Taking a detour from his route, Jacob spent some time looking at the city where he lived. Funny how reassuring it can be to be surrounded by people – the noise, the activity – but with just the subtlest of changes it can suddenly be a strange place, even dangerous. How reliant everyone is on the status quo, their lives remaining the same to perpetuate other people’s. As soon as you’re no longer contributing, familiar roads and buildings become unrecognisable. People behave differently towards you. He remembered someone once saying that animals can sense sickness in others without seeing any outward signs. Was this the same? People and even the city itself could recognise he was a malady, a broken part of the system. He looked down from a bridge to the park, where children were playing games, having finished school. How many of them would experience what he now felt? He shook his head to try to clear his thoughts.
Closing his eyes, he tried to picture Jane. She would be leaving the office in half an hour (she always left at the same time) to walk to the bus stop. She was invariably alone, not wishing to prolong her exposure to her work colleagues. Assuming nothing had changed. What if she didn’t work there any more? He had no way of contacting her as he didn’t know her address – nor could she ask anyone. He had to hope that she was still there. Brown’s Building Services. There never was a Brown as far as he knew – the owner’s surname was Lloyd. And what a nasty piece of work he was. Kept a constant eye on everyone who worked for him, never letting them feel for a minute they were anything other than his slaves. You quickly learned not to question his decisions or suggest anything of your own. Any ideas were swiftly and universally ridiculed, worthwhile ones later implemented behind the employee’s back. Any protest would be met with further ridicule or threats. The ‘smiling death’ was what Jane called him. He had a good accountant and an even better solicitor, providing him with the means to sack almost anyone at almost any time, and he seemed to enjoy it. Jacob had experienced that first hand.
He was round the corner now from the office. He realised he was nervous. A cold sweat was on his forehead and his hands felt clammy. He looked at his Dad’s watch. One minute to go. He tried to position himself to be unobtrusive. He didn’t want to meet anyone other than Jane.
The bell rang – one of Lloyd’s favourite ideas. Only a handful of employees worked in the office most of the time, but that didn’t stop him constantly reminding them of their obligations. Jacob saw Jane walking out, a few others walking behind her. They were too close – he’d have to wait for her to move away. The bus stop was about a hundred yards away. He walked slowly behind the group, keeping his distance. He recognised the man immediately behind Jane. It was Lloyd. He seemed to be walking quite close. That was strange. As they neared the bus stop, he said something to her, to which she replied something, smiled and shook her head. He kissed her on the cheek. Jacob’s blood ran cold. He stood for several seconds, stupefied. What had just happened? He watched numbly as Jane waited for the bus and Lloyd leisurely walked off.
The arrival of the bus shook him from his reverie, and he ended up running to try to catch it. It got stuck briefly behind a bicycle but then accelerated to overtake it, leaving Jacob desperately trying to think of what to do next.