Executive

…27

Alex did not recall how she got to her car, still under the influence of the intimidating Dustin Sheppard, her new boss. She sat behind the wheel, in the refreshing streams of conditioned air, trying to focus on her busy agenda for the weekend — moving into a new home, her first house. A long-time dream was coming true — getting out of apartment living and into the delights of suburban living. But somehow, she failed to feel the excitement.

Her prevailing thoughts were lingering around the strangeness of NanoLance's corporate culture. She had spent less than three hours in that building, enough though to notice a few troublesome signs of dysfunction. The notable absence of key executives was one example. The climate of fear fostered by Sheppard, without any apparent consequence or corrective measure, was another. The peculiarity of having new employees come to finalize paperwork on the Friday before their start date was unheard of. The overall weirdness of the building's atmosphere, regardless of department, was, by far, the most annoying and intriguing.

Leaning back in her car seat, Alex pictured Tom asking her, "Weird how, exactly?" She began a mental conversation with Tom, organizing her thoughts and drawing some conclusions, while her memories of the NanoLance tour were still fresh. Well, the absence of laughter, of relaxed human interaction was one aspect of it, especially considering that the key executives were absent and it was Friday, casual chatter should have been present here and there.

The overall feel was one of silent efficiency, which, at first glance, might seem ideal for a business environment, but it's not. In the realities of human psychology, such environments are not naturally occurring; there has to be a stressor of sorts to yield this kind of silent efficiency. She pictured Dr. Barnaby being the stressor… Nah… She rejected the thought as not plausible. She saw Dr. Barnaby more likely to engage in casual conversations with his employees, than obliterating the normal hallway interactions.

One look at the time and she started the engine, knowing she was going to be late for the appointment with her new landlord. Preoccupied with solving the mysteries of this odd corporate culture, she pulled out of the parking lot and into the solid traffic heading for I-5, oblivious to her surroundings. A few seconds later, a gray Ford sedan pulled out of the same parking lot, following her from a safe distance.