Meet Me on Thames Street?

Alex stared up at the giant building across the street from him, mouth open. ‘Jack certainly did well for himself didn’t he?’ he muttered out loud. Passers by looking at him as if he was an alien. Alex glanced down at the tiny scrap of paper he’d found in a newspaper advertising Jack’s company of which he was the boss of now. And here Alex was, outside now, miles and miles away from his home. He had to figure out his game plan, he hadn’t thought ahead, that wasn’t one of his best skills. It was usually Jack to figure everything out the one who planned everything for them, Alex has always been the spontaneous, live in the moment kind of person.

He looked both ways and crossed the street, he was spontaneous but he didn’t want to get hit by a car, coming face to face with the building he’d finally got the courage to go and find for himself. Taking a deep breath and having a quick internal debate with his head he decided that yes, he was going to go through with this, it’s been what six years? He pushed the revolving door forwards, feeling the cold breeze mix with the heat of the building in his segment of the door, the harsh combination confusing his body as they made a whirlwind around him as he pushed forwards. Entering the comforting heat of the tall building he glanced around, Jack did a good job with this place, he thought. Looking to his right he saw a seating area with a reception desk adjacent to it, with a pretty blonde girl with large black edged glasses sitting neatly on her nose. Her eyes framed with heavy black eyeliner and her lips painted a pale pink which complimented her soft completion. She had a white button up shirt on matched with a black pencil skirt. She’d be exactly Alex’s type, you know, if he went that way. She kind of reminded him of those ‘sexy secretaries’ you find in porn films. He laughed out loud at his own train of thought, making her look up from her computer and eye him up and down, he wasn’t really dressed for a fancy place like this. Just in his black skinny jeans paired with a red and white button down flannel shirt and a black hoodie with his dunks. He stopped laughing to himself with the risk of looking like he should be sent back to a mental asylum. He flicked his fringe out of his eyes and looked at the girl at the desk, she licked her lips like she was waiting for him to say something first.

He coughed to clear his throat, at risk of it cracking because he was suddenly really nervous, ‘Uhm. Hey, could you please send Jack Barakat down for me?’, he twisted the ends of his hoddie crumpled in his hands to stop himself shaking.

‘Is he expecting you?’ she replied, rolling her eyes.

‘Not exactly, but can you please send him down, I need to see him.’ Not exactly? Alex are you mentally deficient? Of course he isn’t fucking expecting you. You haven’t seen him in years, there’s a more likely chance that he’d be expecting Megan Fox before he’d think of you.

‘I’m sorry, but unless you have an appointment then I’m afraid you cannot see Mr Barakat.’ She answered pulling Alex out of his train of thought.

Getting desperate he tries again, ‘No, you don’t understand, I need to see him, he needs to see me. I’m not leaving until he comes down or I go up.’ Alex challenges her, crossing his arms over his chest, looking like an angry teenager.

He can tell that the secretary is new because she looks horrified, he feels slightly bad about it but his priority right now is Jack. He tries to reason with him, stuttering slightly as she talks, ‘Sir, I-I’m sorry, but I simply c-cannot call him and get him to come down here to see you, you can take a seat and I’ll ring up to his assistant and s-see if he’s busy?’

‘Yes, I suppose… Please?’ Alex retorts, shuffling to the seat opposite him facing the big floor length window.

‘Okay, excuse me, what’s your name Sir?’ she asks quietly.

‘It doesn’t matter, just tell him to come down, because I’m not leaving until I see him.’ Alex harshly snaps back at her.

‘Oh, uhm. O-okay then.’ She whispers more to herself than him.

Alex just sits and stares out the window watching cars go past and thinking about all the different scenarios that could go on. Jack could come down, see him and go straight back up again. Though Alex hopes he won’t do that. He could come down, see him, punch him square in the nose and scream in his face and then leave him. Alex really hopes Jack won’t do that, but there’s always the possibility of that happening, seriously, it wasn’t the nicest way he could have left. To his left he notices a potted plant and picks leaves off of the little tree. It’s odd, Alex thinks, to have a little tree in a reception area, many places have them and they just make no sense, like what function does it serve in the presentation of the room? It just literally makes no sense. Alex can hear the secretary talking down the phone to what, he presumes, is either Jack himself or his assistant. The thought of being so close to Jack makes his heart beat faster and his palms feel sweaty.

‘… yes, there’s someone in Reception waiting for you, Sir… They refused to give me their name… They’re also refusing to leave until they see you… yes he’s sitting down here… okay. Yes. Okay. Bye.’

She hangs up the phone and tells Alex he’s just finishing some paperwork, Alex nods and goes back to staring out the window. Ten minutes go by and he’s still people watching, looking at young couples obviously in love, seeing elderly people walking the city alone. Lost in his own world where nothing went wrong, and everything was great and perfect again.

He hears a gasp.

He feels a light tap on his shoulder.

‘L-lex? Is that you?’