Chapter Six:
Day one at Werndl Accounting. A Wednesday morning in mid-October 2003, complete with a heavy layer of fog that clung to the streets as I rode the bus to my latest office environment. I had not slept well the night before. For some reason, memories of my ex looming over me while I huddled on the kitchen floor haunted me when I woke around four a.m. The silence of my bedroom became oppressive, and I stuck a USB stuffed with pop music into my laptop and turned the volume up in a vain attempt to banish Kyle’s ghost.
On the way to work, my thoughts swung from him to Lukas. In Freiburg, I had lived and worked with a charismatic abuser, an American military brat whose friends and family adored him. None of them would have believed me if I had asked for help. So I fled to Erlangen, a poor haven for a witch whose blood hovered at the non-magical threshold. I had caught the tail end of a conversation just last Sunday at church—three middle-aged Teuton women muttering that elemental magic would go extinct in the city within two generations if I became Leitalra.
And now I must seize my newfound path at a company where Lukas Felder worked. Whether his old prejudices would eventually come to the fore or not, I had to take this job to support my family. My father had assured me his savings would last a few months, but I did not want him to burn himself out in a desperate bid to undo his mistake. So I accepted the first offer that came my way. Professionally, I felt no qualms about my new position.
Personally? Emotionally? I would have to suppress all of that. The German corporate world held no place for such frivolities.
I could do this. I could do this.
The red-haired HR manager guided me to my cubicle and reintroduced herself as Frau Tanja Knopp. “Everyone calls me Tanja, so feel free to do the same. I’ll stop by in an hour with some paperwork. The IT wizard will get your computer set up as soon as he brews a pot of coffee. You can find some for yourself, along with water and tea, in the canteen.” Tanja offered me a hospitable smile, nodding at an open doorway along the wall near the lobby.
I thanked her for her help and set my purse and bag upon the desk before me. Once Tanja had gone, I took a moment to gaze around at my personal cubicle. Cream-colored portable walls that rose to my shoulders enclosed the space on three sides, already an improvement over my former workplace. There, I had shared a cubicle with a gruff accountant. Sometimes I wondered if my ex set things up that way to make sure I had constant oversight.
A desk stretched the length of one and a half walls, locked filing cabinets poised along the last half. An overhead compartment hung above the half section of desk, while the computer’s monitor and tower sat to my left. Trash and recycling bins stood beneath the desk, and a thin closet to store coats and bags was tucked between the cabinets and the empty wall. I scanned the cubicle again, knowing that I needed to add some decorations to brighten things up. Some of my grandmother’s crystals should do the trick, along with a candle or two.
I opened the closet door and set my bag inside, then worked my way out of my leather jacket. The tapping of fingernails upon the flimsy wall beside me caught my attention while I hung my jacket inside the closet. Turning toward the sound, I found myself facing a blonde woman about my own age, her face heavily painted, her earth-hued eyes taking in my every movement.
“Greetings, new neighbor and fellow auditor! I’m Johanna, and you must be Gabi.” The young woman beamed and offered her right hand over the wall. Silver nails stretched at least five centimeters out from her fingertips.
“I’m definitely Gabi. It’s nice to meet you, Johanna.” I smiled and shook her hand, her weak grip prompting me to internally cringe. “You’re an auditor too?”
“That I am. We’ll be working together for the first week or so, while you get into the swing of things here. I’m going to go get some coffee. Want to come?”
Johanna quickly proved a bubbly sort, one I would never entrust with any secrets. We ran into the “IT wizard” in the canteen, a stocky man with a comb-over and a nerdy voice. He nodded once at me when Johanna introduced me as her “new partner in crime,” assuring me that he would come by my cubicle in a few minutes to get my login and permissions sorted. Then he eased his way out of the canteen, leaving me alone with my chatty companion, who was in the process of dumping five packets of sugar into her coffee.
I took mine black and leaned my hip against the counter, listening while Johanna spouted off random factoids about the office environment. The corporate manager was the squeaky-voiced older gentleman I had met at my interview, and she loved him to death. So polite and personable, away semi-regularly reaching out to clients new and old. He bought lunch for the entire office every Friday.
The IT wizard was friendly and married with kids. Two of the accountants were living together, and Tanja had a side gig as a travel agent during the spring beer festival. “But just wait until you meet our boss, Lukas Felder. All business, that one.” She rolled her eyes and pretended to fan herself.
“Wait a minute. Lukas Felder is our boss?” My fire sizzled in my blood, and I lowered my eyelids as I mentally ordered it to stand down. Not here, not now.
