fuck this job.com

He opens the door and Patty is standing there looking concerned.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What? No. Nothing.” Simon looks around nervously. “Come in.”

Patty checks out Simon’s apartment and slowly folds her arms.

“How did you get in?”

“I followed somebody in.”

Simon is busy trying to make the place more tidy. “You’re not supposed to do that. How did you find out where I live?”

“I looked you up in the phone book.” Patty gazes out the window. The view is surprisingly good. “I’ve been worried about you. Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah. No. I’m not.” Simon sits down on the sofa and puts his hands between his knees. “No. Not really.” Patty sits down beside him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been having nightmares. Terrible nightmares…and hallucinations. I can’t…” Simon puts his face in his hands and begins to sob. Patty puts her arm around his shoulders. Eventually, he stops crying and sniffs. Patty hands him a tissue.

“When I look into a mirror, I don’t see me. I see—something else. Something terrible.”

“Could you see it right now?” Simon looks at his reflection in the glass of a picture frame.

“Yes.”

Patty follows his eyes to the frame. She sees his normal reflection.

“Look, it’s possible that somebody has put something in your food. Maybe somebody is trying to poison you. Where have you been lately? What have you eaten?”

Simon looks thoughtful. “I don’t think it’s that. The same thing that’s in the reflection is in my dreams.”

“Well, so what? You could be poisoned and not know it. Hell, maybe they just put some LSD in your drink. Ever think of that?”

“No. Why would somebody do that?”

“I dunno. But the CIA used to do it to people to find out what would happen.”

“What? That’s illegal, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, well. They broke the law. I really think you need to see a doctor. Do you have a doctor that you usually see?”

“Yes. No, actually. No I don’t.”

“Well I know a nurse. I’ll call her and ask her what we should do.”

“No!” Simon looks scared. “No. Please don’t. I don’t want to be locked up.”

“Well what makes you think…”

“Please don’t.”

Simon picks up the remote absent-mindedly and switches on the news. The anchor is reporting on a story out of New York.

“Details are sketchy at this time, but the Time Warner executive was found, and I quote, ‘with some part of his body missing,’ unquote. At this time no one is saying who may be responsible for this crime, but New York mayor Michael Atwood has gone on the record as saying that ‘we will find these terrorists and bring them to justice’ unquote.”

Simon stares at the screen with his jaw hanging.

“I was there.”

Patty nervously looks at the screen and at Simon. “Where?”

“In New York. At the Time Warner building. I was there. He was there.”

Now Patty looks genuinely frightened. “Simon, you need to see someone. You need to talk to someone. Right now—look at me—right now I’m going to assume that you are high on something. I’m going to stay here to make certain that you don’t hurt yourself, okay?”

Simon looks dazed. He's almost mumbling. “I need to call the people at Dignity Place.”

Patty looks puzzled. “Who’s that? Is that a doctor?”

“No. It's where I work.”

“I thought you worked at YQZ like me?”

“No. I quit. I work at Dignity Place. There’s the number. Tell them I can’t make it.”

Patty reads the number. “You want me to call them tomorrow?”

“No. Now. They’ll be there.” Simon is staring at the TV.

“You want me to call them now to tell them that you won’t be in tomorrow?”

“Yes. Please.”

Patty dials the number, glancing up at Simon. Her mind is spinning. What is she going to do about him?

(TO BE CONTINUED)