Maria awoke as light crept into her bedroom’s open window, “and another day”, she muttered sleepily as she rose from her twin size bed. It took all her energy to keep moving forward some days, but she had no choice if she wanted to continue living her unattached life. It was difficult renting a place by herself, but it was how she preferred it. Her apartment was small, but clean and her neighbors were friendly and rarely bothered her. Maria looked around her bedroom and the unadorned walls. She wanted to decorate and bring in her style a little more, but it didn’t seem prudent as other people were likely to see her apartment on occasions and she couldn’t bear to deal with people’s comments.
Maria realized she had gotten lost in a daydream, so she pulled herself out of it to put on her stockings, pencil skirt, blouse, and jacket. Her breakfast was toast. As she ate she regarded her surroundings, she had a small eat-in kitchen, and usually would spend most of her time here, either reading or eating. Her life was not exceptionally exciting, but she knew with excitement came risks, and she had grown weary of taking risks these days. Her eyes, in their wandering, fell over the clock hanging over her stove, 20 minutes past 8 in the morning, time to leave for work.
Maria descended the stairs quickly, she was on the third floor of this building, and headed toward the bus stop. Mr. Pembroke preferred her to be at the office at quarter to 9, she had made this trip hundreds of times and always arrived on time. Mr. Pembroke however would find something to complain about no matter what she did, though she had reduced the amount of his complaints lately. It was exhausting working for an eccentric wealthy person, she kept it to herself that he had more money than one man should have. She wondered what horrors would be in store for her today, it did keep her guessing at least.
Maria arrived at her work building and the lobby was still dark. This was unusual as maintenance usually turned the lights on for those that arrived at the office building early. She entered the elevator, walking more cautiously than normal, and after confirming she was truly alone, went to the top floor where she worked, and where Mr. Pembroke had his office. Her desk was located right outside of his office door, so that he could constantly come out to ask her questions or talk to her as if he wanted her feedback (which he never wanted, of course). The view was grand when she could steal a look out the window, currently she just walked right in and sat at her desk. Mr. Pembroke didn't appear to be there yet. She breathed a relieved sigh and sat down. Her desk was clean, there was a black telephone, a typewriter, and a calendar that were always on the top of the desk for her work as his secretary. Mr. Pembroke was in real estate, and had many appointments and meetings. Sometimes she had to take notes for the meetings and she still had no idea what they were about, but they almost never sounded like they were related to real estate.
She retrieved the mail and opened it for the man, leaving the opened envelopes on his desk, God forbid he get a paper cut. As she walked back to her desk, she noticed a piece of paper on the floor next to it, as if something that had been on her desk had gotten blown off of it from the heating vent. She picked it up, and her morning was no longer ordinary. Maria stood staring at the note, Mr. Pembroke’s handwriting was messy on good days, this was atrocious. Maria thought that he must have been in a hurry when he wrote it. From what she could make out, it seemed like Mr. Pembroke went to a property after she had left yesterday, and if he was not present this morning, she should arrive at the property, with a …. pickaxe? This was a new one even for her. Maria stared at the paper in her hand and slowly lowered it and placed it in her pocket. She couldn’t help but think to herself, Where the hell was she supposed to get a pickaxe in New York City? She gathered her items, including the petty cash, and started her descent from the building. Perhaps there was a hardware store on the way.
She walked silently and with purpose, it wasn’t far from the office, but just far enough that she had to walk. As luck would have it, two blocks from the address Maria saw a hardware store. She entered and noticed that the people in the store did a double take, apparently they don’t see many women in here, she thought to herself. She didn't exactly look like the rest of the clientele while she was in her work clothing. She made her way to a promising looking aisle and found what she was looking for, or what Mr. Pembroke had seemed to request. She had taken money out of the petty cash container he kept for incidents such as this, she grabbed more than enough for this purchase. The salesperson at the register looked confused but mercifully didn't ask questions. Silence followed her out the door and lingered for the last couple blocks of her walk as she puzzled about what this was about. The pickaxe was certainly as heavy as she thought it would be, it hurt her shoulder to carry it there, but she had tried other ways to carry it and this seemed to be the less painful option.
Maria arrived at a run down building, it looked to be vacant for at least a few years. There was something covering all the windows, either drapes or boards, Maria could not tell from here. It looked like it had been a grand house, maybe 20 years ago, but now the ivy covered what remained of the bricks. Maria double checked the address to make sure she had the right place, it had the same address Mr. Pembroke gave her. She went inside carrying the pickaxe on her shoulder, the handle on her shoulder was really causing her shoulder to ache.
