Chapter Text
This office was once a deep gray, but the paint had faded to a light gray. The floor was a harsh gray-speckled tile. During the day, the sun’s warm glow filled the room, but since it had already faded away, a man sat at his desk under the orange light. Atop the desk, a nameplate sat which read, Jason Simmonds. As Jason tapped his left hand on his desk, the ring he wore clinked repeatedly. He stared intently at the papers splayed out in front of him, reviewing the cases his firm had received. A divorce case, a child neglect case, even a custody case. Jason sighed before looking at a photo of him and his family. Jason himself had short curly dark brown hair which faded into a neatly trimmed beard. His pale diamond-shaped face held sapphire eyes, which sat behind silver circular glasses, and a simple smile. His navy blue pinstripe suit looking tidy as usual. Next to him, his wife, Alice, wearing a red princess cut dress. Her hazel eyes, which were sitting against her cream skin, showed happiness. A warm smile was the centre-piece of her heart-shaped face. Between the two of them, their young daughter, Nadia. She was only six in the photo, but she was clearly the star. She wore a royal purple dress with her hair tied up in pigtails. Her smile was the brightest of all. A knock on the door startled Jason. He glanced back down at his workload before answering,
“Come in.” A man, by the name of Scott, opened the door. Behind Scott, in the hallway, Jason spotted two more men.
“Jay. We—Tony, Marv and I—are heading out,” Scott stated, staring intently at his boss. Jason looked at Scott,
“Okay. Goodnight.” Jason returned to his work. Scott glanced back at his friends, then exited the room. As the trio was leaving, Tony shouted,
“Don’t wait up boss.”
A series of chuckles erupted before the source slowly faded away until silence. Jay, who was only 34, was the young guy at the firm. All of his colleagues were in their 40’s at the youngest, and he knew that they all held a distaste for him. He graduated with a law degree from Notre Dame when he was 25 before he became the head lawyer here, only at age 29. He suspected most of his colleagues felt as if Jason was undermining the decades of work they had done. The silence was broken when the phone screamed. Jay jumped a little in his seat before immediately turning his attention toward it. His hands raced to grab the phone.
“Hello. Clarkland Law, Jason speaking.” His hoarse voice muttered,
“Do you have to do that every time?” His wife questioned, a hint of annoyance in her words,
“It’s company policy...sweetheart”
“Well, do you know when you're going to be home? I’m starting to get hungry and Nadia doesn’t want to start dinner without you.” His wife spoke as Jay’s eye’s flashed to the clock on his desk, 6:13 . Jay silently cursed himself.
“I need to finish up one thing here, but then I’ll be on my way.”
“Tell Nadia that I have something for her when I arrive.” He quickly added.
“Okay. Goodbye, I love y—” Jay hung up quickly, not letting his wife finish her sentence. Jay felt guilt surge through him. He quickly shuffled the papers together before paperclipping them together. He prayed they were in some order as he shoved it into a drawer. The man stood up reaching for a green tweed jacket slung over the back of his chair. He had just slipped his arms through the jacket when the phone rang again. Jason was tempted to let it ring, but something, almost a primal urge, told him to answer it. He made his way back over to his chair and sat down.
“Hello there. Clarkland Law, Jason speaking.” Jason could hear murmurings and whispers on the other side of the phone before a voice broke through.
“Are you Jason McConnell?” It was the voice of a young man.
Romeo. Jason McConnell.
“Pardon?”
“I asked if you are Jason McConnell?” Jason recognized a tone of annoyance in the speaker's voice. Yet the name McConnell sound familiar to Jay for a reason which he couldn’t understand.
“Uh—no. No, I am not.” The voice went silent. Suddenly it sounded as if the phone was being suffocated, the sound of fabric scrapping against the man’s microphone, then all was quiet. It was only a moment before Jay the voice again,
“Oh okay then. I—um—I’m sorry for wasting your time then. Have a good evening.” The line went dead. Jason glanced back at the clock which now read 6:16. Jason leaned back his chair He was Jason Simmonds, and had been for 34 years. Sure these last 17 years, he’d been known as Jay, but that’s just a nickname. Jason glanced back at the clock, which read 6:23 . He immediately cursed himself before grabbing a brown briefcase which sat near the base of his desk and rushed out of the office.