Norbert felt the calm wind blowing through his hair. On his daily morning run, he went all over the campus. Obsius flew above him, looking out at the world. After being so long away, it felt good to be back, like he went on a vacation with all expenses paid. The only danger is his life. As he ran through the streets, the details that he once missed picked up. The cracks in the concrete, the light filtering through the leaves. The sun shone through his misty breath.
As he ran, Norbert thought about what he was able to do. For now, he would wait it out and always be prepared for when it inevitably came—not letting it control his life since he wasn't in constant danger if he wasn't prepared.
As he descended a hill, his feet slapping on the pavement, Norbert thought about the classes and notes he would need to attend and catch up on. At least Jack was helping out as much as possible and saving Norbert many hours of work. As he ran across the road at the bottom of the hill, nobody was up then; Norbert thought about that endurance elixir, as even though he had been running for nearly an hour, he still wasn't out of breath. As he made it back to the apartment, unlocking the door, with Obsius on his shoulder waiting patiently, a thought hit him, would he now need to eat more or less due to the potions?
Thinking about the bills he would need to pay just in food if it increased made him stop and shudder from head to toe. As he washed himself off of sweat, Norbert made a list of classes he would need to attend and go to work. After all the money he had thrown down the drain in the name of survival had to come back somehow. And sadly, he didn't think the handful of coppers he would get would be enough to offset that cost.
***
As he sat at his desk in the call centre, wearing regular clothes and his coat draped over his chair, Norbert did not know how he was still here, able to look at Obsius playing with the tissues in a pile on his desk.
Before he arrived, Norbert was thinking of what to do with the bird. Should he leave him at home? Let him go free in the wild over here, or try and take it with him. No matter how much he wanted to leave Obsius at the apartment, the bird would not budge.
Decided on his fate of being called out, Norbert walked and entered the elevator, Obsius staying on his shoulder the entire time. Listening to the elevator music playing, Norbert tapped his foot in tune. As the elevator doors dinged, they opened, and Norbert stepped out, trying to act inconspicuously as he made his way to his desk.
As he sat down at the desk he was using and turned on his computer, the screen in front of him lit up, bathing his face in the light. Norbert looked went and placed on his headset, preparing for the day of calls.
As he placed Obsius on his desk, hoping nobody would see the bird, he began his work, hearing the first call. "Hi, it's Norbert at "…. And so he continued his job. Looking out at the corner of his eye, Norbert could see Obsius playing with the tissues. The list went on, taking one out at a time, making them into a little nest, covering himself with them, and trying to blow them off the desk.
Norbert looked at Obsius but did not see the person walking up to his desk.
"So, whose your little friend?"
Norbert looked up; leaning over the wall divider, Henry stood staring down and smiling with a toothy grin. In his t-shirt with some faded design printed on it, his hair tossed, half covering his eyes.
"Its name is Obsius. Just started following me one day, and no matter what I try, I cannot get rid of him … thus," Norbert presented the birds with his arms. Now looking between the two people, his head is only barely visible underneath a tissue.
"Well, let me know if you find another one; I wouldn't say no to having a little bird pal", Henry replied, moving around the divider to gently rub Obsius's head, ruffling the feathers before smoothing it down. "I'll also keep an eye out for Agatha for you; I don't want this little guy to get kicked out of here when he's so well-trained," Henry said, finishing petting the bird.
Obsius stared at Norbert, looking for more pats as well. Relenting, Norbert gave in, giving the bird a pat on its head. Ruffling its feathers, Obsius scooted around, getting closer to Norbert, before he jumped forward into Norbert's lap.
With a laugh from Norbert and Henry at Obsius's antics, Henry waved, walking away from Norbert as he had to return to work.
***
And so Norbert's day on the call desk with Obsius went without any hitches. As Norbert packed up for the day, happy that no last-minute calls came in, he shut off his computer and picked up Obsius from the desk, moving the tissues into the bin. Looking into the box, Norbert saw that it was empty; with a shake of his head, it also joined the discarded tissues in the bin.
As Norbert whistled once more, Obsius joined in and whistled as well. As Norbert dinged the elevator he entered, the doors began sliding shut when he heard outside.
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"Please hold the door!"
Instinctually Norbert went and pressed the button to allow the doors to open. As they opened, Norbert looked up to see who was coming down. Hearing the tapping of high heels on the floor, Norbert swallowed when his eyes met the person—the one person he did not want to meet.
He looked around to see if he could hide Obsius anywhere, but he was in an elevator with only a backpack. Before he could even more, the person he did not want to see, Obsius, was next to him, his boss.
Agatha, in her red high heel shoes and blue jeans, having a ruffled top and her hair down, looked directly into his eyes. Gulping, Norbert looked away and pressed the button for the elevator doors to close, hearing the music coming on once more.
Hiding Obsius on his left shoulder, hoping his body would stop Agatha from finding it, Norbert sat silently in the elevator, only the music playing. As he was halfway down, Norbert suddenly calmed down, thinking he would get away with it.
