Amos

To say that the Ministry was in a state of panic this morning, would be a huge understatement.  Amos had barely had any sleep due to the fact that he had somehow been involved in helping set up an entirely department he knew virtually nothing about, whilst also doing his own job and making sure his own staff were doing their jobs. He did however know that he was going to get pulled into yet another meeting about how to contain the new images of dragons and hippogriffs surfacing on the muggle internet.   He wasn’t a rude man by any means, but he had to tell several people to ‘kindly get out his way.’    Slamming his office door closed, he barely had two minutes to himself before someone just let themselves in.  

August had spent the afternoon strolling around London, taking time to see a few sights before heading back and claiming a booth at the cauldron. He order a basket of fries or *chips* and a pint. He began nursing it slowly, before ordering another, when he saw Amos enter the pub. 

“We are talking about the same person right? Short but commanding? Shes quite frightening really.” August took a swig of his beer, before wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his flannel. “I went right to the alley when I had heard what happened. Mostly to find you, but ran into Ms. Bones when she shook me down for anything I knew. It had me questioning myself” 

Amos couldn’t help but laugh, he wasn’t really able to see Amelia as frightening, but then again he had also known her for years. “Do yourself a favour, and never point out the shortness.” Amos said, the smile on his face only growing as he spoke. Actually, when they had been together, Amelia’s height had sort of worked out well for Amos, given that he wasn’t exactly a tall guy.  Lowering into the vacant sea across from August, he wondered how much he had spoken to Amelia, she could be pretty hard to get to know at times, that much he knew. “Did she tell you that she once had the misfortune of being my girlfriend?”   He’d be lying if he said that the use of girlfriend in the past tense didn’t bother him at all, but it was something he just had to learn to deal with. 

“She’s just good at her job, it can be hard to separate it from other avenues in your life I guess.”

Amelia didn’t know how to not thank Amos. She understood what it meant to not thank someone even if she was thankful, but those two words weren’t thanking him for just that moment. It was for all the moments before. It was for their first kiss followed by childlike laughter. It was for their first date – or what she thought was their first date but you could never tell with Amos. She was thanking him for always making her smile and laugh till she cried. She was grateful for the passionate moments that didn’t end in laughter, but the beautiful scent of their intermingled bodies. She hadn’t ever been sure she would want to get married because she was a career girl – which she knew from childhood – but Amos had, yet again, proven Amelia wrong. Even if they hadn’t gotten married, it was bittersweet knowing she could love someone enough.

Amelia could write a book about she and Amos. She could write a series. …is the series over? 

For the moment, Amelia was mad at herself for even having the thought that they weren’t done writing their story. She dug her head into his chest and very nearly burst into full blown tears but she didn’t. She refused. Amelia had cried a million tears for Amos. Even though the tears of them being together again weren’t about bad memories, she knew him well enough to know he would take it on himself. She knew he blamed himself. That’s just who he was. Amelia had always known the breakup was hard on him as well – with what they had, it had to. But what would he think if she spilled how much she missed him and was letting herself even toy with the thoughts of how good they would be together again? 

What if. What if. What if –

“Fuck it.” Amelia quit analyzing immediately, moved her hands to the back of Amos’ neck, her hands in his hair line, looking so far into his eyes she couldn’t have looked farther. She pushed her body as close to his as she could, closed her eyes and pressed her lips as tightly to his as possible. She would never apologize for this, especially to herself.

Amos would be lying to himself if he said that he hadn’t missed Amelia, pretty much everything from her scent to the sound of her laughter. It had been home to him for so long, he wasn’t even sure that ever really stopped being true. Even when they had gone for long periods of time without speaking, which had absolutely killed Amos. Quite apart from anything else, he wasn’t sure if she would be able to forgive him, never mind go back to where they were before. In the silence that had filled the room, he had been looking into her eyes trying to read how she was feeling, he used to be able to do that.  He had opened his mouth to speak, not even knowing himself what he may have said, just sort of hoping the words would form, but then.... but then.  

