Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter Seven

   We awoke to the alarm set a little earlier than normal.  Morning
ablutions out of the way, breakfast was a couple of bowls of cereal, then
we both sipped a cup of coffee before I filled my travel mug and headed out
the door with a kiss on my lips and adoration in my heart.

   I had my day planned out.  A stack of reports was sitting on my desk,
important, to be sure, but nothing that I couldn't give up at the drop of a
hat if I was needed at school with Nikki.

   Made it all the way to eight-thirty when the cell phone rang.  I looked
at the display: Nikki.

   "Hey, baby," I said.  "Trouble?"

   "A little.  The office staff is confused.  I need a parent's signature.
I showed 'em my marriage license, and they still say they need an adult..."

   "I'll be there in half an hour or so, baby," I said.

   "I'm sorry, Dan," she said.  "I hate to be trouble..."

   "You're not trouble, cutie," I said.  "Somebody THERE is trouble.  See
you in a bit."

   "'Kay, babe!  I love you!" she said, then the phone clicked.

   I shut my laptop down and stuck it in the bag, shouldered it, and one
the way out the door, I stuck my head in Steve's office.  "Gotta go, Steve.
School's givin' Nikki a hassle."

   "You gave it a 50-50 chance when you walked in this morning, bud," he
said.  "Do what you gotta do.  An' if she doesn't go back to school today,
why don't you bring her by the office?  I'd like to meet the girl that
snagged you."

   "I'll see what happens.  Might be back with 'er for lunch." And I walked
out the door.

   That's the trouble with being an engineer.  I mean, you go out there in
the field and you deal with things that make sense.  You don't have to
worry about some committee rewriting Ohm's Law or re-defining the value of
pi because they can gain some key votes by it.  That's the engineering
part. Nice.  Logical.  Then there's the other world, and it's all too real
also: rules, procedures, laws, regulations, all rife with foibles and folly
and ignorance and unintended consequences.
I walked into the high school, right into THAT world.  First thing was
getting past a phalanx of students trying to look as cool as they could
while wearing the prescribed uniform.  Snippets of conversation were full
of "cool" and "yaknow" and "he's like..." and I didn't draw more than a
passing glance.  My work clothes, after all, in this blue collar town, were
pretty standard: Khaki-colored pants, cotton shirt (ironed!  Thanks,

Nikki!) and normal-looking safety shoes.

   Second hurdle: the 'safety resource officer', a policeman assigned to
the school as a further sink of my tax dollars.  "Excuse me, sir.  Can I
ask your business here?" he asked.

   I wanted to say "I'm back because the first trip through school didn't
take," but I didn't.  I said, "I need to go to the office and straighten
out some problems with my wife.  She's student here." That 'wife' admission
got an eyebrow raised.

   He pointed up the hall.  "First door on the right.  Uh, you don't have
any contraband on you, do you?"

   "No drugs, no weapons," I said.  "I do have an incredibly devious mind."
I cracked a smile.

   "You an' me is pikers compared to these kids," he laughed.

   "I bet you're right," I retorted as I turned up the hall.  I went into
the office.  There was Nikki, sitting in a chair, hugging the backpack in
her lap.  When our eyes connected, she stood up, smiling, and joined me at
the counter.

   "Mizz Nevils, this is Dan Granger, my husband.  Dan, this is Mizz
Nevils," Nikki said.

   "Hello, Mister Granger, did you get a letter about registering Nikki for
school after the storm?"

   "Uh, no... The address where Nikki WAS living is a pile of rubble, and
we just got married a couple of weeks ago, so I wouldn't've been the one
they sent it to, anyway.  So, no letter... what'd we miss?"

   "A lot, I'm afraid," she said.  "We have all the records from the old
school, and we found Nikki's, under her maiden name." She looked at me when
she said that.  "And we found her schedule, the classes she would've been
taking if she was going to THAT school.  But I'm afraid we're going to have
to change things around."

   Nikki said, "I was takin' 'business math'..."

   "Nope.  You said you've had Algebra I?"

   "Uh-huh."

   "Mizz Nevils, can we swap business math for Algebra II?"

