Safety Reset

“We’ve got your three o’ clock cleared ma’am along with the latte brought to your office already,” her intern said.

“Good job, Hailey. Thank you for keeping everything in order for today, just as I need it. Care to join me in my office before I head out for my next meeting?”

Perking up at the offer, Hailey couldn’t help but to feel appreciated in this moment of laboring for the CEO. “Absolutely ma’am.”

“Come on now, Hailey. Drop the formalities. Feel free to call me Ms. Olivia.”

Tucking a lock of hair back behind an ear, Hailey said, “Thank you, Ms. Olivia.” Yet, there was something wrong with addressing her as such. It just didn’t sit right. All her life Hailey was told to respect her elders and authority figures, even if they were less informed than herself. Still, Olivia Tre’Ara was like a superhero to her. Most people would tell you to never meet your heroes, but unlike most heroes when Olivia climbed up a ladder successfully, she would help others climb it as well instead of yanking it up hastily behind her. She was everything fake gurus and business executives talked about being, but unlike them, she actually had the credentials.

Walking into her office, Hailey sat on the other side of Olivia’s desk, as per usual. Facing her, Olivia reached into her drawer, pulling out a crystalline glass. Lifting of her coffee's lid, the fragrant aroma wafted into the air, its steam brought in a brief moment of comforting humidity. Pouring half of the latte into the glass, Olivia urged Hailey to drink up.

Having picked up the glass, Olivia raised her paper cup “Cheers, Hailey.”

“Cheers.”

Downing their drinks, it was pleasantly warm, with just enough heat in it to give them a brisk sweat for a minute or two. “Woo! That’s good. You told me that’s from the new coffee shop down the street?”

“Yes ma’am. They have a small menu of beverages and drinks. I had a cupcake omelet there the other day. It was rather delicious.”

“What was in it?”

“Chocked full of bell peppers, jalapeños, onions, and melted cheese,” she started rubbing her stomach with her eyes closed. “It reminds me of a smoothie shop that my college campus has.”

“I remember going to those all the time when I was your age. Especially since most of the time their morning meals were better than whatever the cafeteria was serving. Sure, nothing there was gourmet, but when you wanted something a bit more flavorful than milk cartridge scrambled eggs and ketchup, it was the place to be.”

“Should I bring you something from them tomorrow ma’- I mean, Ms. Olivia?”

“Oh, no thank you, we’ll be taking the entire week off. Well, you’ll be taking a week and a half off, I’ll be gone for a week. The company needs some excuse about meeting employee mental health. They’re even throwing in paid holiday while we’re gone for the next several days. Only people that’ll be here will be the janitors and maintenance crews.”

“Well, how about when we return?”

“Absolutely, order me whatever you normally get as your usual. I’ve got no allergies nor texture issues. So, I’m not that much of a picky eater.” Looking out the window at the building across from them, she asked, “Oh by the way, while you were here who picked up the coffee? I know that our company doesn’t do reimbursements for Uber Eats or Door Dash. Mind telling me who gave you a hand?”

Putting her head down, Hailey started putting the tips of her fingers together nervously while blushing a little, “It was Mavis, ma’am. When I walked by his desk, I asked him.”

“Poor, poor, Mavis. Why’d you have to go and torture such a sweet lad like that, Hailey?”

“Well, uh, he was rather bored, going over spreadsheets giving them a double check before sending them downstream. His eyes were so glossed over I thought he was zombified.”

“Ugh, I remember the feeling. Fresh out of school just like you with a degree that the schools promised would make him ‘x’ amount of money, and here he is. Starting pretty low on the ladder with people who have experience but no degrees, and others with degrees that aren’t even in this company’s field of business. It’s gotta be so soul crushing for him. I know it was for me,” Olivia stated, looking outside her office into the files of cubicles. There ladies in colorful turtlenecks and dresses mingled around the water coolers while small groups of guys with button ups and decorative ties with fancy sports watches walked back from the coffee machines.

“I’m glad to be under your tutelage, Ms. Olivia. With you, I feel like the sky’s the limit.”

