“I need to tell you something, urgently. It’s about your boss.” Click. You hang up and prop your feet on the ottoman. What do you care? And on your day off, no less? You ease your shoulders into the couch cushions and turn on the TV. The new season of your favorite show is out today. You’ve dedicated the entire day to sitting on your ass and binging… . . . safety in the workplace. s a f. ety. in the work. place. you find yourself you find. yourself. it’s all just a little little littlehhhhhit’s a bit disorienting, isn’t it? ddddddddddddddddddd i need to tell you ssssssssssss maybe you ssssssssss ggggggdon’t worry. eorry. eeeeeee it’s just a little occupation ational hazard HAZARD H A Z A R D HHHHHHAAAAAAAA . . . You wake up. Ah, shit, you must have overslept. You check the TV… you slept through the last five episodes? Great, that’s yet another thing you’ll have to catch up on. You go to turn the TV off… …but it doesn’t want to. Great, now the remote’s out of batteries, too. Another day off, ruined. Ah, well. At least you have the weekend off. That’s more than enough time to relaHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRR You snap your head over to the window. How did you not notice the color of the sky? Jesus, it’s the color of blood out there. This is normal though, right? It’s late, the sun is setting, whatever. Then again… it is a pretty deep red. And what was that noise? You edge away from the window until you reach the other end of the couch. Something slimy tickles your shoulder blade. You quickly turn to swat it away. It was nothing. Psh. Maybe you’re just on edge. You turn around… The sky is pitch black. Why is it black? “I’ve been trying to call you.” The voice is coming from the kitchen. Is that… your boss? What’s he doing here? You turn to the pitch-black corridor leading to the kitchen… “We had some people call in sick.” Red light flashes you from the kitchen, engulfing your eyes. The glow drowns out everything. It nearly blinds you. “We’re going to need you to come in tonight.” Goopy black tendrils ooze from the corridor. They grab you by the ankles. You try to resist, but they have a monstrous grip. They reel you in, closer and closer to the red. “If all this goes well…” Red completely eclipses your vision. You hear creaking, like an ancient maw prying open. You’re raised into the air. A massive, slimy tongue caresses your head. “…you may even get a promotion.”

“I need to tell you something urgently. It's about your boss.” Ciarán watched the coin spinning on the wooden table. He had heard Ophelia enter; heard the creak of the door as it swung shut behind, the floorboards groaning deliberately as her body swayed, impatient in her desire to speak. But he didn't look up. As the Queen's sole advisor, he was used to the comings and goings of others. The constant questions. The constant harassment. The constant tasks that prevented him from being at the queen's side. He watched the coin, its silver face twirling as it caught the light of the oil lamp. Whirling, flashing, Ciarán found his body lull... his mind drawn in—hypnotised—by the precious silver, indented with the Queen's regal illustration. So much so that he momentarily forgot about the young woman standing at the head of his table. She cleared her throat. “Ciarán.” Ciarán blinked. The spell broke. He slammed his hand on the wood, dousing the spinning coin with his palm. “The lamp?” Housed in the bowels of the west wing, his shoe-box office sat directly above the stairs to the Palace vault. No windows let in daylight, and the thick stone walls kept the air cold. The barbaric conditions of his quarters was the constant scourge of his mind. Self-doubt, anguish, burrowing further and further, twisting his thoughts, and all he knew—like he wasn't in the plush palace, safe and close to his Queen—but rather forgotten and trapped, alone in a dark, endless well, falling further and further away. A shiver brushed Ciarán’s spine, but he disguised it by slipping the coin into the inside pocket of his blazer. “I couldn't get it, but I have something better, it's about—” “My boss,” Ciarán spat. “I heard you.” Ophelia crossed her arms over her chest, the black puffed sleeves of her shirt folding around her body like the wings of a bat. She tilted her head, and a coil of black hair slipped out from behind her ear. “But I suggest,” Ciarán counselled, angling his brow, “you show more respect when referring to your Queen.” Ophelia rolled her eyes. “She’s still your boss, ain't she?” “And she's still your Queen.” “Fine. The ‘Queen’—” “Has a threat been made on her life?” Ciarán growled. If there had, he would have known before Ophelia. “No—” “Are the peasants rising against her?” If they were, he would have sent the guardsman down to the village hours ago to... silence them. “No, but—” “Is she in any way, mentally or physically, in danger?” He knew his Queen, far better than he knew himself; she confided in him, told him things only meant for the two of them. If there were something awry, he'd see it. He’d know. “No, but—” “Then why, Ophelia...” Ciarán glared, “are you here?” “Because she has magic, Ciarán!” Ophelia shouted, all composure lost. “She's a witch. She’s a lying, conniving, evil...” Ciarán raised his fist, halting her. “Lies,” he hissed, his voice coming out small. “I asked you to bring me a genie and their lamp—but instead, you bring me this... This blasphemous nonsense!” Ophelia raised her chin. “It's what I heard; I wouldn't lie.” “And so to whom, pray tell, divulged this ‘vital’ information?” As Ciarán rose, his chair ground against the floor. Flecks of stone flaked from the walls like cascading ash. Inside his chest, a dangerous flame burned, and Ciarán curled his fist around the coin in his pocket. “He said it was a gift.” “Who said it was a gift, Ophelia?” Whoever was spreading rumours, sinful disgusting rumours against his Queen... They had to die. But when Ophelia spoke, she said a word Ciarán hadn't heard in a long time, a name he'd hoped he'd never hear again. “Cosmo.”

