We Interrupt This Date by L.C. Evans Read Free Book Online Page A

very
second.
    Odell’s office was twice the size of
mine and twice as cluttered. He swept a pile of Reader’s Digest magazines off a chair by the
door and motioned for me to sit.
    I would rather have remained standing. The
chair he indicated was hemorrhaging wads of cotton stuffing, which
would look like hell plastered to my navy slacks. I could tell it
was going to wobble—one of the wheels was missing.
    Odell glared until I sat. Then he half-hopped
to lift himself onto his over-sized desk. A taller man would have
perched on the edge, at least one foot on the carpet. But Odell’s
legs dangled over the side, his feet not touching the floor. Even
so, he'd achieved what I figured was his goal. He was now taller
than I was. Height advantage to Odell, score one to nothing.
    “When did you plan to give notice?”
    “Give notice?” I winced. I was making a habit
of repeating what he said to me—in the form of a question. T.
Chandler used to do that and it drove me crazy.
    “If my niece didn’t need a job, I’d really be
in a bind. I have too much to do around here to handle your work,
and then I find out you’re walking out on me.”
    I cleared my throat. “Odell. Mr. Hoganboom.
I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.” Only a tiny
lie.
    “Word has reached me that you’re going into
business for yourself. Ghost hunting.”
    Word had reached him? He made it sound as
though a disembodied voice had whispered in his ear when we both
knew the information had come from Patty’s big mouth.
    “No, of course not--it isn’t happening. I was
totally not myself last night when I drank too—never mind. That
whole ghost hunting thing, it’s just a joke.”
    He steepled his stubby fingers. “What are you
saying?”
    “Joke,” I said. “Meant to be funny, not meant
to be fact. I have no intentions of quitting this job.” Yet. First
I had to find a new position.
    “I expected you to deny everything. But my
trusted source has told me you’re fixing up an old mansion,
trolling in tourists to look for ghosts, all that woo-woo stuff.”
He held his hands up and waggled his fingers. “I’ve already found a
replacement for you. My niece Brenda finally left her no account
husband and moved here from Atlanta. She’ll be at the shop in the
morning to take over your office. I’ll give you a week to get her
trained.”
    “You’ll do what?” This couldn’t be happening.
I sat wobbling in the chair, my head spinning, and my thoughts not
making sense, until the smug-faced Odell slid off his desk and
pointed to the door.
    “You’re fired,” he said. “Dismissed as of
next Wednesday. Go.”
    My mouth turned into the Sahara Desert. Score
a million to nothing Odell. How would I pay my bills?
    I didn’t remember getting up and walking back
to my desk. I simply found myself in my own chair, dark tornadoes
of thoughts whirling through my mind. Fired? That was something
that happened to bad employees, wasn’t it? My face burned and my
stomach felt like it was full of sour milk every time I thought of
the scene in Odell’s office. I was reminded of a time when I was in
fifth grade, and the teacher told me in front of the whole class
I’d done the wrong homework assignment. I’d gone home and thrown up
all over Mama’s new couch. Thank goodness the plastic cover had
saved it from ruin.
    I stared at my computer monitor until my
nerves steadied. I would speak to Odell and explain about the
misunderstanding. I had bills to pay and a house to maintain. A son
in college. I couldn’t be out of work. My sister DeLorean was the
screw-up and I was the responsible older child. Everyone knew that,
even Mama. Especially Mama, who relied on me for everything.
    Then why was I sitting here after my boss
fired me? I had to convince Odell to change his mind, make him take
me back even if I had to crawl across the floor to his desk and beg
for mercy and swear I wouldn’t insist on the raise he’d promised.
And I’d sign an oath