“And why’s that?”

“Cause any higher than the sky, and I’ll suffocate out in space,” they chuckled at that.

“So, Hailey, if I may ask, why Mavis specifically? Surely there could’ve been somebody else looking for an escape from the monotony as well.”

“Well, I, uh- I guess you could say it was because of all the help he’s given me before. Plus, he’s always got interesting topics to talk about at lunch.”

“So, you saved some battery life on your phone by having some chit chat instead of scrolling through TikTok,” Olivia asked with a sarcastic smile.

“No- I mean, well, yes, but-.”

“Hahaha! Relax, Hailey, I’m just busting your chops. All work and no play reduces employee productivity, don’tchu know?”

“Phew,” Hailey let out a sigh of relief.

“Still though, when are you going to ask him out?”

“What?” Hailey’s cheeks blushed a deep pink, her timidness coming to full color.

“Well, forgive me for assuming it’s rather obvious. He respects you enough to not be oppressing and he’s more than capable of taking ‘no’ for an answer. What’s stopping you?”

“Well, it’s just that, I’ve never asked somebody out before.”

“Can’t be that much more different from filling out a job application. You got rejected how many times before getting hired here for work?”

“True, true, but guys are different than companies.”

“Also, true, but guys and companies have one thing in common. In the end they’re still people. Sure, a business may be a building with lots of walls and tying to evade taxes like how the Joker avoids Batman, but they’re still run by people. It’s not the organization that you had to appeal to, it’s the organizers. It’s the people. Besides, from my experience men have far less educational requirements than most corporations do. So long as you’re alive, warm, have a lick of common sense, and can make him feel like the luckiest man alive, most won’t care if you’ve got a Ph.D. or a G.E.D.” “So long as you’re not dragging a train of debt behind you.”

“Shouldn’t we expect them to expect more from us, though?”

“Some people expect a lot of a little, while others expect a little of a lot. As long as he cares about you and is willing to not make his needs overshadow yours, you’ll be alright. Besides, we’re businesswomen, we’re told that to even compete in this world we have to take what we want and do so with grace of a feather what a smith can do with a hammer.”

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess you really give me no choice now, do you?”

“Of course not, I can’t have you weaseling out of doing something that’ll be good for your growth. Whether it’s for your professional life or personal, I’m here to help give you that confidence boost.” Clapping her hands together, Olivia said, “Now then, care to escort me to my car.”

“I’ll message the valet to pull it up for you and have it warmed ahead of time.”

“Thank you.”

Walking out of the office with their coats around them, the clacking of shoes filled the tiled hallway on their way to the elevator. Going over last-minute expense reports, presentations, shareholder meetings, and vacation days their conversation had it all. Filled with excitement for the weekend and Hailey’s potential date, once they walked out into the parking garage from the elevator, they exchanged a hug before saying goodbye.

“I’ll see you next Wednesday, alright?”

“Yes, Ms.”

“Make sure to bring two omelets from that shop, too.”

“Coffee or fruit smoothies?”

“Ooo,” she paused for a moment, “you know what, let’s treat ourselves. We’ve been frugal with our budget, so why not splurge a little?”

“An excellent decision, Ms. Olivia.”

Stepping into her Porsche, she rolled down the window before pulling away, “See you sometime soon, Hailey.” As she started making her way towards the exit ramp, she yelled out, “And make sure to tell me about your date, whether you succeed or fail!” Looking in her rear-view mirror, she saw an embarrassed smile spread across her intern’s face. She knew that she was going to miss her over the next week-and-a-half.

***

After finally settling in after a few hours of decompressing from her office life, Olivia let the TV play in the background while she went to her home office. Picking at strawberries and grapes from a bowl of fruit salad, she logged onto her computer to take care of her personal finances.

A few transfers from her checking’s account to her savings, checking in on her benefits package with her companies 401k, looking at her brokerage’s account auto deposit stipend while selecting which positions, she’d decide to buy more of this week, and last but not least, checking how her online course was doing.