“I need to tell you something,” Freya whispered to Terry. Terry looked over to her. “What’s up, babe?” He asked, grinning at her lazily. They had been dating for about three years. They had moved in together last week after Freya admitted that she pictured her future with him. Terry was very happy with his situation with her. He loved her very much. “Well… it’s about your boss,” she said, fiddling with her hands. Terry suddenly snapped up to attention. Terry loved his boss. Taylor was a good man that in his eyes, could never do wrong. He could ever hurt someone or bully the or give them a demotion. He was an amazing boss. Frey’s knew that Terry loved Taylor. So why did this feel like a weird situation? Frey’s took Terry’s hand. “Taylor hit on me today. Kathy and I were in this diner for lunch and he was there too and he just…” “I don’t believe you,” Terry said suddenly. He couldn’t believe this. Taylor was too good of a guy to do this to him. Taylor new that Terry and Freya were in a relationship. Of course he did. “I- it happened, Terry. I wouldn’t lie to you about this. I just think that… I don’t feel that comfortable around him anymore. Maybe you should quit your job or-“ But Terry wasn’t listening. He was plotting his revenge. He couldn’t let this slide. Terry thought that Taylor was such a good guy. Of course he did. The next morning Terry went to work. He was steaming and about ready to quit. Taylor could not treat Freya like she was an object. He wold not let this go. He stormed into work, knocking over glasses and flinging paper everywhere like a bull in a china shop. Terry felt like a bull, too, big and enraged and in the wrong place. He just pet thinking over and over, ‘how could Taylor do this?’ It’s not like Terry and Taylor were super close, but Terry would like to think of them as friends. They were friendly enough with each other and had a good laugh sometimes. Terry just didn’t understand. “Taylor!” Terry yelled as he crashed into Taylor’s office. Taylor looked up from his desk. The look on his face made Terry wanted to cower, but he wouldn’t. He knew that that was just another one of his tricks. “Yes?” the two faced man across the desk from him spat. This wasn’t the man that Terry knew so well. He wouldn’t have looked at him like that. “How DARE you?” Terry shouted. “I can’t believe you, Taylor!” Taylor narrowed his eyes. Terry could see it in his face that he knew what he was talking about. Of course he did. “What are you going to do about it, Terry, beat me up?” Taylor asked, his eyes laughing at him. “Screw you, Taylor! I quit. I quit. I am done with you and this entire place,” Terry exploded. The last thing Terry saw as he walked out of the door was Taylor’s smirk. Prick.

