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Emilywasmuchbetterthe next morning. She was healing fast, and her brain was as sharp as ever. While Emily was recovering, I was having a difficult time. For some reason, there were no messages in my email inbox, which had to be a mistake. People were always sending questions to the VP of HR. I decided to wait till lunch before I contacted the techies. In the meantime, I made sure Emily was returning to her normal routine. That started with homework.
“I’m sick,” Emily said when I reminded her that she needed to keep up with the rest of the class.
“You’re not sick. “You’re quite well,” I said. “No, you can’t run around and jump rope, but you can do homework. Let’s not argue about this. We both know you can do it.”
“I don’t want to.”
“That has nothing to do with it. You need to do it, so you will.”
“That’s mean.”
“You have no idea what mean is. Homework is not mean. It’s necessary. I would be a bad mother if I didn’t insist you do your homework.”
Emily frowned. “I wouldn’t think you were bad.”
“Arguing won’t get your work done. So, off you go to your room. You know how to log into the school network and retrieve your assignments. The sooner you complete the work, the sooner you can do something else.”
Emily put on her grumpy face and left. I called my aide and got a busy signal. When I tried to leave a voicemail, I received an “inbox full” message. What was going on? I didn’t like being in the dark. Had something happened at the bank? I went to the bank website, which appeared normal. At least that part of the system was working. I busied myself with household chores, telling myself that I needed patience. Tech support would soon have everything working smoothly. An hour later, the doorbell rang.
“You have to come back,” Marcie said before she even stepped into the house.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as Marcie passed.
“Everything,” she replied. “Nothing is working, and everyone is getting really pissed.” I called your number severally, but its not going through, so I checked your address in the system and came here instead.
“Have a seat and tell me.”
Marcie sat and started a litany of issues and problems, most of which I had never heard about. There were multiple cases of employees receiving the wrong pay or a failed benefit, or even a pink slip that had not been approved. One woman had been reported deceased to the Social Security Administration. That was more than a bit upsetting because she was only thirty years old and in perfect health. The phones were busy. Employees were telling their managers, who informed their managers, who took the complaints to the top floor. The CEO visited the HR department.
“Crap,” I said. “Did he know about my daughter?”
“He did, but that didn’t make him happy, even if it wasn’t your fault. You have to come back.”
“Why did these problems pop up like weeds?”
Marcie bit her lip for a moment. “I shouldn’t say this, but it’s Josh. When you left the building, he went to work. I think he’s behind all the glitches. You do know he thinks he deserves the job you have.”
“I’m aware of that. He likes to think I didn’t earn it.”
“Well, sabotage is a valid tactic if you watch the war movies.”
I tried to think. I couldn’t leave Emily alone. Yet, I had to get to the office. And Emily couldn’t go with me.
“Marcie, how would you like the afternoon off?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Well, not off, but working for me. Mind babysitting Emily while I go to the office and straighten out these problems?”
“I won’t have to take leave or anything?”
“Nope. I’ll call it admin time, and you’ll get paid as usual. I’ll add some babysitting money, so you’ll make even more.”
“What do I have to do?”
“Meet Emily, watch her, make sure she doesn’t have a problem. Feed her…and yourself. Hang with her and watch TV until I come home.”
“Sounds like my dream job.”
