The open door permitted the unmistakable sound of weeping to reach her in the doorway.
Maribel sat in a second chair at Charlotte’s desk. She attempted to compose herself as soon as she saw Vanessa. “I’m sorry,” Maribel said to Charlotte. “I’ll go.”
“Maribel, what’s wrong?” Vanessa rushed to her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Maribel sniffled. “Really. I’m sorry.” She tried to stand up.
“You sit down,” said Vanessa. She filled a cup with water and handed it to Maribel. “Now. Tell me what this is all about.”
Charlotte and Maribel looked at each other. Charlotte shrugged as if to say, It’s up to you.
Maribel wiped her eyes with a tissue. “It’s just … people are saying … they’re going to fire the union organizers. I can’t … I can’t lose my job. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just trying to make things better for us.” Her tears threatened to spill.
Vanessa’s blood ran cold. The consultant had just asked her to dig into her employees’ records. Even a rumor of dismissal would make the crew uneasy, but an actual firing would terrify them into toeing the line. Even worse, she would be the one ordered to do the firing. How could she possibly comfort Maribel with reassurances that might turn out to be lies?
Vanessa kneeled next to Maribel’s chair. “Maribel, listen to me. I have to be honest with you. This is all coming from much higher than me.”
Tears rolled down Maribel’s cheeks.
“But I promise: I only want to do right by you, and by all the crew members. I will do what I can. I wish I could offer more.” Vanessa’s heart ached at her own powerlessness.
“I know,” said Maribel. “Thank you. I’m sorry I … ”
Vanessa folded Maribel into a hug. “No apology necessary.” She let go and stood up. “Are you off work now?”
Maribel nodded.
“Go home. Rest. Get your mind off things for a while, okay?” said Vanessa.
When Maribel had gone, Vanessa turned to Charlotte. “Where’s Dirk?”
“He took those ‘Silver Mirror’ posters upstairs.”
Vanessa whipped out her radio. “Legacy to Legacy 2.”
“Legacy 2 here,” Dirk’s voice came over the radio.
“Legacy 2, what’s your 20?”
“Outside Gold Rush.”
“Stay where you are. I’m coming up. Legacy out.” She clipped the radio back on her waistband. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” she said to Charlotte.
“Good luck,” said Charlotte.
Vanessa found Dirk at the Gold Rush overlook. “I got the posters up,” he said.
“Can I see?”
“Sure.” He led the way back to the Gold Rush break room.
Vanessa watched the faces of the crew members as they made their way deeper into the attraction building. She spotted far more frowns than usual.
When they reached the break room, Vanessa feigned interest in the poster, then turned to Dirk. “Did you notice something off with the crew today? They seem”—here she pretended to search for the right word, when in fact she had already planned out exactly what she was going to say—“nervous.”
Dirk beamed. “You noticed.”
Good Lord, he’s proud of himself. “I did, yes. Why don’t we take a little walk and you can tell me all about it?”
As they strolled through Legacy, Dirk explained that he’d taken the idea from Amy about “employees with minus signs” and run with it, dropping dire hints to the crew members as he went from attraction to attraction.
Vanessa’s horror grew.
“Just enough to put the fear of God into them,” he said. “Nothing we can get in trouble for.”
She could tell he expected praise. “That shows a lot of initiative, Dirk.” As they passed a vendor selling balloons, she added, “Maybe—to avoid any legal complications—run those ideas past me beforehand?” The strain of keeping a pleasant tone made her head pound.
“You got it,” he said, making his fingers into guns and pointing them at her.
Thomas
After work, Thomas slid into a booth at The Black Hole, the space-themed restaurant located in Galaxy. He squeezed a lemon wedge into his iced tea, then stirred it ferociously.
Paulina watched him over her soda.
Bob stared into his coffee.
“Where’s Maribel?” said Thomas.
Paulina and Bob exchanged looks.
“You haven’t heard?” said Paulina.
Thomas looked from Paulina to Bob. “What do you mean?”
“She went home crying,” said Bob.
“What? Why?”
“Someone told her anyone involved with the union was going to get fired,” said Bob.
Thomas swallowed iced tea the wrong way and coughed uncontrollably. “Who said that?” he choked out. “That’s not even legal. That’s a threat!”
“I don’t know who said it,” Bob replied. “I just know Maribel broke down in the office before she went home.”
“This is not good,” said Paulina.
“No kidding,” said Thomas. “What are we going to do? They have everything on their side. Time. Money. Manpower. Access.” He drank his tea. “What do we have? A handful of crew members trying to strategize in a cheeseburger joint. Honestly. It burns me up.”
Galaxy chandeliers rotated slowly above them as they sat in silence.
“Have you”—Paulina hesitated before finishing her sentence—“talked to Vanessa?”
Thomas shot her a look.
“Just asking,” Paulina said.
He sighed. “She’s sympathetic, but her hands are tied. She can’t do anything to help without jeopardizing her own job. And we’re much better off with her than we would be without her.”
“So, what are we going to do?” asked Bob.
“I don’t think we should run scared. If anything,” said Paulina, “they’re scared, or they wouldn’t be pulling out all the stops.”
Thomas steepled his fingers, rested his chin on them, and closed his eyes. “Go on,” he said.
“Think about it. They’re throwing Jell-O at the wall and seeing what sticks. Why can’t we turn that to our advantage? We need to take credit,” she said. “For years, they refused to give us water coolers, and now look—a new water cooler in every attraction. Why’s that, you ask? Just from mentioning the word ‘union.’”