It was like stepping into the past, like nothing had happened between them since their last day together as a couple.  Kissing Amelia had been almost second nature to Amos, and there it was again. He put very little thought into responding, because it was like his body knew how much he had needed to kiss her again.  His hands fell instinctively onto her waist and he felt like he was melting into her.  It made sense, they were never really meant to be apart, and that had never been clearer to him than it was right now.  He pulled away, only his face, just so he could look into her eyes.  Those eyes, he had looked into so many times before, and a smile he couldn’t help spread across his face and reached his doey brown eyes.  And there was something else he couldn’t hold in, something which had never stopped being true, something which had started years ago, it was the calm in the storm that they both probably needed. And then.... the words fell from his lips so easily.  “I love you, Amelia.”  He said softly, before pressing his lips to hers once again.

August nodded as he listened to Amos. Mirroring his friend, he lowered his voice, almost to a whisper “well thats something. What can I do? Can I join this ‘order’ “. As the words left his mouth, August scanned the area around him. He leaned back from Amos, “we should talk about this later..somewhere else.” he said, still speaking lowly. 

Standing, and not allowing Amos to cut in, he said at a normal volume, “Yeah, we can definitely grab a pint after you get off work.  I would love to catch up. You know where to find me.” he stepped back, opening the door to Amos’s office, glancing into the very busy hallway buzzing with witched and wizards moving up and down the corridor. He winked at Amos, stepping just outside of the doorframe, before saying “Oh, and we have to talk about an Amelia Bones…. shes very intense.” He gave his friend a small wave, before joining the crowd moving towards the lifts. 

Amos only nodded the statement of speaking about this particular topic elsewhere. Though there were people in the Ministry he would absolutely trust with his life, they were vastly outnumbered by the people he knew very little about, or what he did know, or at least suspected of them was less than savoury.  He hadn’t known August that long, but Amos was a fairly good judge of character, and he didn’t feel threatened by the man, he seemed to be a genuinely good person, and there weren’t alot of those around. With a slight flick of his finger, Amos’s office door closed behind August as he left. 

The Order always needed new members, though it wasn’t for Amos to say who couldn’t join. The best he could do was to direct August to the right person. It had been playing on his mind for the rest of his work day, and he hoped that he would run into his friend again. As he left the Ministry, he set out with the sole intention of finding August, so as to speak further. The atmosphere in Diagon Alley just hadn’t been quite the same since the attacks, it was better than it had been, but still not the same.  It didn’t take Amos too long to set eyes on August once again, and he lowered into a seat across from him. 

“You think Amelia is intense?”  He said with a smile etching onto his lips. 

“it just seem holey unsustainable, how many ‘purebloods’ can there really be?” August thought aloud. He glanced back at the closed door, before leaning towards Amos. He cracked his knuckles out of habit, before saying in a hushed tone, “I’m not afraid. But I’m also not going to just standby and allow this to happen around me. What is being done to combat this?” August scooted his chair closer towards Amos, before whispering “because it would appear the ministry isn’t in a hurry to stand up to these radicals. There has to be some type of militia forming.” 

Amos’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked at August. The poor guy must have been thinking that he would have been better off not coming to Britain right now. He definitely seemed to have a unique sense of timing anyway.  “More than you’d think.”  Amos murmured through a sigh, he himself was one, though he certainly didn’t go around advocating it, and it was hardly a sense of pride to Amos, there were so many things that were far more important.  

Amos nodded slowly, and thought again that they really shouldn’t be talking about this within the Ministry.  He certainly did agree though, Harold Minchum was not doing much, if anything...save for one public appearance.  “There are Aurors, The Wizengamot...the Order.  There are people fighting....”  Amos trailed off, sighing once again because he realised how useless it sounded when he said it all aloud. “I’m in the Order...it’s a fairly new organisation....”   Amos didn’t know August that well, and he knew that Albus wouldn’t take too kindly to just giving out this information, but he also knew that August seemed like a genuinely decent person.

Amelia watched as Amos tried hiding behind very intentional motions. He was trying to hold himself together. She hated that they were in a place where they both felt they had to put up a facade. It hurt. She didn’t come there to hurt, but realistically, Amelia should have known things weren’t going to be the way they were when they were together – even before they were together. It was new territory for them to be in the same room and unable to lower their shoulders, struggling to keep eye contact minimal, changing their body language and fighting the thick air filling the room.

Her eyes were wide and her mind full. They always joked about her being so many years older than him, but she found herself wishing she’d been younger. If she’d been younger they would have had more time together at Hogwarts. Amelia had many wishes. She once thought they were it. Letting him go was the hardest thing she’d been through. She loved people, she’d had previous boyfriends and boyfriends since, but there was always something off. Amelia didn’t connect with anyone well enough to keep the relationship going. But the man before her was different. Or had been different.

