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Emma entered the business barely an hour after Sebas had hung up the phone. She arrived with two agendas in her hand and a big smile on her face. She was exquisitely perfumed, and elegantly dressed. The discreet heel on her shoes combined to perfection with an elegant black raincoat that, in turn, gave the illusion that the skirt it covered could not be too long. It was impossible not to notice her.
She went directly to the office where Sebas was. He did not give her time to knock on the door; he saw her through the window, and made a gesture for her to enter.
“Good morning, miss...”
“Pérez, Emma Pérez. Has Jaime never mentioned me to you before?”
“Well, no. But I also have to remember that I haven’t seen him for months, practically since the day that we signed the company insurance.”
“Yes, I’ve been revising the insurance at the office but, as I told you over the phone, I want to check if all of the details are correct, in order to be able to make a good offer. Can you show me the valuable machinery that you have here at the company?” asked Emma, whilst she took off her raincoat, revealing a short and tight-fitting dress, that especially emphasised her slight figure.
Sebas nodded, cast a nervous glance over his desk, then another at the woman, and finally said, in an attempt at feigning confidence:
“Yes, follow me.”
In less than a minute, the two were going through the facilities. Emma was noting down measures, risks, etc. in one of the agendas, and Sebas was trying to play the perfect host:
“Recycling is the future. All of us combined, we’re overloading the planet,” he said in a significant, almost pretentious tone.
Emma followed him, nodding and implied great interest in what the man was telling her. Every now and then, she would ask him a question.
“And your business is just dedicated to recycling?”
“Yes. Although in reality, we don’t yet complete the process. We only grind up the materials, as the preliminary step of the recycling, because afterwards each material requires a different treatment.”
“It strikes me as an exciting job,” exclaimed Emma. “I can imagine that somebody could feel very fulfilled in a job like this, knowing that they’re doing their bit towards the conservation of the environment,” she concluded, looking at the man with eyes full of admiration.
Sebas did not want to say anything, but on his face a smile of satisfaction was visible. Essentially, until that moment it had never occurred to him to think that his work could be so interesting. He thought that, for him, it had always been a vulgar activity: grinding up waste materials because the other businesses did not have the necessary machinery. But, in any case, if this woman insisted on saying that his work was ‘exciting’, he was not going to be the one to contradict her.
“Do you have children?” Emma then asked.
“No. My wife and I have only been married for two years, and... let’s say that, for the moment, we like to enjoy life.”
“Yes. You seem like a man in love.”
Sebas’ look of satisfaction changed in an instant, breaking the animated conversation they had been having up until that moment. It’s not that he was interested in Emma, and even less the case that the thought of cheating on María had passed through his mind, but that type of comment was not exactly what he had most wanted to hear coming from her mouth. Unconsciously, he remained thoughtful for a moment: is it like he was walking around with some sort of imaginary placard hanging round his neck saying ‘I’m in love, so, even though I like you, I’m off limits’?
“Exactly how many employees do you have here?” Emma said, suddenly bringing him back to reality.
“Three,” he responded automatically. “We receive all types of materials here and, as I have told you, we grind them down as the initial preparatory step of the recycling process. This is the grinder,” he pointed towards a large machine that presided over the entire area, “for if the materials come to us in very large pieces, before we prepare them. In summary, we go to collect them at the original site, grind them down, and then deliver them to wherever the client wants. We have lorries for that. We provide what one could define as an essential service,” he concluded, stopping in front of the preparation centre, in which three of his employees were at that moment.
From the door, Emma cast a glance around the room, at that moment becoming the focus of the indiscreet stares of the other men. Sebas put his arm around her shoulders and led her back to the centre of the factory, without entering the preparation centre.
“And we are the only business in Ourense dedicated to this,” he continued, trying to diffuse the situation. “As such, we always have so much work.”
The woman seemed to not miss a single detail of what she was seeing, trying to include as much information as possible, even though it had actually been a while now since she had stopped writing in her agenda.
“Do you only have the one grinder?” she asked.
“Yes,” Sebas seemed offended. “It’s the most expensive one on the market. It was a year ago that we opened, and we had to make two credit applications, one of them just to buy the grinder alone. Luckily my wife’s parents supported us. If they hadn’t, this business would never have been able to get off the ground.”
He walked towards the machine with a pride that he tried to impart to Emma, so that she would understand the value of that piece of equipment.
“Come on, I’ll show it to you.”
She followed him. They climbed up the rickety stairway and onto a type of scaffolding situated at the top of grinder chute.
