It didn't help that the IT department thought it best to neglect Nathan from the newest monitors with large screens, slim construction and high quality resolutions. While the rest of the floor have had upgrades twice since he started, he was stuck with a monstrous behemoth on his desk. It was especially embarrassing, since the policy to rearrange the office cubicles every 3 months came into effect. It meant having to lug his heavy monitor, clunky desktop, and massive laser printer into a small cubicle.
That's another thing he began to notice, He was sure that each time they moved, his cubicle had been smaller than the one before. It was to promote fairness among the employees, so that everyone had a shot at being near the window. To mention it he began to think about how the policy had affected him. After each move it seemed he got further from the windows and closer to the janitor's closet. Was there somebody up there that had something against him? Not that he was referring to God, but somebody in a higher floor that played the role of god in their office. Someone had it against Nathan.
*****
As the hours droned on, it suddenly became apparent that Nathan had been in such a daze of spreadsheets, that he hadn't gotten up from his chair since he came in before sunrise. It was now mid-afternoon, he missed lunch, never went to the bathroom, and now, he was suddenly parched with thirst. He needed a drink of water. It was pertinent to continuing life.Slowly, Nathan rose from his chair to risk a peek over the cubicle wall. He was looking for where the floor manager would be, and for a clear path to the water cooler. It was not good to have a run in with Gordan. He physically looked the part of a minotaur, which was befitting their cubicle labyrinth. He had a permed mullet, a thick unibrow, something more outrageous than what would be considered a beard, and a pencil over each ear that resembled horns (because he claimed to be ambidextrous). He even smelled the part. It was a wonder that such a human resembling a beast could retain his position.
After chancing a quick glance over the wall, Nathan decided it was safe to venture out and take the shortest route to his desired destination. Over the years, Nathan had developed a skilled crouching scamper when navigating his way to the break room. Although Nathan was unaware how humorous it was to observe this curious movement, it was effective in keeping himself concealed, silent and quick.
Meanwhile in a dark room with a wall full of monitors, one screen had picked up on the awkward stride of Nathan. Others in the dark room gathered around the small glow of the screen in anticipation for what they predicted would happen next. Some would say they even played a hand in orchestrating it. Nervous giggles began to spread like glitter, infecting everyone in the room.
Nathan had made it to the break-room without being spotted by the roaming beast. Although it did make him nervous that he didn't actually see where it was located. On the far wall of the dull yellow room was the water fountain, and the fridge with his lunch still in it. The first small paper cone of water had managed to just moisten his mouth. The second reached his stomach successfully, but reawakened his nervous system and alarmed him how close to starvation he was getting.
The rumbling began and he couldn't control his advances toward the almond coloured mini-fridge. Animal instincts were taking over. The cold glow blasted his face. Inside the little fridge, the walls where coated with inches of white frost. The capacity was roughly a third of it's original defrosted size Nathan would guess. In the back was the brown bag marked with his name in black sharpie. It had been since last night and a distant memory what he had packed for his lunch. Unfortunately, it would remain this way, because opening the bag revealed a few crumbs, an empty tupperware container that was once translucent, but opaque with whatever leftovers it had once held and a stainless steel metal spoon- used.
His stomach growled once more, louder in protest of some unknown colleague's actions. There was one vending machine on this floor. It was inconveniently placed opposite the break-room, and next to the bathrooms and elevator. There was nothing logical about it's placement. This had become a grand quest, on the scale of returning the ring to Mordor.
Nathan looked out the blinds to see if Gordan was making his rounds. He no longer saw cubicle walls, but a hedgerow with one entrance. He took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. It must have been the lack of food and prolonged staring into a electron-shooting vacuum tube. He opened the door slowly and quietly for fear of disturbing the apparent hallucination. He walked up to the hedgerow and brushed his hand across the leaves. It was no longer the burlap fabric covered cubicle walls before him, but an actual garden maze. His feet could feel the hard hit of paving stones on solid ground, rather than the short pile carpet on the suspended 7th floor of his familiar office building. It seemed out of place that in this fantasy, he was still wearing his white shirt, striped tie, and khaki trousers.
On the other side of the hedge, he could hear what sounded like a bull breathing loudly through it's nostrils, not unlike Gordan's insistence on breathing through the nose in spite of his terrible sinus problems. It began to bother Nathan that he had no weapon on him for defence if he did run up on the beast unexpectedly. Nathan knew he had to get to the other side of this maze without being seen. He also knew that his goal was food. His stomach was kind enough to remind him of that.
As he walked, it became apparent the maze was enormous in size, much larger than the office building. The thought began to loom on him that it would take more than just a couple of hours to make it out again. It was luck, more than strategy that had kept him from running into the beast. He could hear the frustration of the beast now. It knew there was something else in the maze. Every corner, Nathan tried to peer around to see if the path was clear. He could always hear the beast's hooves hit the ground. It spoke of great weight and muscly power. Sometimes the sound's origin was through several rows of hedges, but other times it was too close for comfort.
He was cautious, and his knees began to tremble. It had been a long time since he had walked further than his distant parking space located at the far end of the lot to the building. He could tell he was close to the beast, maybe even just around this corner. Leaning as far over as he dared to catch a glimpse, the image before him had frozen him in place. He could see it was not even a cubicle space away.
The beast was indeed a minotaur, the fearsome greek mythological creature. It walked upright on two massive goatlike legs. It's arms rivalled any steroid abusing weightlifter. It's head resembled everything about a buffalo except with horns that would find no trouble in impaling Nathan. Fortunately, it had not seen Nathan yet. Beyond the minotaur was the exit, and through a beautiful archway covered in hibiscus blooms, he could see the welcoming glow of the vending machine carrying tempting food that had gone well past its expiry date.
Nathan's stomach betrayed him and rumbled loudly. The beast snorted and turned toward him. His heart began to pound in his chest. Action had to be taken now or never again. He rounded the corner screaming at the top of his lungs. The beast raised it's arms, flexed every muscle in its body and roared. The sound rattled Nathan's bones. He continued toward the beast and dove to one side of it, tucking and rolling. The action was a lot more painful than it seemed in the movies. On his feet again, he ran at a full stride toward the exit, hoping there was some magical restraint to keep the minotaur within the labyrinth. Through the exit, he failed to stop and crashed into the plexiglass front of the machine. The minotaur did not cease it's chase.
Nervously, Nathan pulled his wallet out from his back pocket and produced a single dollar. He tried to delicately feed the machine, but as finicky an eater as it was, it preferred those new dollar bills without the creases. He used the corner of the machine to try and flatten out the dollar and attempted to feed it again. It gracefully munched on the note. Nathan looked at the case of stale treats, then looked over his shoulder to see the approaching beast. He quickly pressed the letter B and the number 7 for a snickers. The machines workings were as slow as ever, especially at this inopportune time.
"Come on, come on!", Nathan tried rushing the machine.
It seemed as if it was punishing him for giving it a less than crisp dollar. The spiral that spun had stopped, and the stubborn bar had hung onto the ledge. Just then, in the reflection of the machine, Nathan saw an arm raised up, and he ducked in time. The machine rocked violently with the force of the blow. Cowered on the ground, he heard the snicker hit the bottom of the machine.
The beast rumbled, "There you go."
Nathan gazed up at the towering minotaur, grabbed the snickers without looking and managed a barely audible, "Thank you."
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