage was done. His eyes closed tight, he clenched his fists together as he focused on regaining muscular control.
Time slowed. His throat clenched tight in hot, wrenching shame.
His ears could hear the things going on around him. A ringing tone hung over the sound of the other students laughing and gasping, his teacher's outraged yells, and chairs scraping as others stood up to see; but nothing registered to him over the tell-tale sounds of his humiliation: his heart thundering in his ears, trying to drown out the sound of pee hissing into his pants.
—
Adam's eyes flew open in outrage as Marcus fell away from the cubicle entryway, already cackling as a strangled yelp came from behind the partition. A head with messy brown hair popped up from behind the wall, but stayed facing away from Adam as he stomped toward the three men outside the gap in the partition. The two cronies spotted him first, and their faces paled at the look on his own.
They made as if to turn, but a dark growl of "Don't you
fucking
think about it," from Adam stopped them cold. Marcus' head whipped up toward Adam, and he too paled.
"Woah, boss, I was—"
"Shut. Up." Adam growled again, a white-knuckled fist moving up reflexively. He wrestled control of himself back, and lowered his hand. "All three of you. In my office. NOW."
All three men blanched visibly at the enraged look on Adam's face. One after another, they scrambled past him as he stood just short of the cubicle entrance. A couple of curious coworkers had peeked their heads around corners and over partitions; Adam waved them all away until spotting his favorite member of HR, Annie. She was trying to see past her voluminous black curls and over the back of a couch in the sitting area right outside his office. He took a quick moment of charades to motion a baseball "out" and writing on a piece of paper before motioning at the three men slinking into his office and giving her a knowing look. She seemed to get it. He'd deal with it later, regardless.