A Desk Job - Chapter 4, Part 1
The smirk on the secretary’s face was impossible to miss. Fenton knew she knew and she knew Fenton knew she knew. The job. What Mister Exham had asked. That Fenton Brenton came crawling back for this horrible job because he had no other options.
It was the next day. Fenton had made a brisk commute across the city, not wanting to be late on his first day but very much not wanting to be there at all.
“Welcome back.” The woman behind the front desk said curtly, smiling with only her lips so her mouth curled in the corners. While she was no more than in her mid twenties, her glasses had the horned rims that spoke of the 50s. “Go on back. Mister Exham is waiting. I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of you.”
Where Fenton had hoped to see a little pity or at least obliviousness, he instead found further humiliation. If the secretary knew, then who in the office didn’t know?
Already shaking prior to arriving, Fenton found his palms sweaty and his arms quivering. He had to bite down hard on his lower lip to keep his teeth from rattling.
He could only nod to the young woman before pushing open the door into the back offices.