With doe eyes, Amelia watched Amos making the decision to walk toward her. She didn’t expect him to give in. He had appeared to not want to budge from his desk so his movement was unexpected. So unexpected Amelia caught air in her throat. She looked down, clearing her throat. Before she knew it, she felt Amos’ familiar hand. Amelia looked up as he brushed her hair. Her heart was racing. That feeling – whatever it was – was something she didn’t know she missed. A hug? If she could barely handle him moving a hair, could she handle a hug? It’s a hug, Amelia. Everyone could use one right now.

She couldn’t say no to his outstretched arms. Her mind was spinning but the moment she placed her face against his chest, she couldn’t squeeze him hard enough. Amelia never wanted to let go. His scent was intoxicating despite the fact that it was masked with terror from Diagon Ally. She could still smell the Amos she knew and loved. An enormous sense of relief washed over her. Amelia’s muscles loosened. The only thing holding her up was Amos.

Amelia, not letting him go, looked up at Amos with tears brimming her eyes. “Amos, I – “ she paused and whispered softly, “thank you.” The thank you was multifaceted but she didn’t know what to say beyond that. At least not then.

In his life, Amos had very few weaknesses, nor did he have any addictions. He’d managed to never smoke a cigarette in his life, enjoyed a drink, but only on special occasions and frankly, he just wouldn’t the time to try something as ridiculous as a drug. But he had been addicted to Amelia, from the very moment that his eyes had set on her for the first time. The worst thing about it all, for him was that he knew in his heart that he wanted to marry her, he had known it when he was eleven and a naive little first year, when she had been nearing seventeen and a very grown up sixth year.  He had known it when he was fifteen, he had known it when they kissed for the first time, and he definitely knew it when they were together. And that very fact had started to scare him, he never meant to hurt her, never Amelia. not her.. That had never been his intention. And as she stood infront of him, he just could not deny her a hug. Those eyes. He knew those eyes and he knew as he had been looking into them that she needed one as much as he did. He knew it would not be anything close to a good idea to ever tell her that he had regretted his decision, almost instantaneously, on the morning after in fact.  But telling her that would have only messed her around more, and hurt her further.  But it was over, he had ruined it, and usually he couldn’t bring himself to maintain eye contact with Amelia, let alone hug her.  But these were not ordinary circumstances. 

“Never thank me.”  Amos murmured softly, closing his eyes as he allowed himself to take in the scent of the one person he had ever truly loved. On the first morning that he had awoken without Amelia, Amos thought his heart could not break more than it did on that morning, but this was a close second.  It took everything he had to not surrender to crying.  Swallowing the lump in his chest, he squeezed Amelia in his hold.  

“It’s going to be alright, I promise.” He managed a smile, which was evident in the tone of his voice as he spoke. 

Auggie nodded his head, listening to Amos speak about how he had been in the Alley at the time of the attack. “So, this group? Have they done this before? What’s their end goal?” he rung his hands, before hanging his head. He had to figure out what his next move was, and what he could do in the meantime. 

Amos paused, and made the decision to close his office door, it wasn’t really something he ought to be talking about at all, and certainly not inside the Ministry.  There was a slightly solum look on his face as he turned back towards his desk, once he was sure the door was firmly closed.   “They have....Though this was the first public murder.....August....” He started to say, lowering his voice as he spoke.  “This is just the beginning...”   He didn’t want to frighten his friend, but he also didn’t see the point in sugar coating it, the fact was that nobody was really safe at the moment.  

Folding his arms across his chest as he let out a sigh of exhaustion. “End goal....”  He repeated, trying to conjure up words that weren’t going to put the fear of merlin into August.  “Total control, absolutely no muggleborns-- no maj people.  The girl whos life they so carelessly took had a no maj parent...”  Nor Amos or the Ministry could be absolutely certain that was why she had been killed, but it was a reasonable assumption.  

Attempting a smile, he searched for August’s gaze, “It’ll be a long and trying battle to win, but we can’t lose this one.  Don’t be afraid of them, because thats what they want.”