“Well, hole-lee-shit. That’s done better than I initially thought. Goodness, with this much I’d be able to treat myself to a new necklace from Albert’s or that ring I’ve been eyeing at Kay’s. Guess after the wave of fake gurus people finally turn to somebody with substance instead of hype.” Scrolling her most rewatched videos, and quizzes, it was no wonder that it’s been as successful as it was so far. “Let’s see, what can I learn from this?”

Pulling out a pen from one of her drawers, she started jotting down notes. Sure, she used spreadsheets and data graphs all the time, but there was something about the permanence of pen and paper that always brought the security of well-intended self-education to her. Reviewing her own lessons, she skimmed over to the parts that people replayed the most. “Ugh, anytime there’s bullet points or definitions, that seems to be the main thing they focus on. Sure, the certification’s real, but I FEEL that most people just want to be spoon fed. How do I make this more interactive?”

Just then her watch beeped, alerting her of the time, “Uh oh, it can’t be that late already.” Looking out the window, she saw her own reflection in the glass and nothing but the darkness of the night past it. “Oh well, c'est la vie.” Getting up out of her chair, she stretched before needing to make one final transaction. Opening the same drawer, she pulled out a little key meant for the tiny safe she kept on her desk. Purely decorative more than anything, it served more as a paperweight, and a pretty good one too. Turning the lock, she opened the drawer and pulled out a small USB flash drive like device.

Opening a separate window through a private, hidden, network, she went to a public trading platform. Putting her USB into her computer, she turned over to a picture sitting atop her desk. Looking at her ex-wife, a warm smile grew across her face. Slipping the photo out of its frame, she held it within her hands tenderly. Fond memories of their honeymoon in Cartagena, Columbia, Olivia stared at the picture of her ex standing beautifully on the balcony. She was staring off into the distance, just shocked with the beauty of the rest of the world, and Olivia was still stunned by hers. She’s always been a firm believer that the best pictures are the ones never posed for, but that joy finds, not when joy is being sought out for.

Turning over the photo, she looked at her password for unlocking her key. Pulling up the account with all of her assets on it. “If you’re going to do it at all, you better be smart about it and decisive too.” Decisiveness has always been her weapon of choice, no point in dilly-dallying when you can fail once and make a quick recalibration or succeed the first time around and learn about the dangers to avoid along the way. Sure, she may not have liked the idea of digital currency, but neither did she like the idea of being taxed the amount she was just because of her income bracket. “Well, if they see this as some form of a financial loss, I’ll need every penny I can get back from Uncle Sam.”

Tidying up her business quickly, she wasn’t on the site for more than three minutes. Once the transactions had been finalized, she safely ejected her USB, logged off, cleansed her internet history, and shut her computer off. Putting everything back in its place, she grabbed the bowl of fruit salad waltzing back into her TV room to lounge on her couch. “Time for a 90 Day Fiancé marathon!”

As the night dragged on, her eyes grew weary while she lay on her couch underneath her blanket. This wouldn’t be the first time that she’d fallen asleep on her couch during TV binging, and deep down inside, she knew it wouldn’t be her last. As the soft sounds of the distant voices from the electronic square flittered their way over to her, the warmth of the television’s light faded away into obscurity behind heavy eyelids.

It wasn’t immediate darkness. Oftentimes she’s fallen asleep before to the television and instantly she’d be in dreamland. Sometimes she was the cameraman, other times she was the host, and on a very few rare occasions, she was the fiancé moving away from their native homeland. Luckily for her, her dreams were never about work. Sure, sometimes, they took place there, but never were they really about something that the company had pressured on her. When she first started working at her current employer, she’d have dreams about presenting the company’s fiscal quarters naked in front of the major shareholders. Other dreams often took place at the water cooler. On uniquely rare occasions would it be about birthday parties for an employee with a bizarre range of gifts from an amphibious Jeep Wrangler to a calendar that already had pre-recorded meetings set in the future (as if it were a gift from an oracle). Yet, out of all her work dreams recently, she had the one about gold bars melting in-between her hands whenever she picked them up, having jewelry form from the molten precious metal before having their receipts being shared with every person, she never knew but saw.

