Fictionlet
Brigid took off her headphones and looked up at Wayne. “Yes?” she said.
“Hey, Brigid, sorry to disturb you while you’re busy, but Janeen told me to bring these pages to you.”
“Thanks,” she said, taking the folder, and Wayne popped off. After waiting a moment to make sure nobody else was going to appear at her desk, Brigid put her headphones back on.
Immediately, Janeen was lurking over her. Brigid took off her headphones and looked up. “Yes?”
“Did Wayne get those pages to you?” Janeen asked.
“Yup, they’re right here.”
“Thanks.” Janeen popped off. After waiting a moment to make sure nobody else was going to appear at her desk, Brigid put her headphones back on.
Immediately, Chris was lurking over her. Brigid stifled a sigh and looked up. “Yes?”
“Hey, Brigid, sorry to disturb you while you’re busy. Do you have those pages from Janeen? We need to change the rate table.”
“Sure, here,” said Brigid, and handed Chris the folder.
“Thanks,” he said, and popped off. Brigid watched him go, looked around to make sure the coast was clear, and put her headphones back on.
Immediately, Janeen was lurking over her. Brigid squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then took off her headphones and looked up. “Yes?”
“Did Chris get those pages from you?” Janeen asked. “We need to change the rate table.”
“Yes,” Brigid said. “Chris has them.”
“Okay, thanks,” Janeen said, and popped off. Brigid stood up and looked around — nobody was visible in either direction, so she sat back down and put on her headphones.
Immediately, Wayne was lurking over her. Brigid yanked off her headphones. “What?” she demanded.
“Whoa, sorry Brigid, didn’t mean to bother you. I just have those pages back from Janeen with the new rate table. Here you go.” He quickly handed off the folder and popped off.
Brigid looked down at the blinking cursor on her computer, then at the headphones. Cautiously, she reached for them and began to move them towards her head, watching carefully out the corner of her eye.
As she suspected, the half-visible spectre of Janeen was flickering in and out of existence. “I see you there!” Brigid told the vision sharply. “Well now you hear me! I’m just going to hold these headphones right here, halfway on and halfway off, even if it means typing with one hand for the rest of the day! You can just hover there, like Schrödinger’s Manager!”
Janeen’s ghost howled the cry of the damned; Brigid’s heart quailed, but she held her ground. By the end of the day, she’d got more work done with one hand, than she had the rest of the month combined.
-The Gneech
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