“I need to tell you something, urgently. It’s about your boss.” Charlotte’s eyes shot up from the computer in front of her as she glanced over at the intruder who didn’t even knock on the door. They’d just allowed themselves entry and stole her attention with one simple line. “My boss?” She questioned, her brown eyes met with those of a young man. His appearance seemed familiar though Charlotte couldn’t figure out why. He had a slim but muscular frame which was complimented by the tight fitting navy suit he’d worn. “Yes, your boss. David? He is your boss, isn’t he?” Charlotte went to open her mouth but abruptly stopped herself, nodding slightly at the man before her. His blue eyes skimmed over the office, he walked in and closed the door behind him. “Do you mind?” He asked, pointing to the blinds which over hung the glass panels. Charlotte shook her head, leaning back in her chair slightly. She seemed rather intrigued in what this man had to say. The man closed all the blinds then paused before locking the door and walking over towards Charlotte’s desk. Startled, she sat upright shifting closer to the panic alarm button hidden under her desk. “I’m David.” The man stated. Charlotte shook her head before arguing with him; “No, David’s on vacation. You are not David. I know David.” The man smirked, “You’ve been in his bed, that doesn’t mean you know him. Do you have any idea of who that man is? Have you even seen any identification which states he is who he says he is?” Charlotte paused for a moment in thought before shaking her head, “No, I don’t recall.” The man passed her a USB stick. “Put it in, load it up.” Charlotte shook her head. “Why not?” He asked, watching her as she nervously twitched. “It could be bugged. You say your David but you haven’t proved that to me. Why should I trust you?” Charlotte stated, pulling her chair closer to her desk. “You trust him but not me?” The man laughed. Charlotte nodded, “It would appear so. He is my boss.” The man put a briefcase on the desk, shaking his head. “Charlotte,” Charlotte felt her cheeks redden as she began to panic. How did this man know her name? “Don’t worry, just some proof.” The man smiled at her, opening the case up. His eyes moved from the cases contents to Charlotte’s eyes. Charlotte reached her hand a little closer to the panic button, trying not to make her action obvious. “Charlotte, put your hands on the desk.” She gulped in response, her eyes widened. “I know the panic buttons there. After all, I did put it there.” She lifted her arms up and slowly placed them on the desk in front of her. The man in front of her pulled something from the black briefcase. Charlotte couldn’t see what it was. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her breaths came at a fast pace as she began to panic. What should she do? Who was this man?

“I need to tell you something, urgently. It’s about your boss.” Usually, when Elliot would rush in with a new piece of gossip on his lips, I would ignore him. Out of my long list of friends and acquaintances, his lips were the loosest. It was the look in his eyes and the way his hands shook that left me caving. “You remember what my boss looks like?” “You—“ Elliot shook his head and waved his hands in the air, “Not the point, Jen. I just want you to listen to this.” He wasn’t very good at selling his stories off as serious. I contemplated turning away from him and continuing my casual scroll through social media, but my curiosity got the best of me. “You’re the worst influence, dragging me into your gossip circle.” “It’s not gossip,” he shook his head, and I rolled my eyes. “And it’s about YOUR boss. I’m trying to tell you something serious.” “If it’s really that serious, then just spit it out already,” I placed my phone down on the table between us. I’d been alone, peacefully relaxing on my lunch break, until Elliot barged his way in. I glanced down at my watch. “I have ten minutes before I’ve gotta head back upstairs.” “Well, you’re not going upstairs if your boss won’t even be there,” Elliot shook his head again and leaned over the table. “Jen, he came into the shop, right? Asked for another order of paper as if you don’t have enough in your office.” I couldn’t help but frown. “He should have asked for more pens. He’s chewed up all the good ones.” “Not the point—“ Elliot shook his head, “Anyway, the point is, my new coworker walked out from the back and immediately began screaming at the poor guy. He looked like a deer in the headlights and she was running all over ‘em.” I tapped my fingers on the table and glanced back down at my watch. “After a few more minutes of screaming, this chick reaches for a pair of scissors that were sitting in front of me and starts running the guy out of the store!” Elliot leaned forward as my eyes grew wide. “He wasn’t paying much attention to his surroundings because, next thing you know, he ran out into the road. Guy was instantly hit by a bus, and I spent the next five minutes on the phone with 911 while this chick was still screaming at him.” My jaw was slightly ajar as Elliot blew a breath out of his mouth and leaned back. I waited a few more seconds for him to continue, but he just stayed quiet. “So instead of staying to give a witness statement, you ran down the block to tell me about it?” Elliot puffed out his cheeks for a few seconds. “I just told you your boss got hit by a bus, and you’re grilling me?” “What if your crazy co-worker stuck around to seal the deal?” I leaned forward, “You didn’t even tell me if he’s still alive.” “You didn’t ask.” I huffed. “Well?” Elliot shifted in his chair to sit facing the door. “He was still conscious when I left.” I narrowed my eyes, “Oh? Is that why you left? ‘He must be okay if he wasn’t knocked out, lets run down the street to tell Jennifer about all of this!’” “What was I supposed to do?” Elliot’s voice rose defensively, “That chick started up a whole new argument, and I refused to listen to it.” “Sounds like something you usually wouldn’t wanna miss,” I teased. “Besides. Why would my boss getting hit by a bus effect me being able to work?” Elliot glanced up for a few seconds before chewing the bottom of his lip. “I thought it was just the two of you up there.” “Sure is,” I patted his left hand resting on the table before sliding out of my chair and stretching my legs. “That doesn’t mean I’m not going back to work. I’ll just run the show without him.” Elliot stood up mere seconds later. “Can I join? I’m not going back there.” “And why not?” I crossed my arms. “What, don’t tell me you were the real reason he ran out in the road.” “Wh-“ he shook his head and huffed childishly, “No. My shift was almost over, anyway.” I took a deep breath and brushed past him. “You say one word to disrupt my work, I’ll send you back.” Elliot clearly took my compliance as a victory as he followed me out of the shoppe with a huge smile on his face. I was smiling, too, simply because I knew he wouldn’t last more than two minutes with those loose lips of his.

