Passions flare between an older woman and her summer hire.
Based on a post by dark overlord 6, in 4 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.
David’s Disrupted Life
Being awoken by his alarm clock was usually bad enough. When his mother got in on the act it was often decidedly worse. On this particular morning, David Cross enjoyed the distinct displeasure of both things happening. The first, because even though he had graduated the night prior, he had forgotten to switch the alarm off and it did its duty by trying to wake him for a non-existent school day. The latter, because he had left his cell phone sitting on the kitchen counter after staggering in from a graduation party at four a.m.
"David! This silly thing has rung at least four times in the last hour. Why don't you try answering it!" snapped his annoyed mother after she burst into his room unannounced.
"Jesus, Mom! What time is it?" he grumbled from beneath the covers.
"11:00 A.M., and high time you got up," she replied, tossing the phone onto his bed and going over to raise his blinds.
"Holy crap!" moaned David, who caught a burst of sunlight even through the sheet covering his eyes.
"David! Language!"
"Sorry; "
His mother moved off, muttering to herself what sounded like a list of grocery items.
David stayed in his bed and slowly lowered the covers. He drew in a breath as his eyes adjusted to the light feeling the urge to continue sleeping drain away. The phone on the bed seemed heavier than usual, as he lifted it in one hand just in time for it to ring loudly, nearly startling him into dropping it. The name flashing on the display said "Christopher Michaels," and David answered the call with a sigh.
"Good news travels fast," said David in a voice still tinged with exhaustion.
"So it's true," came the voice from the other side of the call.
The voice belonged to one of his best friends, and the only one not to attend the party the previous night.
"How are you taking it?" Chris asked.
"How am I taking my girlfriend of almost three years, dumping me on graduation night, for the guy I hate the most on the planet? Gosh, I don't know, Chris, how do you think?"
"I know, that was seriously cold. She could have at least waited until after the party."
David's heart, already seeming like a led weight in his chest, gained a few more ounces, sinking toward his feet.
"Yeah, I had to stand there and pretend like it wasn't bothering me while she and Alex hung all over each other."
His mind drifted back to the festivities he had attended after graduation. Everything had started wonderfully. The party had been thrown at his friend Stacie's house. Her parents had a gigantic, multi-story dwelling just outside the city, and after the usual dull high school graduation ceremony at Randolph High, seemingly everyone he knew had gathered there to celebrate. It should have been the pinnacle of his young life, but within a short time of his arrival, the whole thing had gone down the tubes in a big way.
He had been standing in Stacie's large backyard, talking to her about her plans for the summer, when his girlfriend, Heather Andrews, arrived. She was looking beautiful as always, her curly blond hair falling around a small, round face highlighted by a cute upturned nose, and brilliant blue eyes. They had been dating ever since hooking up for the first time the summer before their sophomore year.
"Excuse me, Stacie." he had said, politely stepping away from her and going over to join Heather on the back porch. Stacie's parents had set up several tables covered with snacks, and Heather stood by the bean dip, looking at him nervously as he approached.
"Hey, Gorgeous. Where have you been all my life?"
This ridiculous come on would ordinarily have rated at least a small giggle from his usually gregarious girlfriend, but tonight she only frowned.
"David; I wanted to talk to you before the party, but you left the graduation so fast."
"Sorry about that. Kevin needed a ride and wanted to stop by his parents so he could change before we came over here," he explained while moving closer, trying to get his arms around his girlfriend's waist even as she slipped back a step, avoiding his move.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked, not understanding her sudden skittishness around him.
"David, I wanted to tell you this in private, before the party. You know; I care a lot about you."
"You love me. That's what you've always said," cut in David.
"I do love you, but."
"But?" said David raising an eyebrow while a feeling of dread started to spread through his body.
"I; We; didn't mean for it to happen, but we got put on this project for Economics, and we started to spend so much time together. One thing led to another."
"Wait! Who are we talking about? Did you meet someone else? What's going on here?"
"David; I."
Before Heather could explain further, a third person joined them on the porch. He was taller than David by a couple of inches, which was saying something because David himself was six-foot-one. The other boy had tight, curly black hair with a dark complexion, consistent with his Italian heritage; and an arrogant smile that David had considered knocking off his face more than once.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
"This is a private conversation, Alex," snapped David before Heather could answer.