Oddly enough, that wasn’t the dream that visited her this night. Instead, she dreamt of her ex-wife, Valeria. Whilst laying down at a beach, with the warm heat of the sun tanning her skin, Olivia had a bottle of lemon water in one hand, and Valerie’s hand in the other. Delighted to see the love of her life, Olivia smiled fondly at her. Valeria wasn’t smiling with love though, it was one of warning, heeding, with an attitude of you better listen.

“Olivia, you better listen. The sand doesn’t erase your tracks with the wind or the tides.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your tracks are being traced my dear.”

“Let’s not worry about those while we’re here. We have each other now.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“I’m not walking. Leaving tracks is not what I’m doing.”

“I don’t need bloodhounds to find you.”

“And I don’t need to find you, now that you’ve found me.” Reaching for the small of Valerie’s back, she was blocked by the figment that was her ex-wife.

“You need to reset your password, look.” Trying to understand the meaning behind Valerie’s words, she saw a small group of people on the beach. It was all so strange to her, since they weren’t there before. She thought they’d been at a private beach, but she guessed they might’ve just gotten there early.

Staring at her apparel, Olivia noticed that her clothes had changed. First she was in casual wear, but now she was in her office getup. Looking back to Valeria, her ex-wife told her, “You need to reset your password.” Without saying it, Olivia knew that she had to look back at the beach, but also at herself. More people filled the area, but the more people were there, the less clothing she was donned with. Now, she was wearing a light blue sundress.

Looking back at Valerie again, the same words were repeated to her, “You need to reset your password.” Looking back down the length of her body again, she saw that even more people had crowded the beach, the ocean was barely visible, and more eyes were staring at her than she’d like to admit. Even if she was confident in herself, she didn’t like to think what they thought of her in a two-piece bikini

Having a sense of panic rise in her throat, she didn’t feel safe, she didn’t feel secure. It wasn’t just the heat of the sun, but just the very presence of more beach goers seemed to have raised the temperature. She was sweating profusely and starting to hyperventilate a bit, reaching out for Valerie, for her only source of comfort at the moment, Olivia’s hand fumbled, grabbing the inside of Valerie’s thigh.

Making her final and last turn to Valerie for one last ditch effort of comfort, the same words poured out her ex-wife’s mouth, as if she were a record. “You need to reset your password.”

Not wanting to, but impossible to fight against the straining in her neck, she was forced to face the beach again. With her head lifted off the ground, but paralyzed from the shoulders down, her neck ached with a pain she’d only known from overworking for several hours straight, she thought every tendon, every nerve, was going to tear apart. Not wanting to open her eyes, it was as if thousands of tiny little claw like daggers peeled her eyelids open. With blazing suns for their eyes, every person’s face was shrouded in darkness behind orbs of light, staring at her, through her, penetrating her with burning glares. Her skin felt the itch, and even like it was peeling away off from her body like that of a roasted ham baking in the oven. Hearing the sizzling, she saw tens of thousands of millions of people all staring at her… and there was nothing else to stare at.

“YOU’VE EXPOSED YOURSELF.”

She awoke in a panic. The darkness of that deep voice had struck a nerve in her that sent her into sweating. Smacking her lips from cottonmouth, she began to sit up, as her vision returned to her, so did her senses. Sadly, she wasn’t alone.

“Hey bitch, this your place here?”

Freezing in place, she didn’t recognize that voice, but it was no wonder that she felt horrified. It wasn’t a dream, but a premonition.

“I asked you, is this your place ‘ere?!” Remaining completely frozen, she sat still as she heard footsteps come from behind her. Frightened about what was potentially happening, Olivia started shaking nervously in her chair. It was odd for her since she’s faced with countless executives before, but these people controlled her future in a way those others couldn’t before. They could directly take her life, and with no remorse. Stepping into her field of vision, she viewed a man dressed in all black. Though his clothes fit him tightly, just by looking at him she could estimate his strength. She knew it’d be easier to submit than to try to fit him, or anybody else he was possibly with.

