Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The irritating drone of the alarm echoed within the bedroom. A noise hated by many signalling the beginning of their boring corporate day. There to stir the resting and to awake the light sleepers across the world. For this couple it was no different, the awakening to their lives within the corporate world. Feeling like you were born in the suit you must wear day after day it would become a bore. The couple were the Jones family, in their mid-30’s and childless still. Eric Jones groaned and turned over fumbling around looking for the off button only to find the snooze in its place.

“I guess another 5 minutes won’t hurt” he mumbled to himself dozing off into a state of half sleep. His wife, Susan Jones, sat up and rubbed her eyes recovering from the early morning daze that would inevitably find you.

“Come on hun, you don’t want to be late for work again do you?” she slurred. Eric chuckled weakly.

“Do you want the honest answer or a lie?” he asked rhetorically. She slapped him gently on the stomach and smiled.

“Come on hun, we better get up” she said honestly. Eric sat up making a struggle of it.

“Okay sweetie, give me 5 minutes to wake up” he looked around the bedroom, it had been modelled to look almost modern yet have a hint of an older era shadowing it. The walls were covered with red wallpaper with golden edging, whilst the floor was carpeted by a dull brown coloured carpet which in the years had become more compacted and the old feel of the carpet nestling between your toes had gone. On each side of the queen sized bed lay a bedside cabinet made of one of the lighter woods found. Yet whilst a set of drawers led on Susan’s side of the room harbouring her clothes a tallboy could be found on Eric’s. He swung over hanging his feet over the edge of the bed and finally stood thus starting the morning routine.

 

Eric opened the tallboy to reveal suits and white shirts all across the rail, whilst in the below drawers, his underwear and other clothing could be found packed together tightly. He began to dress himself starting with the underwear, working to the socks, trousers, shirt and finally adding the final touches with his suit and red tie. This was as he would do it every day without fail, Susan would think odd of him if he were to change his routine now. Next was breakfast and the morning paper, The Daily New York Times of course. His breakfast would consist of the following, buttered toast closer to white than brown and a glass of orange juice. Much more of a typical English breakfast yet this was the breakfast he had chosen. Eric sat within the kitchen with Susan both opposite side of the dining table, her breakfast would remain the same bland start. Eric cringed slightly and twisted his back around.

“Oh honey, did you sleep on them wrong again?” she asked Eric concernedly.

“Yeah, living with this is a damn nightmare” he said still groaning and twisting his spine back and forth.

“Well I promise to give you a nice massage tonight then” she smiled sweetly at him.

“Thank you for the offer sweetie, but you know you don’t have to do that for me” he replied.    

“No I don’t need to do it for you” she started, “But I would like to all the same” Eric smiled at her.

“Thank you honey” he stood finally after finishing his breakfast and lay the paper down on the table. He put the dishes within the sink and kissed Susan on the cheek. “I don’t know what I’d ever do without you Susan” he said softly. Susan smiled at him.

“Well lucky for you, you never need to find out” she kissed him back and looked to the clock above the arched doorway leading to the living room. “Go on, you’ll be late for work at this rate and you know your boss is keeping an eye on you now” Eric inhaled deeply.

“Oh that’s true and I don’t really need any more attention than I already have” He rushed over to the arched doorway.

“Have a good day at work honey” she shouted after him.

“You too” he shouted back to her, she smiled to herself and leaned over to read the paper.

 

Eric fumbled around at his car, an old Ford Fiesta. He was had bought it from a second hand car shop down in Massachusetts. The city he was born in and the city he had no intentions of returning to. Many bad memories lay within the city and laid to rest he would have them remain. He finally got into his car pulling the seatbelt across him and clicking it into place. His journey would be no more than 20 minutes downtown to Harrison Street where his workplace resided. He began to drive losing himself to his thoughts, many of which would led to ‘Where am I going in my life’ the question he would ask himself often. Yet his thoughts were interrupted by the howl of a fire engine’s siren darting past him down the street. He chuckled weakly to himself.

“Guess I’m one of the lucky ones today” he said glad that the accident the fire service was attending would not be his own. As he pulled into Walton Street he spotted the accident that had occurred, an old coffee shop by the name of Reynolds Coffee House had caught fire and was even still blazing out of control. He drove past however ignoring the Coffee shop and set his eyes onto his workplace.

 

He pulled up finally into the car park of the place that he would spend the next 9 hours slaving in. Harrison Street Bank. It was an independent bank yet did surprisingly well for itself, the build consisted of 11 floors most filled with office cubicles of which one would be finally occupied by him and the many people he would have to see throughout the day. He entered the front door to be met by the receptionist sat behind the desk. He leant over and slotted his card into the Clocking in machine.