Chirp chirp chirrup
Turning his head to the side, Norbert saw Obsius singing along with the music. Drooping his head in shame, he looked to the side, seeing his boss's reaction. And to his surprise, instead of being annoyed or angry about taking an animal into the office, a sly smile crept across her face, a twinkling in her eye of mischief to come. Slowly turning her head, she exited the elevator as the doors opened.
Stepping out quickly before they closed, Norbert waited for her to say something, turning around, her hair flowing behind her, "You coming or what?" She asked before turning around again and walking down the street.
Quickly to catch up, Norbert walked fast, meeting up with her on the next block. Down streets, they walked together, not saying a word. Suddenly Agatha stopped and walked into a building, opening the glass door and hearing another bell.
Looking up, Norbert was shocked at where he was as he walked inside. Not knowing how he lost so much track of time on the walk, as it usually would have taken him at least 10 minutes to make it this far.
There at the counter stood Bob, smiling and waving at the two of them.
"Will it be the usual again, Agatha, or will it be your usual Norbert?" He asked the pair as they walked in.
"Mine, thanks, Bob. All good if I sit at the side?" Agatha asked, already tapping her card to pay for it. Norbert not even seeing Bob use the cash register or touch the pin pad. With the receipt came out, Bob tore it off and placed it on the spike filled with other receipts.
Norbert and Agatha sat opposite him at the table, Obsius in the centre. As they looked at each other, Norbert tapped his fingers on the table, waiting for the conversation to start.
"So, what was this cute little guy doing in the office today?"
Staring at her, Norbert thought of what he could say. Should he make something up ultimately, act completely oblivious, and say someone else took the bird in? Looking down at Obsius, Norbert thought about what could have happened if she had said no to him. Would the bird understand? As he thought about what to say, he thought, what if she had already talked with Henry? Then she would already know about the bird and how it followed him. Seeing a path through the forest, Norbert opened his mouth.
"Like I told Henry, the bird Obsius just started following me one day, could not shake him for my life. Today I tried to leave him behind, but he wasn't having a bar of that. So here we are, the office still intact."
Flourishing his arms at the bird, Norbert finished his speech Obsius turned around, looking at Norbert, almost seeing if he had been insulted by something that Norbert had said. Turning around once more and ruffling its feathers, Obsius walked over to Agatha's end of the table before jumping off and sitting in her lap.
Cooing softly, Obsius cuddled up with her. Jealousy flashed through Norbert, the fact Agatha somehow won over Obsius so quickly, life couldn't get fair.
"Due to this little guy's wonderful behaviour so far, I will persist if Obsius were to stay in the office. Now don't tell anyone else this, and I will know if I ever spot him doing anything obstructive to work."
Picking up Obsius, she placed him on the table, walking up to the counter to pick up the box Norbert had left. Coming back and sitting at the table, Agatha opened up the pizza box, steam billowing out once more.
Looking down, Norbert saw the pizza she had picked, and in a look of utter surprise, Norbert saw the most argumentative pizza topping of all, the pineapple on a Hawaiian pizza. Looking up at her, she raised an eyebrow, waiting for his response.
"So I see your usual is the always contested, the one topping people cannot decide on the most. The pineapple on the pizza. So I assume you are a fan of it and do not think it makes the pizza soggy?"
Already a slice in hand and about to bite into it, Agatha looked at Norbert, slowly putting the pizza down and laughing, a proper laugh. Whipping a tear from her eye with a finger, she picked up the pizza again, taking a bite and savouring it before shaking her head. "The gal on some people"
After eating the slice, she looked at Norbert, "Thanks for a laugh, Norbert; at least I know who to go to brighten my day. And as you can see, I think pineapple belongs on pizza."
Seeing Obsius near the pizza moving around, Norbert looked down and was horrified at what he saw. Obsius was walking on a slice of pizza and picking off all the toppings. What barbaric actions for something to do. His face moving down, not knowing what to do, he heard another laugh from across the table. Looking up, he saw Agatha staring at him, a smile once more on her face.
"It's fine; I can see that at least someone here agrees with having pineapple on a pizza."
Norbert stared quietly across the table at a loss for words, not knowing what to do anymore. Seeing him falter, she gestured for Norbert to pick up a slice of pizza. He did so and bit into it. The juice of the pineapple washed away the bile that was building up. With each bite, Norbert was diving through a waterfall, swimming through the ocean and sipping drinks on the beach, under an umbrella on a beach chair, with the drink also having a little umbrella.
The two of them ate in silence, only the munching of the pizza and the crowd slowly filling in, creating sound. The chiming of the doorbell nearly constantly ringing, like the second hand of a clock. When the last slice was eaten, Agatha brushed herself off and stood up. Smiling and giving Obsius a little pat moved to the door. Turning around, she said to Norbert, "Don't forget what I said", and she left, the bell ringing again.
Sitting there thinking about the luck he had to avoid losing his job, Norbert cleaned off Obsius before placing him on his shoulder and picking up the empty pizza box before leaving the place and heading home. Dropping the box in the bin, Norbert waved to Bob, dishing out pizzas to the people in line.