Real Fantasy

Chapter 2

“Hi, Nancy! How are you?” Michael Norton greeted the forty-three-year-old woman who had found her way into the high rise’s lobby through the revolving doors. He was wearing his black building attendant’s uniform, complete with the official-looking hat. He usually took the hat off after 7 p.m. to spend the last hour of his shift without it even though management frowned upon that sort of thing. He’d been in the building for eleven years, though, so he could get away with a breach of protocol. He knew everybody, everybody knew him, and management liked that.

“In a hurry,” the athletic brunette said, out of breath from probably running the two blocks from the parking garage. The building had recreational facilities on the first floor and twenty-two residential floors above it. Exercise classes were free for the residents and their guests.

“Have fun with your class. I’ll be monitoring as always.”

“Thanks, Mike,” she breathed and hoofed it through the door of the exercise room.

He stared at the closing door. He’d known her for five years already. She’d started giving classes at the building when her younger child had turned one. Joey was nine and Fiona was six and even though her mother-in-law came to watch the children twice a week, her life was still busier than was good for her.

He should know. He also worked for the security firm Nancy’s husband had hired. Security cameras were above the entrances of Nancy’s house, one in the front and one in the back, and he had access to both of them. Mike often remotely repositioned the cameras to look into the kitchen and the living room before he maneuvered them into their previous positions.

“Good evening, Mrs. Hewlett,” he greeted the matron who exited one of the elevators. She had a young woman with her he recognized as her daughter, even though her hairstyle and clothing were totally different than the last time he’d seen her a year ago. Mrs. Hewlett waved to him and went through the door to join Nancy.

She started the class at 6:02 when twelve people had shown up. Two more came in a few minutes late, making her class fourteen strong in the end. Mike studied the security camera feed from the classroom. He monitored all the classes in the exercise room, not just Nancy’s. He’d had to call an ambulance twice and break up a fight once during his tenure in the building; otherwise everything had run smoothly in the room over the years.

He checked out the two men in Nancy’s class and chuckled.

“My dear, I’m in your class, but not in the way you think,” he said under his breath and his hands balled into fists. It killed him to be the invisible man, the one who was always there in the background like wallpaper. What could make her notice him?

Nothing came to mind. He turned back to his computer monitor, made the yoga class window small, and continued the checkup of systems in the 102 apartments in the building. He went through ten apartments a night, every night. It was two hours of tedious clicking, but often there was at least one issue that needed to be rectified. This time there were two: a burned hallway light in one apartment and a malfunctioning stovetop burner in another. He sent the work orders to the maintenance department.

Everything was automated these days. The residents paid extra for the peace of mind that came from someone being on top of their needs.