"I almost forgot."
While he impatiently waited for the elevator to reach the first floor. With several ideas and thoughts surfing through his mind, Owen's face suddenly flickered, realization appearing in his eyes, then he quickly tugged his sleeve to reveal an Armitron wristwatch.
(9:25:³⁵) The time read.
Slipping out his phone from his pocket, he swiped the screen.
(To do list)
Tapping on the icon, he slowly scrolled to his Friday schedule.
(The Hollow - 9:40 pm.)
'I better hasten up.' reminding himself to be quick, just then the elevator rang a ding to let him know he's arrived at his destination.
Pushing forward the cleaning prolly, Owen ran along the empty lit corridor for a while, his steps squeaking behind.
After taking several quick turns, he appeared in an even more oddly silent corridor, with unusual emptiness to it.
Already familiar with the atmosphere, Owen continued to push the prolly to a door which had 'Store' overhead of it. Upon opening, it was a small utilitarian space, filled with the smell of disinfectant and lemon polish. Rows of spray bottles, paper towels, and neatly stacked boxes of gloves, including trash liners rested on the shelves.
"Those bastards."
With a quick scan of the other cleaning prollys tucked at separate corners of the room, Owen didn't want to waste time so he pushed the prolly to one side before quickly walking out of the door.
…
Walking out of the ten story FiberNest building, Owen's eyes drifted past several other office buildings, tall and imposing, some were even skyscrapers.
He wasn't appreciating the night view of them but rather judging how busy the nightclubs and bars would be tonight based on the lit buildings.
Inwardly making a concise evaluation, he tried to suppress his thrill and excitement but ended up quickly failing his arm to stop a taxi .
'fuck it.'
Handing over a paper slip of his destination, Owen hurriedly brought out his phone.
He stared at the bright screen for second before, exhaling then tapped on the call button.
Placing it by his ears, he didn't wait long before the other person at the end of the phone responded at
"Coming late today again?"
Already knowing the reason he called, a rich, mature and delicate voice sounded from the other end of the phone without giving him a chance to speak.
Upon hearing her voice, a little smile broke on Owen's face as he waited for a moment before responding.
"As usual Aunt Ivy."
"Fixed time?" She added, inquiring for the exact time of his return.
"I'm not sure yet, the maximum should be 'later than usual'. Owen affirmed, causing the middle-aged driver to cast a glance at his rear mirror in confusion.
Having predicted the latter's reaction due to repeated occurrence whenever he spoke with his Aunt on phone, Owen gave a casual glance at the mirror to meet the pair of eyes peeking at him.
It couldn't be helped, due to the level of understanding he shared with his Aunt, they often spoke in parables, in a way outsiders would think they were secret agents or terrorists planning an attack.
"Okay then,bye." She spoke for the last time, relief evident in her tone as she cut the call.
Nodding in silence, Owen slipped back the phone into his pocket and dazedly stared at the bustling city night-life with a sick smile.
'Women…' he mused, imagining how much each of those women he spotted could net him if he slept with them.
After about 8 minutes, the car slowly turned to a narrow dark street with superficial signs of people.
Moving forward a bit, it slowly came to a halt before a building with a bright red neon light above its entrance.
'The Hollow."
Owen read the sign.
From an outside pov or to the ignorant ones , it seemed like a normal bar that offered just drinks.
However, to those informed, it offered VVIP premium rooms for working men who were either stressed from work or wanted to act in secret.
This was where Owen would be working tonight.
A well paying part-time job he acquired due to his outstanding degree.
He glanced at the bright neon sign before turning to walk towards a narrow corner beside the building where there was a dark steel door hidden, that led to the staff section of the bar.
Pushing the door open, Owen found the staff room which usually had about two to three other part timers like him lazing about to be surprisingly empty.
Closing the door behind him as he walked inside, he heard the rowdy set of people in the bar as rock n roll music played in the background.
Not holding anything other than his wallet, Owen quickly got into the side bathroom in the sparse space and changed into a prepared set of server uniforms.
Black long-sleeve dress shirt, black vest, dress slacks with matching black polished shoes.
'The Hollow' insignia outfit.
As he adjusted his bow tie and about to go officially sign in for the shift in the Manager's office. A silent holographic screen with 'ding' appeared.
[Part time Server at ??? → The Hollow]
'Huh?'
Just as Owen froze for a moment, thinking about what the holographic screen meant, it disappeared. At the same time a series of hurried footsteps skidding against the floor caused him to raise his head.
"Hey, hey, hey who's here."
Unexpectedly it was the manager himself, a young man in his early thirties, Kelvin.
"Thank goodness."
As their eyes met, Owen saw Kelvin's tense expression instantly soften to that of relief.
"Be quick, follow me. Whe have a VVIP guest but currently out of staff."
"You went to Oxford right?" As they half ran through the corridor, Kelvin asked turning to him like he'd just remembered something.
"Yes." Slightly confused, Owen responded while jogging behind the latter.
"Then you're perfect for this Job." Without briefing him further, they arrived at the reserved bar cellar separate from the main bar.
"Here, take this to room 202."
[Ding!]
[You've been assigned your first Mission]