Awakening Book One of the Trust Series - By J. E. Swift Page 0,20

even thought about this or cared, she was not sure. But it was a thought that plagued her in the back of her mind throughout the evening.

After they finished dinner, Garrett suggested that they spent the rest of the evening getting lost watching the latest comedy that had come out on DVD. Caitlyn hesitated at first, her mind still focused on her change. However, as they settled in with some popcorn and sodas on his couch, she had to admit he was right; it was nice getting some normalcy in for once after the past several days. It reminded her that life does still go on, even in its most simplest of forms.

Chapter 6

Garrett knocked on her door too loudly, sounding far too chipper for someone who had stayed up extremely late watching a movie, and was awake by seven am. Caitlyn was tired; nothing like the fatigue of the past several months, but she was struggling with the fancy coffee maker that the Trust had provided and could not get it to work.

“Caitlyn, I can hear you grumbling in there. I brought coffee. And food. Just let me in.”

Giving one last evil glance at the dreaded machine, she opened the door. Garrett as promised delivered sustenance.

“I swear I am normally a morning person.” She responded as she repressed a yawn.

“I know you are. Remember, I had to watch you for weeks before officially meeting you. You made me get up at six am every morning to watch you at six-thirty.”

They walked down to his car, Caitlyn inquiring what they were going to do that day for her training. Garrett was surprisingly mum, just answering with a quick, “You’ll see.”

The road the car traveled down was shockingly well maintained, even though the dirt appearance of the road did not make it seem such. The ride was short; Garrett had not exaggerated when he advised her that the facility was only a mile and a half from where they were. He pulled the vehicle up to the compound and Caitlyn was initially greeted with a standard two-story brick building, nothing of any real consequence. There were some other small buildings on the outskirts of the compound but nothing truly impressive in nature. It was underwhelming really.

Caitlyn could not help but think to herself that this was the grand center of the Trust for North America? She had expected more somehow. Garrett had explained that there were lots of smaller facilities all over the United States, Canada, and Mexico under the guise of Trust Corporation, one of the biggest companies in the world, but she could not believe that this was the headquarters. She said as much to Garrett.

Garrett let out a huge belly laugh. “Corporate Headquarters? Hell, no! Corporate is located in Napa Valley, California.”

Caitlyn was perplexed. Napa Valley was of course the natural choice for a tech firm’s headquarters, but her knowledge of Trust Corporation had been fairly limited prior to all this and she knew that was not what he said. “But I could have sworn you said…”

Garrett shook his head. “I said we were at the headquarters. Headquarters for the Trust. There is a massive distinction between the two. Corporate is the public façade, how the Trust makes its money. Now where we are, this is the real powerhouse. It’s important to understand the difference.”

The car was parked in a dirt lot, with a deteriorating concrete pathway leading up to the non-descript door. Caitlyn walked through the murky glass entryway. She was greeted by two rather imposing security guards, who stood under an older sign that read: Welcome to Trust Corporation.

The receptionist to the left of them sat slouched at her desk wearing a blank expression. Silence filled the small space; the sole exception being a loud pop coming from the chewing gum in the woman’s mouth. Garrett walked up to her, flirting easily with the brunette, before advising her that he was here for “Orientation.” It was only then that the woman looked past him towards Caitlyn, eyeing her up and down before finally deciding to talk to her.

“Welcome to Trust. You will take the left wing elevator for orientation.”

Garrett gently put his hand on her back, guiding her through the left wing. As they strolled through the unimpressive building, he explained that this was one of their manufacturing facilities, very insignificant to the public eye, nothing controversial about it all. Caitlyn would have to agree with that statement. They arrived at a plain elevator, waiting for