Daniel returned to the canteen and apologised to his colleagues for skipping lunch with them. One of his team mates, Mellissa, had packaged his sandwich up for him and dropped it on his desk. Daniel fist-bumped her then sat down as he turned his monitor back on. He was greeted by an influx of notifications, including one marked 'URGENT', letting him know that his referral of 'Leonard Patrick Ashworth' had been unsuccessful. "I know, God damn it."
Daniel had worked for Calder Energy for 24 years, joining during the post-war boom after he finished his juvenile military service. He and Kevin Beechwood, the Director of Engineering & Infrastructure, were in the same regiment and decided to both join Calder Energy together. Beechwood was always driven by the allure of power. Daniel was the perfect employee. He could lead a team, sure, but he was most effective taking orders, rather than giving them. That's why he found his place early in his career, working in the Corporate Complaints team, and had been there for nearly 20 years.
Daniel didn't mind lending Leo the money. The truth was, Daniel was never good with it when he had any. That's why he left managing the household bills to his wife, Clara. He would keep the account stocked, she would allocate the funds. But it was more than just that. Leo had been fairly sheltered from the worst of the war, having only just turned 7 when it ended. Carol was fiercely protective of him, but, she was also incredibly hard on him too. His school was a decommissioned militia base, 6 days a week, until conscription age. That's when every 16 year old had to serve at least 12 months with Aegis, training with the peacekeeping force and only allowed to leave once they passed their final exam. Leo had excelled at military camp, and it was a big reason he stayed with Aegis even after he could leave. Carol hated it. Arthur respected it. Leo needed it.
"Hey, Mellissa, you seen the email from Kevin?"
"Just opened it. Something must be going down if High-and-Mighty Big Dick is reaching out to us for help." Mellissa stood up and started gesticulating like she had a huge appendage in front of her.
"Lay off Mellissa, you know Kev’s not like that." Daniel shooed her away with his hand.
"Do I? Not seen him down here longer than I've not seen your Ads. And by the looks of it, he's gone AWOL." Mellissa pointed towards her monitor, with the email on screen from Kevin Beechwood.
"Yeah. It does." Daniel sighed, looked to be in deep thought for a moment, then returned to his notifications. He scrolled through most as it was junk or non-urgent, but then he noticed a name he hadn't seen in a while.
'Hey Daniel,
Hope you're ok. How's Leo doing? I've not heard from him in a while and, he never responds to my messages.
Even if he doesn't want to speak, at least tell him I was asking about him.
Sharice"
"Who am I, everyone's secretary?" Daniel said aloud. He looked up from his monitor, only to see Mellissa nodding in agreement. He balled up a piece of paper and threw it at her, "cheeky cow."