Eye of the Storm, Chapter Two

Over the past month, Chloe had forgotten just how obnoxious Bernard had been when she first met him, but it was all coming back to her now.

*   *   *

"I see you have received a degree in Journalism at the University of Michigan…." Bernard said in his usual uninterested monotone as he gazed absent-mindedly at her resume.

"Yes," Chloe said enthusiastically, edging forward in her chair, "I was one of the top in my program." She usually was not one to boast, but extreme circumstances called for extreme measures. This interview was her last resort and final hope of doing something even remotely in her field, and she already had a stack of resumes prepped and ready to be distributed to bars and restaurants around the city if something did not go right. Indeed, she was going all out in trying to impress. She wore a light yellow dress with big black buttons down the front, black stockings, and shiny gold dress shoes, and her hair fell down her back and about her shoulders in soft waves. She even put on blue eye shadow hoping it would make the silver of her irises stand out. Yet, judging by Bernard's lack of reaction to anything she had said or done, she might as well have worn a burlap sack without it making the slightest difference.

"So, I'm assuming you want to be a journalist…?" Bernard asked, sitting back in his chair, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and finally looking Chloe straight in the face.

Chloe smiled. Bernard had just set her up to tell him about her ambitions, something she had been hoping to do ever since she walked through the door of his office. This would for sure show him how full of heart and personality she was, making her a prime candidate for employment… or so she thought. "It's my dream," she replied with a beaming smile, "and it's the very reason I moved to Metro City. I could just imagine myself… out on the streets… doing interviews and collecting stories about Metro Man and Megamind… then putting them together into controversial articles for the Metro City Telegra-"

Bernard sighed so loudly that Chloe's hair was blown back by the force of his exhaled breath. "I'm going to have to stop you right there," he said, emotionless as ever. "If your dream is to become a journalist, then why are you being interviewed for the position of assistant to the curator of the Metro Man museum?"

In her enthusiasm and fruitless attempts to impress, Chloe had completely overlooked the possibility of him asking that question. Since "last resort" was a completely inappropriate answer, she panicked. "Well.… This museum…. So much background…! Getting to know the city? Books. Writing! Reading? I… like… that…?"

"Listen, Claire."

"Chloe."

"… That's what I said. Listen, Claire. I don't want to hire you..."

"Oh," Chloe said simply, and somewhere in her head echoed the sound of hope being shattered.

"… but I had many, many people come in for an interview over the past week and I have offered the job to quite a few of them, yet… even though they seemed very interested to work for me at the beginning, following the interview not a single person wished to accept my offer. Some even hung up the phone on me…"

"I can't imagine why…." Chloe mumbled to herself bitterly.

"… so, I guess the point I am trying to make here is that you are now my last resort, which is why I will hire you. Congratulations."

"Oh," Chloe repeated blankly, her eyebrows knitting together as she wondered whether she should feel joyous or insulted. Her eyes narrowed as the emotion veered closer to insult. "I see," she said slowly, and then something snapped. "You know, Mr. Nadler, my experiences in this city have turned out nothing like what I imagined. I didn't get my dream job, nor my dream apartment, nor the adventure I have dreamed of. Instead, I got treated like dirt, was belittled, and was slapped in the face over and over with the realization of how worthless I apparently am; and, quite frankly, I am getting sick and tired of it!" Before she knew it, she was standing up, leaning over Bernard's desk, and wagging a disapproving finger at him. In the meantime, Bernard had pushed himself as far back into his chair as possible, trying to create as much distance as he could between himself and the crazy lady, and for good reason. The volume of her voice had risen to a concerning level, and it was clear that she had a lot of pent-up anger that needed to be released. "SO LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, BERNARD - I would rather work as a waitress and be appreciated than take this job because nobody else would."

There was a silence. Chloe suddenly felt very awkward, as she wasn't exactly the confrontational type either. Bernard swallowed nervously, frozen in his seat. A few more seconds passed, and with a discouraged sigh Chloe turned to leave.

"Chloe… wait."

