“Thomas.” I said, frowning. What did this have to do with anything at all?

“Ah, excellent!” Mr. King exclaimed, managing a very sly looking smile. “Tell me then, where is your family from? Orious is such a strange and interesting name. It almost sounds Greek perhaps.”

“No…my dad’s family came from Germany, and my mom’s family came from England, Scotland, and parts of Ireland.”

King frowned and risked a glance at the huge bald headed man. The man continued to glare at me, until he met King’s eyes. He then nodded once, and King cocked an eyebrow, as though the two were having a totally separate conversation from what was supposed to be my job interview. However, King immediately turned his full attention to me, and this time he was all smiles and looking reassuring. “Well, I must say, Mr. Orious, looking at your papers and your credentials, I am very impressed. Forgive me for all the questions about your private background, but I only hire people from the highest quality stock. I think our business is concluded now, please return tomorrow at 9:00 in the morning, and we can get you to work.” King nodded to me, then turned and walked back to his desk, never bothering to shake hands or anything like that.

“Um…Mr. King…what about papers, y’know, tax forms and all that stuff?” I asked him.

“Miss Hanover will handle that when you leave here. Good day, Mr. Orious.” He replied.

“Oh, uh, ok! Hey, thank you very much, Mr. King! I appreciate you giving me a chance and all that stuff. See you tomorrow?” I offered my hand to him, smiling. He looked at it but did not shake it. He merely nodded again.

“Good day, Mr. Orious.” He repeated and continued to watch me…waiting for me to leave. Feeling uncomfortable as I did, I wasn’t about to make him wait long. I chanced one more glance at the pissed off bald guy then rushed out of the office.

I met Angie Hanover at her desk, and breathed in deeply. King’s voice came over the speaker phone as I moved away from his office door. “Miss Hanover, please make sure Mr. Orious gets all the proper forms to fill out, and welcome him as the newest member of our team. Thank you.”

Angie smiled at me and pulled out a big bulky folder stuffed will all the usual boring W2 forms and crap. I sat down at a little table next to a fish tank filled with all sorts of exotic red colored fish and began to fill the papers out. I breathed in again and looked uneasily at Angie. “Um, Miss Hanover, can I ask you something?” I said meekly.