“It is from here that we can ensure that everything that is processed is correct. Do you see those blades? Once they start up, no material can withstand them.”
Emma leaned forward to look at them.
“But, it seems like a dangerous machine,” she commented.
“Yes, well, you do have to be rather careful. Most of all when dealing with certain materials where there are bits that can fly off. But as long as you don’t go near the chute, there is no danger.”
“Do you think that a person could survive if they fell into it?”
Sebas let out a loud guffaw. He was surprised at the naivety of his companion. To tell the truth, he had never contemplated that possibility.
“If somebody were to fall inside whilst it was in operation,” he began to reason, “and there was nobody nearby to press the emergency switch, without a doubt the consequences would be fatal. And even if it were quickly shut down,” he stopped to think for a second, “I would not like to be in that situation. But it is precisely for that reason that we never turn it on when there is only one person in the factory.”
“My God, it doesn’t even bear thinking about,” observed Emma, sadly, as she began to climb back down the stairway.
“No, no. The danger, if there is one, is if a hollow were to appear from within the machine,” he reasoned with great assurance in front of the woman. “Falling inside is impossible. A person would have to climb all the way up here and purposely throw themselves into the chute. It would be completely impossible,” he concluded.
Before arriving at the bottom Emma stopped and took one last look up at the scaffolding. Sebas also paused, and responded to the woman’s curiosity with a smile, even though they did not make eye contact. Then, Emma turned around and the two of them continued to descend the steps, and made their way towards the office. Once inside, she insisted:
“Is a special card needed to operate it?”
“The grinder?” asked Sebas, surprised at her insistence. “No. We all use it here; it’s very easy. And if you had come a little later, you would have found us using it. It’s a shame because then you would have been able to see for yourself that it is not completely dangerous. I am sure that you would be feeling much less concerned.”
In reality, he did not understand how a machine that was so sophisticated, but yet so easy to control, could create such a huge impression on the woman.
“Are there fixed timeslots for each load of work?” she asked, mulling over what Sebas had just said.
“No, not at all,” this woman has no idea how a business works, he thought. “But today is different. We are only working this morning, since it is Holy Week. We were originally going to stay until three today. But if there are no unforeseen circumstances, sometime around twelve, or perhaps even a little earlier, we’ll be turning it on. We grind up the waste, load it onto the lorries and, at one o’clock, it will be ready to go and be taken off by one of the guys while I stay here finishing up the office work. So, if all goes to plan, I calculate that they should be back by twelve thirty, and then we’ll all be able to go home.”
“You’re clearly very organised,” said the woman, more relaxed, and brandishing a wide smile. “With a person like you at the helm, it shouldn’t be difficult to make this a profitable business.”
Sebas’ felt his ego significantly inflate with that comment, although he thought that it was not a good time to show it.
“I imagine that your employees are very happy,” continued the woman who now definitely seemed to have recovered from her shock.
“Well, I just try to make things easier in the business. Do you have all the information you need now?”
“Yes, I think so,” her satisfaction now more evident. “Between what I have collected here, and what is already at the office, I think that I will be able to present you with a great offer on the day I come back here.”
“That would be good news, definitely,” Sebas was also feeling satisfied.
“Yes, trust me. But I will call you before I visit you again, so as not to disrupt your timetable for that day,” she said, smiling, whilst she put her raincoat back on.
Sebas also smiled, as his form of goodbye. He accompanied her off the premises, and followed her with his gaze for a long time. Then he returned to the office. His employees were just on the verge of finishing and, as soon as they had, they would begin the grinding process.
Emma, on her part, walked away slowly. Concentrating, with a serious expression, and only one agenda in her hand.
––––––––
Four hours later, Sebas looked out of the corner of his eye to the clock in his office. It was almost two. It would not be long now before his employees would be back, and he had already finished the administrative work. He had even timetabled the following day.
Once all of the deliveries were completed, they would call it a day. Whilst he waited, he decided that it would be a good idea to send María a text. A romantic detail always benefits a loving coexistence, he thought. She had probably already arrived home, and he hoped that it would not be long before he would be doing the same.
He opened the office window, poured himself the last coffee of the morning and, sitting back in the chair, began to type, with a smile on his face: ‘Hello darling. How’s my little girl? Are you already home? I will certainly be leaving soon, so I was thinking that, if you prepare the bath, before eating we cou...’ He did not manage to finish writing the word. On the other side of the window, a shadow moved in front of his eyes and, instinctively, he looked up.