Alex Romero had been a teammate of David’s on the Randolph High School swim team, but the two had never become friends. They had been rivals for years, competing for team captain, and for medals at events around the state. David had gotten the upper hand more often than not; much to Alex's displeasure. It didn't help matters that Alex came from a wealthy family and wasn't above flaunting his privilege. For his eighteenth birthday, his parents had bought him a Porsche. It was used, but still, it annoyed David that he had been forced to work to afford his clunker of a car, while Alex had his handed to him on a platter.
"Alex, would you give us a minute," said Heather in a placating tone.
"Sure, I'll be over here," he said with a grin.
David's eyes grew wider as the other boy moved off.
"No! Please, for the love of God, Heather, tell me it's not Alex!"
"I'm sorry, David, like I said it just happened. You know, you've been so busy lately with your job and clubs and stuff. We've hardly seen each other for the past four months."
"So this is all my fault? I told you I wasn't going to work this summer so we could spend more time together, but I needed to save money before then. Jesus, Heather! How come you didn't come to me before this and tell me you weren't happy?"
"I tried, but you always brushed me off with some excuse about how you would make more time for us, but then you never did."
"So you jump into Alex's arms? We've been together for almost three years!"
"I know. I'm sorry, David. I don't know what to say. The heart wants what it wants."
"Are you fucking kidding me! I can't believe you're falling back on the most cliché line in the book!"
Alex was suddenly back at Heather's side, glaring at David.
"You need to stay cool, Cross. I don't want to see you yelling at Heather," he said menacingly.
"Oh! This is so classic. You can't beat me in the pool, so you snake my girlfriend behind my back," shouted David.
The two boys glowered at each other while Heather looked around uncomfortably not sure how to diffuse the situation she had sparked.
"If you had been treating her right, she would still be your girlfriend," growled Alex.
"Fuck you, Romero."
"I may not have beaten you in the pool, but I'm about to beat your ass on this porch!" said Alex tightly.
"Guys! Can't we discuss this inside." said Heather quietly with fear in her eyes.
It looked as if the two young men were going to come to blows, but the crisis was averted when Stacie's father appeared on the porch alerted by some of the other kids that trouble was brewing.
"Everything okay out here?" asked the older man looking down at the two boys. Stacie's dad was a former Marine and very intimidating. David looked away, barely concealing his anger.
"Fine; just fine; " he grumbled.
"Heather and I were just going inside to try some of that delicious-looking cake your wife made," answered Alex slipping his arm around Heather's waist and guiding her toward the back door. All David could do was watch them go feeling helpless his fun graduation night sinking like the Titanic.
"It's a good thing Stacie's dad showed up. I can only imagine the carnage that was about to ensue," came Chris's voice jerking David back to the present.
"Yeah, I was so ready to knock that moron on his ass."
"Well; Look at it this way you guys were probably going to break up by the end of the summer anyway. Heather is going out of state to college, and you're still planning on attending city college, right?"
"We could have made a long-distance thing work," offered David.
"Said every jilted college freshman ever; " replied Chris.
"Thanks for trying to make me feel better. I hope you don't plan to become a therapist because you suck at it."
"I hear you, Man. I know you're hurting right now, but think about how much fun it could be to be a free agent this summer. We could hit Wave World and check out the babes!"
David grimaced at the name. Wave World was about the only attraction worth attending in their small town, a local run water park that featured numerous slides and a lazy river as well as the wave pool that gave the park its name. David had worked there two previous summers. It was also the place he and Heather had hooked up for the first time, so it now held a bittersweet spot in his heart.
"You do know Wave World is where Heather and I met, right?"
"I was there, of course I know that, but it's also the best place to meet someone new."
"I don't know, Chris. Let's see how the summer goes, and we'll fall off that bridge when we get there."
"Don't let this thing with Heather taint things for you, David," cautioned his friend.
"I hear ya."
"I have to go. Chin up, Buddy!"
"Right; " said David cutting the connection.
He sighed tossing the phone aside, staring up at the ceiling.
"What a shitty way to start the summer," he grumbled under his breath.
He got out of bed a short time later conscious of the fact that if he didn't, his mom was going to come looking for him again. A quick shower chased out some of the cobwebs, and he managed to force a smile onto his face as he joined his family for lunch.