“I need to tell you something, urgently. It’s about your boss.” John Hammer raked his muscular fingers through his tight cropped hair. Agent DJ O’Neal looked Hammer up and down. Jacked body under an expensive business suit, He looked like a GQ Captain America. But O’Neal knew what was under the surface. They had tracked the bank records and interviewed the victims many who still believed in the conman. She looked at her partner Rick Diamond and they both stopped and folded their arms. “I know this sounds crazy but I am an operative in a covert operation headed by the higher echelon of the government. Your boss, the head of the FBI, is working against this secret mission. I’m working with several government agencies and defense manufacturers to achieve a secret mission. I’m just trying to defend the country I love as a soldier and a patriot.” Hammer glowed with earnestness. O’Neal leaned in as Hammer began to weave his story. “But you’re not right,” Diamond said, “you were never in the Army. You were never on the battlefield, right.” The record skipped. Hammer blanched. Then his warm golden glow rebounded. “Wait of course my military record was scrubbed to cloak my mission. This goes very deep,” Hammer explained. The light changed. O’Neal shook her head clearing her thoughts. Diamond and O’Neal exchanged looks. “Sure, sure let’s talk about that escrow account,” O’Neal said.

“I need to tell you something, urgently. It’s about your boss.” I stopped in my tracks as I was putting away my papers to see my friend Celia, who urgently wanted to tell me something. Her features had fear etched into them. “What about Mike?” Celia looked around first to see if anyone was eavesdropping, before locking the door. Maybe the info was unsettling. “Celia, is something wrong?” “I was taking papers to him when I found this.” She pulled up a picture of him lying dead on the floor of his office, blood flowing freely from his head like a river. My heart almost stopped beating. “What?!” I whisper-yelled. Is that even a word? “How?!” “That’s just it. Ten minutes ago he was fine. I didn’t even hear a gun shot.” “Maybe he was stabbed?” “Forget that, Lily! What do we do now?” That was a good question. My first thought was to turn the evidence into the police, but also one part inside of me wanted to find out whodunnit. “What are you thinking Lily?”

“I need to tell you something, urgently. It’s about your boss”. “My boss?” Fenwick asked. “We’ve just made a breakthrough Elra, what could Geraldt possibly want from me now?”. Elra paused, not knowing how to break the unfortunate news. “Well, you see Mr. Ellos, Geraldt has cancelled the research project and has said to get rid of all of our work and refocus our efforts into what Demyx is doing”. Fenwick said nothing. Him and his team had worked for months on harnessing the void essence they had found in the outskirts to create controlled portal travel. And for what, to be so close now just to shut it all down? “You’re sure he meant MY research team, Elra?”. “Yes”. Fen looked around the lab at his team. They were all still celebrating the success of passing an apple fully intact through a small void portal to the other side of the room. Janice was the only one with a concern look on her face in the direction of Fen and the first lieutenant. “All this work, just to be thrown away? And for what, so we can go and make pointy void sticks for Demyx and his melodramatic man baby cult they call soldiers?”. “Disrespect of the honor guard will not be tolerated, Mr. Ellos”, said Elra. “General Geraldt has decided that efforts in weaponizing the void essence is priority as of right now, with the demonstration of void travel being nothing but unreliable and still outright unstable”. “Well of course it’s unstable dammit! It’s literally an unstable essence for god’s sake!”. Fenwick was shaking with frustration. “I have researched void theory for years, countless hours poured into this project, literal blood sweat and tears poured into our work, for the goddamned general to say our efforts are better suited elsewhere?!”. By this point the whole room had gone quiet. Everyone was staring fervently at the newest quarrel to arise. Janice looked as if she were about to speak, but was stopped when Delroy put a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head in protest but stayed silent. Nothing but anger was now in Fenwick’s eyes. Hatred for the very Kingdom he was created by for the sole purpose to research development for. This was the researchers last straw.

