ShelfLife by Barrie Seppings

Author:Barrie Seppings
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rubber/Road
Published: 2017-10-22T16:00:00+00:00

A tsunami of sweat broke out in the time it took Gavin to wrangle his luggage from the boot of the taxi and into the air-conditioned foyer of the office tower. He took the lift to the twenty-third floor and found himself in a small lobby. The signboard on the wall indicated only one tenant: Vertica. Gavin opened his backpack to retrieve a small black notebook. He rifled through the pages to confirm he had the right building and the correct floor, but the name on the signboard meant nothing to him.

The frosted glass door at the end of the corridor swung open and a blast of airconditioning rushed into the lobby. A couple of Chinese youths emerged, talking simultaneously in a mishmash of English, Mandarin and html5. They wore colourful hi-top sneakers, brand new denim, knitted long-sleeve tops, dramatically undercut hairstyles and horn-rims. They pointed at each other’s handsets, occasionally swiping or tapping on the screens and jabbing repeatedly at the elevator call button.

‘Excuse me, guys,’ said Gavin.

The Chinese youths were visibly startled, but made no sound.

‘Umm, yeah, I’m looking for my office,’ Gavin continued. One of the youths blinked. The other reached slowly for the elevator button without breaking eye contact and gave it another careful jab.

‘Do you know where I can find ShelfLife?’ asked Gavin, making an effort to sound friendly.

‘No,’ the youth replied with a note of disappointment. The elevator bell struck true and clear. The other youth jabbed the call button again, just to be certain, said, ‘Sorry’ and disappeared. The doors hushed themselves to a close and the elevator excused itself.

‘I see you’ve met the neighbours.’

Gavin wheeled around to see Trent standing in the doorway, wearing a pale linen suit and a grin the size of a Bentley.

‘Mate, it is good to see you,’ said Gavin. ‘I thought I was lost or something.’

‘You are very much found, my friend,’ said Trent, striding out to the lobby where the two men exchanged bro hugs, keeping their hips spaced apart and pummelling each others back’s gently with closed fists. ‘You just land?’

‘I did,’ said Gavin. ‘They don’t serve food on these short flights so I’m pretty hungry.’

‘We can fix that. Great food around this area. I might have found you some decent coffee, too,’ Trent said as he marshalled the luggage stack. ‘Although, as an American, I completely accept I’m not qualified to make that call.’ Trent paused in front of the glass door, pulled a keycard from his pocket and waved it near a small square mounted on the wall. ‘Let’s go inside, take a look at our set-up. It’s a bit different to Seminyak, but I think you’ll like it.’ Trent pushed through into the brightly lit space beyond.

The floor was roughly circular and arranged in a hub-and-spoke layout, with long rows of desks radiating outward from the central core of lift shafts and bathrooms. Laptops and monitors sat cheek by jowl along the desk surface, in an alternate facing pattern to maximise occupancy.

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