Second Chance Addison

The 'same place,' as it would turn out, was the former offices of Addison Enterprises. To be more exact, on the lower of the two floors that the company had once occupied.

Even though the company had officially vacated the building almost two weeks ago, nothing had been touched yet. Neither the sixth floor nor the seventh floor had even been advertised as available for lease and were still sitting empty.

Well, mostly empty.

After giving Tucker some time to clean himself up, Lola came to pick them up and transport them. They wanted to arrive early to set up some surveillance equipment ahead of time.

Lola dropped everyone off, except for Tucker, at the front doors. He then went to park in the garage and wait.

Coming back to the familiar glass and steel high rise, gave Chance a bittersweet nostalgic feeling. This time of day, the building was a bustling hub of activity.

Office workers scurried about in all directions, going about their normal business. Visitors stood in orderly lines at the reception desk, waiting to be given guidance on where to go. And of course, there were couriers that were checking in and out at another desk, hurrying through their deliveries so they could go on to the next building.

'Such sweet chaos.' Chance thought with a slight smile.

Working in this building now felt like a distant memory or even a dream. It was almost like it had never happened.

Fait flashed her ID as they passed the reception desk to get to the elevators. The lady behind the desk waved in acknowledgement and turned back to continue talking to a visitor.

Once in the elevator, Chance anxiously shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then back again. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the chime sounded and the doors opened.

The last time he had been there, he was very much inebriated and didn't force himself to face the nightmarish state of the office space.

"Something wrong, Addison?" Fait couldn't help but notice his discomfort.

"Nope, nothing wrong." He replied unconvincingly as he stepped off the elevator and looked around at the disheveled sixth floor office space.

His personal office had been on the seventh floor and he rarely needed to venture down to the sixth. Even after the company went under he had really only been on the seventh floor so he was unfamiliar with the layout of this floor.

When everyone had left, things like half finished paperwork, old worthless computers, and broken furniture had been left behind. Some things were scattered about the abandoned cubicles and some waste baskets had been turned over. All in all, it was just messy.

Though the seventh floor was simply a mess, the sixth was a disaster area.

Cubicles, shelving units, tables, and other office furniture had been smashed to pieces and strewn about. Most every light fixture was destroyed and glass from the light bulbs and other miscellaneous sources littered the floor.

As they wandered deeper, through the decimated cubicles, they start to notice various graffiti left behind by the some of the previous tenants. There were drawings, profanities, and meaningless scribbles.

Some of the more savory art wished death on Chance and the former board members. Some of the others were much more o.b.s.c.e.n.e, explicit, and even disturbed.

Chance shuddered as he came face to face with the reality that he was a hated man. He was someone that others loathed and blamed.

Many of his former employees really thought he was the reason they lost their jobs, their livelihood. Given the state of the company when it went under, there was no severance package. There was no retirement. Any money they had put into company sponsored programs was gone.

Suddenly, Chance felt a new appreciation for Tucker. If the older man hadn't made an effort to talk to him, even if it was just small talk, who knows how much more determined he would have been to get revenge.

Chance also felt that something had to be done to make it up to the former employees that had suffered when Addison Enterprises fell. Even the ones that hated him now, he felt that he really had failed them by not being more aware.

They deserved better than what they had gotten and he would find a way to do by right by them.

As he was already starting to form a plan, one that involved recruiting Tucker, Fait called him over to a specific office.

The name plate on the door was no longer securely attached to the wall and was now hanging sideways. It read 'Director T. Malone, Human Resources.'

When they had talked to Tucker about his last meeting with the guy on the phone, he told them that they had met in his old office and even sat at his old desk.

The meeting had been just a few nights ago, not too long after Fait had rescued Chance from the very same building. The man had indirectly threatened Tucker first, gotten nowhere, and then switched to threatening his wife.

Since the man said to meet in the same place, Tucker could only assume that they would once again meet in his office.