Chloe stopped in her tracks. It wasn't because Bernard told her to, but because of the way he said it. His voice was different, quiet, vulnerable almost, and not artificial like it seemed before. She turned around to face him again, but thought it best to remain silent this time. She tapped her fingers on the sides of her hips impatiently, urging him to say whatever it was he had to say.

"Please take the job. The fact that I haven't been able to find an assistant yet… well… it doesn't exactly make me look good in the eyes of my boss. Not only that… it's… hurtful."

"Mr. Nadler, I want this job… a lot… but I need to know that I am getting it not because you cannot find anybody else, but because I am qualified."

"… You are qualified."

"Then…." Chloe began, but she could not answer him. She watched him staring at her with those big brown eyes of his, and wondered if there was perhaps more to him than he had let on so far. Yet he was excruciatingly rude to her just moments ago, so who was to say that this kind of treatment would not be what awaited her on a daily basis if she were to say yes? Then again, if she expected to be getting chances in the big city, she probably needed to start giving them out as well. And maybe it was best to take the lead. "Then… when do I start?"

"I must say, you really are desperate, aren't you?" Bernard asked, the look on his face returning to uncaring and the tone of his voice once again expressionless. He pushed himself back towards his desk and slapped her resume down onto it. "Wait for my phone call - oh, and please don't call me 'Mr. Nadler.' You are definitely too old to be calling me by my last name."

Chloe gaped at him, absolutely speechless. She felt so confused by Bernard's behavior, she could not even feel angered by him anymore. Having decided that she would rather leave him be than try to understand what was going through his incomprehensible head, she replied with a brisk, "I guess I'll be waiting," turned on her heel, and walked out the door.

*   *   *

"What is the last thing you remember before you lost consciousness?" Chloe asked Bernard as they now took a cab to Metro City General Hospital. She had given him a tissue from her purse, which he was holding to his bleeding forehead with a most sorrowful expression on his face. She still could not believe that they managed to successfully call a cab at this hour, since she was sure that nobody was crazy enough to come into work until at least the morning… nobody other than her, that is. In the time that it took for the cab to arrive, Chloe had filled Bernard in on everything that had happened between the time the museum was really blown up and the moment Bernard woke up, hurt and disoriented, at the base of its remains. Unsurprisingly, Bernard believed none of it, and, once Chloe had finished her account, all he had to say was, "Megamind the hero? I believe I am not the only one with a head injury here."

Now Bernard looked thoughtful. "I remember a Megamind impostor… wearing pajamas," he began, "though of course that had to have been the real Megamind… wearing pajamas, because the next minute he went right ahead and blew up my museum! … Ahem. Now, the very last thing I remember… was a bright blue light… and then… darkness. Though I do remember something else, very faint - it was probably only a dream - but there was water, and everything smelled of lavender, and I was going round and round and round and round and round -"

"Bernard, I don't think that was a dream. You still smell like lavender… and do you realize how damp you are…?"

"Nonsense, Claire - your deranged mind is simply playing tricks on you."

"It's Chloe," she replied with a sigh, just about ready to give up, but then an idea struck her. "Oh, and if you don't believe what I told you, why don't you just ask our driver? Sir," she called out, leaning through the gap between the front seats, "when was the Metro Man museum blown up?"

"Lady, I don't answer dumb questions," said the cab driver, and was silent.

Thinking that the driver's reaction was sufficient in proving her point, Chloe turned back to Bernard. What she didn't realize was that Bernard was thinking the exact same thing, causing them to meet each other's satisfied expressions, while each smugly asked the other one, "See?"

Before either could give a frustrated response, the taxi came to a screeching halt in front of a strip of overturned, charred pavement.

"This is as far as I can go," said the driver.

Chloe paid him and thanked him for his trouble, and she and Bernard got out of the car and onto the street. The hospital was only a couple of blocks away now, and they began making their way towards it. After about five minutes, they had reached its campus, and headed towards the emergency room entrance. Chloe paused at the door long enough to notice that the eastern horizon had begun to grow pink, and she could not help but admire how quiet and peaceful the streets looked in the faint light. Then they entered the building, and chaos ensued.