Sather: Let’s begin.
Andis: Okay.
Sather: Tell me how the day began.
Andis: Like any lazy Sunday. Liz took the kids to the park for a couple hours while I did some small corrections to my memo for tomorrow.
Sather: You worked on Sundays?
Andis: No, not usually. But the VP position was open so I was pushing up my performance the last couple of months. I didn’t have much of a chance; my other co-worker was the child of one of the board members. And honestly after Lucy was born my performance was slipping.
Sather: I thought you said that you were increasing your performance for the promotion?
Andis: Well, I tried to. But with Lucy being sick all the time my performance didn’t improve much. So I tried to band-aid all the time I was taking off work. Small things, working weekends or helping people with legal issues in my off time.
Sather: Any legal issues in particular?
Andis: My focus was interplanetary copyright. Boring stuff, but it paid well.
Sather: Alright so you sit down to check up on your memo?
Andis: Then I hear a bump up in my room. I thought of checking on the bump, didn’t though, thought my dog was just messing around with a loose string.
Sather: Then?
Andis: Then I went back to writing about the copyright laws of Frenic the Fish.
Sather: When did you get suspicious?
Andis: When the .357 revolver was pointed at my right hand. I froze, I couldn’t even focus on the situation. All I could do was look at him. He was so…interesting.
Sather: Why’s that?
Andis: His eyes, they were glossy. Like the people I supervised, it was the same look. I didn’t understand how a man could consider pointing guns at people with such a boring demeanor.
Sather: Did he say anything?
Andis: No, he just took a photo out of his pocket and compared it to my face. His eyes kept going back and forth. I never saw the photo, but, I swear its outline like my neighbor. Of course this was years ago so my head could have made it up.
Sather: What happened after he looked at the photo?
Andis: He just put his revolver back in its holster and left. I didn’t call the police till an hour after. The fear didn’t leave me, it took everything to pick up my phone. Still I see his uninterested face, like my murder was a quick stop after work. His gun, that’s what I remember too; it was so impractical. I mean I’m not an assassin, so, that field of work isn’t my skill set. But I always thought that they used small compact weapons. You always hear about people being killed from far away or with small calibers. Not this guy, he was so impersonal and flashy; and most notably, bored.
Sather: You ever learn why he didn’t shoot you?
Andis: No, I like to think maybe he spread mercy to me. It could be wishful thinking, the address was wrong or maybe I was the wrong one. But in wishful thinking he let me have a second chance. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see my family again. I think I just cried for hours before telling my wife what happened.
Sather: How come you never called the cops.
Andis: And have that guy come back? I didn’t need him to have an actual reason to kill me. It’s good enough that I’m still here.
Sather: How did you feel when his book was published?
Andis: I didn’t hear about that. After the incident I sold the house and we moved to Janilik. They still don’t have a V.I.A link installed in my town.
Sather: Did your wife protest this move?
Andis: No! If anything she encouraged it. The idea of that man hiding in our bedroom gave us more than enough motivation to get out of there.
Sather: And the promotion?
Andis: I quit that same day. Left behind pension, and twenty plus years of good will.
Sather: And how did that feel?
Andis: Marvelous!