“Is the air conditioning on? It’s not even hot out.”
“You didn’t hear this from me, but Kerrie is going through menopause. The AC has been on since the third week of February. I think there’s been maybe five days since then when it was off.”
“I wonder if that was the day I was here. I don’t remember it being like the Arctic.”
“Are you finally getting to start working here?”
She nodded. “I’m getting my office ready today, and then I think I shadow you and Kerrie tomorrow. Then I’ll start out with two clients and go from there.”
He nodded. “That sounds good to me.”
“Do you know where the key to my office is?”
He pointed down the hall. “Kerrie has a master set of all the keys needed for The Church and Sparrow House. Let’s go see her, then we’ll open it. Maintenance should be here this afternoon to change the doorknob and locks. Wilson took his with him, and policy says the locks need to be changed if there’s a key unaccounted for.”
“That sounds good to me.”
She followed him down the hall, their footsteps clacking against the highly polished yellow oak floor. Even just walking down the hall, she felt the different atmosphere from Main. Gone was the impersonal, sterile environment. In its place were clients’ touches on the walls. The bright lights above were uplifting, filling the space with joy instead of the harsh overhead lights that made every room feel like some drafty warehouse. Even the hand-painted rock that was being used as a doorstop for Kerrie’s office made Reese smile.
Jayvon thumped his knuckles against the door. “Can we come in?”
She heard Kerrie answer, “Who’s we? But yes, of course.”
He motioned for her to go in.
Kerrie’s face lit up at the sight of her. She was hunched over her computer, but then she straightened upon seeing Reese. “Oh, looks like someone has finally been released from training hell.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, finally.”
“That’s great. When will you start here?”
“Tomorrow. I’m supposed to shadow you and Jayvon, then I’ll probably get a couple of clients the next day. I was coming to get familiar with my new office.”
A grimace took over Kerrie’s face, pulling her lips back. “Uh, yeah, we can do that.”
“Uh-oh, that look on your face doesn’t make me feel very confident about this office.”
Tugging open her desk drawer, Kerrie lifted a set of keys out. “Let’s just say Wilson didn’t take much with him.”
When Kerrie opened the office, Reese was hit with a wave of dusty air and something else, something that smelled almost like tobacco. When Kerrie stepped back to let her look in after flipping on the light, her stomach plummeted.
“Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t get around to cleaning it. It has just been the two of us, and there just hasn’t been time.”
Jayvon leaned in beside her, wincing. “I can help you tomorrow if you want. I promised I’d go with Elsie to Walmart in a few minutes.”
Elsie Thompson was Main’s version of Jayvon. She ran a tight ship in Main. Reese forced a smile. “It’s okay. I’m sure I can handle it. I may have to have help moving anything really heavy, though.”
“We’ll help however we can.”
“At least you got the spit bottles out,” commented Jayvon with a shrug.
“Please tell me it’s not what it sounds like,” grimaced Reese.
“Unfortunately, yes. I’ll apologize now if I missed one. As soon as he was gone, I went in and cleared them all out. He didn’t smoke anymore but chewed tobacco nearly constantly.”
Reese shuddered. “Well, I thank you for that.”
“Not a problem. Uh, Jay, did you call about replacing the locks?”
