Alone

Harold left his office and wandered down the hall. George’s door was open, but George only nodded when Harold greeted him and immediately returned to his computer. So Harold walked on. Nancy and Denise were standing at the cooler. He heard Denise’s high giggle before he rounded the corner but when he spoke to them she was somber. They answered his questions simply then both took long drinks of water. Harold walked away. Behind him Denise began to giggle again. Taylor did not even answer Harold’s hello. The Cubicle triplets all looked at him, then looked away when he waved. Mabel stopped him before he reached the elevators, said hello, and asked him how he was doing. Harold began to feel better. But Mabel did not answer when he returned the question, only wished him a good day, glanced at the Cubicle triplets with some significance Harold could not identify, and left him standing in the middle of the hallway. Harold got in an elevator. It was empty. He picked a button and slowly began to sink towards the ground floor.