Red Swallow Ch. 01

At precisely the right time the doors to the CEO's office opened and Dustin watched as several smartly dressed people exited. After only a moment the secretary smiled at Dustin.

"You may go in now." She said formally.

Dustin smiled politely back at the secretary as he stood and brushed out any wrinkles that may have been on his suit. He checked that his pony tail was still straight behind his back...damn it that he didn't have time for a haircut before hand...and walked into the CEO's office.

Dustin noted right away that the corner office on the top floor of the skyscraper was easily twice as large as the tiny apartment that he had just looked at yesterday and was considering renting. It all depended on if he got this job of course.

The office was decorated in a minimalist style with light grey carpeting, and midcentury modern metal and leather furniture. The off white walls held framed poster sized cover shots of magazines featuring Adam. It was obvious he used his office to impress his clients. His desk was a glass topped affair in the corner flanked by the floor to ceiling windows.

The view was from the 40th floor and was spectacular, and a bit intimidating if one was afraid of heights. Adam Smith was tall and he rose from his desk chair and came around it to greet Dustin with a firm handshake.

Dustin found it awkward how far he had to walk to meet and greet one of the wealthiest men in the country. Gesturing to a pair of modern davenports set opposite each other with a glass coffee table between them Dustin took a seat while Adam sat opposite.

"Welcome to Smith Financial Dustin, I must say Professor Farthing spoke very highly of you. How is Penny anyway?"

Dustin had been practicing interviewing skills. But despite his hours of practice in the mirror he could still feel his anxiety and nervousness start to kick.

"She is fine. She spoke of you often and said to send her warmest regards." Dustin said, proud that he didn't stammer when he answered.

"Well, I've read her letter she sent with your resume..." Adam went over Dustin's qualifications from memory.

"You are actually overqualified for entry level positions here. You already have a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, (BSBA) a Master of Applied Finance (MAppFin) and two minors, one in computer financial modeling and another in accounting; a bit of an Overachiever aren't we" Adam Smith asked, challenging Dustin.

"Well I got my bachelor's when I turned 17 and was too young to go get a job so I applied and was selected for the masters program. The computer and accountancy stuff was just to keep busy."

"Not much of a social life then?"

"No sir, I've always been...shy...and all the other students were usually older. Even in the masters program the students there where usually people who were already working professionals; they had come back to school for the degree to advance their careers and stuff."

Dustin had a hard time making eye contact. His anxiety was acting up. He tried to maintain his nerve and continue the interview. He really needed this job.

"Well, you really are overqualified for all our entry level positions, and under qualified for those that people with your degrees have; you have no work experience."

"No sir, I also need to get work experience to finish my CPA. I've passed the CPA Exam and the AICPA ethics exam; now I just need the work experience." Dustin repeated himself nervously.

"Well, if Professor Penny Farthing recommends you I'd be a fool to let talent go without giving you a chance. If you want it I can send you to one of our Risk Assessment divisions. It would still have to be an entry level position, but with your skills and a bit of drive a young man could go far."

Dustin was too anxious, nervous and excited to even think of negotiating salary or anything else for that matter.

"Thank you sir, I'll take it!"

**

Dustin called his grandmother first to tell her the good news. He called Dr. Farthing as well and thanked her for her recommendation and trust. Finally he called his psychiatrist, Dr. Sigourney Freed and told her of his new job and excitement and worry.

"You have so much to be proud of. You managed the interview and you came away with a job. How was your anxiety?"

"It was fine. I started to feel it but concentrated on those coping mechanisms we worked on."

"That's wonderful. Remember, baby steps; small progress every day. Have you considered trying to get back into the theater? I'm sure you recall how this was your most successful method for overcoming your social anxiety disorder."

It seemed counterintuitive, but somehow being on stage allowed Dustin to feel and act normally. He had discussed it with his doctor and reasoned it was because he felt that if he was playing a character it allowed him to detach somewhat.

"Yes, I have my actors resume and intend to go on casting calls on a not to interfere with work basis."

"That's good Dustin. I hope you will call me again in a week so we can continue."

"I will doctor. Thank you."

