"Greetings" they say in synchronicity as though they had practiced the formality.
Kenton Davis wonders if they notice the short twitch. Years of practice have allowed him to integrate it into his everyday flow and it now appears as a seamless transitional movement. It started in his neck - a quick uncontrollable jerk from side to side that he would hide in a stretch or a quasi-break-dance move depending on the audience. When it was in his wrist it was easy to camouflage by keeping a pen handy and setting it down triumphantly each time the urge came over him. There were challenges when it was in his eyes or really anything face related. That was the only time it couldn't hide and he would get the question "everything ok?" Today what appears to be a simple salutation sets it off.
"Greetings" he parrots back to the two suited gentlemen in the corner office tower.
"Trust your travel was uneventful Kenton?"
Unfortunately today the twitch has migrated to his neck region making the opening remarks harder than the situation would dictate. Luckily he had accepted the bottled water from the receptionist and could mask the words stuck in his throat with a sip on the bottle. Throat cleared he gave the obligatory "Yes, made it here in one piece." Smiles all around and he is seated for another dog and pony show to a set of potential new investors.
Kenton has been making a similar pitch for several years so the words roll off his silver tongue. He knows the conclusion his targets will reach and with a mere glimpse of the pictures on their desk, the type of watch on their wrist or the style of shoe they are wearing he knows which path to take in the presentation to get to "yes". It's easy, they are all "tells" and he has done it too many times to be concerned with the hunt. His mind wanders as he goes through the motions… "greetings" he hears over and over again.
It has been fifteen years and yet it remains fresh in his memory at twenty nine years of age. Most things are that way for him, but this one has a crisp nature to the recollection that is different from his usual ability to recreate any historical moment he has experienced. This one still causes him to walk briskly down a dark street while occasionally looking over his shoulder just to be sure he remains alone. This event kicked off the twitches and changed who he was and what he would become in his later years. This one leaves him secretly alone and scared in a room full of friends.
**
The meeting ends with smiles, handshakes and a final check to ensure next steps are understood. Kenton feels overly confident as he exits knowing the receptionist takes a second look as he grins goodbye.
The elevator opens and he is compelled to step in first with his right foot and then only touch the "L" lobby button with his right index finger knuckle. With time he has come to deal with his "habits" as he likes to convince himself, others would recognize OCD signs.
Perhaps the OCD tendencies were within him from birth and set in motion by some event that has long since been blocked out but he justified it to himself as merely a way of making an otherwise painfully easy existence slightly more challenging at every turn. Three sips on a cup, not one, two or four while trying to make it look normal to those he is interacting with at the time. Only turning off lights with the back of his right hand. The list is too long for even Kenton to inventory or at times even demarcate between "normal" and compulsive… It has been part of his life for so long there is little distinction for him.
The elevator stops with a familiar ding and the door opens. Kenton strides, with his right leg first, into the frenzied Boston noon hour rush.
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