   "I'm glad to hear that.  Our business math classes are full.  Mostly
with kids who're dodging Algebra II because it's much more rigorous..."

   "See, Nikki?" I said.  "This is where you're supposed to be.  What
else?"

   "Study hall's gonna be out.  We converted most of the library to
overflow classrooms.  We have a couple of options," Mizz Nevils said,
referring to a printed page.  "Looks like about all we have left is music
appreciation or chemistry."

   I looked at Nikki.

   "We have a library full of the best music in the world," she smiled at
me.  "Chemistry?"

   I smiled back.  "You betcha, babe!" I turned to Mizz Nevils.  "Put Nikki
down for chemistry."

   "That gives me a full schedule, Dan," Nikki said.

   "We can handle it, little one," I said.

   "If this schedule is okay, then I can get you to sign right here, Mister
Granger?" Mizz Nevils pointed to the bottom line of a form.

   "Nikki can't sign?  She's legally married..."

   "Oh, I know, Mister Granger.  She showed me the license and the court
orders and everything.  But the rules say an adult, parent or guardian."

   "I'm neither parent OR guardian, I'm her husband, and I work with an
office FULL of people who'll argue the 'adult' part," I said.

   Mizz Nevils rolled her eyes.  "Oh, gosh, Mister Granger... It's been a
long day..."

   I whipped my pen out and scrawled a signature.  "Somebody needs
brownies..." I said, smiling.

   "This hasn't been a 'brownie' day.  This is the kind of day that the
cafeteria needs a margarita machine," she said as she flipped through the
rest of the forms.  "Okay, you're the emergency contact, I have phone
numbers, the new address... I think that's it." She looked up at me, then
to Nikki.  "I'm sorry we had to call you off the job," she said.

   "Let me ask you something, then,' I said.  "Looks like we shot this day.
Is Nikki gonna lose anything by coming in tomorrow morning with a fresh
start?"

   "Oh, no..." Mizz Nevils said.  "When you come in, Nikki, come by the
office and get your class schedule, and you're good... Mister Granger,
that'll give us time to get it all printed up."

   "Thank you, Mizz Nevils," I said.  "I hope your day is a little
better..."

   She smiled wanly as Nikki and I walked out of the office.  Walking out
as a couple, heads turned.  Of course, none of those kids were likely to be
able to tell that this was husband and wife and not dad and daughter.

   "It's a madhouse, Dan," Nikki said.  "Place is full of kids and parenta
ll trying to figure out what's going on.  I saw Mizz Nevils in tears with
one mom yellin'..."

   "That's what I figured," I said.  "I should've known better than to send
you in here by yourself today.  But we're straight now."

   "Yeah," she said.  "But I really strained to get business math instead
of Algebra II."

   "And where were you going with business math?  Lingerie sales at
Wal-Mart?"

   She smirked.  "no, one of those upscale shops at the mall!"

   "Cute!  Are your goals so low that you thought that was enough?"

   "With Mom, I was just tryin' to stay out of the way..."

   "You need the higher math for college..."

   "College was a dream I didn't entertain," she said.  "You're telling me
I'm college material?"

   "Since the first week we were together, I figured you for college
material.  The question is more of 'are you interested?"

   Those blue eyes connected with mine.  "Costs a lot of money, Dan..."

   "Not a lot, actually, and I have this delightful wife to spend it on...
Nikki, do you WANT to go?"

   We were standing by the truck by this time.  And in the high school
parking lot, she squealed and threw her arms around my neck and kissed me.

   "Yesyesyes!"

   "Good!" I said.  "Let's go!" I opened the driver side door and she
jumped up and scooted to the middle, buckling herself in.  We drove out of
the parking lot slowly.  Two reasons: first, that security officer was
staring at us and I darned sure wasn't going to speed, and second, I wanted
EVERYBODY to see her sitting beside me.

   "So where're we going, baby?" she asked.

   "To the office.  See if we can't beat Steve out of a free lunch.  People
wanna meet you, anyway!"

   "Are you sure?  I mean..."

   "Don't be scared, baby.  They're just people.  I work with 'em every
day. They know I'm married now.  They just wanna meet my wife."

   "How am I supposed to act?" she asked.