**

Dustin sat quietly and watched a video with other new hires in his worker orientation group. He noticed most of them were not paying attention.

The narration was poor and it seemed that the video hadn't been updated for awhile.

"Smith Financial was founded 1980, the same year as America's last great president Ronald Reagan; took office. In an era of economic uncertainty Smith Financial forged a path despite the troubled markets, world crises and partisan politics that would often bar success to those less driven and less bold."

This was really a bad movie, Dustin thought. The production values were laughable. He continued to watch as the movie droned on. Finally, the previous CEO, Adam Smith's father came on screen.

"As the wisdom of the ancients say, 'Chaos is a ladder' and navigating through the chaos of the financial world is what this company does best"

Dustin smiled at the quote. He wondered if any of his coworkers knew the source. It's from such an old series; he remembered when he watched it with his grandmother on the ancient DVD player she still kept in the corner of her house. She told him that it was quite popular back in its day.

After his new employee orientation Dustin followed the group as they were dropped off one at a time at their offices and work sites. After the mind numbing new employee orientation seminars Dustin was ready and eager to start actual work. His escort motioned him forward and brought him into a crowded windowless cubicle farm of work stations and offices.

"Bob, this is Dustin Thurston, your new hire. Mr. Smith sent him to you. Dustin, Bob Malthus, your supervisor." And with that the older woman left to take the remaining people onto their destinations. Dustin never even caught her name.

Dustin turned his attention back to Bob...er...Mr. Malthus, who was sizing him up.

"So, Adam Smith hired you personally? How do you know the CEO of the company?"

"Err...umm..." Dustin had to look down to recover his nerves. "I don't, not really...my Professor knew him...she recommended me." Dustin's cheeks turned red as his shyness and social anxiety struck.

Mr. Malthus watched as the new hire wilted under his stare. God where do they find these kids?

"Well, we'll see if you're good enough for risk management soon enough. I'll introduce you around."

Bob showed Dustin around the office space that he would share with his coworkers.

"This is Carl Marks, Carl; this is Dustin, Mr. Smith's new hire."

"Heya, nice to meetcha."

"You're going to be Dustin's mentor while he settles in here." Bob pronounced.

"Whoa whoa whoa there boss...what? Why me?"

"Because I said so."

"And this here is David Humm."

"Dustin, Nice to meet you welcome to risk analysis."

"This here is Eve B. Webb."

"Hello."

"And this here is John Keyne"

"Hey."

"And this here is your work station. We work long hours here and you can go home when the work is done. Log in information is there in your packet. Carl will bring you your first assignment and walk you through what we do here. It's a sink or swim environment Dustin, and I hope you can handle the stress. Good luck."

Dusting watched as all his coworkers had already turned back to their work even before their introductions were complete. He noticed Carl was already up and bringing over some files. Dustin hoped he was ready for them.

**

Dustin walked into the studio and was nervous. This was his second casting call today and his first one didn't go well. He went on a casting call yesterday as well and that was an abysmal failure. Spending his weekend getting rejected was demoralizing.

Dustin was also hungry. He had been eating less and walking more to try and lose some weight. Sitting at a desk all day reading forms and analysis and running computer models meant a lot of sedentary time and all the junk food he ate wasn't doing his waistline any good.

After he checked in with the assistant he waited until his name was called. Walking out onto the platform that made up the stage he almost tripped and fell. When he announced his name he had to stifle a stammer.

"Ok, we get your nervous, the director, or was it the producer (?) joked. Just read the lines we've provided."

Dustin looked out and read the lines, He had only a moment to review beforehand and wasn't sure what angle they were expecting. It was a modern piece he had never heard of before. When he finished he lowered his script and looked out expectantly.

The Director and the producer appeared to be looking over his acting resume.

"It said here you've done work in Community Theater." The producer, or was it the director stated, rather than asked.

"Yes, mostly Shakespeare's plays and stuff like that"

"Stuff like that?" The Director, or was it the producer, asked brusquely.

"It was a traditional casting troupe. I usually played the female roles."

Some of the other hopefuls laughed softly at his admission.

"Well if you want to succeed in NY you're going to have to man up...and lose 10 pounds...NEXT..."