Amos’ body language wasn’t foreign to Amelia. She had seen him at his goofiest, sweetest, most heartfelt moments but also his pain, anger, annoyance – and he’d seen hers. Somehow seeing him roll up his sleeves and pace gave her an odd sense of comfort and familiarity. He hadn’t changed too much. It made the urge to approach him even stronger, to help calm him in the only way she knew how, but her shoes felt like they were covered in dry cement.

His tiny half-smile upon him seeing her – Amelia’s heart leaped as much as it would allow in that moment. He was obviously as shocked to see her and she was to even be there. Perhaps she needed to know he was still good but Amos could never be bad. His bones were made of love and strength. Amelia felt like she was utterly lacking love and strength after the night they’d had and, maybe, that’s what brought her to his door. She may never know.

“I’m …alright.” They both knew it was a stupid, stupid word to use but what other could be used after the tragic events? There were casualties, injuries and chaos but there was no other word than alright. Amelia wiped her face, soot and dirt on her fingers. She must’ve been a sight. “No one got a shot at me, anyway.”

He couldn’t look at her. She shouldn’t have come. She saw he was alright so what else did she have to say or do? Her subconscious brought her there for a reason.

“I can – I can go,” Amelia loudly whispered while finally able to inch toward him, obviously not wanting to leave.

Amos found himself pausing behind his desk, leaning on it with his palms, fingers facing downwards.  It was mostly to stop himself from wandering about even more, pacing was one of his many idiosyncrasies when he was stressed.  Bowing his head, he said “No, it’s alright, you don’t have to go.” Amos sighed, usually with his friends he was pretty good at knowing exactly what to say to put them at ease, stemming from his career training in dealing with people. Though, as he fought to keep steady eye contact with Amelia, which was certainly telling of how he was just as anxious. 

“I’m glad...” He started to say, as he slowly pulled his head up once more. “...That your alright.”  Despite everything that was going on, Amos could not deny that his heart tightened in his chest as his gaze fell onto her.  Some flashes of their past racing through his minds eye.  When they were at Hogwarts, because Amos was a good few years younger, they never had any classes together, and he convinced himself that it had just been a school boy crush type thing. But still, he had always lived for the days that she would ask him how his studies were going, and he would purposely wait in the common room just for a chance to speak to her.  Though he had been in first year, when she was in sixth so their days at school together had been limited, but they had been the beginning of Amos’s crush which developed into something alot more years later.  And if he was being absolutely honest with himself, it was still there. But he had ruined it.  

Pushing himself off his desk, he crossed the room once more, and paused for a moment as he stopped infront of Amelia and he searched for her eyes.  He raised a hand, and carefully moved a strand of hair away from her face so he could see her more clearly.  He had done so before he really thought about it, the action was almost automatic, he had done it so many times before.  Taking his hand away suddenly, he instead opened his arms for a hug.  “Come on, you look like you need it, i do too.”

Noting Amos relax after realizing it was just August, caused Auggie to sigh in relief. He took a few steps into the small office, sliding into the seat before the office. 

“Yeah, I mean no, no I wasn’t in the Alley.” August glanced around the office, “I was home, well…sheltered in the studio. My boss hid me in the closet when he heard what was happening in case it trickled over to Hogsmead.” He ran his hands along his jeans, seemingly to wipe the sweat away. “Where you there? Was it really bad? What is happening?” August said, allowing his stream of consciousness to take hold of his tongue. 

Amos hadn’t really known August for that long, but he still felt oddly close to the young man. And he even managed a small smile as August spoke, he found him quite endearing, even given the current climate. 

“It’s alright, August.”  Amos said quite sincerely as he cautiously approached the other.  Reaching out a hand to place on August’s shoulder.  “It is getting bad out there, I won’t lie.  But it won’t be like this forever. It can’t be.”  He said, giving his friends shoulder a light squeeze before taking his hand away.  “Yes, I was there, fairly unscathed thankfully.  I’m glad you are okay.”   Sighing, Amos pinched his temple, and shook his head slightly. “I don’t know what world we are living in now...  But it will get better, it has to.”

Prompts;;

- Has their allegiance changed or has it grown stronger?

Amos has never had so much as a shadow of a doubt about what side he ought to be on.  It has possibly grown stronger since the attacks started, though he has next to no belief in the current Minister. 