“Are you deaf or what? You hear me, right?” She nervously shook her head, “Good, now tell me is this your place?” She nodded again. “Alrighty then, who’s the man of the house? Whose ass do I gotta kick to get some money ‘round here.”

“I’m- I’m- I’m- single.”

“Ha!” He mocked her, “A woman as pretty as yourself, single? Never found a good man to leech off of?”

She shook her head no, “You’ve got to believe me! I’m not married! I never dated a man, in all my life! What else do you want me to tell you!”

“Jerry!” A voice yelled from behind her, “Stop playing with her and cut to the chase already! We don’t got all night!”

Leaning in, he said to her, “I’mma make this real simple for you, your vpns, your fancy little encryptions, and your private keys won’t hide you from us. I make a living off of finding people like you. Hell, just the other week I took down an entire scam business that robbed the life savings out of the majority of an old folk’s home. So, you’re going to answer all of our questions, or else you might not make it out of this sit’chyee-ation so pretty now, or alive, alright?”

“Please,” tears started to roll down her cheeks, “what do you want? I promise I’ll give it to you what do you want?”

“You’re gonna give us access to your company’s funds, and their investment portfolios.”

“But I can’t give you that or else the whole world will claim it was embezzlement!”

“Listen, if you want me to steal all of yours too, I’m more than willing.”

“No! Please don’t! I’ve worked all my life for what I have!”

“I don’t care if all you’ve got is a pot to piss in. You’re going to give up the funds, or I’ll just have to make do with a kidney or two.”

Swallowing the gravity of the situation at hand, Olivia knew that she couldn’t talk her way out of this, but she may be able to outsmart them. “How’d you get in here?”

“Crashed your security system. Won’t be back up till sunrise. Now, get to the computer, and start transferring the fund.”

“No!”

He slapped her across the face so hard, that her lip cracked and started bleeding, while a sizeable bruise was developing underneath her stinging welt. Grabbing her by the hair, she kicked and screamed, but he shut her up with two more backhands. Throwing her into her computer chair, she was surrounded by two more men. The one that called the man who slapped her “Jerry,” and another who’s breathing was more ragged than an asthmatic child during the worst pollen outbreak of spring.

“Go on,” the skinny man said, “log in.” Doing as he bid, the entire time Valerie’s words from the dream rang in the background of her head. Pulling up her work accounts she signed into her company’s network. Just as she was about to pull up the accounts, she froze. “Now, now,” he started, “the company you’re in earns well over four billion dollars a year. All we want is a measly ten mill. It’s like they’ll hardly miss it at all.”

The more he spoke the more convincing he became. However, when you’re powerless and surrounded by people with intentions you don’t know, it doesn’t take much convincing at all to preserve oneself, even if the actions are fiscally illegal. Pulling out her key from the desk drawer, she opened the little paperweight safe.

“There’s the key,” the skinny man said again. “Now why don’t you be a dear and make that transfer happen?”

“To where?” Her fingers shook as they hovered over her keyboard.

“To yourself, first. Then we’ll take over from there. Don’t worry, I’m a fast writer. I’ll get it done in a jiffy.”

“But if it goes to me, then-.”

“Listen, do you want to die, or do you want to make use rich?”

“I’ll go with the later option,” she said meekly.

“Smart girl, I guess all those fancy papers on your wall were actually worth for something.”

Making with haste, wanting these men out of her place, and out of her hair, she made the transfer immediately. “Oh God, my face is gonna be plastered all over the news after this.”

“It’s done.”

“Good.” Grabbing the chair, he spun her around and yanked her out of it, handing her to his two accomplishes. “Hold her tight, I’ll make this quick.”

Opening up several tabs at once, she witnessed as his fingers moved with a dexterity, with an efficiency, that not even her best office workers had, let alone higher management. Sheerly amazed at the rate he was moving; she couldn’t believe he got stumped on the last section before it would all go downstream.

