A Cruel Craving in the Office

Sandra was very excited with all the potential that her new job had. Today was her first day and she was nervous as she followed the man from Human Resources named Eddie performing her orientation through the rows of cubicles. Eddie led her to an empty cubicle in the middle of the large room and stopped. He gave her a little half smile and a wink saying, “Enjoy your new home” playfully as he walked away.

Sandra looked around, her box of welcome supplies in her hands, the weight of the office supplies heavy in her grasp. She thought to herself, “How much potential!”

She spent the first part of the day setting up her cubicle and then utilized the breaks to make her rounds, introducing herself to everyone that had a moment to speak with her. She could see how places like this were known to be so intimidating. There were so many people that even she had a hard time remembering all of the interactions.

There were a few people who stuck out to her, a woman in accounting who wouldn’t stop talking about her upcoming marriage. Another woman who apparently worked “upstairs” and that meant something to her, given she mentioned it no less than five times during their short conversation. The woman explained that she had just gotten the promotion because the woman who had that office before had abruptly quit a few days prior. “Sandy was amazing. I still don’t understand why she left.” the woman had said.

A few more people stuck out here and there. A copy boy who moved much too quickly in the crowded room and hit ankles and feet alike with his cart. The other man who made no effort to hide his glances at her bosom. He apparently could not stop himself from staring at her with those hungry eyes.

As she walked away from him, she couldn’t help but feel like he was eyeing her like a Panther in the brush watches a passing Gazelle, hungry for what he was obviously imagining. Nearing the end of her first day she had met dozens of fellow employee’s and felt that she had made herself a presence. Sandra knew how to make herself seen and heard in all of the right ways.

Every day thereafter Sandra was bright and early. Not having to stop in to see Eddie and the rest of the human resources team this morning made starting her training, as well as making her rounds, that much easier. She was determined to be that up and comer that all the right people would notice. Her plan was going exactly as it should be.

Over the next week she had completed training, had gotten pulled in on two special projects and now was eating lunch with the veritable cool kids of the office. The spot that was now hers in the lunch room was prime real estate as far as the office saw it. Close enough to the vending machines to grab a quick snack, yet still close enough to the elevators to avoid the rush of people heading back to the grind after lunch.

Of course no prime lunch table would be complete without being close enough to the TV to hear, yet far enough away that it did not dominate their conversations. The station always tuned to the news, she could hear the anchor reporting on new random stories every day.

One day a baby gorilla that had brought the city to its knees in an adorable moment of hiccups. Another day the weather, another day the missing lady from midtown and yet another day about the little old lady who broke the world record for longest “weather blanket”. “What in god’s name is a weather blanket”, she had caught herself thinking after lunch that day.

Knowing now that she was in the headlights, she could continue on her day to day. Other than that obnoxious man who had a less than healthy habit of “enjoying her collection of fine shirts”, she was on the right track. This guy was clearly the office predator, every office had one and for some reason they never threw any of the “right” red flags to get evicted from their job until it was too late.

He had introduced himself every day since she had started. “Steele, Howard Steele” he would say. Some kind of James Bond fantasy obviously playing through his mind. It took him four days to realize he had introduced himself that many times and turned it into their own private little joke.

One day, a couple of weeks into her climb of the office ladder, she was sitting at her desk inputting the ten thousandth invoice for the day when the copy boy came squealing to a halt at the entrance of her cubicle. The young man looked into her cubicle, gave her a once over that he immediately realized was far too obvious and clumsily garbled out the words “Sandra? Sandra Tate? Package for you miss…ma’am…uh Sorry!” and fumbled a little package onto her desk as he sped away.

The package was neatly wrapped in Brown Shipping paper like a package you would see in the movies. Every corner crisp and perfectly folded, every detail of the wrapping job oddly superb. As she admired the craftsmanship of the package itself, she noticed there was no delivery label on it, just her name and floor.

Clearly this was an interdepartmental package that the copy boy had delivered just like the hundred other interdepartmental messages and memos that were sent every day. Virtually untraceable in the disaster area that was the mail room drop off box.

Sandra slowly opened the package, marveling at every precise fold as she unwrapped it. Inside the wrapping was a small wooden box, shaped much like a jewelry box, but far too light to contain jewelry. Her curiosity climbing more after every second.

Inside the box was a simple business card. The business card was for a restaurant close to the office, a favorite night spot for all of the businesses in midtown. She turned around to read a few handwritten words, “Friday night, 8 PM”. “Apparently I have a date” she thought to herself.

