David is confronted by Roxy’s ex.

Based on a post by dark overlord 6, in 4 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.

The

following week David was back at the plant, and discovering that his

body was slowly acclimating itself to the earlier schedule since at

least he hadn't fallen back to sleep in the car on the way. Roxy had

them doing a file purge of all the old requisition forms that were more

than three years in the past, and he was sitting cross-legged in front

of a filing cabinet with piles of paper lying around him when she came

to check on his progress.

"How is it that you guys haven't digitized any of this crap?" he asked, waving at the stacks.

"I've

been bitching about that for years, but the company has other

priorities I guess. Thanks for raising the parenting bar for me by the

way."

"Huh?" David looked up with a clueless face.

"All

week long it's been, 'I want stories about dragons and princes,' every

time I want that toot to go to bed! You know how much bullshit I've had

to make up, off the top of my head?"

"Maybe I could write down some stories for you," offered David with a laugh.

"I should make you do that, but we have bigger fish to fry. Just keep purging, Paper Boy!"

She left him to his work, and Thomas was kind enough to bring him another box from the storage closet brimming with old forms.

"Thanks;" moaned David unhappily.

"Anytime!

I like to see a guy earning his keep. Think of it a ‘job security.’"

said Thomas, with a grin that David instantly wanted to smack off his

face.

An

hour later, cramps in both his legs forced him to take a break. Getting

up off the floor for the first time all morning. He was making his way

to the security door to visit the bathroom when a booming sound, loud

enough to make his ears ring, broke the relative silence of the

building; and seconds later the walls rattled as if a God-like hand was

shaking it.

"Holy

Crap! It's a fucking meltdown," thought David, seeing his whole short

life pass before his eyes and wishing instantly that he had enjoyed way

more sex than he had. His brain locked and he couldn't remember a single

thing from the safety video he had been shown in orientation. So he did

the only thing he could think of, and dove under a nearby desk. As he

sat there, shaking and contemplating just how painful death by radiation

exposure must be, Roxy's head suddenly appeared from above.

"So it's loud noises; and spiders?" she asked.

"Didn't you hear that? Why aren't we evacuating?" asked David in a rush.

"We

aren't evacuating because that wasn't the reactors, Bozo. They're

purging excess steam off the turbines. Didn't you watch the orientation

video?"

"I might have fallen asleep during it," admitted David sheepishly.

"Oh,

for Heaven's sake; Just get out from under there before someone sees

you cowering like a whipped dog. You keep this up, and they're going to

quit calling you 'Spider-Man,' and start calling you, 'Duck and Cover,'"

"They call me Spider-Man?" ask David to Roxy's back.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't let them stencil it on your hard hat," she said over her shoulder.

David felt a hand on his arm, and he turned to look at Thomas.

"Hey! 'Duck and Cover,' want me to bring you another box?"

"This day just keeps getting better;" muttered David as he shrugged off the hand and went in search of the restroom.

Thankfully,

the afternoon that followed was free of embarrassing moments, and the

approach of the final whistle was a welcome relief. David had placed the

last of the file boxes back in the closet, the contents much reduced in

size from when he had started, when Roxy came walking up, looking

slightly uncomfortable.

"David; I was wondering if I could ask you another favor?"

"Uh; Yeah, sure."

"Feel

free to say 'No,' it isn't a big deal," Roxy started to say, making

David wonder what was going on since he had never seen Roxy Doyle beat

around the bush ever.

"Okay," he said, looking suspicious at what was coming next.

"See;

The thing is, Emily has called me three times today because she is

doing this play at day camp, and; uh; she keeps asking if you'll come."

"Oh," said David in surprise, not expecting this at all.