David's mom and dad were already at the table. His father, William Cross, Bill to his friends, was an accountant who worked at the High Rock nuclear plant outside of town. A tall man with thinning hair and a face that always seemed to be on the verge of a frown, David's dad watched his son pull up a chair while stirring the steaming bowl of stew in front of him.
"Got in kind of late last night," noted Bill Cross as his son settled himself.
"It was graduation night," replied David as if that summed up everything.
"Yeah; How was the party at Stacie's?"
"Fine," said David shoveling a large bite of stew into his mouth to preclude any follow-up questions about it.
"I thought you looked so handsome in your cap and gown last night. I can't wait to post the pictures," said David's mom, Joyce, as she joined them at the table.
David winced at the thought. He had felt he looked particularly dorky in the outfit himself.
"Are you off today?" asked David not used to his dad home on a Friday.
"Doctors appointment this morning, but I'll probably take the rest of the day off and get the oil changed in the car. It's too far to drive into work this late."
David nodded, knowing that the plant lay forty miles outside of town for safety reasons. It made for a long commute for his Dad, who usually left for work at the crack of dawn.
"Who was calling you all morning?" asked his mom.
"Chris; He didn't make the party last night, but wanted to hang out this weekend."
"Best get some fun in this weekend before work starts up for you on Monday," said his dad as he lifted a glass of water to his lips.
"Right; I thought next week I might hit Wave World; Wait; What did you say? What work?"
"I have good news for you, Son. I got you a summer job, working as a paid intern in the Office Services department at the plant."
David slowly lowered his spoon, "You did what? This is my last summer to hang out with my friends! How am I going to do that if I'm working forty miles out in the middle of nowhere?"
"It's time to grow up, David. You're eighteen and graduated from school. It's high time you got a taste of working a real job; not lounging in a chair watching girls in bikini's stroll by," said Bill Cross referring to David's usual summer employment as a lifeguard at Wave World.
"Dad! Come on! This isn't fair. You could have at least asked me what I wanted to do!"
"Like you would have said, 'Yes,' to working ten hours shifts from six a.m. to five p.m. all week for the summer? Not to mention you need to be up by 4:30 to get out of here in time to make the drive."
"Jesus; Way to shit on my summer, Dad."
"I'm going to let that pass because I can see you've got a bee in your bonnet about something, but you be careful how you talk to me," said his dad with a hint of menace in his tone.
"I can't believe this;" grumbled David as he pushed back from the table.
"Don't you want to finish your stew?" asked his mom.
"I lost my appetite."
David left the room with his head down.
"Maybe we should have told him sooner so he could get used to the idea?" said Joyce.
"He needs to see what it's like to work a real job. Maybe it will help motivate him to do well in school, so he doesn't have to work at a job that he doesn't like so much. Heck, when I was his age, my dad had me running a rice picker in his fields now that's a shitty summer job!"
"I know, Bill, but this is his last summer maybe we should have let him have it."
"We talked this over already, Joyce, that boy is going to work at the plant, and that's all I want to hear about it."
David slumped on the end of his bed looking at the floor. First, Heather, and now this news that he was going to be spending the lion’s share of his summer with a thousand sweaty guys.
This was not how he had envisioned his last summer before college.
"I think the Universe is trying to tell me something; like it hates me."
The Nuclear Bomb.
If David had thought his mom could be insensitive in how she woke him up in the morning, he quickly discovered she had nothing on his dad. His primary method for rousing someone turned out to be switching on the lights and ripping all the covers off the bed.
"Rise and shine, Lazy Bones! The early bird gets the worm!" said Bill Cross in a voice that had far too much enthusiasm in it for 4:30 in the morning.
"Christ! Dad! It's still dark outside; No one should be getting up when it's dark," groused David.
"I've been getting up in the dark most of my adult life. Don't be such a whiner. You got thirty-minutes to shower and dress then we hit the road."
His dad vanished back out the door, leaving David to stare bleary-eyed up at the ceiling.
"Just shoot me now; " he mumbled, forcing himself to a sitting position.
He just managed to pull himself into shower groaning as the hot water splashed across his face. He moved quickly to clean up, rubbing soap through his dark brown hair and promptly moving on to his slender, athletic young body made lean and hard from years of high school sports. Like his dad, David had sprouted hair early, and though he had the face of a teenager barely on the verge of manhood, his chest was already covered with curly black hair as was his abdomen leading down to the thick forest of pubic hair forming a nest around his cock. Heather had certainly been very complimentary about his male equipment, not that he would hear those words from her any longer.