Inside the home was dark, there was little light filtering in through the blockaded windows. There was debris all over the floor, perhaps the renovation construction has already begun, she pondered as she walked. There was also a staleness to the air that indicated this building hadn't been inhabited in a while. She cautiously took a few more steps. She heard glass crackle under her feet as she moved, it echoed loudly in this empty space. It was once a grand home it seemed, but now she guessed it would probably be better off torn down. She remained in the foyer, unsure if she should call out for her missing employer. Two grand staircases were several feet from her each way and right in front of her was a door that appeared to go into a living area. She listened closely, there was silence, aside from her ragged breathing from hauling this pickaxe all over town. Fear was creeping through her heart as she regarded her surroundings. She wasn’t confident that Mr. Pembroke would keep her out of danger, and she wasn’t sure if he was even still alive. It occurred to her that she probably should have called the police, instead of doing what that wingnut had asked her to do without question. Oh well, she thought, too late now. Finally, she heard a noise, it was creaking and shuffling from upstairs. She headed toward the staircase to her right and tested the first step gingerly with her foot before putting her weight on it. She ascended the steps while still looking around cautiously. At the top of the stairs was another large sitting room, there was more light up here as the window coverings, drapes, were tattered. The floor tiling was beautiful, it looked hand painted. The furniture was covered in dust and holes. There was a painting on the wall that was crooked, she went over to view it and saw something behind it. There was a small hole in the wall that housed a very old looking key. The key was shaped in an odd design that didn't seem familiar to Maria. The part that would go into the lock went into four points, those points converged into the part you hold with a swirling and looping design. The key was extremely heavy as well. Maria slipped it in her pocket and almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Mr. Pembroke shout out from the first floor. He sounded irritated and muffled but she made out,”Maria, is that you here, finally?”. Maria rolled her eyes and headed towards the sound of his voice, back down the stairs and through the door into the sitting room. It took her eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness of the first floor again, she wasn't sure where he might be. "Mr. Pembroke?" She called. Her voice echoed hollowly. He grunted in response, she thought it sounded like he might be in the next room. It seemed to be a kitchen. She walked in but didn't see him. "Mr. Pembroke?" She called again. He replied this time "I'm stuck under the floor, there is a trap door, it must have locked!" He sounded distraught, how terrible, she thought sarcastically. She scanned the floor and found where the door was. She went to lift it but it was too heavy, likely why he told her to bring a pickaxe, she suspected. "Mr. Pembroke, sir, I brought the pickaxe you requested, please put some distance between yourself and the door so I can try and break you out!" She heard shuffling and debris falling as Mr. Pembroke scurried down the stairs.
"OK, there should be enough space now." He was out of breath, likely panicking at being stuck by now. She widened her stance and reeled back with the pickaxe ready to bring it down. She wasn't sure the best place to concentrate her efforts so she decided to start close to the o ring handle. A piece splintered away from the weight of the pickaxe but more would have to be done. She brought the pickaxe back up again and back down. She was already starting to sweat. This wasn't her typical workday and wasn't used to lifting heavy things. Finally there was a head sized hole in the trap door. Maria put the ax down and tried to lift the door again. Whatever had locked it must have gotten loosened from the ax. The door was heavy, but as she tried to lift it Mr. Pembroke climbed the stairs and lifted from below. The door swung open and clattered on the floor. Mr. Pembroke looked distraught. He collapsed on the floor holding his chest and panting. Maria kneeled down next to him to comfort him. He was still donned in his outfit from yesterday, it looked much worse for the wear. Had he been trapped here all night?
Maria reached into her purse for her lunch bag, she gave Mr. Pembroke some water and her sandwich. He accepted graciously and ate and drank everything so quickly Maria had wished she thought to bring more.
"Should I call emergency services, sir?"
Mr Pembroke shook his head. "No Maria, you've done enough. I can't thank you for coming as quickly as you did. I've been stuck in here since last evening. It was going fine until I heard a click in the door, someone must have followed me in."
"Oh that is terrible sir, I'm so glad you thought to leave me a note, who knows what may have happened."
"I thought of it just as I was leaving last night, but I am so glad you’ve finally arrived. I was starting to worry you were sick or something." He had no idea how pompous he sounded.
"Next time you'll have to try catching me before I leave the office for the night." Maria didn't really know what to say to this eccentric man, they had nothing in common.
"Ah yes, unfortunately you don’t usually stay as late as I do. Come on Maria, let's go get some breakfast." He jumped up quickly, the whole ordeal must be becoming a distant memory for him now that he had admonished his secretary.
They both stood up and brushed debris off their clothes. Maria followed her boss out of the house and decided to leave the ax where she discarded it earlier; she figured if it would be needed anywhere again, it would be here.