Purple | A flash fiction story

89 of 💯

“Did you give him the news?” Miss Atlanta asked.

“Well, no,” Coles said, his voice pouring from hidden speakers and filling her office with his nervous stuttering. “I mean, not yet. No.” It was his first week.

Atlanta paced around her desk, rubbing her thumb and her index finger together — an old tic. The new guy wasn’t the only one nervous.

This is good news, she told herself. This is good news.

It involved the death of a mother and a child, but it would mean Atlanta’s lead robotics researcher would give one hundred percent to the project— after a mourning period and with the proper incentive, of course. She was tired of listening to him talk about family, anyway. This would put an end to that.

“Thank you, Coles,” Atlanta said in a cold tone. “I will give Layman the news. What a terrible thing to have happened. His wife and son dead. He’ll be devastated.”

“But, Miss Atlanta, sorry. There’s a… there’s a thing- that’s not... I’m not saying you’re wrong but…”

She already didn’t like Coles. “What is it?”

“Uhm... The boy is alive,” he said.

She fell on her chair.

“Miss Atlanta?” His voice called. “Are you still there?”

There were times in her life as a successful entrepreneur when Atlanta had to make extremely hard decisions. After years of wasting time, she had developed a system. A business exists with one single goal: to generate profits for its owners and stakeholders. So whenever a hard decision would land on her desk, she already knew what to do without having to spend any time with ethics and what-ifs. It optimized her decision-making power, no time had to be wasted.

Her system was simple. She just had to ask herself: what will make more money? That made things easier.

However, she was starting to ask herself how many of those decisions she would have to make to become a villain.

“Can I see him?” she asked Coles.

A second later the wall of her office was alit with Coles’ face, his forehead covered in sweat. He turned the camera and showed her a little thing of a person wrapped in a purple blanket, sleeping peacefully, a thumb in his mouth.

“His name is Agh,” Coles told her.

Her eyes were glued to the image. How could such a small thing survive when his mother didn’t? It was a miracle.

It’s not my fault, Atlanta told herself. That woman ran away to The Wastelands out of her own stubbornness. We have only ever had that one conversation and this is what she does. This was bound to happen!

Still, that little person on the wall of Atlanta’s office, hugging that purple blanket, made her question everything.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. What will make more money?

“Coles?” she called without opening her eyes.

“Yes ma’am?”

“How many people know about this?” She rubbed her temples, eyes still closed.

“The scouts who found them are Atlanta Security,” Coles said. “They don’t know who the woman and the baby are.”

Atlanta took a deep breath and, without opening her eyes, said, “There’s a man who owes me a favor. His name is Dino. Take the kid to him.”

“Wait, are- Miss… Sorry, Miss Atlanta. Are you…”

“Coles, just fucking do what I said!” She finally opened her eyes and only now noticed his sweaty face was covering her entire wall again. She tapped on her desk and made the call audio-only.

After this thing was over, she would have to bury Coles in some department where she wouldn’t have to interact with him.

“Sorry, ma’am,” Coles said. “I will do it, ma’am.”

“And, Coles.” She was rubbing her fingers together again.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“If you ever talk about this, you won’t be as lucky as this baby.” She ended the call before he could answer.

The wall became blank, and then a beautiful view of green hills rolled in to fill the empty space. She just stared at it for a few seconds, and then she cried. She cried thick rivers down her cheeks, like she hadn’t cried in a long time.

Then she stopped, dried her tears, and adjusted her perfectly-trimmed silver hair.

She was rubbing her fingers together again later that day, when she gave Layman the news.

< Saudade | Purple | Stargazers >

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