ALARM CLOCK DAWN (An Original Novel - Episode 19)

“Mr. Harkin,” she whispered through clenched teeth, “I no longer have to hold my tongue. I abhor you. I hate your lack of focus. I despise how you can just skate through life when so many others have to struggle with every step. And the worst part is you don't even appreciate your gift. Do you know how many people would kill for intelligence like yours? What I hate even more is that instead of using this gift to its true potential, you use it to perform just above average.”

What happened next took Adam by surprise. It came spontaneously from a place within him that, until this moment, he didn't even realize existed, a place of nothing left to lose, a place not of intellect but of raw emotion.

Adam moved in closer to Ms. Finch and her eyes registered a curious bewilderment.

“F-f-first off, I didn't ask for this gift. I was born with it. I've rarely known this intelligence that you speak of to be a privilege but almost always a curse. Do you know what it's like to overthink every moment of your life? Do you have any idea what it’s like to always have to know why? Do you know what it's like to feel as though there is no one in this entire world who you can relate to? Wherever I g-go, I've always felt different from everyone else. This gift you speak of has made me a friendless outcast. How dare you judge me without walking in my shoes.”

Adam drew a deep breath. “And since we're being completely honest, you, Stephanie, are a sorry excuse for a leader in every sense of the word. You’re so quick to exert your authority but lack the slightest shred of confidence, and everyone sees it. You are nothing but a bully. You live with constant fear that someone is going to overshadow you and take away everything you've worked for.”

Ms. Finch looked stunned. She bit her bottom lip and her eyes began to water.

Adam’s words seemed to ring so true that for a solemn second she was speechless.

A crowd had begun to assemble outside the door. Two members of XenTek security, in their signature black suits, were quickly making their way up the main aisle towards the conference room and Adam, at last, realized he only had a scant few seconds to deliver his coup de grace.

“Ms. Finch, I have been nothing but civil to you, but from day one you have been deceitful and bitter towards me. I look at you, and do you know what I see? I see despair, I see fear, I see regret. You hate yourself. I don't know what or who made you this way, but until you have the courage to start asking why, you will never be happy.”

His words had hit their mark with a sniper’s precision. The final priceless picture that Adam had of Ms. Finch was her standing there, visibly uncomfortable, not knowing what to do with her hands, her eyes looking only to the ground. She stood there at last, revealed for both what she was and everything that she wasn't.

She then looked up at him furiously through reddened eyes and managed a small sniffle. “Adam, you have been promoted. You will be escorted to the office of Mr. Busby, Director Pfizer's assistant, to be given the details of your new position.”

Alarm Clock Dawn is the first novel of a trilogy. The sequel entitled, Truth Is Stranger, will be published in the Spring of 2017.

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