“How do you know about that?” I asked.
“There was a vote while you were gone.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Eldridge walked in and said, ‘Erika Saunders has volunteered to take over the Equity Deputy.’ Then she made us vote on it just so it was ‘above board.’”
“I was only gone for like fifteen minutes.”
“It didn’t take long,” Peeter assured me.
I looked back to see Eldridge walking off the stage before the voice from God on high yelled, “Places. Picking up at Act Two, Scene Three.”
We were back to starting and stopping. Thankfully, we had fewer and fewer stops, which was great. During one stop, I was close enough to the new actor who joined us, so I said hello.
“Hi, I’m Erika Saunders.” I extended my hand in greeting.
“It’s great to meet you, Erika. I’ve heard delightful things about you,” the woman said.
“Oh, really?” I asked with a bit more leeriness in my voice than intended.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, clearly realizing the sound of my trepidation. “Nothing bad. I promise. Mrs. Eldridge told me you’re our union rep. I’m glad to be here. I’m Jocelyn Michaels professionally, but my friends all call me Quinn, so please call me Quinn.”
“Places!”
“We’ll talk again soon,” I said, rushing back to my last position. I heard Quinn yell “Toodles” after me as I turned my back.
“Did she say ‘toodles?’” Peeter asked when I neared.
“Yep.”
“Wow, a person who ‘toodles’ in New York. Isn’t there a law against that?”
The piano started playing, and the show started and stopped repeatedly for the rest of the afternoon.
When I got back to the Manhattan Plaza after work, I was ready for a quiet night and a glass of wine—or two.
I pushed into the building and nodded at the security guard before heading to the elevator. With no one else in the car, I slunk against the back wall and sighed.
“Can you hold the door?” a voice called.
I pushed myself off the back wall and kicked out my foot to trigger the sensor that forced the door from closing.
“Thanks,” the person said. “Oh, hey, Erika.”
Until I heard Kirk say my name, I hadn’t noticed him. “Oh, hi. Sorry,” I said, shaking my head as if trying to get the cobwebs out. “I was kind of in my own world. How are you?”
“I’m great,” Kirk said. “Just finished up at school a little later than usual. I started this new rocket club at school.”
“You let kids play with rockets?” I looked at him, furrowing my forehead.
“They aren’t allowed to do anything dangerous. It’s more of a science and math club, but we use rockets to help them apply what they’re learning. And it’s fun for me because the kids in the club come from a range of backgrounds.”
“So, they’re not the kids you teach?”
“One of them is. The rest are other kids interested in science and math.”
“Yeah, that wouldn’t have been me,” I admitted. “My dad tried to teach me how to balance my checkbook. I was like, ‘Why? I just look on my bank’s app.’”
