Realm Wraith Read Free

burden.
    Lunchtime came, and he gnawed on an energy bar rather than taking the time to eat. He needed all the free time he could to work, excepting a five minute hiatus to head down to the break room to grab a coffee. There were a few other people sitting at tables, eating food from home, laughing and chatting. Rayne nodded hello to them while he heated up the coffee machine. They ignored him.
    “Oh, I thought the match with Manchester last night was brilliant,” another coworker said, gathered with others outside in the hall, frittering time away beside the water cooler. Rayne saw Hawkins with them, not getting his work done.
    He tapped his subordinate on the shoulder. “Hawkins, did you—”
    “I know, the finances. I’ll have them at the end of the day, no worries.”
    “Right.” Rayne glanced over at Hawkins’s companions, who didn’t look pleased with him for interrupting their fun. “See that you do.”
    He heard their laughter rise again the moment he turned his back and walked away. He didn’t even remember their names.
    By four, Rayne’s head drooped, and his body slumped over the desk as his energy waned. He stared at his computer as white light and black words stared back at him from the documents meant to build his case, his eyes scanning them for anything useful.
    “Looks like our opposition’s been liquidating quite a few assets,” he murmured. “There’s blood in the water.”
    Hawkins barged into his office with a stack of papers at a quarter to five, which he dumped on Rayne’s desk.
    “Is that all of it?” Rayne asked.
    “Yeah, I think so. Everything about those other blokes: stock shares, profits for the last eight fiscal years, sale of assets. And I sent copies of these contracts to our client’s office. Oh yeah, Mr. Bastley wants you in his office. He wants you to update him on the meeting tomorrow.”
    Rayne jerked his head up. “Meeting? What meeting?”
    “You know, the meeting. The case we’re working on?”
    “That wasn’t supposed to be until Thursday!”
    “Maybe they moved it up?”
    Teeth clenched, Rayne brushed past Hawkins, trying to hold his composure. They moved up the meeting? Why hadn’t anybody told him?! Another late night, just what he needed. Having to present on Thursday was flustering enough, and now they’d moved it up two days.
    Rayne stumbled into the office of one of his firm’s senior partners, a grey haired man with a distinguished demeanor and an office to match.
    “Ah, Mercer, I was starting to wonder,” Mr. Bastley said. “I need to be certain you have everything ready.”
    “Y-yes, sir. I’ve got all records of acquisition, and I think I’ll be able to negotiate this. I don’t think we’ll have to take the matter to court.”
    Rayne laid out his strategy to his superior, who seemed to approve of his methods as well as his calm professionalism. Yet despite his placid appearance, Rayne’s insides churned with questions, stressed to breaking point from uncertainty and far too many late nights.
    “Good, everything appears to be in order,” Mr. Bastley said.
    “But why wasn’t I told the meeting was moved up to tomorrow?”
    “Yes, about that. I moved the meeting up because I need you to meet with a representative of the Marotech corporation on Thursday.”
    “Marotech? They’re one of our biggest clients.”
    “Yes, and they’re undergoing a vast international expansion. We need everybody on this.”
    “But what about—my meeting is—?”
    “Yes, you’ll still be handling your previous accounts. But, they will come second to this. I’ll have my secretary send you the paperwork; I’m certain you can handle it.”
    This was too much for Rayne. His head reeled, filled with a haze that clouded his reason. He slumped over as he struggled to focus. Wasn’t there something more important? Was he forgetting something?
    “But I’m already stretched so thin handling that account,” he argued. “I barely see my son enough as it