Asmani 1

Ava Asmani

Mr. Jorden

Can quarantine be over already?

26 April 2020`

A Perfect Storm

Greg stared out of his office window at a perfect view of Juniper Springs. At the

front of his view were the other Sanchez factories that held up the perfect monopoly he

fostered in this town. Farther down, the church’s cross loomed over the restaurants and

shopping centers bustling with people every day, marking the center of the city. A thick

forest of tall trees and birds separated the rest of the city from Turner Lake, a lake so

coveted and powerful that it was dangerous. Greg yearned for power in everything he

did. The worse things got, the more power he wanted. Especially now, when his

company was at risk of going under, he had to look for power in any way possible. Greg

never felt more powerful than when he tried some of the occuldium.

A couple of days after finding out that Sanchez would be going bankrupt, Greg

decided to pay a visit to a diner nearby at night, hoping for some peace and time with

his own thoughts. Walking into the cafe, the stunned look on the employees’ faces

reminded him of his recognizability in the city. He liked to think that he was the most

popular face in Juniper Springs. He quickly sat down at an empty booth, waiting for

someone to take his order. Glancing over he saw the employees behind the counter
 Asmani 2

scrambling over who should come to his table. After some bargaining, finally one

waitress slowly walked to his table to take his order.

“Hello S-sir, what would you l-like to order?”

Greg looked up at the waitress. Her name lapel read “Elena”. He stared down at

the menu, sticky with syrup and coffee.

“Just a latte”, he replied, nudging the menu towards her.

“O-one latte coming up”, Reneta said, trembling as she wrote down the order.

Just as she took the menu from him, she fostered the courage to say one more thing to

him, ”You know, I saw your daughter here a couple of nights ago.”

Greg didn’t respond, not with his mouth nor his body. Reneta could tell he wasn’t

in the talking mood so she grabbed the menu and walked away from his table. When

she came back with the latte, Greg could tell just by the look of it that something was

different in the latte. The color and the scent were far from what he would normally

expect from the latte.

‘No, it couldn’t be’ he thought to himself. He took his first sip, waiting for the latte

liquid to touch his lips, not knowing what to expect when it did. He felt a little bit of a

tingle. ‘Oh but it is!’

He had heard of occuldium before, but he never expected it to actually be real.

He always thought it was just some ages old tale told by the Church to keep their power

among the people. He felt… powerful. He felt amazing and he felt like he found a way

out. Whoever had bestowed this gift upon him, whether it was the waitress or the

barista, definitely had not foreseen what he would do with it. This was the key to saving
 Asmani 3

Sanchez. He had a rough idea of where the occuldium might be. Even though he

thought the ore had not existed before today, he kept his ears peeled for conversations

about it. Juniper Springs was about to be in the palm of his hand once again.

That night felt like ages ago, even though it had just happened the month before.

Greg looped his chair around, away from his perfect view and toward his working desk.

Aside from stacks of papers and pens sprawled across the table, dozens of pictures of

his family lined the outer rim of his desk. The pictures of his wife and Sasha that he

frequently picked up during calls and stressful meetings gave him comfort when days at

work became rough. Coming home to see his daughter’s face light up when she would

tell him about her day or seeing his wife be proud of him when he told her that his day at

work went well is what kept him going at work. His family meant everything to him and

he would do anything for his family.

“Mr. Sanchez? It’s Eric” accompanied by a knock came from the door to his

office.

“Come on in Eric.”

Eric opened the door and walked into Greg’s office.

“Please Eric, have a seat” Greg said as he called his secretary, “Dylan please

don’t let anyone else into my office for the next 30 minutes.”

“Of course, sir,” Dylan replied.

Eric shuffled to the mahogany chair in front of Mr. Sanchez’s desk, wondering

what other business executives laid their rich rearsides in that same seat.
 Asmani 4

“So Eric, I wanted to say thank you for helping me with my little business

transaction the other night. I am assuming things went well given that I received the

briefcase full of the money. I counted just in case you didn’t and they gave us every last

penny.”

“Yes, sir I would say they went well, but I-”

“Well that’s great to hear. I was afraid you would chicken out in the middle, but it

seems you passed my test,” Greg said proudly leaning back in his chair.

“Test?” Eric suddenly forgot about what he really wanted to tell Greg, but only for

a second.

“Yes that was a test, I’m sure you realized that was the reason I left before any of

the action started.

‘Sounds like an excuse for trying to save his own ass’, Eric thought to himself.

“I needed to know if I could trust you to get your hands dirty if I needed you to.

And I am glad to say I am very impressed with what you did”

“Thank you sir, but-” Eric said, trembling his leg in the chair.

“Now I know what you are going to say. But I don’t want you to worry about doing

something like that again because soon enough everything will be made so much

easier”

“Sir, I have to tell you something- wait, what do you mean easier?”

“Sanchez is opening a new factory on the lake. And- this doesn’t go outside this

room- but we are planning to explore some more unique branches of the business, if

you know what I mean.”

 Asmani 5

“Oh my god….”

“I know! Amazing isn’t it. Now I know it is a bit of a stretch on money right now to

open up a new factory, but I am one hundred percent sure this will be profitable.”

“Mr. Sanchez!”

Mr. Sanchez was taken aback by Eric’s sudden outburst, “My goodness, what

has gotten into you Eric”.

“Mr. Sanchez, I need to tell you something. I really don’t think this is a good

idea.”

“Why on earth not? Do you want Sanchez to go out of business? Are you turning

on me? Oh my goodness, who have you told!”

“No one Mr. Sanchez, I promise I’m not turning on you. I care about Sanchez and

that is why this is a terrible idea. Look, that night when you left and I got the money, I

went back underground because I forgot my walkie talkie and I saw... something.”

“What the hell are you talking about Eric? Are you pulling my leg? What did you

see?”

“I don’t remember exactly, I was in so much shock that I couldn’t exactly get a

good look at what it is, nor do I remember much. But the… thing… took my can of

occuldium from me.”

“He- I mean- it took it from you?”

“Yes, it reached out this tentacle and took my can from me. It said something too,

I am trying to remember.”
 Asmani 6

“It talked to you? Eric you’re joking! I don’t have time for this. Anyways, your

bonus is in order and should be added to your paycheck. Given that I know you are

trustworthy now, I really wanted to ask you if you wanted to be Director of the new

factory.”

“What?! Director? Are you serious Mr. Sanchez?”

“Well of course I am, but I can’t have someone on my team who doesn’t believe

in the factory and its real purpose. Or even says that we shouldn’t open it.”

“Sir are you seriously going to discount everything I just told you about the

monster- I mean thing?”

“Here’s what I think. You drank some occuldium. Not all people have great

reactions to it the first couple of times. I think it was just a hallucination.”

“Maybe, Mr. Sanchez. That would make sense.”

“Of course! Now can I count on you to be the Director of the new Turner Lake

Sanchez Factory?”

After a look of hesitation, Eric said,“Yes, you can.”

Eric reached over and shook Greg’s hand.

“Alright, I will email you more details about the job position and the factory later

tonight.”

Eric got up to leave, however just as he opened the door, he turned to look at Mr.

Sanchez.

“Mine,” he said.

“I’m sorry what did you say Eric?”

 Asmani 7

“Mine. That’s what the monster said.”