“Well well, we are on time today Eric. Well that is a surprise” the women spoke jokingly. She was a young black woman in her 20s with long black hair reaching down to her shoulders and blue eyes as innocent as the sky itself.

“Don’t get used to it Janette” he said laughing slightly. Janette laughed also and leaned closer to him.

“But seriously Eric, you can’t expect to keep your job if you are turning up late all the time, the boss is Mr Carson is unhappy with your performance as it is”

“Wait he told you all that?” Eric asked almost worried.

“No I overheard him last night before I packed up to leave, he sounded serious Eric, get your game together  or you’re going to be going home with a job soon” Eric sighed and rubbed his eyes.

“I just wish I had achieved more than I have” he started, “I mean look at me, I’m a finance adviser who sits down in an office all day” Janette looked at him softly.

“Listen Eric” She started, “None of us really saw ourselves ending up here, but you have to tough it out until you can answer to your true calling” she pulled out a coffee from under her desk and handed it to Eric. “Here you go, just how you like it” he smiled at her, she would buy him coffee every morning as thanks for talking to her, after all no one else would give her the time of day.

“Thank Janette; this should keep me going for a while” she nodded at him and with that he entered the elevator heading to the 6^th floor.

 

Eric finally reached his floor and stepped out hearing the drone of a photocopier and the frantic tapping of computer keys. He looked over across the room to spot Mr Carson, a man in his mid 50s and balding, on top of that he was stout and had a weight problem not that anyone had the guts to tell him. He scowled at Eric as he darted over towards his desk yet knocking into a young woman knocking her to the floor. Mr Carson rolled his eyes and entered his office shaking his head.

“Oh’ I’m terribly sorry madam” he said panicking. The young woman stood frowning at him. “Oh Patricia it’s you” he said surprised. “I’m sorry let me help you with those” he leant down and picked up the sheets of paper she had been previously holding and handed them to her.

“Thank you Eric” she said glumly. He fidgeted and scratched the back of his head.

“So umm, how have you been?” he asked trying to hide the fact he was concerned.

“Oh ummm” she stuttered, “I-I’ve been alright” she said trying to fight back tears. This was usual for her; people kept saying she was catching Madison Bank fever. A term people had made up when people had enough of working here and to put it gently would try to end it. It often ended up being the people with personal problems.

“Well that’s good” he said smiling at her trying to get some response, yet to no avail. She looked away from him nervously. He leaned in closer for a second. “Listen if you need to talk about anything you can tell me, okay?” he whispered. She nodded at him and rushed past to the elevator. Eric shook his head and headed to his cubicle.

“She probably hasn’t got much time left” a young man said to him grinning.

“Come on man that’s really insensitive, she’s probably got problems going on at home” he spoke sternly to him. The young man sat back in his chair a grumbled to himself. Finally he reached his small cubicle, and sat upon his chair sighing with relief. He pulled a small key from his jacket and unlocked the top draw of his desk, he pulled out a picture of his and Susan’s wedding day and place it next to his computer and smiled.

 

The hours had counted by; the ticking drone of the 6^th floor clock was a constant reminder of the essence of time. There was no escaping the gruelling hours at the Harrsion Street Bank. Eric stared blankly at his monitor, the screen filled with a flurry of numbers which would mean nothing to the unqualified. He was suddenly broken from his thoughts by the sound of his phone atop his desk. He reached down quickly almost shocked.

“H-hello” he spoke breathlessly.

“Sounds like you just ran a marathon there Eric” he recognised the woman’s voice instantly, it was Janette. “Mrs Swanson is here to see you Eric” she finished.

“Thank you Janette could you show her up to my cubicle please?” he asked politely.

“Of course” Eric smiled to himself and put the phone down swiftly. He looked down to his tie and straightened it quickly; it always helped to set a good impression to the customers. Moments later an old woman peeked around his cubicle.

“Mrs Swanson I presume?” he said knowingly.

“Yes that would be me” she smiled kindly at him. Eric pulled out kicked out the chair from under his desk and gestured his hand to it.

“Please come sit Mrs Swanson” he offered, she kindly accepted and sat down slowly.

“Now Mrs Swanson I understand you wanted to talk to me about your savings account”.