PASSWORD

That one singular word blinked on the platform she had used recently before logging off. “But how did he know I used that one? How is that possible?”

“Bring her here,” he said. “Do your thing and make it quick.”

Looking at her USB key blinking from the side of her monitor, her eyes moved over towards the picture of her ex. “She warned me about this, and I didn’t know. Why was I so stupid to think that I’d be safe?”

Pulling out the picture of her ex-wife from its frame, she slowly typed in each character diligently, as to not waste any of their time. Once, logged in, a verification code was sent with a pop-up box, “Would you like to reset your password? It’s been 60 days.”

With her finger carefully pressing on the mouse, she almost clicked accept. Even with her security system having been hacked, she lived in a good neighborhood and the police would surely be outside her house soon. However, would she really want to be caught up in it all was the question. As she was moving her mouse over to the reset button, which was in the path for trying to log in, she felt a sharp pain in her hip.

“If you’re smart, you’d do that later, after this. Not now.” He was twisting the small, pointed blade of a multi-tool in her hip. Wincing at the pain, she skipped over the reset option, logging in dutifully, pulling up her account. With the company’s assets now converted on her private account, he swapped places with her once again. Sending the cash off into fake accounts, dispersed all throughout cyber space, a small fraction remained on her USB drive. Yanking it out of the computer, he said, “We’ll be taking this now. You have a good night, Olivia.”

She never gave him her name, and how he knew it without her telling sent shivers down her spine. Walking away, she noticed that their car left peacefully down the direction that the police officers came in. Knowing how to play the part, they really were professionals at what they did.

***

Breaking News!

CEO of Multibillion Dollar Company Accused of Embezzling Corporate Funds For Investment Gambling Purposes

Highlights: Violent Criminals Reported in the Area Wearing All Black Suits

Police Report: Black Honda Civic with Believed Criminals Nose Dived Into River After Being 30 Minute Police Chase! Bodies Unrecovered, Suspects Either at Large or Considered Dead!

***

“Wow, she’s really shaken up about the whole experience, huh?” Mavis had asked Hailey, breaking the ice.

“Yeah, it’s kind of sad,” she said, sipping her fruit smoothie. “She’s really a nice lady. Taught me everything I know when it came to corporate finance.”

“Well, hopefully corporate finance will learn from this. Even the most well-guarded people can still be easily preyed upon. Know where she went?”

“No, not really, but the last thing I got from her was a post card from Tuscany.”

“Well, after what she’s been through, she deserves a vacation. How’s your omelet?”

“Just how I like it. Shall we toast to her?”

“Yes, let’s.”

Together they said, “To Ms. Olivia!”

***

Looking out from the balcony of their villa, Olivia stood in the sunlight wearing a white robe. Thinking about all that had happened in the last couple of months, it shocked her that things moved so quickly.

“There you are my love,” Valerie said, wrapping her arms around Olivia, kissing her neck. “Tell me, what’s on your mind?”

“I can’t believe we pulled it off. Still, we didn’t get away with it.”

“It’s not about getting away but exchanging it to someone else who thinks they’re getting a better value. How else do you think we got this place along with the cars?”

“Our names are removed from it?”

“Entirely.”

“What about the USB?”

“Crushed underfoot, burned in a fire after they took what they wanted. They kept seven, we kept two. They kept the wallets; we kept the things.”

“Whatever happened to Jerry?”

“I had Tom beat him for laying his hands on you like that. Don’t you worry.”

“What about their fingerprints?”

“They don’t have any. Not after I burnt them off in my skillets. Untrackable men are untraceable.”

“Well, now what?”

“Let’s head to the beach. Maybe I’ll get to see you like in that dream you told me so much about.”

Olivia giggled at that as Valerie’s hands searched beneath her robes.

“Which car?” They kissed, “The Ashton, Porsche, or how about the Maserati?”

“Let’s race there,” Valerie looked into her eyes with excitement and daring.

“Fine, but if I win, you’ll be the one without a suit.”

“Deal.”