"I bet Alex has a tiny prick," thought David maliciously as he soaped up his own.
His swim coach had wanted him to remove his body hair at one point, but his dad had thought that ridiculous and refused to let him. David hadn't cared one way or the other, he never had any illusions about becoming an Olympic class swimmer and just enjoyed hanging out with his friends and competing.
"Get a move on, Son!" came his dad's voice through the door.
"Okay!" he shouted back.
The only bright side to his morning turned out to be his mother kindly making his lunch for him and handing him a freshly baked banana nut muffin to eat on the road.
David's dad wasn't much of a talker, and they rode in silence except for the background noise of the local country music station coming out of the car radio. The long drive took them out past the city limits, and they soon left the comforting rows of suburban houses behind trading the view for one of scrub brush and cactus.
The High Rock nuclear plant had been built ten years before and provided power for cities all over the state. It sat at the end of a long dirt road surrounded by tall barbed-wire fences on a desolate plot of land at the edge of some low slung mountains. The three central units that housed the reactors towered over the rest of the facility that seemed to comprise a few permanent two-story office structures and a lot of trailers being used as office space.
"I'm going to drop you at the Personnel Office. Just tell them who you are they should have received your hiring packet, and they'll process you through and get you where you need to go. I'll come to find you at the end of the day when it's time to go home."
David had been busy staring out the car window at the mix of dirty looking workers in blue hard hats walking by with an occasional more well-dressed person in a white hard hat mixed in. He noted that his dad had a white hard hat sitting on the back seat with his name, "William Cross" stenciled across the back.
"I'm not going to get radiation sickness or something right?" said David, only half-jokingly.
"This plant has an excellent safety record, so I wouldn't worry about it. Do as you're told and follow your supervisor's instructions and you'll be fine."
The car slowed in front of a trailer with a sign marking it as, "Personnel Trailer 1" posted on the door.
"This is it. Good luck, Son, and try not to embarrass me."
"Dad; When have I ever given you anything to worry about?" replied David with a sly smile.
"Okay Smart-ass. See you later."
His dad drove away, leaving David in a cloud of dust. It was scorching hot outside, and he bound up the steps to get out of the desert heat. The air-conditioning was a welcome relief, but he had to stop to let his eyes adjust to the dimmer interior.
"You lost, Kid?"
David turned to find himself looking up at an enormous man in beige coveralls holding a blue hard hat in one hand and glaring at him.
"Umm. No, Sir. I'm starting today. Uh."
"You're going to work here?" asked the hulking man whose face reminded David of a stone gargoyle he saw once carved into a building.
"Yeah, I was," began David, but the big man cut him off again.
"White hat or blue?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Kid. White hat or blue? You look too skinny for real work, so I'm guessing white."
"Leave him alone, Lyle. Why don't you find something to weld, like your mouth," came a new voice from deeper in the trailer. A second later, the owner, a slender middle-aged woman with short graying hair came walking in from out of a corner office.
Lyle grunted like an angry bear but managed a half-smile that considerably softened his face.
"Fine; Get the kid his white hat while I go do the real work that needs doing."
With one last baleful glance, the bigger man strolled out the door, leaving David alone with the newcomer.
"Don't let Lyle bother you. He's all bark," she said.
"What was he talking about? White hats and blue?"
"It's how we designate the salaried office workers from the laborers around here. The guys in the office wear white hard hats, and the folks in the field wear blue. I'm afraid it also creates a bit of a class system, the laborers tend to turn their noses up at the guys in the offices. They see them as desk jockeys too afraid to get their hands dirty doing a day’s work."
"Working-class heroes, Huh?"
"Something like that. I'm Linda Newkirk by the way, and I'm betting you're Bill Cross's boy."
"David. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Newkirk," he said, holding out his hand.
"Likewise. Your dad told me you'd be coming in today. I got your paperwork processed already, so we just need to get you a badge and a hard hat. It'll be white since you'll be working in the office, so I guess you don't get to be a hero."
David laughed and followed Linda over to her desk in the corner where she had a camera set up against a white backdrop to take security photos.
