type as me

The Charming Monkey, Part 1

It had gone nine o'clock when I pushed open the office door. It was unlocked as I knew it would be. Madison always beats me to the office. She's so efficient that it makes me sick. Only because I'm so slack, and I'm sure that this place would fall apart if it wasn't for her. I should give her a raise or something. I shut the door, and turned to walk towards my desk. I was greeted by Madison's cheery voice.

"Good afternoon, Mr Cane", she said sarcastically.

"You know you can call me Daniel, Mrs Parker", I replied, ignoring her weak attempt at humour. I'm not a morning person, and can't understand how anyone can be so chirpy at this hour.

"There's fresh coffee in the pot. You look like you need it, Mr Cane".

She knows me too well, but I guess she should do after all these years. She makes a damn fine cup of coffee too. It'll undoubtedly be the highlight of my day. I smiled at her, and made my way to the back of the office where the coffee pot was kept. I grabbed my blue mug from my desk as I went past. It hadn't been washed for a couple of days, but I wasn't in the mood for cleaning. I needed that coffee, fast.

I poured the dark coffee into the mug, and stirred in some cream and sugar. The aroma hit me as I took a sip. It was good. It was probably her best cup yet. I walked to my desk and sat down on my chair. Madison had already laid the day's post out for me, and arranged them in some order of importance. From the envelopes it looked like that there were no bills. This day was getting better by the minute. I began opening the letters, but to my disappointment there was nothing interesting; a couple of circulars and a letter with information regarding one of our cases. There was a stack of files on my desk that needed my attention. Madison had let helpful notes on them as she always did. I should really give her a raise or something. As I put the mug to my lips again I sat back in my chair and looked out of the window. It was too early to start working just yet.

"Don't get too comfortable, Mr Cane" interrupted Madison, "You have that nine-fifteen appointment".

I closed my eyes and my head dropped. The good start to the day hadn't lasted long. Another Joe wanting me to do his dirty work for him. I shouldn't complain. Clients bring money, and money makes the world go round, and in my case it was starting to slow down. I looked at the clock on the wall; it read ten past nine. I sat back in my chair, and swivelled it around so I could look out of the window behind my desk. Five more minutes to enjoy Madison's fine coffee on such a lovely day. It was quiet on the street below, and there was a definite calm in the air. The lack of activity was a rare thing in this part of town.

As if on cue the tranquillity was broken by noises from outside the office. Due to the age of the building, the floorboards creaked down the hall. I liked that. As my office was the only one in this part of the building, the creaks acted as an early warning for people coming to pay me a visit. Sure enough a two large outlines appeared through the translucent glass of the office door. The door opened, and two men walked in. The first man was tall, around six and and half foot. he had to stoop slightly to get himself through the door frame. He was big, as well as tall. Not fat, but sturdy. He was wearing a suit that was obviously too small for him, and you could tell by the way he was busting out of it that he was strong. If he's the muscle, then who's he hired to protect? The answer was following him through the door.