“Ah, you met him at your interview, didn’t you? He’s eye candy, that one. Especially if you take a stroll along the canal while the rowing club is practicing.” She winked and blew on her coffee while I valiantly attempted to regain my sanity. It had shattered to pieces all around me.
“I’d better get back to my desk, get my computer set up.” And I needed two or three seconds to myself, so I could toss some rocks at my ex’s ghost. Why had I imagined I could escape the constricting bubble my life had become? In Erlangen, my mother would belittle me and my high school bully would dictate my career. But I needed this job for my father’s sake. For Dennis’ sake.
“Don’t waste your time with our boss,” Johanna whispered in my ear as she trailed me back to our desks. “He shows zero interest in merging his love life with his work life. No interest whatsoever.”
Sour grapes, but who could blame her? Lukas was a stud; my fire certainly agreed with that. A small hint of relief touched me as I settled into the rolling chair at my desk. If Lukas had perfected his businessman’s persona, then I should have no reason to fear his opinions on my weak bloodline. Right?
Lukas stopped by my desk shortly after I finished filling out tax paperwork for Tanja. He introduced himself again—unnecessary, but polite—and described a bit about what would be expected of me. He admitted that there would be a lot of paperwork, but I was used to such things. Johanna rolled her way over about one minute into our conversation, her head tilted up to stare at Lukas’ face while she nodded along, interjecting occasional words of agreement.
This time I happened to notice Johanna’s boobs. They were substantial, her blouse low enough to show cleavage. She positioned herself with one arm draped beneath them, an effort to draw attention. Lukas glanced her way now and then, but kept his focus primarily upon me, where I sat struggling to keep my focus on business-related issues. My fire insisted upon flecking my irises, and I kept having to blink and look down as I leashed it again. And again.
Lukas’ irises are staying as hazel as they come. His mist isn’t making a fool of itself in front of an uninterested female. Stop making me look stupid! Coming back to Erlangen had turned me insane. I had never chided my magic as if it were a separate entity from myself back when I lived among outsiders. My fire had proved willing to confine itself to my spirit there, an inactive observer.
Damned magic should have broken its chains when my ex tormented me. Useless waste of mysticism.
Overall, the first day went as well as could be expected. Once Lukas left my flirtatious coworker and me alone, Johanna invited me to her desk and walked me through a set of daily reports that her former partner compiled. She looked forward to passing those off to me once I felt comfortable, remarking that things were so much more manageable with two auditors instead of one. Tomorrow we would work together on a package for a regular client.
Lukas passed through and checked on me shortly after lunch, asking in a pleasant tone whether Johanna had overwhelmed me yet. “She’s a bit much sometimes, but she’s usually respectful if you wear headphones,” he said.
“Oh, don’t listen to him. I don’t chatter when I’m working on projects.” My coworker made a pouty face at him. His expression remained impassive.
“Looks like we might land the big one at the start of 2004,” Lukas noted. He mentioned the name of the city’s largest industry—his mother’s employer—which prompted Johanna to pump her fists and squeal.
“I don’t have any experience with auditing larger corporations,” I blurted. Anxiety warred with excitement within me at such a prospect.
“I’ll guide you every step of the way, if the contract goes through,” Lukas pledged, his hazel eyes meeting mine. The corners of his lips curled into a trace of a smile.
Johanna mumbled something about needing to use the restroom, then strutted away like a forsaken hen. Had she read into Lukas’ comment? He was our boss; of course he would give us direction if we ended up auditing his mother’s mammoth employer. From what I had observed thus far, Werndl Accounting’s management took responsibility for its employees, a positive trait my father’s former company lacked.
“You know how to respond if a client ever tries to bribe you to fudge their records?” Lukas stood at the left wall of my cubicle with one elbow propped upon the barrier, his expression appraising. Not one word about Johanna’s departure. All business, like she had said.
“Of course. Offer a polite refusal and report it to you.” I had dealt with that sort of issue once at my previous job.
“You’re going to be a great addition to our team,” Lukas said, turning his attention away from me as one of the accountants appeared at his side.
The lean man wore a severe scowl, his buzzed silver hair shining strangely under the florescent lights. He ran his gaze over me from head to toe, then spoke to Lukas in Teutonic dialect, his tone wary. “This is the one they think might usurp our maidens of purer bloodlines.”