She knew that this rendezvous was one that she needed to attend. You just couldn’t ignore the theatricality of how this person had approached her. She was exhilarated at the mere thought of this meeting. Even the obnoxious behavior of Howard could not chill the heat she was now experiencing in contemplation of Fridays meeting.

Sandra left work on Friday still feeling the excitement growing in her chest. The person that had sent the package was clearly one with a flair of the dramatic. She got dressed and ready for this date like a teenage girl going on her first date, excited to put on the perfect red dress for the occasion.

She arrived at the “Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar of Midtown” a few minutes after eight pm. She chuckled to herself and thought that it was appropriate for her to be “fashionably late” to such an affair. A glimmer of her playful side coming out as she thought about the person wondering if she would show or not. “Of course I am coming, I wouldn’t miss this for anything” she whispered as she approached the podium with the smiling young woman.

Sandra held out the card to the Smiling woman and said “Apparently I have a date here, but this is all I know”. The smiling woman managed to stretch her smile even larger, somehow defying physiology as her smile grew. She told Sandra, “Yes, your date is waiting just over there, in the back right corner”.

Sandra nodded her thanks and began to walk to the back, past rows of patrons and tables. She immediately noticed, to her genuine surprise that Howard, the shirt aficionado himself was at a table near her. He had managed to trick some poor woman into meeting him here, as a blonde woman with her head on her hands stared at him with obvious regret in her eyes.

Sandra continued walking toward the back when someone else caught her attention just ahead. The woman from “upstairs” was at a table alone, sitting there drinking. The confidence and superiority she had exuded the other day had apparently left her. Instead the woman nervously looked around the room, sipping her martini. The worry dissolved though as a man hurriedly walked up to the table, sitting across from her as they continued their meal.

Sandra’s eyes wondered finally to the back table where alone sat a sharply dressed man with his back to her. A single rose sitting on the table in front of him on the placemat of the empty chair across from him. She walked up to the table and sat down.

Eddie, the human resources man who had led her orientation on day one sat there, smiling at her. His smile was bright as they sat across from one another, neither of them yet saying a word. After a few moments she slowly grasped the flower from in front of her, raising it to her nostrils and inhaling the intoxicating sent of the rose.

“I wasn’t sure you would come”, said Eddie, a sly smile played across his lips. Sandra let the statement hang in the air for a moment and then replied, “I wasn’t sure you would either”. The silence hung between them until they both began to laugh. The tension that was there moments before vanishing with the shared laughter.

Dinner was going very well. They had spoken about how the job was, how they had each come to be at the company just recently, even talking about their shared disdain for the hustle and bustle of the city.

As they ordered their dessert course, she excused herself to use the restroom. Deciding that it was the prime opportunity to step away from the table. She headed toward the other side of the dining hall, past the kitchen and into the hallway that led to the restroom and utility area.

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Eddie had been thoroughly enjoying the evening. Sandra was even more beautiful than he had remembered, the red dress with the plummeting neck line she wore now making all of the right hints as to what lay beneath. Eddie was exhilarated, it had been months since his last date.

Eddie watched as Sandra returned from the restroom, her beautiful form drawing eyes from men and women alike as she walked to the table. As she sat he told her that he had ordered a delicious dessert wine to go with the berry tartlets she had ordered for them both.

Shortly after they had finished their desserts and Eddie had paid the check, he watched as Sandra’s eyes grew heavy and her speech began to slur ever so slightly. He thought to himself that the powder he had added to her wine must be starting to take effect. The idea made his adrenaline pump, as he knew it was getting closer and closer to the activities that craved. He was also was concerned though, that it may be taking effect too quickly.

Usually he had more time to convince his dates to come with him as he ordered a cab to take them, not to his home, but rather his playground. He had put together a warehouse converted into a place he could “let my imagination run wild”. The words had slipped out of his mouth in just a whisper, but he knew she could not understand.

To his surprise and relief though, Sandra leaned in and grabbed his hand. She whispered, just barely audible over the noise of the busy dining room, “I am having a great time, want to use my ride share coupon and go somewhere quitter?” Her eyes were glassy as she starred directly into his, a hunger visibly growing in her eyes.

He nodded dumbly, blown away by his luck. He watched her as she typed on her phone for a few seconds, then looked him and said, “The SUV will be just outside”. He stood as she grabbed his hand and took him toward the door.

The SUV she had mentioned was sitting right outside of the restaurant. She pulled his arm toward the vehicle, her legs visibly wobbling as she opened the car door. As they climbed up he could smell her essence, it was intoxicating. He almost felt light headed himself as his mind drifted from his body, imagining the fun to come.

