Brian looked around the conference room as he put his briefcase and fedora down on the table. It was a like the rest of the offices in this building sterile, new and under the constant glare of fluorescent lighting. There was a large table which sat in the middle of the room, many office chairs, and a coffee machine and pile of loose paper on a smaller table against the far wall.
Taking one of the chairs, Brian sat at the table and checked his pocket watch once again. It had seemed like a long morning, though he had hardly done anything at all. The confusion of the letters, then the metal detector incident, the key card and now this. He was beginning to wonder what, exactly, this was all about.
The conference room door opened and young man walked in. He was wearing a leather jacket, simple navy blue suit, a white shirt, and what looked to be police boots. His face was pleasant, but showed obvious signs of puzzlement. His blue-green eyes were darting around the room, and his red-blonde hair was neatly styled. He too had a white tag clipped to his suit jacket.
"Good morning," Brain greeted.
"Oh. Good morning to you too. I didn't expect there to be anyone else in here."
As the young man walked into the room a large wolf padded, unleashed, behind him. Brian suddenly became very uneasy.
"They allow dogs in this building?"
The young man smiled, "It's a wolf - don't worry, he's tame - and I was told to bring him."
"I see. This is a strange morning indeed."
"I'd have to agree with you there. I'm not sure what's going on myself."
Feeling the need to continue the conversation, Brian tried to make small talk.
"What is his name?"
"The wolf? It's Delphi, but I usually just call him Del."
Brian nodded.
"Oh, excuse me for being rude, I'm Brian Goodwin," he reached out his hand to shake.
The young man stepped over to Brian and grasped his hand, "I'm Eric Summers, pleased to meet you."
The two men shook hands, both of them glad to meet someone who wasn't going to hand them an enigmatic letter or another piece of identification plastic.
Brian sat back down, and Eric walked over to the other side of the table, and also sat down. Del circled the room twice then walked under the table where he yawned and lied down.
"Have you been waiting here long?" Eric asked.
"How did you know I was waiting here?"
"I didn't, I just assumed since they sent me here to wait, that you were here for the same purpose."
"Oh, well, your assumption was right, and I haven't been waiting long."
Eric nodded.
A moment of uncomfortable silence permeated the room, both men glanced around at various things, and Brian took of his glasses, to rub his eyes.
"Tired?"
"A bit. I didn't sleep very well last night."
"Would you like some coffee?" Eric asked as he walked over to the smaller table.
"I hate coffee."
"Me too," Eric paused, "Cream and sugar?"
"One cream, two sugar."
Both men looked at each moment then burst out laughing.
Page Six
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