 

The day was coming to a close; many people were packing up ready to leave whilst others still worked frantically tapping the keyboards. Eric however was neither as he sat once again staring into his monitor blankly. His thoughts ran wild as he thought about everything he could other than the work he was meant to be doing. Suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps sounded from the other end of the room, they plodded closer to his cubicle. People muttered between their selves as Mr Carson approached Eric’s cubicle. Eric however was unaware of his presence and continued to gaze into his monitor.

“Mr Jones!” he bellowed at Eric, he snapped out of his thoughts and looked quickly up to him.

“Y-yes sir?” he stuttered nervously.

“Come with me to my office, right now!” he face grew red and a vein throbbed on his forehead. Mr Carson marched back to his office as Eric stood and followed nervously. He entered the office, it was very similar to the cubicles outside yet instead of a squalid space it was a whole room for itself. Mr Carson stared at Eric angrily and looked to the chair in front of his desk. Eric gulped and sat down. A difficult silence laid between them as Mr Carson leant down in to a drawer a pull out a large file. He flicked it open and placed his reading glasses on the tip of his nose and studied it as if looking for his place again. Suddenly he cleared his throat violently and slammed his hand down upon the desk causing Eric to jump.

“So Mr Jones” he started, “Let’s take a look at your supervisors report on you shall we?” his voice was hoarse and deep.

“B-but Mr Carson?” he stuttered nervously he looked up from the file and gave him a discerning glare.

“What is it Mr Jones!” he spoke angrily and his face began to redden.

“Aren’t you…my supervisor?” he spoke quietly and unconfidently.

“Yes Mr Jones I am, can I ask what the problem is there!” he spoke quickly and condescendingly. He gulped and avoided his eye contact nervously.

“W-well surely Sir” he began stuttering though his words again, “You reading the file would be quite biased of you, after all this would just be your opinion on my work ethics no one else’s” Mr Carson removed his glasses and glared at him, he placed his hands upon the desk and leant over closer to Eric’s face. His breath was hot and uncomforting.

“Maybe we should add talking back to the boss in your file then Mr Jones, because if you keep this up you can be damned sure I will make sure that you never get a job again, I will produce such a report that not even the filthy volunteers will want you” he stared angrily in to his eyes. “Have I made myself clear Mr Jones!” he shouted loudly making Eric jump.

“I uh…y-yes sir” he spoke struggling to find the correct words.

“Hmmmm good” he sat back in his chair and placed his glasses back upon his nose, not without darting a disapproving look at Eric first. He cleared his throat once more and looked back to the file. “So where were we” he began. “Ah yes your file Mr Jones, let’s take a look at your supervisors report” Eric gulped nervously and fumbled. “Turning up late frequently” he tutted and looked to Eric shaking his head. “The productivity of your work has go down threefold in the last few months Mr Jones, how do you explain that one” he asked rhetorically.

“Oh I…” he tried to slip his answer.

“Exactly Mr Jones, you don’t know!” he looked back to the file once again, “Attitude is appalling, attendance is disastrous oh and look here…talking back to your boss” he removed his glasses and placed both file and glasses upon the table.

“Mr Carson let me explain” he began.

“Shut it Mr Jones!” he interrupted, “Your attendance to your job has been falling over the last year, right now it’s bordering on 53% attendance” he paused for a moment. “You stare blankly all day at your damned computer and God damn it Mr Jones, we don’t need slackers in this company” he stared him in the eyes never allowing him to look away. “I have given you many chances to correct this behaviour and you have failed at each hurdle. I’m sorry Mr Jones but I’m afraid this is it” Eric’s eyes widened to the realisation of what was finally happening. “Pack up your things and I get the hell out of my building, you’re done!” Eric began to reply but then suddenly a woman’s deafening scream echoed from above them. “What on earth is happening up there?” Mr Carson yelled out furiously, the vein popped back out on his forehead. Eric suddenly thought back to earlier on during the day and remembered Patricia, following the scream the shattering of a window followed. Suddenly something clicked inside of Eric he stood up quickly and rushed out of the office darting quickly down through the cubicles. A crowd had formed by the window and as he grew closer to it, there she fell past.

“Get out the way!” he yelled out to the crowd, they dispersed quickly jumping out of his way. Eric closed his eyes and slammed his body against the glass; it shattered as he travelled through it and shards brushed past his face. He finally opened his eyes to see her falling terror was apparent in her sweet tear filled eyes. He pointed his body down and began to fall quicker and quicker by the second catching up with her. Everyone gasped and concern was shared all around. Mr Carson finally reached the window to see him falling alongside with her.

