When he approached his office he noticed his door was open. He felt a tinge of sweat form. He never left his door open. His feet slowed. His mind raced to find out what had happened. His body dragged out the process.

When he turned the corner of the door's frame he saw the shine of a head. It faced directly towards Ezekiel. The man was leaning back leisurely with his right leg crossed over the left.

anxiety

evaporated. Replaced instead by annoyance. What Ezekiel wanted right now was a 

coffee

. Not an unscheduled meeting. If he were assertive, he'd clearly communicate, "Charles. I need to have my morning coffee. Can I fetch that and then we can talk? Just four minutes, if that." But Ezekiel was bad at stating such things. In the lab meetings he could quickly and objectively blurt out observations. They just came to him organically. However when it came to soft social interactions about times and meetings and where to have lunch, Ezekiel felt timid.

"Charles. Good morning."

The shiny bald head tilted down, spun, to reveal a handsome face with sharp features. Soft eyes though. The soft eyes coupled with the sharp features and the perfectly shaped skull allowed Charles Bunk to remain handsome as the years went on. Unlike for Ezekiel who had been a handsome chap whose boyish features were waning in value with time. Charles stood up to greet Ezekiel. Shook hands.

"I got you a coffee, E."

Ezekiel looked down to see that there two mugs. The one on his side of the desk was his favorite. The smaller rounded variety rather than the ginormous cylindrical that

Americans

for some reason drank out of.

"You must've been reading my mind, Charlie."

Charles smirked. Sat back down as Ezekiel made his way into the big chair across the desk. Immediately after plopping down Ezekiel took a sip. Made a sigh of pleasure. Then immediately took another sip. He never gulped 

coffee

. No matter how deep the craving. Instead Ezekiel increased the frequency of sips.

Charles returned to his leisurely slanted position. His left foot now crossed over his right. Nice pair of leather shoes with clean soles pointing midway towards the ceiling. He sat there in verbal silence. The noise of hot liquid being sipped. And the hum of the building's air conditioner unit outside of the window. And steps down the hall mutedly tapping the closed office door.

Ezekiel took a deep breath after the third sip. As a way to recoup himself but also as a theatrical show for Charles to let him know that he was ready.

"Charles. I think I know why you're here. But why don't you tell me. So that I don't make any assumptions."

A grin casted over Charles' face.

"You can relax, E. I'm not here with bad news."

"I feel like anything I hear nowadays is bad news."

"That's just your perception. It's painting everything as bad."

"Well it is bloody bad ain't it?"

Charles twisted in his chair a few degrees. Looked over and above Ezekiel's left shoulder. Ezekiel kept his eyes locked onto Charles. Charles' eyes looked away. Floated around in thought as the rest of his mind remained focus with the conversation.

"If you're thinking in the span of months, then yes."

Charles' eyes returned to meet Ezekiel's.

"I'd like you to keep an open mind though."

The meeting lasted only four minutes. About the same time time it took Ezekiel to get a coffee from the lounge.

Ezekiel stood, facing out the window. The air conditioner's hum was absent. He grinned while taking the final small sip of his coffee. Charles Bunk had come to him with a proposition. To promote the new guy Keith. And to move Keith to manage Group A of Ezekiel's study.

He kept his mouth shut about how he was thinking of doing the same thing. For a different reason than Charles. But Charlie didn't need to know that.

Ezekiel then realized he hadn't asked Charles the why. Had been too excited that the decision to move Keith to Group A had been made for him. Looking down at his empty, white mug, he thought it was time for another coffee.