Gee: Part 2

After the bang

Bear in mind that this is a work in progress, so when I actually publish the book, it might not look anything like what you’re reading now. For example, this chapter (part two) was originally the opener, but in hindsight, I felt the story needed more of a big bang opening (see what I did there?). So, part one will now be a preface, and this will be chapter one. Maybe.

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“You’re needed in the boardroom,” said Angela, poking a head round the door of the white office. Gee blended into the paleness of the large rectangular room. His unkempt white hair and beard and gleaming robe were camouflaged against the plain white walls. The great white desk lay completely bare except for an executive toy, click-clacking like a grandfather clock, and Gee’s tiny bare feet that rested next to it.

“Me?” he replied, bushy eyebrows aloft. “They need me?”

He couldn’t remember the last time anybody had needed him. The last time his presence had been requested was at the beginning of The Great Change, and that hadn’t ended so well for Gee. ‘Inefficient, unproductive and unprofitable’ – all accusations that had been hurled at him and his ways by The Twelve - with some vitriol, it had to be said.

The young guns thought they knew better, probably did, actually. They had systems, processes and documented strategies containing proven formulas showing that the ship could be run more efficiently. He fought against The Great Change of course, but he was alone, a solitary voice in a choir of discontent.

How could he, one small man take on the horde of eager beavers, all keen to prove their position and worth? Not a chance. His role was now ‘consultative’, whatever that meant. He’d tried to get them to explain exactly what that entailed but the corporate phrases they used left him no better off.

And now, so many years down the line, yes, there were less calamities to deal with, less internal turmoil, but… well, it was boring, especially for him, closeted away in his small apartment, waiting to be fed crumbs of significance.

He slipped into his sandals and followed Angela along the network of long corridors that divided the various departments of Theyven Central. After what seemed like a short eternity, Angela paused with her hand on the shiny brass doorknob, waiting for him to catch up.

‘God knows what this is about,’ the old man thought. Only he didn’t. Angela opened the door and ushered him to enter. He took a deep breath and stepped into the brightness.