by Chewy Walrus
Shirley Francis returned to her desk alone and a bit bewildered. Edulcore Cicciotto, a founding member of the MBL Consulting company, had just told her that, on second thought, the elevator ride back down to the first floor from the thirteenth was too slow and knew a faster way to the parade. She then witnessed him jump out of a window on the thirteenth floor, sprout feathers from his arms, and glide off into the sky. And while, granted, Shirley was more than accustomed to seeing weird things (after all, she was engaged to the man who was inhabited by a fifth-dimensional imp), it was more than she'd been prepared to see, to be totally honest.
Lucky Kit, she thought to herself as she descended in the elevator to the main level. Wish I could give myself a day off every once and awhile... but, then again, I live here... never mind.
Sighing as she exited the elevator, Shirley Francis ran her fingers through her hair and rounded the corner into the office area of MBL Consulting, only to find yet another complete stranger sitting at her desk, looking through a stack of potential mission assignments drafted by prospective clients.
"Excuse me!" Shirley cried out in surprise upon seeing the man, who had slightly disheveled, sandy blonde hair and wore a white T-shirt, a tan vest, and khaki shorts. "What on EARTH do you think you're doing here?"
The man looked up slowly, tossed the stack of papers back onto the desk, and took a glance at his wrist watch.
"Seventy-five minutes!" he said triumphantly, looking Shirley over.
"What?" the woman asked, furrowing her brow and cocking her head slightly to the side.
"I've been sitting down here, absolutely unnoticed, for seventy-five minutes!" the man clarified, an indignant smile spreading across his lips. "You guys don't even have so much as a bell or beeper on your front door! Are you aware of that?"
"Uh... who are you?" Shirley asked, not precisely sure of what to say or do next.
"Oh, forgive me, miss," the man said, rising from his seat and offering Shirley his hand. "The name's Grissom Montag. I called here earlier about a business venture?"
"Oh!" Shirley said, suddenly remembering and taking Grissom's hand. "Yes, of course!"
"You, of course, my dear, can call me Griss..." As the slick Englishman stooped to kiss Shirley's extended hand, he noticed a large ring on her fourth finger. "Oh! Forgive me, miss! Didn't realize you were married!"
"No problem," Shirley said, maneuvering herself around Griss and taking a seat at her desk. "You'd be surprised at how often that's been happening to me lately."
"So," Griss said, leaning against Shirley's desk, "is Piper in?"
"Sadly, Mr. Piper has left for the day," Shirley said apologetically. "Did you have an appointment?"
"Well, I talked with him earlier," Montag answered, shrugging. "I thought it was pretty well understood that I'd be coming in and wanting to talk to him. Would've been here sooner had Customs not given me the runaround like they did."
"Well, I happen to know that Dr. Henry Quantos, the company's science adviser, is staying in one of the apartments somewhere in the building. Would you like me to try to contact him?"
"Uh... yeah, sure..." Grissom said, sinking into a chair opposite Shirley's desk. As Shirley picked up the phone and dialed in Quantos' pager number, Grissom spoke up again. "You know why I think your security system sucks?"
Taken aback a bit, Shirley hung up the receiver and blinked before she responded with, "Uh... no..."
"Well, hon," Griss said, leaning back in his chair, "I'll have to enlighten you."
Oh, no... Shirley thought as Griss began a long-winded explanation.