The Chin

Is that a rubbish bin?

A man in his mid-forties sashayed into the meeting room with a cheery grin on his face. Only for the grin to fall away in an instant upon noticing the innocuous waste paper basket in the corner of the room.

Yeah, it's a bin.

I said confidently.

If there was one thing I was sure about in life, it was bins and the thing in the corner was undoubtedly one.

It's always a fucking bin.

Said the man, shaking his head and lithely dropping to his knees to peer inside the bin. He deftly scooped out a couple of crumpled Post-Its before turning it upside down and running his hand over it's underside.

Errr, are you ok?

I asked the bin examining madman.

He certainly wasn't acting ok. Normal men in the workplace didn't fall to their knees and root through bins as if hunting for truffles.

The man laughed airily and got to his feet.

All clear.

He chuckled some more and pulled a chair out, sitting and extending his hand for a manly shake.

The name's, Leigh. Pleased to meet you.

I shook his hand warily just in case he pulled me over the desk and attempted to give my underside a rummage like he had with the bin.

He didn't.

So, you will be aware of the new contract then. Highly sensitive. Lots of Security implications?

He emphasised the word security heavily as if it were a frightened dog he was trying to tease out from behind a chair.

I have heard of the new contract yes.

I said, stroking my chin smoothly and tilting my head, just so, to demostrate my deep wisdom.

Leigh leaned forward, eyes glittering.

You will be aware then of our need to ensure that our systems are secure. To make sure that they are not vulnerable to incursion, from the usual suspects?

I twitched my nose.

The usual suspects?

I asked as if we were mildly disagreeing over how long a teabag should be dunked for.

I was becoming convinced that I was sharing a room with a howling mad maniac. This chap Leigh looked like a regular bloke but was acting as if he had jelly in his socks.

You know, the usual suspects...?

He craned his head forward and poked it at me like a sea bird as if that would make it clear who the usual suspects were.

There was an awkward silence in which Leigh bobbed his head and made hnn hnn noises at me.

Sorry, you've lost me.

I said at last, holding my hands up in defeat.

Leigh narrowed his eyes at me then peered about the room as if looking for something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Post-It pad. He rapidly scrawled something on it and held it out to me whilst looking around furtively.

The CHN

It said in a messy scrawl.

I looked up from the Post-It note to Leigh who swiftly crumpled it and stuffed it into his pocket was if it had never existed.

He nodded, darkly.

I nodded too.

I was baffled. I had no idea what was going on nor who The CHIN were but suddenly the world seemed a darker and scarier place.