"Looks like you'll be reporting to Roxy Doyle over in Office Services; Oh Boy! This will be a fun summer job for you."
"Something I should know?" asked David warily.
"Not really it's just; Well, Roxy is kind of a pistol as my momma use to say. She's good at her job, but she doesn't cotton to any nonsense, and she can have a bit of a temper if you get on her bad side."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Don't worry," offered Linda seeing his worried look, "she is kind of like Lyle her bark is worse than her bite."
"Thanks, so which way do I; "
"Hang on. I'll get someone to show you where the Office Services department is located. This plant is a bit hard to find your way around in until you get your bearings. Hey! Rebound! Get your ass in here!"
"Hold your horses, Linda. I'm coming; "
A moment later, another fellow joined them from an office in the back. This time it was a short black man who barely came to David's chest. He had graying hair and a huge friendly grin plastered on his face.
"Rebound?" asked David.
"It's an ironic nickname. You see that a lot around here. I love to play basketball, but trust me I can't rebound for shit," said Rebound with a hearty laugh that was so infectious David joined right in.
"Take David here over to Office Services he's reporting to Roxy," said Linda.
"Okay Come on, Kid, times a wasting and it's only going to get hotter outside."
David pulled on the hard hat that Linda handed him as he stepped outside in Rebound's wake squinting into the glare of the sun. The shorter man led him over to a battered white pickup, and he climbed into the passenger side as the engine cranked over with a throaty growl.
David was looking at the badge Linda had handed him. The picture wasn't half bad. He might not have been a model, but he was still a good-looking kid with dark hazel eyes and a square jaw like a young Brad Pitt. He flipped the plastic square looking at a long list of safety instructions on the other side.
"It says here if I hear three loud whistles followed by a constant alarm I should report to evacuation area five. Where is that?"
"If you hear three loud whistles followed by a constant alarm that means there is a radiation leak and you should follow procedure S Y H B Y L dash A K Y A G"
"What does all that mean?"
"It means 'Stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye!'" said Rebound who cackled loudly at his own joke.
"You're kidding me, right?" asked David trying to laugh himself, but feeling apprehensive as they drove into the shadow of one of the big containment units.
"I'm just fucking with you. This place is plenty safe. I've been here since the first unit went online and other than losing my right testicle to cancer I'm fine."
Rebound burst out laughing again at the look on David's face, and eventually, David joined in though without nearly as much enthusiasm.
The parking area in front of the Office Services building was full, so Rebound swung around to the side, finding a shady spot next to a low concrete wall. They exited making their way toward the double glass doors that led inside.
"So let's go introduce you to the 'Nuclear Bomb'" said Rebound.
"Nuclear Bomb?"
"That's what the guys call Roxy, but don't ever say that to her face she hates it."
"Is it because of her temper?" asked David.
"Not exactly; " replied Rebound mysteriously.
They entered the building together, walking down a long hallway with offices on both sides before eventually arriving at a wood counter in front of a sliding glass window with a heavy steel door to one side. Rebound went up and pressed a button next to the window setting off a buzzing noise that was audible through the glass. A head popped up from beneath the counter belonging to a blond-haired young man not much older than David, who slid back the glass his face breaking into a smile.
"Mr. Rebound! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Thomas. I brought you some help. This here is David. He is going to be interning this summer like you. Is Roxy here?"
The young man that Rebound had identified as Thomas gave David a once over then nodded toward the room behind him.
"She's in her office. I'll buzz you in; "
Rebound threw open the door next to the glass window after Thomas gave them entrance and waved at David to follow. The room beyond was quite large and filled with seemingly endless rows of shelves covered with every kind of office supply imaginable from manila folders to notepads, bins of staplers, and pens to computer monitors and typewriters. David looked around at the amassed inventory as they made their way to the back where a single office stood in one corner. Rebound stopped and knocked politely on the door.
"What!" came the short reply from the other side.
"Roxy? It's Rebound. I got another intern here for you."
"Just what I needed another kid for me to babysit."
"She's thrilled to have you," whispered Rebound over his shoulder to David.
"Well. Send him in."
"Go on!" prompted Rebound stepping back away from the door.
"By myself?" asked David not quite able to keep a trembling out of his voice.