   "Act like Nikki.  Smart.  Cute.  Friendly."

   We kept driving.  I listened to her commentary on her first couple of
hours in the new school.

   "I don't think the regular kids like all us refugees," she said.

   "I read where that school's student population took a thirty percent
jump.  And the school's old an' it was already full.  You can imagine what
that does to their nice, neat little world."

   "I guess so," she admitted.  "Still, they don't have to be jerks about
it."

   "It's gonna take a while, but it'll sort itself out in a while."

   "'S gonna be a mess," she said.

   "I'll be here for you, baby," I said.

   "I hope so," she said.  " I made a C in Algebra I last year."

   "You're smarter than that."

   "D'ya really believe that, Dan?"

   "I do, sweetie.  And I'll bet your grandma did, too..."

   "I made good grades at Grandma's," Nikki admitted.  "Wanted her to be
proud of me." She ran her hand up the inside of my bicep.  "I want you to
be proud of me, too..."

   "I am.  Proud.  Happy.  Delighted." I smiled at the little dark-headed
cutie beside me.  She responded by clutching my arm tighter, rubbing her
cheek against my shoulder.

   "I was thinking about that at school," she said.  "Seeing all those
kids, it all comes flooding back, you know..." she sighed.  "That whole
boy-girl highschool mating ritual." She huffed audibly.  "Heck, most of
those kids are my age and they're so screwed up.  Two girls I knew when
school let out last spring are showin'... pregnant..." Dan, she said, "I
never wanted that."

   "A lot them didn't, either, baby," I said.  "So many people just go
through life without giving a thought about consequences."

   "Sometimes the pressure's too much to give it much thought," Nikki
answered.  "Like me with that business math.  I knew that it was just to
fill in a block to get a diploma, and that if I had any ambition, I needed
to do the hard stuff, but all I could see was stayin' out of Momma's way
and getting out of high school and after that..."

   "I understand, sweetie," I said.  "I really do."

   "I never expected..."

   "I never expected that the aftermath of a hurricane was gonna be my
Nikki, either... I ws kind of like what you said, baby, just going through
life..."

   "No, Dan," she countered.  "You had the consequences pretty well taken
care of.  Job.  House.  You know..."

   "I lacked the brightness, the sparkle, the music... had to dig that out
of the rubble."

   She smiled.  "I'm glad YOU rescued me."

   "Baby, we rescued each other.  I was as trapped as you were, collapsed
building or no." I turned the corner on the street of the office.  I saw
two other vehicles in the parking lot, other field service guys.

   One of the technicians, a guy about five years my senior, was outside
the back door, heaving on a cigarette.  Nikki and I walked in the front
door.  The admin clerk's desk was still empty.  She'd evacuated ahead of
the storm and the news through the grapevine was that a falling tree had
done substantial damage to her home.  She was staying with her parents a
hundred miles away until suitable repairs or living arrangements could be
made.

   I stuck my head in Steve's office.  "We're back," I said.

   "Oh, great!" he answered, standing.  "I wanna meet Nikki!"

   Nikki stuck her head around the corner.  "Hi," she said, almost shyly.
"You're Steve?"

   "I'm Steve," he said.  "What's wrong?  You expected horns and a tail?"

   Nikki perked up.  "Oh, no," she giggled.  "Dan said something about a
butt on your shoulders."

   "Well, Dan," Steve laughed.  "I see you're giving her a positive
impression of our business..."

   "Oh, no," I said.  "I told her that the business is quite wonderful. 
However, there are some interesting personalities."

   "What he says is true, Nikki," Steve said.  "Of course, from MY vantage,
I count HIM as one of those interesting personalities.  Do you object to
dragging him off to lunch?  I'll let the company buy this one."

   She smiled.  "Wonderful!"

   "Let's go," he said.  "We can beat the lunch rush!"

   We started for the front door.  As we did, I heard the back door to the
office open and the quick burst of a breeze bore a whiff of tobacco stench.

   "Grady!  We're goin' to lunch!  Lock up if you leave," Steve called.

   "I'm takin' care of equipment," Grady called from the back.

