Soul Awakening
By Doug Simpson
By Doug Simpson
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If you missed out yesterday's post, catch Chapter Six here.
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Chapter 7
A New Emergency
Dani finished-up in the shower and slipped into her nightgown. She decided to give her hair a few minutes to air-dry, before taking the blower to it. As she reached for the television remote, her cell phone chimed. Immediately, she assumed there was a new problem with Dacque. "Hello."
"Hello, Dani, it's Max again. I am so sorry to be calling you this late, but I have my own emergency. I just got off of the phone with Sara, my secretary, the one who doctored Dacque's scrapes this morning. She just received a call that her father suffered a major heart attack this evening, and she will be on the first flight that she can find for Chicago. Our firm has a temporary-help service that they often call for replacements. Some of their temps are good, and some of them are rather short on experience. Would you have any interest in filling in for Sara until she returns? She indicated that she might stay in Chicago for a few weeks, if required. She has vacation time banked so she does not need to rush back."
"I would love to!" Dani declared. "I did tell Dacque that I would pick him up tomorrow, when he received the all-clear."
"That's not a problem. I can do without a secretary for an hour or two, but not a few weeks. You can leave whenever he calls."
"Okay, I'm on-board!"
"Great. Thank you for coming to my rescue. If you could be at the office - the firm has the entire eighth floor of the Mackie Building - around eight-thirty; I will get you oriented, and then take you over to Payroll at nine, to fill out their paperwork. Will that work for you?"
"That will work fine. What do I do for parking down there?"
"Most of us just park in the Anywhere Parking Garage at the 3rd and Lemon, and walk to the office. We get a break if we pay by the month, but they charge ten dollars a day. Why don't you just pay the ten dollars, and I will tell payroll to pay you an extra ten dollars for each day you work. I will also tell them to pay you at Sara's rate of pay, but I do not know exactly what that is."
"You don't have to pay my parking."
"Let's just think of it as a bonus for bailing me out of a jam on no notice at all. I said it first. Remember? You have to be fast to beat me to the punch."
"I'm learning very quickly. Okay, parking is on the firm. Is there anything else I should know, tonight?"
"Not that I can think of," Max replied. "Have a good sleep."
"I will," Dani lied. "Goodnight Max, and thank you." When Dani signed off, she wanted to jump up and down and scream for joy, but at that time of night it was not advisable. She settled for, "Thank you, Lord, for taking such good care of me."
A New Emergency
Dani finished-up in the shower and slipped into her nightgown. She decided to give her hair a few minutes to air-dry, before taking the blower to it. As she reached for the television remote, her cell phone chimed. Immediately, she assumed there was a new problem with Dacque. "Hello."
"Hello, Dani, it's Max again. I am so sorry to be calling you this late, but I have my own emergency. I just got off of the phone with Sara, my secretary, the one who doctored Dacque's scrapes this morning. She just received a call that her father suffered a major heart attack this evening, and she will be on the first flight that she can find for Chicago. Our firm has a temporary-help service that they often call for replacements. Some of their temps are good, and some of them are rather short on experience. Would you have any interest in filling in for Sara until she returns? She indicated that she might stay in Chicago for a few weeks, if required. She has vacation time banked so she does not need to rush back."
"I would love to!" Dani declared. "I did tell Dacque that I would pick him up tomorrow, when he received the all-clear."
"That's not a problem. I can do without a secretary for an hour or two, but not a few weeks. You can leave whenever he calls."
"Okay, I'm on-board!"
"Great. Thank you for coming to my rescue. If you could be at the office - the firm has the entire eighth floor of the Mackie Building - around eight-thirty; I will get you oriented, and then take you over to Payroll at nine, to fill out their paperwork. Will that work for you?"
"That will work fine. What do I do for parking down there?"
"Most of us just park in the Anywhere Parking Garage at the 3rd and Lemon, and walk to the office. We get a break if we pay by the month, but they charge ten dollars a day. Why don't you just pay the ten dollars, and I will tell payroll to pay you an extra ten dollars for each day you work. I will also tell them to pay you at Sara's rate of pay, but I do not know exactly what that is."
"You don't have to pay my parking."
"Let's just think of it as a bonus for bailing me out of a jam on no notice at all. I said it first. Remember? You have to be fast to beat me to the punch."
"I'm learning very quickly. Okay, parking is on the firm. Is there anything else I should know, tonight?"
"Not that I can think of," Max replied. "Have a good sleep."
"I will," Dani lied. "Goodnight Max, and thank you." When Dani signed off, she wanted to jump up and down and scream for joy, but at that time of night it was not advisable. She settled for, "Thank you, Lord, for taking such good care of me."
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Soul Awakening is part of the 12 days of Christmas feature here at Downright Fiction. Every day will see a new chapter excerpt on the website. Come back for Chapter 8 tomorrow!
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Doug Simpson is a retired high school teacher who has turned his talents to writing. His magazine and website articles have been published in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France and India. Soul Awakening is his first novel. Read more about Doug at dousimp.mnsi.net!
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