Amidst the bustling night city streets, a yellow cab pulled over on the side of a towering apartment complex. The passenger side door flung open as a well-dressed man in a black suit and tie stumbled out of the car. As soon as the door closed, the driver sped away into the night.
'This is the last one,' the man thought. He had just returned from his last company drinking party of the month, which were held almost constantly. 'Those damn executives. They spend all their time at these parties instead of the office. The only way I can climb is by sacrificing my liver like this.'
Entering the elevator the apartment complex, he pressed the button for the twenty-first floor.
Leaning against the wall, he absent-mindedly stared as the number above the elevator door went up. An unprecedented sense of relief filled his body as he felt himself slowly approach his home.
'All the way down. I should've gotten a room closer to the elevator.' The man stared down into the long dim hallway as he unsteadily walked down the hall. However, upon taking a couple of steps, the lights began to flicker unnaturally.
'The lights are burning out as well? I'll tell the landlords tomorrow.' However, the flickering lights seemed to trigger something in the man, as he began to feel a splitting headache coming on. 'I probably drank too much tonight,' he thought.
Increasing his speed down the hall, he reached the door to his room when his vision began to blur and his eyelids became heavy. Realizing he might pass out soon, he quickly rushed into his bedroom and collapsed into the sheets.
However, the flickering lights seemed to follow the man, rapidly turning the lights in his room on and off.
...
'Something's off.'
From the moment he opened his eyes, the man felt something was off. His head was splitting but despite the pain, he felt an odd sense of dissonance with reality.
He lethargically raised his arm to check his phone, realizing his body's movements felt unnaturally sluggish. 'Does excess drinking do this to you?'
However, he quickly jolted awake upon noticing the copious amounts of notifications as well as the time on his phone.
11:58 a.m.
Orion, are you there? Are you coming into work today?
I really need you here today boss, we have multiple deals coming in for closure.
'Shit, I must have slept through my alarm.' Rubbing his eyes, he quickly got out of bed and went to freshen up for the day. However, he noticed that he seemed to be wearing something different than last night.
'Wasn't I wearing my suit last night? When did I change into my home clothes? I could've sworn that I didn't change when I got home last night.' Shrugging off this fuzzy inconsistency, he hurriedly got ready for work.
Washing his face, the man looked into the mirror, his lethargic body slowing his movements, forcing him to stop and stare for longer than usual.
His sunken eyes and sharp features were reflected clearly in the bathroom mirror, accompanied by an ever present blank expression and dead fish-like gaze. Slowly combing his hair in the mirror, he noticed that face seemed to have a cut that wasn't there previously.
Rubbing his marred cheek, he applied some skin cream before finishing his morning routine. Exiting the bathroom clean shaven and with his hair slicked back, he left his apartment as fast as he could in his exhausted state, calling a cab to take him to the office.
...
"Where's Orion? I need him to take care of these clients' orders right now! I've got better things to do than handle these minor affairs! He's already three hours late to the office!" A chubby middle aged man was yelling at a younger salesman in the middle of the office.
"I'm sorry sir, I'm sure Orion will be here as soon as he can. I can try my best to take those clients off your hands though." The younger salesman replied timidly, only to be berated again.
"You? As if you're qualified enough to deal with this. Business is all about repeat customers, they'll think we're disrespecting them if we send a minor employee like you to close the deal!"
Walking into the office, Orion quickly found the source of the commotion and came to resolve the scene. Quickly putting on a fake smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, he amiably walked over to the older man with his hands clasped.
"Sorry I'm late sir, I was just a little tired and overslept because of last night's party. It won't happen again."
The older man raised his eyebrow at that, scoffing quietly. "Whatever you do on your time is none of my business, but you better not let it become my problem!"
Still obviously agitated, the man walked away in a huff. While Orion was left puzzled by the man's statement, the younger salesman turned to Orion and hurriedly asked him why he was so late.
"What happened Orion? Why'd you get here so late? Today's a big day for our team too!"
"I just drank a little too much at last night's company party. I'll know my limits better next time, no big deal. Weren't you there too Alvin?"
However, instead of agreeing with his statement, Alvin only appeared just as confused as Orion was.
"Company party? The last time we had a company drinking party was last week. Are you alright?"
With a skeptical look, Orion checked Alvin's expression. 'He doesn't seem to be messing with me... What happened last night?'
"Never mind that Orion, we have some big deals coming in that you have to handle. So far there's three clients lined up for you to close contracts on today. I left the detailed documents on your desk for now. If we don't get to them by the end of the day, the general manager is going to be on us, and since you came in late..." Shaking his head, Alvin rambled on about Orion's duties for the day as sales team leader, but the latter couldn't focus very well on what he was saying.
"Alright Alvin, I'll deal with it. Just deal with your own work for now, okay?" Waving him off, Orion walked over to his desk, contemplating the strange sense of dissonance he felt, as well as the small inconsistencies in his experiences today.
'Something's wrong, I just can't quite tell what. But worrying about that right now isn't as important as this job. I can't screw up today or I'll probably get my pay docked, or worse, fired."
Slowly rubbing his still aching head, he reached for the documents that Alvin left on his desk about the three clients he had to close deals on today.
'A music publishing group, a funeral home, and a supermarket chain. Hitting up all three of these clients in one day will be tough, especially since I have less time than normal to work with. I might have to reschedule some of these meetings."
Quickly composing himself, Orion quickly selected his order of events. First would be the supermarket chain as the biggest deal, then the music publishing group, and the funeral home would be rescheduled to tomorrow.
He gave a quick call to the supermarket chain's office building before setting off to meet them in person.
...
"So, Mr. Austen, what do you think of our software for your stores?"
Slightly lowering his posture, Orion gave a flattering smile as he pitched his company's upgraded surveillance software to the older, yet austere looking man. The software could automatically store every customer's face into it's database, making shoplifting much harder.
"You see, Mr. Dorian, your systems look perfect for our stores, it's just that the price point is a bit too high. I hope we can come to an agreement regarding the price before we close the deal."
In an obvious attempt to bargain, Mr. Austen curled his lips as he watched the obsequious man in front of him. However, he didn't expect the response he would get.
Slowly straightening his posture, Orion kept the same smile on his face as he spoke pointedly. "A disagreement regarding the price? Well, from the draft contract you sent us, one of the addresses for installation isn't just the store locations. Were you planning to get a free security upgrade for your own home as well?"
Narrowing his eyes, Mr. Austen stared meaningfully at Orion for a few seconds.
"Fine. The initial price it is."
"Nuh uh, I want another ten percent. That's the least you could do for my troubles, right?"
...
With the same smile, except this one truly happy, Orion walked away with a contract stemming from a wonderful business deal.
'Same old story. Old hands like this tend to find ways to sneak their personal projects into company business. But I don't seem to remember this company name before today. When did we contact this company?'
However, before he could think more on it, another splitting headache jolted Orion's brain, leaving him unable to ponder any more than that.
'Whatever, I need to get to the next company.'