“Hello, Emma!” he exclaimed.
“Hello. Are you all alone?” she asked. “It’s so silent.”
“Yes. Although I don’t think it will be long before the guys get back. But anyway, I’m afraid I’ve made a really stupid mistake: when they went, I didn’t tell them that as soon as three o’clock came, we would all be going home. So I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them decides to save time by not coming back much earlier than three, and save themselves the need to start up another delivery,” he explained, laughing. “But tell me, what brings you back here?”
“As you’ll see, I arrived back at the office and realised that I didn’t have one of the agendas that I always carry with me. As it’s vital for my work, I tried to remember all of my steps this morning and I’m completely sure the only place I could have left it was here.”
“Well I haven’t found anything,” he said, seeming to exculpate himself, as he looked on top of his table. “But we can look for it, I have time,” he suggested.
A timid smile from Emma was enough to make him understand that that was just the invitation she was hoping to hear. Nor did Sebas play hard to get. He left his mobile on the table, stood up and left the office. Outside, he was able to see that Emma’s skirt was now even shorter, and the little heels from earlier in the morning had now given way to some comfortable trainers.
“I remembered that you told me that you would not be leaving until three, and I didn’t hesitate in coming back here,” noted Emma, as she approached him.
“You have a good memory. And you, are you still working at this hour?”
“No,” answered Emma, with a malicious expression. “This a personal visit.”
Sebas did not know how to interpret that sentence but, deep down, he was not displeased by the tone the girl had just used. He thought that it was always stimulating to feel flattered by a woman like this. And, more so during a surprise visit.
“And tell me, do you have any idea of the moment when you could have put it down it?”
“No, I really don’t.”
“I remember that we didn’t go into the preparation room,” said Sebas, trying to help.
“Yes, I remember that. But we were up there,” she said, pointing up towards the scaffolding.
“You think that it could be there?”
“It’s possible,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders. “But don’t worry, I’ll go up.”
The woman did not wait for a response, and went up towards the steps, under Sebas’ attentive watch. On the first step, she turned around and said:
“Why don’t you turn on the grinder for a moment, whilst I look up here? That way, while I’m up here anyway, I will be able to see how it works.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little dangerous?” he objected, surprised, even though deep down he loved the curiosity that the woman showed.
“Yes, but you said yourself that if I saw it working, it would convince me that it wasn’t dangerous.”
She didn’t need to ask twice. He turned around and, within a moment, the machine’s rollers began to stretch out before Emma’s eyes, as she had now arrived at the top. She leaned, with apparent enthusiasm, on the edge and contemplated the inside for a few moments. Then she looked at Sebas, who remained next to the controls, waiting anxiously. In barely a second, she focussed her attention back to the machine’s interior, but this time her enthusiasm was transformed into surprise, much surprise.
She caught Sebas’ attention from the scaffolding and made a signal for him to come up. He obeyed. When he arrived next to her, Emma pointed to the end of the chute.
“What is that there?” she asked.
The man looked down towards the inside of the machine, not understanding what was happening.
“I don’t see anything out of the ordinary,” he said.
“Yes there is, under the rollers.”
Sebas approached the chute, and tried to locate what it was that had surprised Emma so much.
“I don’t see anything. Everything’s normal,” he insisted.
“No, look, there,” she also insisted. “That black thing. My God, it looks like...” she said, taking refuge behind the man.
Faced with the woman’s insistence, Sebas decided to lean over the chute, which came up to just a little below his waist, supporting himself with his hand on the rim. Being in this position, in under a second, Emma bent down towards his back, decisively grabbed his feet, and pushed him forward. She did so with all of her strength, as if her life depended on it.
“Good riddance.”
Sebas cried out, and looked back at Emma, stunned. He held out his hand, like a castaway, from the other end of the chute, noticing how each one of the blades cleaved through his flesh, gobbling him up bit by bit, relentlessly. Then, at one moment, the sound from the machine dulled, for barely one slight instant. A few seconds later, without much effort, the grinder resumed its usual sound.
Once this had happened, and nothing was visible in the chute, Emma went down the steps and stopped in front of the machine’s display screen, taking care to avoid the pool of blood that was beginning to quickly work its way across the floor. There, she carefully placed a golf ball, perfectly balanced. Then she slowly walked back towards the exit, without looking back.
Before leaving that place, she entered Sebas’ office one last time, and lifted one side of the visitors’ armchair, the same one on top of which she had placed her raincoat. She reached down and retrieved her lost agenda. Nobody would have seen it until days later.