This is a fictional story. All names, places, and viruses are used fictitiously. Resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, past or present, are intentional.
If you haven’t read from the beginning, please start at Chapter 1 here.
***
Due Date: 119 days away
A company meeting didn’t seem like a bad idea. Get together. Talk it through. Quell some fears. The fact that 26 of us were gathering around a conference room table to talk about social distancing and the ramifications it would have on our jobs…
Anyway, that’s what we were about to do. Again, it didn’t seem like a bad idea at the time.
Jerry spotted Tom over by my office.
“What’s wrong?” he asked him. “You look down.”
“I’m bummed, man. They closed all the bars and restaurants in Florida.” He tilted his head to one side. “So, there goes my vacation.”
“I feel you. I purchased a cap and gown. My family was coming up. I took the time off. What do you think are the odds they cancel commencement?”
Tom sucked air through his teeth.
“I didn’t walk for my undergrad. I was excited.” He from foot to foot, clicking his heels against each other.
“Come on, guys. I got that beat. I’m just over here trying to having a baby, okay?”
The banter sounded lighthearted, but no one was cheering anyone up.
“Do you think he’ll answer my question?” Tom asked me.
“If he doesn’t, you should ask.”
He stuck out his bottom lip and nodded.
“Or let me put it this way,” I said. “If you don’t, I will.”
“It’s about that time,” Jerry said.
We followed him downstairs.
The conference room was already full. Every seat around our brand new, 18-foot long table was taken. The sales guys occupied one side. The service techs and a couple of my install guys sat across from them. The rest of my crew stood around the perimeter of the room.
Travis, the installer who had returned to the castle project on Monday, was leaning against the far wall by a window. He called Jerry over when we came in and tried to get an update on Dale and Brandon. I couldn’t hear their conversation. Travis’s helper, Isaac, just kind of bobbed his head next to them, glancing around the room. Classic, Isaac.
Chris walked in at 7:33. He scanned our faces, his posture the opposite of Isaac’s, as he got his barrings on the team he’d built.
“Well, as you know,” he began, “Schools closed Monday. I think everyone is aware, day care centers have until tomorrow. The governor is taking drastic preemptive measures to keep our state healthy. Can’t say any of these are bad decisions on his part. I think they will have dramatic consequences on our economy. But that’s neither here nor there. The relevant issue is that the state seems to be shutting down.”
He told us he’d been on the phone multiple times with our attorney looking into grants, loans, even unemployment options, any financial assistance for employees.
“Any money that becomes available for us, I am doing my best to get that information and make you aware of it. As far as day care goes…”
He motioned to the technicians to his left, the ones he knew had young children.
“How many of you will be affected by day cares closing? Or, let me rephrase that. Whose ability to work will be affected by this?”
“My wife is going to be working from home,” one of them said. “She will be able to watch our daughter.”
“Tom?” Chris said.
“I think,” he began, “I think we’re going to be okay. My daycare is staying open, for first responders and law enforcement. She’s going to keep our son with the rest of them.”
“That works.” Chris scanned the room, hesitating briefly on the woman across the table from him. “I know we’re working on special arrangements for you. Anyone else?”
Everyone else was scanning the room too. A bunch of us had talked one-on-one with each other, the way me and Jerry had, but we were all curious how everyone else was thinking about this situation.
When no one jumped in, Chris continued.
“I’ve never been in a situation quite like this. This is just very, very unusual. But I can tell you I’m doing my best to stay abreast on any developments. This is like family. I consider you an extension of my family. The only thing I know to do is to get together and talk about it openly.”
He paused.
“Questions, comments, concerns?”
Tom spoke up. “I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“If things get bad, and we have to close, like stop working and all that, what would that mean for us?”
Chris didn’t skip a beat…
