Victoria tapped her foot against the leg of her desk as she watched the clock. She was sure the second hand was ticking slower than it had been an hour ago. It was only one p.m. but already her eyes were starting to droop. She was waiting for four thirty so she could get the hell out of there and go home to rest.
She was drowsy and tired, but she only had herself to blame. She had been up until the early hours of the morning drinking and dancing, not giving a shit that she had to be back in the office at eight thirty precisely for a day of boredom and dealing with idiots on the other end of the phone. As long as her station stayed relatively quiet, she should be okay. She rubbed her eyes and almost lowered her head onto the desk.
As if whoever was calling could telepathically read her mind, her station started to flash and she rolled her eyes. Great, she thought, what will I get blasted with this time...?
She reached her arms up high over her head and stretched, and as she did so, she shot a quick look behind her at the other teleoperators. Surely another one of them was free and could field the call. She waited for another few seconds before reluctantly reaching down to the red button, and just as she was about to hit it and break into her unenthusiastic spiel, she was saved the hassle by one of the new kids behind her.
Thank Christ, she thought.
She poured herself another glass of water from the jug beside her and pretended to be flicking through some work-related notes and the manual that lay limply in front of her. But really she was trying to piece together the events of the night before and remember if she had acted out of character or not.
She knew that she and Helen had started in Ocean Bar and done several shooters before moving on to a new, modern place she couldn’t even remember the name of. It had been sleek and clinical and she hadn’t liked it in the slightest. They only served expensive mineral water in fancy glass bottles and frowned at her when she asked for tap. When they’d ordered two vodkas, the tab had been over fifty dollars and Victoria glared at them as if they’d just punched her pet cat.
She worked in telesales and marketing and barely cut minimum wage. She couldn’t afford to go to places like that and resented Helen for dragging her to them. Helen worked as an exotic dancer and regularly made hundreds of dollars for just a few hours of work. Even though Victoria was glad she didn’t have to get naked in front of strangers to pay the bills, she was still kind of jealous of her friend’s exciting and carefree life. But they had still had fun, even with the bar costing a fortune and the knowledge of her early start nagging at the back of her mind. They’d sat up at the bar and had knocked them back one after the other, Victoria managing to excuse herself eight times out of ten when it came turns to buy the next round. She was sure Helen knew what she was up to, but she no longer cared. If her friend wanted to rub it in her face that she had more money that her, then she could pick up the bill.
They’d met some guys, she could remember that much. And she thought there had been discussion of joining them in a club. Helen had been really up for it, grinding up against one of them in the last bar, but Victoria had gotten the feeling that they were a bit creepy and weird. They’d both been tall and slender with slick white blonde hair and an icy air about them that she couldn’t place. It had kind of freaked her out because she had the feeling they’d been planning it… It was if they had waited until they had been good and drunk and then moved in. They even admitted to watching them the entire night.
“We saw you in Ocean Bar,” one of them said.
Victoria ignored him and sipped her drink.
“We wanted to come over but you looked so deep in conversation.” He smiled at her, and when she looked up at him she noticed how black his eyes were. There wasn’t a single hint of color in his irises. Victoria shivered.
“Helen,” she had said, “These guys are giving me the creeps, can we go?”
“But I kind of like this one,” she hissed into her ear while the two men chatted. “We could get some free drinks out of them at the club and then bail.”
“I’m not going,” Victoria said defiantly, “But if you want to…”
Helen rolled her eyes. “Okay,” she said, “I’m done anyway, and you’re right, they could be anybody.”
Victoria linked Helen’s arm and smiled.
The two guys were still chatting as the girls backed away quietly and made their way to the door. It was as Victoria opened it and the cool night air blew in after her that the guys both turned and glared at them, looking completely pissed that they’d been ditched.
“Hey!” the one who had been speaking to Victoria called as he held out his hands in disbelief.
“Sorry, guys!” Helen called back.
They had ran down the street laughing and hailed a cab. It was October and the leaves were falling, blowing around them in an orange and gold cloud.
“Taxi!” Victoria shouted as she held out her arm. A white cab zipped up next to them and the girls both clambered in. As the driver started the engine, Victoria looked back towards the bar and felt a tingle of terror roll over her as she realized the two men stood outside, completely still and side by side, just staring at them without moving a muscle.
“Creeps,” Victoria whispered before slumping down in her seat and snoozing as she let Helen direct the cab driver back to her apartment.