Page 27 of The Vegas Rerun
“Hi,” I say. “This is Molly Matthews. I’ve locked myself out of my computer and it says to contact my administrator.”
“Where are you, Molly? Which department?” the man asks me.
“I’m on the seventh floor. I’m Mr Redfern’s secretary,” I say.
“Ok,” the IT guy says. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be there.”
“Thank you,” I say and then I replace the receiver on my phone. I wanted to ask him to hurry, but I was afraid that would make me sound entitled, especially after mentioning that I work directly for the CEO, and I didn’t want him to think I was being a dick. Aside from anything, it would likely make him drag his feet.
I sit, practically counting down the minutes, willing the IT guy to appear. I don’t dare tell Joshua what I’ve done. It makes me seem so stupid. And I’m hoping it gets sorted quickly and without him ever having to find out what happened. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the IT guy heading down the hallway towards me.
He’s wearing jeans and a pale grey cardigan over a white shirt. He has square, black framed glasses and messy hair. He’s exactly what I imagined an IT guy to look like.
“Thanks for coming so quickly,” I say when he gets to my desk.
“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” he says with a smile. “I’m Harrison Miles, here to see Joshua.”
“Oh, my apologies Mr Miles. I did think you were someone else. Let me just see if Mr Redfern is ready for you,” I say.
Fuck. The client is early, and Joshua doesn’t have the reports. There’s not much I can do now. I can’t exactly demand the client leave and come back on time. Joshua would kill me if I did that.
I get up and go to Joshua’s office door. It’s closed today and I tap lightly on it.
“Come in,” Joshua calls and I open the door and step inside.
“Mr Miles is here to see you,” I say.
“Send him in,” Joshua says.
I come back out of the office.
“Mr Redfern will see you now,” I say.
Mr Miles nods his thanks at me and goes into the office, the door closing behind him. Still, there’s no sign of the IT guy. Should I call back? I can’t do that. It’s barely been ten minutes since I called.
Joshua’s office door opens, and he comes out.
“I need those reports I asked for,” he says.
“They won’t be long,” I say. He raises an eyebrow at me, and I know I’m going to have to give him more than that. I’m going to have to tell him what’s happened. “I got locked out of the system. I’ve spoke to the IT department, and someone is coming to get me back in.”
When he finds out, his frustration is palpable, and he rolls his eyes.
"For God’s sake Molly, how can you get a password wrong that you set?"
I’m not going to tell him that I’m certain I entered my password correctly and it just didn’t work for some reason. I can hear how that would sound. It sounds ridiculous even to me. And I can still remember how angry he got over the Redfart thing when he thought I was passing the blame for the mistake.
"I don’t know. I just … I don’t know. I’m sorry," I say.
But sorry doesn’t fix the mess I’ve created. Again.
Joshua runs a hand down his face, exhaling sharply.
“Bring them in as soon as you have them. In the meantime, I’ll take my usual coffee, and Harrison will have a black coffee with one sugar,” he says. I nod and get up to go to the kitchen and make the drinks. “Oh, and Molly?” I turn back. “Try to keep the drink in the cup this time and get them the right way around.”
I don’t reply to that, I just put my head down and scramble away faster. As I make the coffees, I’m practically praying that when I leave the kitchen, the IT guy will be here. But I return to my desk to find it still empty. I’m almost afraid to take the drinks into Joshua’s office, but if I wait and then they are cold when I take them in, I will be in trouble again, and I really can’t afford another refreshment-based mistake. I knock on Joshua’s office door with my elbow.
“Yeah,” Joshua calls and I push the door handle down with the same elbow and go inside. I take the coffees over to Joshua’s desk and place them down, one in front of Joshua and one in front of Mr Miles. I’m certain they are right and when neither of them comments on them except to thank me, I relax a little bit.