   I noticed Nikki's ears perk up immediately, but she said nothing.  We
walked out into the parking lot.  "Let's take my truck," I said.  "So I
don't' have to put you in the back seat."

   "Huh?" asked Steve.

   "Nikki gets to sit by ME."

   Nikki giggled.  "Sorry, Mister Steve," she said.  "He's just LIKE that,
sometimes..."

   "I've been like that about Nikki since I pulled her out of the rubble."

   The restaurant of choice for a quick meal was five minutes from the
office and we were there at a few minutes after eleven, encountering an
almost empty parking lot.  We walked in, got seated and placed our orders
for the daily special.

   Sipping drinks, I let Nikki explain a little bit about how we met.  We
ate a pleasant meal, made small talk, even talked a bit about school.  I
talked about Nikki's interest in my work in the home office.

   "So I know a little bit about what you guys, well, at least what Dan
does.  It's all very interesting." Nikki smiled.  "Do they have girls doing
this?"

   Steve's brow knit.  "Female engineers?  Female technicians?  Yeah, I've
seen both.  They're kind of few an' far between.  But they're out there."

   I knew the 'I'm thinking' look on Nikki's face.

   "You know, that gives me an idea..." She smiled sweetly, pushing her
plate away.

   Steve did indeed pick up the ticket for the meal.

   Back at the office, Nikki pulled a chair up next to my desk.  Together
we sorted through hand-written reports and scanned them into my computer.

   I heard the back door open, then the tobacco stench came in on the
breeze.  Nikki's nose wrinkled.

   "Last smoker in the office," I said.  "Grady Denson."

   Grady stuck his head into my office.  "You got a minute, Dan?  Me an'
you and Steve need to talk."

   I noticed Nikki's pupils dilate as she studiously avoided eye contact
with him.  "Sure," I said.  "Baby, can you wait here for a minute?"

   Grady looked at her like he was trying to remember something, but I
immediately got up and said, "Come on.  Let's go."

   I knew what was coming.  Grady was at best, a mediocre technician, had
'people skills' issues and honestly, I think he might have a bit of 'bottle
fatigue' on top of it.  We'd bumped heads a couple, no, make that 'several'
times over the last couple of years, including on some of the stressful
jobs in the hurricane aftermath.

   We went into Steve's office.  "Close the door," he said.  "Now, we need
to get this mess straightened out.  Grady, since you asked to meet, you
start."

   "Steve, I just think I'm getting' a raw deal on Dan's jobs.  I mean, he
put that kid up as lead technician on the Westchem project.  I've been with
the company longer, an' I damn sure got more experience in this business."

   Steve looked at me.  We'd already talked.  "Dan, what do you have to say
about this?"

   "Grady," I said, "you're right about the years, but you KNOW that
Kevin's the one that's up to speed on the protection and control
technology. That was the critical part of that job.  You might've seen more
of the old stuff, but both of you were together the first time you got to
work on the stuff at Westchem.  And he does a better job of tracking
reports and paperwork.  I told you all this stuff already."

   "You don't give me a chance," he started.

   "Grady, we were nipple-deep in trying to get that facility back on line,
and that meant installing NEW stuff that frankly, you go out of your way to
avoid.  I knew you could handle the transformers and breakers and stuff,
but I needed Kev's skills on the WHOLE thing to bring it together.  And it
wasn't a lot of ass time, either." I sighed.  I didn't need this sort of
kiddie crap.  "Grady, look, if the project is an outdoor substation,
you'd've been lead, probably.  But you KNOW we have issues with your
reports and record-keeping."

   "I do the best I can, Dan.  I'm not the only one..."

   "The only one what?" I jumped in.  "The only one that made me have to
explain to a client that we were missing some test results, that we had to
refund twenty percent of the charges?  Or that you and your helper didn't
install a power fuse correctly and I ended up sitting in the investigation
meeting at THAT plant?"

   "That's history, Dan.  We already talked about it.  I'm working at
making sure it doesn't happen again."

   "Good," I said.  "Then we'll see how it works out in the future." I
looked at Steve.  "You got anything you need to add?"

   "Grady?  Anything else you were looking for?  You wanted all three of us
to talk."