**

"Get these done before you go home tonight." Carl Marks dumped another project onto Dustin's desk.

Dustin tapped his pen against his lips in concentration as he gave the paper work a once over. "This will take at least 8 hours to do and it's already past noon, and the program is acting up again."

Dustin hated the program that Smith Financial used: Maximum Processing Algorithmic Data was a nightmare to work with, and prone to random breakdowns. MPAD was designed by a committee and no single person was responsible for it. All the employees who used it referred to it disparagingly as MAXI-P.A.D.

Dustin knew that even he could design a better analysis tool than what they were using, but he had no say and was forced to suffer with the rest of them. Bad programming really offended his sensibilities.

"So what...work is work...if you have any trouble ask one of the others; I have a meeting with a client."

Dustin noticed that Carl had his golf clubs with him.

"A client?" Dustin asked unbelievingly.

"Yes! Chop-Chop...now...move...undulay..." Carl took his clubs and walked away to the elevator.

Dustin sighed as he ate another energy bar. He couldn't remember the last time he had a decent meal. After 3 months now he knew all of his coworkers saw him as a bit of a loner, often working late into the night to do his work and anyone else's work that Carl dumped on him. He began to think that they probably saw him as a patsy and loaded him down with their work to make free time for themselves.

Dustin opened a new file on his computer, grabbed the papers and began his tasks.

"See," Eve began "He lets Carl walk all over him."

"So what; if he can't stand up for himself then that's his fault." John Keyne didn't care one way or the other, as long as the work got done.

Eve felt pity for Dustin. He was just so shy and quiet.

"Let's invite him out for the team building exercise."

"Whoa...easy there...you sure you want to drag him with us? He seems like a bit of a downer."

"'Eh, there's no harm in asking. He'll probably say no anyway." David Humm chimed in.

Dustin couldn't believe it at first when Eve asked him to join the group for a team building exercise. As near as he knew he was already current on all of his company mandated training.

It took a few moments for him to realize she was asking him to join them for something fun after work. Dustin was so lonely that he reacted before his social anxiety could kick in and shut him down.

"Yes."

He wondered what they had in mind.

Dustin, for once, did not finish his assignment before calling it quits for the night. When Eve came to get him he shut down his computer and simply followed her out with the group.

Apparently what they had in mind was a night out drinking.

For some reason Dustin had always felt that David Humm was a bit creepy, but it seemed it was his turn to select the venue and he chose to take all of them to a club called "COBALT".

Dustin found himself standing in line under a bright neon sign with brilliant blue lettering waiting to pay his cover charge and go inside.

Once inside he was amazed to see what looked like a renovated theater that had been converted into a dance club and a bar. They all took a table and ordered their drinks and were surprised at how fast their drinks arrived.

The other coworkers took their drinks and watched as a gaudily made up woman made her way up to the stage.

"Oh my gosh...David...is this a drag show?" Eve asked.

The diva began to sing a song while they all laughed loudly when they saw that David had in fact taken them to a drag revue.

Eve and John immediately began to make jokes at David's expense; teasing him with the familiarity of people who have worked together a long time.

David for his part seemed not to care and made even more jokes at his own expense.

"Don't you all judge me," David retorted "You all just need to live a little"

Dustin smiled at the friends as they laughed and joked. He was still really impressed with the layout of the club. They all ordered their second round of drinks while David ordered shots of patron for the group.

"Are all those girls really working here?" Dustin noticed that the number of waitresses and hostesses seemed excessive for a dance club.

"Yes, it's part of the atmosphere. Watch yourself. You might get lucky."

Dustin blushed but he continued to watch the women as they worked and moved among the clientele. When their waitress arrived with their drinks and shots he took part in the toast, licked the salt, downed his shot of tequila, and sucked on his lime with the rest of them.

Dustin smiled a bit as he started to loosen up. He wasn't much of a drinker, truth be told; having been too socially awkward to attend parties even when in college. Dustin just smiled, drank his drinks, remained quiet at first and tried to fit in and be accepted.

"Seriously Dustin, the shy act is getting old. Open up, live a little. You can't be a wallflower all of your life." John challenged.

"Yeah!" Eve and David echoed the sentiment.

