THE MOMENT
"I'm not sure that counts," Paul said. A lean, bald man with a grey beard took the center spot on screen while the other three callers fell to the bottom. He was seated in his kitchen next to a full pitcher of coffee that was typically empty by end of the meeting. Paul tried to play it off with a laugh; but, everyone that was on the call knew him better than that. Paul had more trouble parting with money than Dave did showing up for meetings on time. Though, not by much. "The bet was, 'something we'd never seen before'. We've seen an office. I say no one won and we can try again next week."
"What'd I miss?" Dave asked. A chuckling man with a round face and light brown curls took center screen. A bustling, bright white office filled his background.
"We made a bet about your background," Susan said. She was seated in her home office with the blinds partially open. Normally, she liked the way the sunlight highlighted her blonde hair. But, when she saw herself on screen, she realized the blinds were letting in too much light. Her hair was bright enough to be distracting; to her if no one else. Susan decided she'd close them next time she stood up for something and continued the explanation. "And the exact words were, 'a background that we haven't seen before'," Susan said. "You can just scroll up, Paul. But, I also have screenshots if you'd prefer." There was a reason she insisted on organizing the bet in chat instead of just verbal agreements.
"Nah, I trust you," Paul said. "If that's what you remember, that's what we'll go with. I'll send my share next time we take a break. But, Dave just got here, so let's get started."
"Why is your background so boring today, Dave?" She asked. Susan was the team leader. She knew that question would be on everyone's mind and they wouldn't get much work done until it was answered. Dave's backgrounds had been getting more and more outlandish in the past month. The fairy meadow and moon base weren't too bad. The jungle and ocean depths were more distracting, but they got the work done. Although, it was almost to the point where Susan was considering asking him to tone it down. The last meeting was more focused on mocking the zombie horde flowing behind Dave than any work. Part of her hoped he decided to tame the backgrounds on his own.
"Oh, uh.. you know..," Dave moved to the center of Susan's screen and gave an exaggerated shrug. "Change of pace. If the strange is mundane; then, the mundane gets strange. How much was the bet?" he asked. While he spoke in the middle, a person in Dave's background caught Susan's eye.
"Oh, you know...," Paul moved to the center again. Susan turned away so the camera wouldn't see her roll her eyes. And, she suppressed a grunt of frustration. She tried finding the person in Dave's video feed, but it was too small. "...I don't think we settled on a number. So many were thrown out."
"It was $25," Susan said. "I'll send you a screenshot. But, let's start with Dave this week," Susan said. She was usually the one to go first; she tried to lead by example when she could. But, at the moment something bothered her and she really needed to see Dave on center screen again.
"Oh,..uh. okay. Hold on, just got here. Gotta get my notebook out." Susan couldn't have asked for a better view. Dave hunched over toward the bottom of the screen. Endless white cubicles with red trim along the edges filled the scene behind him. Susan watched as people frequently walked back and forth. She thought they were animated at first. Every employee that walked by wore the same white suit. Then, Susan realized Dave was wearing a white suit too. She stopped paying attention to their wardrobe months ago as long as it looked "professional enough. As she wondered what Dave's wardrobe meant, Susan saw her walk by again. A middle-aged woman with a brown ponytail in a white suit. She looked astonishingly familiar but Susan couldn't put her finger on it.
"Hey, Dave," Susan asked. "Where are you... exactly?"
"Home," Dave said. He smiled, "You don't want to know where exactly." The woman that caught Susan's eye was gone in the time it took for Dave to be highlighted again. "Almost ready..," Dave added. He was taking up more of the screen now as he organized his notebook, but the white maze behind him was still mostly visible. Then, Susan saw the woman walking by again; this time holding a cup of coffee. Susan intended to ask Dave about his background but a blaring alarm startled everyone. Dave's video filled with flashing red lights.
"What the-" Dave looked around. "Hey! What's going on?" The woman that Susan was focused on ran up to Dave and into the scene while everyone watched. Now that she was closer, it was clear why she looked so familiar; she was Susan with brown hair."
"BALLISEA!" the brown-haired Susan screamed at Dave, then dashed off.
"Oh hell...," Dave mumbled. Everyone had questions. None moreso than Susan; but, she didn't get a chance to ask. "Uh... Fire drill! Be back in a sec!" He closed the laptop and disconnected.
"Am I crazy or did...," Susan began to ask.
"She looked like you," Michael chimed in. A buzzcut with wrinkles moved to the center. Michael only spoke when he felt he had something that should be heard.
"Well, let's take a break and hope he gets back from his...fire drill," she said with obvious sarcasm. "And, Paul, you have a chance to grab your phone and send the cash." Susan got up and closed the blinds and refilled her water. It took about 10 minutes for Paul to get back and Dave hadn't returned yet.
"Hey, did you send the screenshot?" Paul asked Susan. "I mean, it's not a big deal but you said you were going to. But if you're not that's fine, I just want to know if I should be waiting for it."
"Hey, back. Sorry," Dave popped in again as Susan sent the screenshot to Paul. This time, Dave looked notably disheveled. His brown curls were mussed with sweat and his white coat was off. The sweat stains under his armpits still looked moist. He was sitting by a stream with fairies flitting around and a small village in the trees behind him. "Anyway..., my numbers for this week looked pretty good. My team is-"
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Bald, grey, angry Paul appeared in the center of the screen. "Are we just going to ignore it entirely?"
"He's right," Susan said with a sigh. "We're going to need some explanation. No one here believes for a second that that was a fire drill."
"Screw that," Paul took up the screen again. His arm pointed at the camera as he gestured at his own screen. "I'm not paying shit. We've already seen this background."