“Mr Jones you idiot” he muttered to himself. The fall felt like a lifetime to Eric time seemed to slow down even though the ground was quickly approaching. Eric strained and groaned loudly until suddenly something happened, a sight people had never seen until now. A pair of angelic wings tore his suit and shirt off him revealing the magnificent wingspan he had been hiding beneath his clothes the whole time. Finally he fell past Patricia and caught her however they were still falling; he began to flap his wings causing a gust of air each time to slow them down until finally they reached the ground safely. A crowd had gathered around them yet none would approach. He looked down to Patricia and smiled nervously.

“You’re safe now” she babbled for a few seconds incoherently then passed out soon after; he laid her down upon the floor and looked around. People were pointing at him and pictures were being taken. He rushed past them pushing them out the way, all around he could hear people talking.

“Mommy what’s that” a child would say in which the mother replied, “That’s a freak, a monster!” people gave him a wide berth as he rushed to his car. He knew what he had done but he had hidden his secret for so long in his life. He started the car up as it spluttered to life, the tires squealed on the hot tarmac as he rushed home as quickly as possible.         

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

   

Reviews

[Jamie Cook]

A noise hated by many signalling the beginning of their boring corporate day.
ME: Mhmmmm an alarm clock, cause every morning should start with a heart attack....I have so many puns about alarms but I won't say them cause it's good to save XD

*finishes*
Oh damn!!!! holy......lol holy..angels....sorry being stupid but whoa that was really cool! OOOOOOOOH Angel lost in the city.... well not really but you know what i mean, this was awesome and so enjoyable :D

[Forgotten]

Haha thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it, I've been slowly working on this recently but I've been writing notes for it so it's coming along quite slowly

[Jamie Cook]

Don't worry we'll be waiting for another chapter :D and welcome it was great so you'll do fine :3

[Forgotten]

Haha thank you :) I'm enjoying writing this one

[Caitlynn Cusick]

not expecting that... i would deffinitly read this

[Forgotten]

Thank you :) Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon

[C.C. Marx]

I was wondering where the next chapter was and realized it was added to this one!!! So I guess I will just review here.....OH MY LORD MAN WHEN YOU SAID THERE WOULD SURPRISES YOU WEREN'T KIDDDING!!!

[Forgotten]

Haha thanks, yeah sorry for not being more clear, the chapter wasn't finished so I was just adding the final piece to it :) Believe it or not this is going to be a political book so I hope it doesn't become to boring for people

[C.C. Marx]

Political huh??? Well let's cross our fingers then, as long as there's a hunky heroine the women on here won't care jack whether its political or not, they will just read ;)

[Forgotten]

Hahaha very true :P Well fingers crossed then ;)

[Be myself!]

This is pretty good.

[C.C. Marx]

The writing itself is great and lacking no details, I'm curious to see where this goes

[Forgotten]

Thank you I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised where this goes :)

[C.C. Marx]

Well as long as its pleasant, I don't like bad surprises : p

[Forgotten]

Haha no bad surprises here =D

[C.C. Marx]

Can I get that writing ;)

[Traci]

The quality of writing is always superb. I found this to be quite interesting and look forward to seeing where you take this.

[Forgotten]

Thank you, I'm planning on finishing this chapter this week

[Rhianne Ney]

Interesting and well written~!

[Forgotten]

Thank you for your review :)

[Rhianne Ney]

welcomezzz

[beautiful dreamer]

i read this last night at like one in the morning! it is very good, i especially like the cliff ending...not lol. continue it for sure!

[Forgotten]

Haha sorry about that, I should have least got it past the conversation ;) I'm glad you liked it, I'm writing notes for it so hopefully you should see more of this in the next week or so :)

[beautiful dreamer]

kay kay great!

[Katie]

This is awesome. Please continue! :)

[Forgotten]

Thank you for your review and I will :)

[Britt]

This was good. I cant wait to read more. I wonder what will happen next.

[Forgotten]

Thank you, I'm glad this has had some good feedback :) I really wanted to continue this one but I wanted to know if it was worth it really. Thank you for your review

[Britt]

I hope you continue it. It really caught my attention. I will be reading on if you do decide to add more. :3

[Forgotten]

Thank you :) I'll definitely continue this one :)

[Britt]

yayy. just send me a rr when you have more. :)

[Forgotten]

I definitely shall do, I started this a couple of months back and I just dragged it out again.

[Britt]

well you def gotta continue it! :P

[Forgotten]

For sure, I'll start writing notes soon and continue it :)

[Britt]

yay, cant wait. :)