Chosen One by Francis W. Porretto

Author:Francis W. Porretto
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: spiritual, fantasy, supernatural, christian, phenomenology, supermen, platonic idealism, alternate creation myth
Publisher: Francis W. Porretto

Act Three: Ministry

Good Guys

“You asked Louis Redmond out?” The furrows on Katie Guynemer’s forehead threatened to crack her foundation makeup.

Celeste Holmgren nodded. “For Friday evening.”

“And he said yes?”

Celeste looked from side to side, to see if anyone else in the cafeteria were listening. “Yes, he did.” After he got over being thunderstruck. “Why?”

Katie shook her head in disbelief. Her long brown curls rippled like willow branches in a breeze. “Silly, the man is unapproachable. There are women here who are afraid even to speak to him...men, too.”

Well, I approached him and lived to talk about it. “Why? Does he eat babies for breakfast or something?”

Katie’s face did something that was part smile and part grimace. “No, but...Silly, you’ve only been here a few months. Have you ever heard the way they talk about him? He’s practically a god here.”

Celeste sat back in the hard plastic chair, the second half of her tuna on rye forgotten. If Katie were trying to warn her off Louis, she’d picked a strange way to do it. Still, Celeste wanted any information she could get. She was too new to Onteora Aviation to disregard any source of information about her colleagues in engineering, even if it ultimately reduced to gossip. Katie, secretary to special projects director Roger Morrison for the past six years, was a potential gold mine.

“I was at a meeting with him and Allan Reardon last Friday about the new radar system.” She kept her tone casual. “He’s impressive. He said very little, but you could tell he never misses anything. He shut Reardon down a couple of times with just a few words. I got the feeling he could have whatever he wants around here.”

Katie giggled. “You don’t know the half of it, Silly. Reardon’s only got that job because Louis doesn’t want it.”

“Huh?”

“Louis Redmond is the uncrowned king of the engineering division.” Katie shivered. “Team leaders have gotten into fights in the hallways over who’s going to get him next. He picks his own projects. You know Rolf Svenson?”

“The Simulations group leader? Louis used to report to him, didn’t he?”

Katie nodded. “A couple of years back, Allan asked Rolf whether he needed seven or eight people for the Dazzler lab. Rolf said thanks, he’d just take Louis. Allan laughed and said no, he didn’t want to overstaff the project!”

Well, I already knew he was good.

“Is he a good guy?”

Katie’s animation disappeared. She fidgeted with a saltcellar. “He doesn’t socialize with anyone here, Silly. Well, maybe a little with Rolf. When he’s here, he’s all business.”

“Maybe that’s why people are afraid of him.”

Katie stared at the saltcellar. Around them, the early-lunch crowd was thinning as Onteora Aviation’s employees discarded their leavings and returned to their desks.

“Is there more, Katie?”

The secretary nodded but kept her eyes lowered. Celeste waited.

“Do you know the medical park on Fullerton Boulevard, just outside the city?”

Better than I want to. “Sure, why?”

“He spends a lot of his free time there, Silly. Carrying a big sign.”

Celeste’s hand rose to her mouth.

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