- What has led them to be on the side they’re on?  (familial ties, personal choice etc)

Though it was definitely instilled in him from a fairly young age, Amos mostly came to the conclusion on his own. Being a Gryffindor, he witnessed alot of his fellow house mates fall victim to harassment from certain others.  Though he is a pureblood, and mostly was left alone, he tried to do his best, sometimes even stepping in for his friends. Amos is not a vengefull person, but people like that know how to press his buttons.  He knew from a pretty young age that he didn’t want anything to do with people who thought that sort of behaviour was acceptable.

- Where do they see themselves after the war?

Mostly, I don’t think Amos thinks about himself enough.  So he probably just hopes that his friends and family are safe and survive the war.  

-What does your character hope to achieve during the war?

Amos knows that in his position at work, he could make somewhat of a difference, being a senior Ministry employee, he knows his voice is more likely to be heard than others.  So I think he hopes that he can make some kind of a difference within the Minister itself. 

-If your character could speak to a younger version of themselves, what do you think they would say?

To not care as much about studying, and to enjoy himself more as a teenager.  Not every weekend has to be a study weekend. 

- What are some new or unshared head cannons you have for your character?

Amos is actually a really good broom flyer, he played for Gryffindor during his time at Hogwarts as a chaser, and keeps meaning to get back into it, though struggles to find the time.

He feels immensely guilty about his breakup with Amelia, but he also doesn’t think he ought to bring it up with her, because he doesn’t want to hurt her....again. 

He wants more than anything to be a father, he has almost everything else he wanted for himself, a good career, a nice home, good friends... but he still hasn’t settled down. 

Julius sauntered into Amos’ office without a care for courtesy or respect. It wasn’t like he had to knock. Knocking would meant that he cared and well, if he was being honest, you knocked when you walked into the office of a superior. The Wizengamot would not be doing any work today, there were other matters at hand, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t throw his weight around and look like he was being busy.

“What could you possibly need five minutes for,” he wandered purposely out loud leaving out the end of his train of thought. The part which pointed out the other man hardly needed two seconds to string a thought together let alone five minutes. It wasn’t hard when you didn’t think in thoughts or words more than two syllables at a time. “But don’t fret, I promise to keep my intrusion to four and a half minutes and you can have the remining time to finish whatever it was you were doing.” Julius assured him.

“I am simply here to point out there have been sightings of a rampant hippogriff on the loose. Must have gotten lost in the fray. You know a stray curse or something,” he said biting his inner lip to keep from grinning. If there was a wild creature on the loose it was because one of his counterparts let it out. If it was up to him they would have let the werewolves free, but it wasn’t a full moon and it wasn’t up to him.

“Don’t believe me,” he dropped a stack of parchment on Amos’ desk. “Dig through the reports yourself.” He said with a grin knowing most of them were made up but it would take a while to sort through nonetheless.

As Amos turned to face Julius, he made absolutely no attempt to hide the rolling of his eyes. It was pretty difficult to make Amos snap, mostly because he spent his days arguing back and forth people who wanted him to fold on giving out more money from the budget for a varying of equally ridiculous things.  He told himself that was all this prick was going to get, an eye roll.  He even managed to suppress the want to comment on what it was that Julius actually did in a day of work. Not to demean the work of the Wizengamot, because Amos knew how important their work was, but he highly doubted that someone bearing a name such as Yaxley actually did much, other than flaunt the title. 

A small smirk formed on Amos’ lips and he shook his head, not quite able to prevent the snort that escaped him.  “How kind of you, but you can hand that to my secretary, as I’ve got several meetings today.”  Eyeing the stack that Julius had somewhat unceremoniously dropped on his desk, Amos tutted and pulled his wand from his inner jacket pocket and non verbally used a spell to tidy them up.  “Though...”  He said, tilting his head slightly as his gaze raised once again to meet the gaze of the other. “There aren’t any wild Hippogriffs anymore, not in Britain anyway.  It probably just got free from private land, I dare say it’s been captured by the owner by now.  Although, if you feel so inclined as to chase it up, you could always ask Hagrid if he’s seen one.”  Yes, on a technicality Hippogriffs were Amos’ department, though honestly not much would be done unless it was harming wizards, or sighted by muggles, which was unlikely given that they seemed to prefer the quiet of the highlands. 

“Oh.. sorry. I just…” August said, leaning back against the closed door behind him. He stood there to keep anyone else from doing what he just did, but also to catch his breath. The ministry was more or less a maze to him already, and add thousands of witches and wizards running around, and it became a maze but in latin. “..wanted to make sure you were ok.”

