"The Lies They Choose to Believe" a flash fiction story by Tara McMillen

Find the chip, they’d said, as if the Grap would leave his security chip laying around. Alex must have had a death wish, though, because here he was in the man’s office. He went straight to Jay Grapper’s desk, and began rummaging through his drawers. Perfect rows of color coordinated thumb drives, cinched cables, chargers, disposable cameras, and a magnifying glass occupied the top drawer. Digitized files were in the bottom. Alex ignored these and went, instead, to Jay’s closet. If he was Jay Grapper, chief cyber security guru, he wouldn’t leave his security chip in such an easy to locate location. He could see the man keeping it in a safe, and most people kept their safes in their closets. Logic dictated, therefore, to go to the closet. The door was unlocked and Alex pulled the door open to reveal perfect rows of suits, jackets, and ties. On the ground were three tiers of black shoes, all polished to a shine, but no safe.

He reached out for the top shelf, marveling at the Grap’s OCD stacked shoe boxes, three tiers up and four across. He had pulled one down from the top of the stack when he heard the door open behind him. Alex froze, his hand on the shoe box; it was labelled “Wedding Photos”.

“Well, now my day is complete. Machin’s demon spawn come to raid my cookie jar,” the Grap’s voice was gravelly, its deep bass vibrating through the floor boards.

Alex slowly withdrew his hand, letting his arm hang limp at his side, and turned to face the man. “I know this looks bad, Jay. But. . .but I have an excellent reason for my being here.”

“Oh, I have no doubt about that.” Jay Grapper stood an inch above Alex, his calm, cold eyes staring flatly into Alex’s. The Grap did not blink. His facial muscles were smooth even though his mouth turned down in a frown. The only part of him that tensed was his right hand, in which he held his Quick Alarm button. Alex knew, if Jay pressed that button, this game was all over.

“You can tell your father that I got spies of my own,” Jay said. “Right now, going through your bank files, so even if you gain my security codes, I got your accounts and pin numbers.”

Alex slowly maneuvered toward the door, but the Grap took one step to his left, his bulk completely blocking Alex’s only escape. He watched Alex, his mouth turned slightly upwards in a bemused smile.

“I’m not here to get anything on you, Jay. I promise. It was really. . .uh. . .” Alex laughed. His hands sweat and his throat closed up, but he forced sound through the tiny hole. “Okay, see here’s the thing. . .I was in your closet, because I was look-looking for . . . ” He looked into the closet, beseeching the suits and boxes for some story to tell Jay that he’d believe, but they were silent.

“Did you hear the story about the lab tech who broke into my office to borrow a charger?” The Grap’s voice graveled.

Alex could smell the cigar stench. “N-No.”

“That’s because I ripped his tongue out.”

His eyes fastened on the box he’d been about to take down. “Wedding Photos” seemed to stand out in bold highlighted letters. “I was looking for a picture of Sarah.” The lie burst out before he could stop himself.

The Grap tilted his head unexpectedly, and a smile broke out of on his lips. “Really? You?”

Alex nervous laughed. “Ha-ha, yeah, s-s-see I can’t help but have a crush on her.”

Grap continued smiling, his eyes tiny dots as he looked at Alex. “You was in the closet, looking for pictures of my little girl.”

“Y-yes,” Alex stammered. He tried a weak smile.

Grap laughed, a deep throaty laugh that rumbled so loudly that Alex felt the vibrations in the soles of his feet. “Ain’t you supposed to come out of the closet, not go back in?” The Grap laughed more, not caring that Alex’s own smile had vanished.

“Yeah, I guess I can see how you would think that’s funny.” Alex willed his legs to stay still, but they refused to listen; he fidgeted. He could taste the freedom, but Jay’s husky form created an impenetrable wall that made his lungs seize up. He forced himself to talk, even if it was gibberish. “I see Sarah’s beautiful auburn hair, glistening in the fluorescent lights. Her eyes so wide and curious, taking in everything around her, showing her intelligence, and her laugh, so infectious that I want to take her up in my arms.”

Jay went quiet. Alex’s legs went numb. When Jay went quiet and looked at a person, like he was now looking at Alex, it meant he was sizing up the person and determining their fate at the same time.

With Jay blocking Alex’s egress, he did not like his odds of getting out of this without at least a black eye. But then, the Grap relaxed and smiled a congenial smile. “What do I care? You’re not her type, so good luck with that.” He laughed a belly-laugh again and walked past Alex, leaving Alex’s escape path clear. He took it, though not before the Grap left him a parting gift: “Hey, Porter, I almost forgot. I know you’re full of shit and when I find out what you were really looking for, I’ll rip your intestines out by your asshole and hang you from the rafters with them. Got it?”

“Y-y-yes, s-sir,” Alex stammered, and tip-toe ran out of the Grap’s office, just barely escaping tripping over his own feet. He guessed they would have to come up with another plan, because there was no way he was doing that again.

Author's Note: I wrote this story from a prompt provided by "The 3 A.M. Epiphany" by Brian Kiteley. The characters are from the science fiction novel that I am currently working on. I thought it'd be fun and helpful to throw a couple of them into an unexpected situation and see what happened. This was the result.