   "I wanted you to tell Dan to cut me some slack..." Grady started.

   THAT pissed me off.  "Grady.  THIS is NOT a 'slack' business.  There's
ONE main reason these people hire us: We can do what they don't have the
skills and people and equipment to do.  And we do it right.  And It's
competitive.  WE, THIS COMPANY, has the best reputation in the business. 
And we don't KEEP that by playing around, 'cutting slack'."

   "Everybody makes mistakes.  Even The Great Dan Granger makes mistakes."

   Steve stepped in.  "Grady, let's keep this on a professional level."

   "Okay, but I know you've made mistakes," he said.

   "Yes, and I fixed them and moved on to make sure that I don't make the
same ones again.  But I don't walk out of the office thinking that I
deserve 'slack'.  But if Steve says I need to cut you some slack, that's
HIS prerogative." I looked at Steve.

   Steve squared up his shoulders, an obvious 'I'm the boss' move.  "Grady,
I gotta go with Dan on that one.  I think Dan's gonna be fair about it."

   "Well, then, I guess that's all," Grady said.  He didn't look happy.

   I honestly didn't know what he thought he was going to accomplish.  For
all that I laughed about it, Steve's title of regional manager was more due
to his marketing skills than anything, and when it came to field
operations, I was more of a manager than he was, but I reserved the option
to get the hell out of the office before I lost my mind.  "It is for me," I
said.  "Grady, it's NOT personal.  Don't make it that."

   "I'm not." He wheeled around and left.

   I looked at Steve.  "Why do we put up with that pain in the ass?  He's
not half as good as he thinks he is.  If you give him a helper, the helper
does ALL the work that Grady can push on 'im."

   "I know.  Had one of the young guys in here last week tellin' me the
exact same thing.  But we have sooo much work right now..."

   "Still... 'cut me some slack'..."

   "Yeah," Steve snorked.  "I KNEW you'd like that one..."

   "You know this ain't over.  That guy's... oh, never mind.  I'm goin'
back to my office."

   "Cool off," Steve said.

   "I will," I answered as I left.

   I got back in my office.  Nikki was sitting at my computer.  When I came
in, she smiled a bit.  "Dan, can we go home?"

   "Now?  It's early."

   "I... We need to get out of here.  I'll explain when we get in the
truck."

   "Okay," I said.  "Log me off."

   She followed me through the office.  I ducked around the corner to
Steve's door.  "Steve, I need to get home early today."

   "Problem?" he questioned.

   "Little one.  I'll make it up to you later."

   "Oh, hell, Dan.  Just go.  See you later.  Nikki, nice meeting you,
lady!"

   "Oh, nice meeting you too, Mister Steve.  Sorry, I need to go..."

   "Okay, y'all be careful," he said.

   I was still wondering about Nikki's sudden desire to leave.  We got in
the truck.  As I backed out, I asked, "What's wrong, baby?  You went from
giggly to nervous almost instantaneously."

   "That guy Grady?  I know 'im."

   "Huh?!?"

   "Not like we've ever talked or anything.  But he came home with Mom a
few times.  I thought I recognized the voice.  But he's got that scar on
his right ear."

   Grady did indeed have a scar on his ear, the origin of which he'd never
revealed.  "I don't think he remembered you," I said.  "He didn't say
anything."

   "I know.  And he was pretty drunk when he came home with Mom, and it's
not like we sat in the living room and watched old movies.  She brought
guys home for one thing..."

   "I'm sorry, baby..."

   "Not YOUR fault.  As many guys as she did, I suppose I would've run into
ne eventually.  It's just that I recognized him.  And I didn't want to even
think about it.  Mom, I mean..."

   "Not to change the subject, but if you want, we can finally get together
with Dana and Bill and the bunch this weekend." I felt her relax, a slight
movement, but perceptible because I was paying attention.

   "Why don't we try that?" she said.  "We can buy groceries Friday and
cook a big meal Saturday and have everybody over..."

   "Yeah... Now, about that look on your face at lunch..."

   She smiled.  "oh, about college..." Giggle.  "Well, what do YOU think I
should be setting my sights on?  The Wal-Mart lingerie department?"