Granted the attack occurred in Diagon, and August had been home in Hogsmead. But that didn’t stop the fear from infesting the small borough. He had been instructed by the station lead to stay indoors last night, especially with his dirty blood, but he couldn’t not check up and make sure Amos was ok. He had few friends here, and wasn’t ready to lose any just yet. 

As soon as his friend’s voice rang in his ears, Amos Immediately felt an ache in his chest, which was instant guilt.  He turned to look at Auggie, and a barely there smile attempted to stretch across his face.  “Ohh...”  He said, sighing as he spoke, “I’am so sorry August, I didn’t realise it was you.”  After a morning of people jumping out at him left, right and centre to pointedly tell him that the Ministry was to blame, which Amos himself partly agreed with, though he couldn’t actually say that, unless he wanted to lose his career. He hadn’t expected the first person to enter his office would be a friend. 

Bowing his head slightly, he motioned with his hand for Auggie to come in. His brows furrowed in slight concern as the others features became clearer, “Are you alright? Were you there?  Can I get you anything?”

It felt like everyone wanted something from Amelia following the attacks. And why shouldn’t they? Law enforcement was her job. There was no doubt that the Wizengamot would stay out of this one – probably one of the many messages she was ignoring but at the moment, it wasn’t her priority. Truth is, she couldn’t consciously have said what her priority was. Like the many witches and wizards around her, Amelia was running on fumes. Fumes reached inside her and stirred emotions and worries she thought she had laid to rest.

All this time, Amelia pretended she never knew where Amos’ office was. Self preservation. If she didn’t see him, the pain was never there. – that’s what she tried to convince herself anyway. out of sight out of mind. – tried to tell herself that too. But before she knew it her feet were in front of his closed office door.

Amos Diggory. Why was he the one she needed to find? Edgar could take care of himself. So could Amos. Alastor could certainly take care of himself. So could Amos. The young Remus seemed that he could take care of himself. So could Amos. So could Amos. So could Amos. So why? Why now? It felt like it had been decades but Amelia needed to know if he made it out. She opened his door, the breath taken from her lungs. “I’m – I’m –” Amelia cleared her throat. “Amos–” she choked, her eyes were wide. She wanted to run to him but was stuck to the spot. At least he was physically well.

Amos still hadn’t turned round as he waited for the person to speak, trying his best to compose himself.  He really ought not to lose his temper with colleagues.  Everyone was scared, and it was understandable, he was too, and honestly he hadn’t even had the chance to really think about his friends, he hadn’t had the time to check on them.  Whilst he was in the middle of rolling up his sleeves, his back still turned to the open door, he heard Amelia’s voice, he recognised it as soon as the first syllable left her mouth, and his mood immediately shifted from pretty annoyed, to relieved in a matter of seconds.  Turning on his heel, a half smile began to form on his lips.  He almost dropped the paperwork he had been balancing in his free hand.  For whatever reason, probably something he didn’t want to fully admit to himself, he wondered why she had came to see him so early.  He had been there last night, and he had looked for her, but he couldn’t see her.  Though he couldn’t be sure she hadn’t been there.  

“Amelia.... hey are you--”  He shook his head and put the paperwork he was clutching down on his desk and crossed the room to look at her more closely. “--Alright?”  He said, whilst his eyes were scanning her face, looking for any marks or cuts.  He wanted so badly to pull her into a hug, but he really wasn’t sure that was something they did or not, and the atmosphere was throwing him off.   So, instead he started to nervously pace his office, struggling to keep eye contact with her.  “Sorry for the.... I thought you were someone else...”

To say that the Ministry was in a state of panic this morning, would be a huge understatement.  Amos had barely had any sleep due to the fact that he had been helping with the aftermath of the attack. And as a senior staff member, he seemed to be something of an easy target for those wanting to blame the ministry and every single person who worked there.  Which, didn’t make alot of sense, considering that he was not an Auror, nor did he work with the Minister... But such is life, people always want to throw blame at someone or something. It had taken him a good hour to navigate to his office, questions flying at him, here, there and everywhere.  He wasn’t a rude man by any means, but he had to tell several people to ‘kindly get out his way.’    Slamming his office door closed, he barely had two minutes to himself before someone just let themselves in.