Vanessa wondered what Thomas thought about that.
“You, ultimately, will be the heroes who keep Destiny Park union-free. I will be on-site to help you, and if you have any questions, or feel unsure about your role, please come see me. I would love to speak with you. And now, I’ll turn it back over to Mr. Destiny.”
“Thank you, Amy,” said Mr. Destiny. “She’ll be meeting with all of you, area by area, over the next few days. Together, we will win. Thank you all for coming, and be sure to see Amy after the meeting if you have any questions.”
As the host of the meeting, Vanessa had a legitimate reason to linger in the theater until everyone had left. She busied herself with a broom and dustpan for several minutes after the theater had emptied.
The velvet curtain twitched.
“All clear,” Vanessa said.
Thomas clambered down from the stage.
“You get all that?” she asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I did,” he said.
“You should go,” said Vanessa.
“I know.” He didn’t move.
“Someone could come back,” she said. She sat down heavily in one of the seats.
“They could,” he said. He sat down next to her.
They sat side by side, not looking at one another, lost in their own thoughts.
“I should go.” Vanessa sighed. “She called it ‘war,’ you know. I don’t know how much else I can do. I’m afraid I’ve already done too much.” She put her hand out to the armrest to stand up, without noticing that his hand was already there. The contact comforted her for a fraction of a second before she pulled away and stood up.
He stood up too. “I know. Thank you.”
Without another word, Thomas went out the back way.
Vanessa went out the front.
Chapter 9
Vanessa
A new memo awaited her when she arrived at the office the next morning.
Vanessa Jones
Legacy Management
Destiny Park
Dear Ms. Jones,
We would like to provide your crew members with an enhanced Halloween party. Your budgetary allowance has been increased to cover the costs. Contact Events Management to reserve your preferred location and arrange for catering.
Regards,
Mr. Destiny
“Charlotte,” said Vanessa, “what do they usually do for a Halloween party here?”
“What Halloween party?” said Charlotte.
“Not a usual thing, then?”
“No.”
“Thought so.” Vanessa handed Charlotte the memo to read for herself.
“Why do we get a big party now?” asked Charlotte, after reading the memo.
“I can’t imagine,” said Vanessa, even though she had her suspicions. “Might as well make the best of it. Can you get on the horn to Events Management and see what the options are?”
“Can do,” said Charlotte, placing the memo in the inbox on her desk.
The radio on Vanessa’s hip squawked, interrupting their conversation. “All units please go to channel 2. Repeat: all units please go to channel 2 for an important announcement.”
“That’s never happened before,” Vanessa said as she fiddled with the channel dial.
“Must be something important,” said Charlotte.
Vanessa set the radio on the desk so they could both hear it clearly. “Attention all units. The National Hurricane Center is expected to issue a hurricane watch for the coast of Florida within the next day. All areas should plan to execute hurricane ride-out procedures. Additional weather-related instructions specific to your department will be issued shortly. Please return to channel 1 at this time.”
“What’s a hurricane ride-out?” asked Vanessa.
“Some of the crew—and a manager; that’s you—stay at the park for the hurricane. You tie down stuff that could go flying, then you hunker down in one of the attractions and stay there during the storm. After the storm, you go out and clean up so the park can open as soon as possible.”
“Oh,” said Vanessa, who had never been in a hurricane, let alone ridden one out inside a theme park.
The thought did not appeal to her.
“Kind of like a slumber party,” said Charlotte. “With a hurricane outside.”
“Who would volunteer for that?” Vanessa’s instincts told her to get on a plane and go home before the hurricane arrived.
“You’d be surprised. Some people think it’s fun. A badge of honor, really.”
Vanessa felt queasy. “I’m going to go watch the weather. I’ll be back in a minute.”
The familiar drone of the local news reached her before she even entered the underground break room. Once inside, she detoured to the snack machine for an oatmeal creme pie, righteously forgoing an accompanying soda. She settled into one of the chairs facing the TV.
She waited through the local weather forecast, then through another ten minutes of unrelated news, before they finally started the tropical forecast. Vanessa nibbled her oatmeal creme pie and noted the newscaster used the phrase “hunker down” far too often.
All in all, the forecast was less than informative. According to the news, a hurricane was indeed headed toward Florida. It might be a Category 1, or possibly a category 5, upon landfall. Landfall, for that matter, could take place anywhere between Key West and the Florida–Georgia line.
Vanessa nearly threw the remainder of her oatmeal creme pie at the TV, but thought better of it.
Thomas
“Scuse us, coming through,” said a man in a workman’s jumpsuit with “Engineering” stitched above his shirt pocket.
Thomas flattened himself against the wall to let the men pass by with a large dolly bearing a brand new water cooler.
Curious, he followed them down the hallway to the Gold Rush break room where he had left his current trainee.
They maneuvered the water cooler off the dolly, twisted it into position, and plugged it in. “Mind giving a hand, mate?” asked one of the men.
Thomas gamely followed them through the hallway to a cart stacked high with large containers of water.
It took two men to carry one jug. Together with Thomas and the trainee, they carried two jugs to the break room. The workmen peeled the cap off one jug and tipped it into the water cooler, which made a loud glugging noise as the water and air equalized.