"I'm not." Dustin tried to deny it but feared that they may be right. Maybe there was no hope for him. Dustin decided to try and change the subject.

"Man, that singer is really terrible." Dustin thought she really was terrible but he was really just casting about for a way to take their focus off of him.

"Oh yeah, well it's open mike night; if you think you can do better then get your ass up there missy." Eve saw through his diversion.

Surprising himself and each of his coworkers, Dustin decided to risk it. He swallowed the last of his drink (liquid courage, he thought) got up, untied his pony tail and tousled out his long brown hair. He strode off from his coworkers and made a beeline for the DJ booth.

"Is he really gonna do it?" Eve asked.

"Five bucks says no, he chickens out." John answered.

"I'll take that bet." David answered back.

"Me too!" Eve chimed in.

Dustin typed in his song request on the DJ's computer and saw that his selection was available. He was the first in line and once the Diva was finished she left the stage and passed the mike to Dustin.

Dustin walked out onto the stage and into the spotlight as the music of his song started to play. This is just like Community Theater, Dustin mused.

"I found a love, darling, just dive right in and follow me..."

Dustin noticed the crowd started taking notice of him. He hoped his mezzo-soprano voice wouldn't seem too weird to the audience. The song was originally sung by an alto.

"cause we were just kids when we fell in love, not knowing what it was..."

Dustin realized he had almost the whole audience's attention. The feeling was incredible! He swayed to the music with a slight dance step as he continued...

"Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms, barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song..."

Dustin closed his eyes and went into virtual auto-pilot. The audience was watching and all eyes were on him. This was way better than the community theater experience back in Iowa. Way better than those bit parts he had doing Shakespeare.

"...now I know that I have met an angel in person, and she looks perfect, I don't deserve this, you look perfect tonight."

Up in the VIP booth Yuri was watching the young man as he sang his song and held the crowd's attention. He looked to Anastasya, the manager of COBALT.

"Is she one of yours?"

"No, it's open mike night. That's a customer."

"Are you sure?"

Anastasya took the hint, nodded to Yuri, and went to get a closer look at the young man.

The music ended and after a stunned silence the crowd went wild with applause and cheers. Dustin blushed proudly at his performance. He smiled as he handed the microphone back to the DJ and stepped off stage to get back to his coworkers.

"My god that was amazing, what song was that?" Eve asked.

"It was 'Perfect' By Ed Sheeran."

"Who's that?"

"You can hear him on the oldies stations. I listened to them all the time with my grandmother. We'd sing together in the car whenever we went somewhere. I know the lyrics to tons of old songs like that."

"You totally blew away that diva...way better than she was."

"Yeah, she can't sing worth shit and she needs to know. Someone has to tell her." Dustin joked.

"You did good twerp, I suppose if you can't find any work as an actor you could always be a lounge singer or come here and be a Diva then." David said

Why did David Humm always have to be such a jerk?

"Actor, what does he mean?" Eve asked.

"I used to do Community Theater back home. I was part of a Shakespeare troupe and I was small enough to play the female roles in the plays. And how did you know that anyway?" Dustin asked, surprised.

"You left a pile of audition notices from your auditions on your desk. All of them where one-lined." John volunteered helpfully. "Anyone could see them."

"Oh." Dustin was quiet.

"Well, you'd fit right in here." David quipped, indicating COBALT.

Dustin wondered if David tried really hard to be an asshole or if it just came naturally.

His thoughts were interrupted when one of the Diva's approached their table.

"Hello there, I'm Anastasya, Owner of COBALT, your performance was amazing!"

"Thank you." Dustin smiled shyly toward the Diva. Her presentation was perfect. She was either the best looking diva ever or she was really a genetic girl. "I'm Dustin."

"Your singing was perfect." Anastasya smiled using the play on words from the song title.

"Do you sing professionally?" She asked, looking to flatter the young man.

She quickly evaluated him while she spoke. She was surprised that he was a man as from a distance and with his voice she had thought at first that she was a rather plain young woman. She noticed that he had nice clean and strong light brown hair, clean straight teeth, interesting grey eye color, almost silvery the way the light caught in them, good skin tone, healthy overall.