G Hall

Office Surprise Part 1

Chapter 1

Kate pulled into the office car park just as it was starting to get light outside. As the owner and manager of a busy property consultancy, she knew there was a lot of work that had to be completed that week. She had dedicated her working life to making the consultancy as success, and she knew it was her name and business that were on the line if she did not deliver on time. She had ten staff working for her, but wanted to get a head start on the work she needed to do, and the best time for her to do that was early in the morning when there was no distractions. As the sun started to rise, she knew it was going to be another hot day.

After unlocking the office and walking in, things did not quite seem how they should be. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, it just didn’t feel right. The desks were untidy, chairs seemed further out from the desks than usual, and some of the drawers were partly open. She knew she was putting her staff under a lot of pressure with their workloads, but they normally took pride in the appearance of the office. Then she heard a noise, a sort of ‘clunk’ coming from the direction of her private office in the corner. Looking over, she saw her office door was open, and knew for sure her feelings had been right. She always shut her office door when she left. Something was definitely wrong. She heard the noise again, it was difficult to say what it was, and it was almost as though something metal was being rattled. She slowly started to walk towards her office, to try to see what it was. As she did so, she heard the noise again, and again, it seemed to be getting more frequent. She hesitated. Should she continue and see where the noise is coming from, or should she go and get help? She convinced herself that at this early hour, there was unlikely to be anyone around that could help, and she didn’t have time to wait until someone arrived. She eased forward, until she could see into her office through the open door. Her office was a mess, the desk drawers had been emptied all over the floor, her chair was overturned, and she could see the door for the cupboard which contained the safe was open, though the safe remained closed.

‘Clunk, Clunk.’

There was the noise again, louder, sounding more frenzied. She froze. The office had clearly been broken into, what if the thief was still here and was making that noise? But if they were still here, they must have known she was there, as she had switched the office lights on when she first came in, so why hadn’t they already tried to get past her, or tried to get her to open the safe?

‘Clunk, Clunk, Clunk.’

What the hell was that noise? She eased forward again, and caught sight of something moving. Feet, or more precisely, running shoes. They were kicking back and forwards, as though they were trying to push backwards but they were not getting grip.

‘What the hell!’ she thought, as she edged a bit further forward. Sure enough, there was a pair of denim-clad legs, kicking and pushing at the ground. Panic set in, what if the thief was having some sort of seizure and needed help? She rushed into her office to check, but again stopped in her tracks at the sight before her.

Her office was on the top floor of a three-storey building. It did not have proper air conditioning, but instead had old-fashioned ventilation ducts. There was a vent on the rear wall at floor level, and she saw the cover had been forcibly removed. Now, sticking out of the duct, was the lower half of a man. It was as though he was in a sitting position, with everything above his waist in the ventilation duct. His hands were down by his side, trying to push up off the floor, and his feet were desperately kicking, trying to push up and into the duct, but he was stuck. She realised the noise had been the duct rattling. Finding the situation quite funny, and no longer feeling any fear, Kate walked over for a closer look. As she did so, the legs seemed to give up trying to push up the duct, and she could hear muffled cries for help.

“Well, what do we have here?” Kate said.

“Help me, I’m stuck.” She heard the man shout.