The door opened to the smoker's room, my head immediately went up to see who walked in and much to my delight it was her. She walked over to her group and sat down. Pulling a cigarette from her pocket she placed it between her lips, with her other hand she deftly flicked her Zippo, lit her cigarette and inhaled deeply. Sliding down in her chair stretching her long legs she tipped back her head and exhaled slowly.
I loved to watch her smoke. There was something almost erotic about the whole process. It wasn't a bad girl thing, more like a European thing. When she spoke her voice had a slight accent I couldn't quite place. I wasn't sitting close enough to hear the conversation and even though our departments work hand in hand I had never been given the opportunity to speak to her directly.
In the six months that I’ve been with the company, small as it is, I had never been able to get close to her. We were a specialty company that designed costumes and period pieces for theaters and promotional events. She headed the design team; I worked on the team that sewed the final product. The job was no more than an apprenticeship, but it was great. Everyone was fun to be around, even when there was a disagreement it was handled with creative criticism and humor.
One afternoon I finally had my chance to meet her face to face. I had to take a cape I was working on to meet with final approval; it was her design so I would have to go directly to her office.
She was sitting at her drawing table when I knocked on her doorframe.
"Hi, Come in please. Is that the cape?" Her voice was deeper that I had expected, almost sultry.
"Yes, I need to ask you about..." Suddenly her phone rang.
"Excuse me one moment," she said,” Yes? I'm finishing the last one now. Yes. You'll have it tomorrow." She then grabbed a file and flipped through it giving details to the caller.
I took the time to look around her office. It was very eclectic, with drawings on the wall, or any flat surface for that matter. Her desk had an array of pencils, markers, inks as well as fabric swatches, coffee cups and a large jar of candy. Not quite what I expected but sort of offbeat and artsy.
She looked at me and held up her index finger indicating that she would be just a moment.
I smiled and nodded back.
She hung up the phone and turned to me. "I apologize for that, the sales department tends to get a bug up their ass every now and then so I'm forced to be complacent against my own will. You swear that they actually do all the work. Now what can I do for you?"
Her smile distracted me and I stuttered out, "I..Um..I have the cape and..." Then the phone rang again. Rolling her eyes, she let out a sigh and picked up the phone. "Hello." Her voice was tinged with aggravation. "You're kidding me! Alright, I'll get them." She slammed down the phone, rising from her chair, she instructed me to drop the cape and follow her. "I have to get a few dresses from storage and I need your help." I threw the cape over a chair and followed her out the door, down the hall and into the elevator.
“It seems the powers that be have a new client and they want to see a sample of our work. I wish they would let us do some sketches first, but they do things the way they feel will make the sale.”
The elevator paused and the door opened to the basement. I had never been in this part of the building before and I could see why no one else would want to go down there. It wasn’t so much dark as it was maze-like.
“Is this your first time to the “Labyrinth?” she asked. “Yes, I didn’t even know this place existed.” I was hoping she wouldn’t notice how nervous I was, not because of the basement, but because I was alone with her for the first time.
“Don’t be frightened, we have yet to have anyone go missing down here. “ She looked at me and smiled. “You’re a quiet one aren’t you? “
“Not really, I just didn’t expect to go on an adventure into the unknown today.”
“Ah, you have a sense of humor. Good. I hate serious people. I find them to be draining. Well, here we are.” She opened the door to a small room and we walked inside. “Oh by the way don’t let the door…” Behind us came a slam and a click. “…Close. Shit!”
“Is there something wrong? “ I asked.
“Yes, we are locked in here. Damn. “ She was obviously pissed. “Damn, damn, damn. I’ve told them to have this door lock fixed.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. What do we do now?” I felt like an idiot.
“We are stuck here until someone realizes that we are missing.” She walked over and kicked the door. “The worst part is that I forgot my cigarettes!”
“I have mine. I smoke menthol if that’s alright?” I pulled my pack out of my pocket and offered her one.