My lips parted in shock and my fire raged to the fore, veiling my vision in red as it judged the older man’s aura. He claimed metal, his potent element casting his own irises in steel-like gray when he sensed my fire’s agitation. “You should know that Erlanga’s soul can’t be bent to anyone’s will,” I snapped back at him in perfect Teutonica. His eyes widened as I went on; he doubtless assumed I did not understand our people’s ancient dialect. “But you should also know that if I had a choice in the matter, I’d never agree to represent a city full of intolerant bigots.”
The silver-haired man cleared his throat, his fingers leaving impressions on the wall of my cubicle. Before he could respond to me, Lukas clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Enough, Rafael. Your prejudices don’t belong here or anywhere else. Gabi’s just as eligible to become our next Leitalra as your own daughter.”
Rafael grumbled something foul under his breath and stomped toward the canteen. My sass evaporated in an instant as a familiar sense of inadequacy arose in my blood, carting my fire back into my spirit. I put a hand to my forehead and shut my eyes for a moment, trying to regain my poise. I knew I shouldn’t have come back here. Everyone in this city sees me as weak, a mistake.
“Gabi. Hey.” Lukas’ concerned voice pulled me from my downward spiral. I reopened my eyes and looked up at him, thanking heaven above that my element had kept my tears at bay. That was one useful thing about fire.
“Don’t listen to that old bastard, okay?” he murmured in a voice so low I had to strain to catch the words. “He has a bean up his nose because he’s hoping his daughter will get chosen when she comes home from college. She doesn’t graduate until next spring, so naturally he feels threatened.”
I shook my head and laid my hand down in my lap. “Lady Erlanga doesn’t look like she’s about to leave this world. I’ve visited her twice in the past few weeks. She’s fine. Perfectly healthy.”
Lukas glanced toward the restrooms and favored me with a quick nod before making himself scarce. I would have liked to discuss the issue further, but Johanna had returned, carrying a handful of cookies from the canteen. Life’s a lot less complicated for outsiders, I thought as we got back to work, the soothing taste of soft cookie dough granting my spirits a needed boost.
By Friday that week, my time at Werndl Accounting started to fall into a standard routine. Johanna and I were in the midst of an auditing project for a local newspaper, one that ought to wind down by the end of next week. Afterward, she intended to “turn me loose” on a smaller project for the Catholic church and school in Alterlangen—my first solo task. I found it a relief to bury myself in paperwork, for it kept my brain too occupied to fret over what destinies my people envisioned for me.
Rafael was the only Teuton in the office aside from Lukas and me. He had been on vacation the day of my interview, or I would have sensed his solid element lurking in the distance then. Thankfully, the two of us did not have to collaborate on any projects. But his cubicle was right near the restrooms, and I caught his eye every time I headed back to my desk after relieving myself. The lanky man never smiled, his metal-infused eyes seeming to criticize everything about me.
His regard rattled my anxiety, the only negative aspect about my new work environment. I brought it up to Johanna on Friday morning right before lunch. “What do you think of that guy, Rafael? Kind of standoffish, right?” I asked after a quick restroom break.
“He seems like a grouch, but it’s all a smokescreen. He makes a really great stew in the winter months. Takes the edge off when you’re feeling sick.”
“Hmm.” As much as I wanted to believe her, I found myself imagining tiny flakes of metal sprinkled into a dish of stew, an attempt to poison me. Johanna could keep Rafael’s culinary creations to herself.
Like Johanna had predicted, the corporate manager, Herr Albert Werndl, bought lunch for everyone that day from a Turkish bistro. I took my Döner Kebap outside to eat beneath the chestnut trees in the office building’s small inner court. Tucked away from the public, if offered a little taste of woodland surrounded by urban growth; one could choose a picnic table or a bench under the trees, amid the hedgerows, or beside the trickling fountain. I had found a stone bench just large enough for two people the day before, lowering branches of autumn foliage hiding it from casual observers. An excellent place to get away and regroup.
I had nearly finished my Döner when I heard the crunch of fallen leaves beneath someone’s footsteps along the stone pathway on the far side of the hedge from where I sat. Pausing my chewing in an attempt to remain unnoticed, I saw a pair of polished black loafers come to a halt upon the path, then turn toward me. Before I could rewrap my food and scurry away, Lukas Felder ducked his head as he entered my glade, taking in the near-invisibility of the stone bench. “So you come here to get a break from Johanna. Nice.”
“I come here to get away from everyone,” I corrected, irritation clawing at me alongside my fire, which sizzled like a horny elemental dragon. Typical.
Lukas raised his eyebrows and took a step back toward the hedgerow, still hunched a bit thanks to the low branches. “Fair enough. I wanted to ask whether you’d like to have lunch with me on Monday. It’s not easy to catch you alone.”