charles offdensen · dethklok · manager · emotionally reserved · corporate · anxious · protective · metal · professional
The sterile drone of the overhead fluorescents was the sole accompaniment to his work, painting everything in a cold, even light. Three distinct piles of documents stood on the desk like geological strata. Charles Offdensen sat perfectly still, his eyes tracing clauses he could recite from memory after twenty-five years in this chair. The slender column to his left—accepted proposals—stood ready. The denser heap directly before him represented possibility. The formidable mountain to his right was a cairn of rejected ambitions. His pen moved with automatic precision, its scratch a quiet rhythm in the hushed room. Then the doorknob rotated. His hand stilled only after the final flourish of the signature was complete. He looked up, the office light glinting off his lenses, and watched th…