Page 1 of Code Mages & Empty Pages
Chapter 1
Dawn
Ideserved a gold star for not quitting my new job on the first day.
“I don’t want to do this” looped in my head as I drove to Frostfire Real Estate’s temporary car park, which was farenough from the office I didn’t think it could be considered the company’s car park.
“We had to pivot,” my new boss told me at my job interview, “and set up a new car park on the other side of Gillam Park.” Kirkmuir’s trades’ quarter was undergoing a renaissance. There were construction sites everywhere and entire roads in and out were closed off.
Yet, despite the inconvenience and even though the boss filled the room with grand pronouncements and frosty bravado, I’d accepted Frostfire’s offer. Beneath all the hot air, he sounded like a man who meant every word.
So here I was, a week later, trudging across the city to the building’s neat courtyard with a fountain in the middle, and finally, up the stairs to the glass doors of Frostfire Real Estate.
I had made it over the threshold when I spotted Samuel Carson. Was it normal that the company’s CEO met you in the entrance hall to welcome you?Overkill, anyone?Way to throw my brain off kilter right away.
“Welcome! Everyone is eagerly expecting your arrival, Ms Kent. The situation in our IT department has been dire, to say the least!” he boomed, startling the receptionist. He’d already told me at the job interview, which explained why it had felt like a mere formality. Carson had clarified that he had no other applicants for the position and that, if I wanted the job, it was mine.
And I needed it. If I had to sit through another week of staring at my blank KrakenDoc instead of writing my next novel, I’d flip. FrostFire paid well and it was an indefinite contract, and—from what Desmond Murray, the team lead, told me after my interview—the work wasn’t too demanding. It wasn’t as if this was my new career; it was just to get by, so I didn’t mind.
“Have you met Ms Wren?” Carson asked me.
“Oh, no, not officially,” I said, and he led me over to her counter in the middle of the hall.
“Harper Wren, this is Dawn Kent, our new team assistant for the IT department.” Harper and I shook hands, and before we could say anything, Carson spoke again. “Ah, and here comes... Ms Kent, meet Rowan Boswell. They’re in charge of our physical mail.”
The most unusual hybrid I had ever seen undulated up to Harper’s counter and actively avoided looking her way. It was painful to watch. Boswell was a tiger snail hybrid with a wide mouth and their eyes set on feelers. They drooped over their forehead to look at me.
Oh gosh, I hope they don’t want to shake my hand.
They were a lovely person, but I shuddered at the thought of touching their gleaming greige skin. I hated having wet hands.
“Hello, Ms Kent. It’s nice to meet you,” they said in a measured, fluid voice that sounded like I’d expected.
“Oh, please, call me Dawn.”
They gave me a small smile. “Rowan.”
We both flinched when Carson clapped his hands so forcefully the sound echoed off the walls.
Holy shit, that man was so loud and overwhelming. If he was a little less blustering, he would have been attractive. Carson had navy blue skin and eyes and thick horns that curved up over his head. I filed him away under future MMC inspiration and forced my face to stay neutral.
It had been ages since I had been inspired by someone, but there was an integral part of me that believed I could write again.
After the longest writer’s block of my creative career, I hadn’t been so sure I had another book in me.
Here’s proof.
“Alright, Ms Kent, I have an appointment to get to.” Samuel Carson raised his hand to peer at his expensive wristwatch.“Nyland again. And they told me Norwegians were polite and easy-going.” He huffed. “Can I leave you to find the way on your own?”
“Oh, yes, of course, sir.”
“Welcome to the team.” He gave all of us fatherly nods and left the building. A sleek car waited for him. Its dark blue polish gleamed in the morning sunlight. Carson climbed into the back seat. The car took off.
“Cameron Nyland is the CEO of Nøkken Scotland,” Harper told Rowan and me in a conspiratorial voice. “They’re building in Gillam Park. That’s why we have to park so far away. A friend of mine now takes over an hour to get to her job in the city. It’s wild.”
“Oh, I’ve been wondering what they’re doing there,” I told her and turned around.
“Yup. They’re building their headquarters and a huge distribution centre,” Harper said.