"It's not the lion's den, Daniel. You'll be fine. That said I'm not going in there; " replied Rebound.
Swallowing slowly, David reached for the door handle and stepped into the office, shutting the door behind him.
The small room beyond contained just a desk with two chairs facing it and a bookshelf on one wall covered with all kinds of corporate manuals. It's occupant clearly liked her space to be immaculate and well organized since the desk itself was clutter-free. David took a step forward, clearing his throat to introduce himself as the sole occupant of the office turned around. In a day already full of quirky surprises, this one took the cake. Given what he had seen and heard so far, David was fully prepared to face what he had expected to be a gruff, middle-aged, chain-smoking woman with a face to match, what he got was one of the hottest women he had ever seen in his life.
Roxy Doyle rose up from her chair, sticking out her hand. A tall woman at close to five-foot-ten-inches she looked to be maybe thirty with strawberry-blond hair that fell in tight ringlets around her long, high cheek-boned face. She had piercing green eyes that seem to see right through David and made him feel instantly nervous.
He froze in place, finding it hard to breathe before finally realizing that she was still holding her hand out to him and he was gaping at her like an idiot.
"David Cross," he said, shaking her hand and trying not to stare at her well-endowed chest that looked like it was going to burst out of the flannel shirt she was wearing.
"Roxy Doyle," she growled just managing to put a hint of a smile on her face that made her full, generous lips twist ever so slightly upward.
"Have a seat," she said, gesturing at one of her guest chairs.
"Your dad's Bill Cross."
"That's right."
"Good man. Always fills out every blank on his requisitions."
"That's what I've always liked about him," confirmed David.
"You trying to be funny?"
David squirmed in his seat, "No. Ma'am. I was."
"I take running this place very seriously, David. It's not a complicated job. People want office supplies, and we have them, but they better have their forms done right! Not one pen, pencil, or sticky note goes through that glass window if the forms aren't right and I don't care if Jesus H. Christ himself is looking for some toner he better have a correctly executed authorization form or he ain't getting shit! Do you catch my drift?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Don't call me ma'am it makes me feel like a grandmother. It's Roxy or Ms. Doyle if formality is more your thing."
"Yes, Ma; Roxy; "
"Thomas will show the lay of the land and help you get started. If you have any questions, ask him."
It took David a second to realize that was it, but he finally snapped when she stared at him for a good five seconds without saying anything. He rose tentatively from the chair and watched as she pivoted back to her computer. He put one hand on the door, but her voice stopped him before he could open it.
"Oh; and, David; Welcome aboard; " she said in a slightly softer tone looking at him over one shoulder. Her face in profile looked even more beautiful than dead-on, and David could only manage a nod before he darted out of her office.
Rebound was standing on the other side leaning up against a shelf. He grinned as David emerged, shutting the office door behind him.
"Well, you still have all your limbs, so I guess it went okay"
"Yeah; I guess; " muttered David throwing a look back over his shoulder, "the Nuclear Bomb, huh; "
"Yep, but don't waste your time on that fantasy. Nearly every able-bodied man in the plant has tried to get her attention, but she wouldn't give them the time of day. Word on the street is she had a crap husband she divorced some years back, and he put her off men in general. Too bad if you ask me since she is a knockout, but what can you do?"
They returned to the front desk where Thomas starting showing David the various forms that were used for requisitions and how to check that they were filled out correctly. Rebound excused himself to return to his office, leaving with a wave.
It turned out Thomas was only a year older than David and back from his first year of college.
"My dad got me this job for the summer to make extra money for school. It beats flipping burgers, I guess," said Thomas.
"I have a similar story. My dad is in the accounting department."
"Bill Cross, I know. My dad works in the I T department."
"When did you get here?"
"The middle of last week, so I guess that makes me an old hand compared to you," laughed Thomas.
"What do you think of our boss?"
"Roxy? She's intimidating at first, but to be honest, I think a lot of her bluster is just for show. If you do your job and follow her rules, you'll be fine."
As if just speaking about her had summoned her like a ghost at a séance Roxy suddenly appeared right behind them carrying a hard hat in one hand.
"If you two ladies are done jawing I'm going to take David on a copier run and show him how we handle it," she said.
"Copier run?" asked David.