“I need to tell you something, urgently.It’s about your boss.” Matt says as he leans against the door to my office. “Can’t it wait I have a report to finish” I looked up at him meeting his eyes for only a brief moment before continuing to type at my keyboard. “I’m serious.” He said with anger in his tone of voice. This made me stop, Matt was always the fun loving guy on our floor, and for him to drop that persona was scary. “ Fine.” I sighed pushing myself away from my desk before standing. Matt seemed to get the message and started to walk towards the elevator as I followed en suite. The elevator ride was silent, one of those uncomfortable silences that make you feel as if everything is going to go wrong. We stepped out into the parking garage, it was empty, no employee ever uses this garage, it’s usually meant only for higher ups. “So what’s up, why make me come all the way here” I questioned not daring to break eye contact. “ Did you know that your boss has enemy’s “ He smirked while leaning against one of the support beams. “ who doesn’t? Everyone has someone who hates their guts” I shrugged, not understanding where he was trying to go with this conversation. “Well a little birdie told someone that you are special to him.” He said in a sing song voice. “ Im his secretary, it’s my job to fulfil his needs “ I once again smiled slightly. “A secretary that’s lasted 4 times longer than any previous employee.” At that point he snaps his fingers, just then a few guys with masks and glasses hiding their facial features surround me. “ is this what this is about? Really? Revenge?” I cackled for a brief moment, before getting pinned to the floor. “ well you see darling, my boss told me that they want you gone, buried, un possessed .

“That was amazing. You’re amazing,” he said, caressing his hand along my outer thigh. Turns out sleeping with Edward Batesman, the CEO of Bates Inc., was not the best idea I had. I was stuck working for him, always feeling like I could replace him as CEO of the company. It also was just pure luck that my last name happened to be Bates. I placed my hand overtop of his and his fingers suddenly locked in between mine. “As are you, Mr. Batesman. I didn’t know anything could’ve felt as good as that,” I said, still breathless from the intercourse that we just had. “Edward. Call me Edward,” a smirk appeared on his face as he looked into my eyes. “I didn’t know you had all of that in you. You’ve always seemed so… professional. It’s really nice to experience the wild side of Lauren Bates.” My name coming out of his mouth seemed so artificial, as if my name was just a regular word, no significance whatsoever. He still had that smirk on his face, waiting for what I was going to say next. I feel like I’ve been in my own head for too long. “I find that everybody has a wild side to them. It’s just a matter of discovering what makes them crazy,” I said, and leaned into his lips, making sure there was still some intimacy between us. He stroked the hair out of my face and smiled against my lips. “I’m glad I discovered what makes you crazy, then,” he whispered into my mouth. Our kiss started growing more passionate and he gently pushed his tongue into my mouth, all while caressing my inner thigh. I couldn’t do this anymore. Once he was gone, I was next in line for CEO. I pulled away from our kiss. “I’m gonna go pour us some wine. How does that sound?” I looked deep into his eyes, noticing the specks of green and brown. They were so intricate. He nodded back at me and a smirk arrived on his face again. “Don’t take too long. I’ve got more in store for us.” I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I got up and placed one of his button down shirts over my body. I walked out and downstairs to the kitchen, contemplating my next move. If I was going to kill him, I had to act quickly. The wine was already sitting out from when we had drank it earlier, the bottle was still cold to the touch. I walked over to my purse that was on the barstool, and grabbed the crushed fentanyl pill I had planned to use in the beginning. I didn’t place all of it in the wine glass. I still had to make it seem like he overdosed on cocaine he snorted earlier in the evening. I was smart to turn down that offer, drugs are not my cup of tea. I walked back up the stairs and gave him his wine glass and sat on the bed next to him. I felt like I was waiting an eternity for the drug to take effect. I wanted him out of the picture. “Are you up for a round two?” He said. God, I hate that smirk he always has on his face. “I actually should get going pretty soon. We both have work in the morning.” He sat up almost immediately and stared at me intently. Did he know what I was up to? “That’s okay. Just let me take another drag before I drive you home,” he turned away from me and I rolled my eyes. Just one drag and I’m certain he’ll be done for. I was right. I gathered my composure and stood up, putting my original clothes back on and tidying up the scene. I dusted the remaining fentanyl into the pan and formed it into a line with the cocaine. This was all it took for me to become CEO. The scene looked perfect, and I was just a brisk walk to my loft and then I’d be home free, and awake to a new job position. The next morning I got a call from the medical examiner. They found him. This was my opportunity. “May I speak to Lauren Bates?” “This is she.” A smile appeared on my face. Hopefully they don’t notice it over the phone. “I need to tell you something, urgently. It’s about your boss.”