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: 115 days away
I leaned forward and held his eyes as I spoke. It occurred to me that we were within six feet of each other.
“I’m worried about my family.”
I let it hang for a second.
“I’m not worried about me. Frankly, I’m not worried about spreading anything around here either, as bad as that sounds. I’m worried about my family.”
Chris blinked, the cool of the conference room sinking in.
“I am too,” he said. “I’m the only one going out of the house right now. I’m the one who would bring it back into the house. I worry every time I leave the house, every time I come into work.”
He looked around the room at the others. “I don’t think there’s a person here who isn’t worried, to some extent.”
“I don’t mean to be all serious.” I leaned back. We hadn’t talked about it internally. Chris realized that in our Monday planning meeting and tried to clear the air, going around the table and asking how we’re doing with all this. “I want to be realistic with everyone. And up front,” I said.
“I can appreciate that.” There was a seriousness in his eyes, a history. We had five years together. We didn’t process the same way. But I liked to think we understood each other.
“And Chris,” Jerry said. “I think we’re all—and I don’t mean to speak for everyone here—but I do believe we’re all taking measures, personally.” He scanned the rest of us at the table. “We’re reducing the contact we have with each other, certainly our technicians, and, yes, social distancing, as they’re calling it.”
Jerry had asked our guys not to come into my office that morning.
“You have a pregnant wife,” he told me. “If anyone needs to social distance, it’s you.”
That contributed to this conversation. Chris needed everyone to stay sharp, stay on task. But he also needed everyone to stay healthy, and sane. Shared goals, for everyone at the table.
“We just want to be safe,” he said. “As well as we can. But we’re going to continue doing business.”
He looked over to projected image on the wall. The schedule was all out of whack. Someone had just called us off another install that morning, said we couldn’t get in to do the work after all. Some corporate policy that just came down. They told our guys when they arrived on site. And then called us.
For the moment, though, the number on the spreadsheet still looked okay.
It just didn’t feel as important as it did a week ago. But we were going to continue doing business, despite the chill that lingered over everything.
We took our cue from Chris and got back to work. Or something like that.