He told the driver to head to the parking garage nearby where he left his “other” car, the one he used for special nights like tonight. The parking garage was a perfect place for any driver to end their role. Just in case questions ever arose they would only know they took them to his vehicle in a parking garage.

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Sandra sat down right up against Eddie as he told the driver where to go. Her body pressing into his hard as if she could not hold herself up any longer. As the driver began to pull away, Eddie turned his face to look at hers. For a moment she held back, letting the tension build. The effect would be exhilarating for them both.

As she leaned in and kissed him he leaned into her. Heavily, perhaps too heavily because he pushed himself back after just a moment of contact. Shaking a little as he used one hand to steady himself against the seat of the vehicle. His eyes were struggling to focus on her face. She ran a hand along the side of his cheek as she smiled and looked into his eyes, confusion now in his gaze as their eyes locked.

She sat up straight now, smiling now in earnest as Eddie began to sway back and forth, his eyes glazing over as if he had drank too much. He looked at her with confusion in his eyes, confusion and possibly, “Is that a bit of fear I see” she said slyly. Immediately knowing the answer as the confusion began to fade and the fear built dramatically behind his drooping eye lids.

Sandra watched as he went to scramble backwards, but the energy in his body gave way to the medication coursing through his veins and he slumped against the seat instead. Sandra smiled and looked toward the road ahead.

Sandra was standing next to the table in the middle of space that had only been lit by a single light bulb hanging directly above. The table was heavy duty and just large enough for Eddie to be strapped down properly on top of it. She could see his eyes begin to open weakly and flutter, then rapidly that changed into wide eyed terror and screams that were muffled behind the gag that she had placed.

She leaned over him, her face inches from his, as her presence demanded eye contact with the now powerless man on the table. She smiled again once his eyes locked onto hers, now alert and sharp with attention. She began to round the table, the single light above them causing a lovely silhouette effect that she could only imagine amplified every fear the man was now having.

“Wondering what happened?” she said to him in a playful tone, his eyes still locked with hers. “Well, while you were so focused on making sure to get my wine, I was concentrating on getting your Berry Tartlets to the table.” Fear and recognition flashed on his face.

She slowly rounded the table while continuing her monologue. Telling him how she had created this persona to be his prime candidate for when he put her through orientation and the following weeks in the office. She told him how she had figured out that the most recent woman from Midtown who had disappeared did in fact have similarities to other recent disappearances, regardless of what the official investigation had reported.

“Seven women over the course of only two years”, she said. She explained how she had been watching and waiting, studying the pattern and finally realizing that all the women had recently started new jobs. All of them had been driven, capable and attractive women who would have stood out in their office.

She told him how it had not taken her all that long to find out that all of these women’s places of employment also had something in common. They had recently brought on a new human resources orientation specialist. How the police had over looked this was beyond her understanding, but it had led her to him. “I…”she said, “I am closer to justice than the police ever could be”.

She approached the table that was just on the outer edge of the ring of light. He could just make out as she ran her hand along a row of tools. She looked over as she picked up one of the tools and held it up for inspection in the light. She said in a thoughtful tone, “Do you know what this one is? This is a filet knife, like the ones people use to skin and filet fish”, she said as she moved the knife back and forth in the light.

His eyes were so wide she thought he may tear something, small tears running down his cheek as he was coming to terms with his choices. She walked closer to him and he started to fight the restraints. She laughed a bit and skipped a few steps toward him, causing him to shutter in the straps. “Oh sshhh, be calm. You should know these straps have held men and animals alike. Most much bigger and stronger than you” she said in a condescending tone. “You are here for a while, and then”, she paused. ”You won’t be”.

She climbed on top of him, straddling his chest. She looked him in the eyes again, bringing her face mere inches from his. His sweat a sweet perfume to her now, she inhaled sharply and said to him, “Yes. This is justice.” She pressed the tip of the fine blade a few inches below his right nipple, lightly at first. “You never even saw the name did you?” she asked him with genuine concern in her voice. “Sandra? You never once wondered why my name was Sandra when your last was Sandy?”

The memories of countless news segments mentioning Sandy flashing through both of their minds at this point. “I couldn’t decide, should I be Sandy? Should I be Deborah or Jasmine? Maybe Sarah or Catherine? Perhaps Delores or Tabitha?” she said, her anger reaching a new height with each name given. His recognition of each name, each date appearing to drive into his head as she named each of the women that had disappeared during his reign of terror.

“You will remember their names. I will remember their names.” She pushed the tip of the knife just under his skin and he started to scream against his gag. “They will be remembered, their names will live on”, just a little more pressure. She felt the cartilage between his ribs attempting to protect the sensitive lungs just beyond. “But you", a slight pause "who will remember your name?”