"Yep. In addition to handling office supplies, we are also responsible for maintaining all the copiers in the various offices and trailers. We check them once a week to see if they need toner, or are having any maintenance issues. We also get a page count on all of them. Their leased and the company pays for how much use they see, so grab that clipboard behind you so you can write down the numbers."
David snagged a clipboard off the wall that contained lists of all the copiers at the plant and their locations with a blank space to write page counts next to each one. He fell in behind Roxy who led him out the secure door and up the hallway through the double glass doors in front.
"You drive," she said, tossing him a set of keys, "might as well start getting to know your way around."
Roxy walked over to a company pickup that was just as dirty and battered as the one Rebound had driven. David climbed into the driver’s side, slipping the key in the ignition, but then stopped with a frown.
"What?" asked Roxy seeing the confused look on his face.
"Uh; It's a stick shift."
"Very observant. I can see you're as sharp as a tack. So what?"
"Well; the thing is I;"
"Don't know how to drive a stick?" she finished for him.
"No; I don't," admitted David feeling embarrassed at coming up short the first time his new boss asked him to do something.
"Wonderful. Every vehicle we have is manual so you're going to have to learn and it might as well be now. It's not that hard. The speed limit is no more than twenty inside the plant so you'll never get out of second gear anyway."
She ran over the basics with him showing him where the clutch was and how to shift gears then switched places long enough to back out and get them going in the right direction before stopping at a crossroads a few buildings away.
"Your turn, Sport. Impress me with how quick you learn," she said, getting out while David scooted across the seat and got back behind the wheel.
He took a deep breath and tried to emulate what he had seen Roxy doing. It was hard to concentrate with her staring at him, and the smell of her perfume in the small confines of the truck was equally distracting. Not surprisingly, his first attempt was a disaster as the gearbox howled at his effort to shift and he mistimed releasing the clutch causing the truck to lurch forward awkwardly.
"Jesus! You don't jerk the gearshift like it's your dick!" snapped Roxy.
"Sorry;" mumbled David, trying to get back into neutral.
A loud horn sounded, and David's head snapped around to see a bulldozer headed right in their direction.
"I would just as soon not die in this intersection, Hot Shot. How's about you get this thing moving," said Roxy calmly.
David's face lit with panic, but he managed to get it close to right this time, and although the truck shuddered more than once, he got them moving forward. He blew out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, as they pulled away headed down the dirt road.
"See, that wasn't so hard. Maybe you won't turn out to be completely useless after all."
"Your confidence in me is overwhelming," quipped David.
"Don't let it go to your head," replied Roxy, in such a deadpan voice he couldn't tell if she had caught his sarcasm, or she was choosing to ignore it.
The pair spent the next several hours visiting various trailers and offices around the plant. David noted that people seemed to give Roxy a wide berth, and based on what he had seen so far, he wasn't surprised. A few times he noticed some of the men checking her out, but the minute she looked in their direction, they quickly turned away.
He tried a few times to engage her in conversation, but she relegated most of her answers to one or two words, killing any opportunity to get to know her better.
"Why don't you concentrate on your driving," was about the longest statement she made all morning.
By the time they finished their rounds, it was lunchtime. David ended up carrying the meal his mother had prepared for him to a large cafeteria building, which appeared to be mostly populated by large men in blue hard hats. Feeling a little intimidated, he chose a table far away from the main crowd, settling into a chair and pulling out a chicken sandwich wrapped in cellophane.
"Glad to see you're still alive," said Rebound, dropping into a chair across from him.
"Oh; Hey. Yeah, Roxy hasn't eaten me yet. Maybe she saves that for dessert after lunch."
Rebound chuckled, looking around the bustling room, "So what do you think of our plant so far?"
"I think it's freaking hot enough to melt led outside, and that I can't get phone service out here, and my boss is as warm as a stone statue."
"But other than that it’s awesome, right?" Rebound grinned.
David smiled and took a bite of his sandwich, "It's the job of my dreams. Why would I trade this for sitting in the shade watching bikini-clad girls at Wave World?"
"Why, indeed. Look, this place grows on you after a while; and besides, you're getting paid way better! Am I right?"
"I suppose," conceded David.
"That's the spirit! Now; How about you let me have some of those chips? I do love me some sour cream and onion!"
David laughed, passing over the bag.
To be continued in part 2. Based on a post by dark overlord 6, in 4 parts. For Literotica.