So it begins…
Aaron looked down, studying the pattern in the polished marble, kicking at the floor with the tip of his shoe. That had worked faster than he’d even hoped for.
“You know what to do. Restart your computer. It should be fine.” The woman dismissed Stella’s concerns and turned toward him. “Hi, I’m Julie, Pastor Helps’s assistant.” She came around the desk, her bright red lips lifting into a giant smile, which, technically, was the only similarity between Julie and Stella.
“Hi, I’m Josiah Smith,” Aaron said, taking her hand, giving her that delicate handhold he’d been taught at a very young age to give women. The one that every female he knew absolutely hated receiving in today’s business world. Julie didn’t seem to mind at all. Her smile even got a little brighter. “I have an interview with Mr. Hasselbeck. I checked my email while I was waiting and he told me to come today. Maybe he’s coming in?” Aaron offered, thinking that might be about the worst thing that could happen at this point.
“Why don’t you come back with me while we sort this out? I know they’re shorthanded in that department. He’s always looking for someone. I can give him a call,” Julie said, turning to walk back toward the hall she’d come from. “Come this way, and, Stella, let me know if it gives you any more trouble.”
Aaron followed a few steps behind, trying to casually turn this way or that, hoping he looked interested in the artwork along the way. Many of the office doors along the hall were closed, but Aaron tried to capture the name-plates as he walked by, in case Connors needed that bit of information. The corridor was long, and from what he could see, only a few people were working. He heard several exasperated sighs as they passed by open doors. The triggers must be working, systematically logging them off.
“Julie, are you having problems getting on?” a man behind a desk asked as they passed by his office.
“I wasn’t. No,” she said loudly and never stopped her pace. “You can see why Thomas may have scheduled this during his downtime. We aren’t very computer literate around here. He’s always got his hands full with us.” She opened the door to the pastor’s suite of offices and extended a hand. He did what every well-mannered man should do, he reached back to take the door, letting her walk in first. She seemed to like that move. Her smile lit up her face as she moved forward. “Thank you!”
“Julie, I can’t get on.” An older gruff voice came from an office just to the side of her desk. He hoped he’d turned enough and stayed in a decent position to give Kreed and Connors a good layout of this area. He pivoted slowly, seeing two offices and an exit door, the window of which showed it led out to the street they were staying on. He turned his body slowly to make sure they got that shot.
“Have a seat right here. I need to go help him.” Julie pointed to a chair at the end of her desk.
“Pastor Helps, there must have been a hiccup in the system. Restart it like Thomas says to do,” she explained as she disappeared inside the office where a disgusted grumbling could be heard.
“I don’t know why we need these things. They never work right.” That sounded like his very own grandfather talking. The generational gap was alive and present in this place, for sure.
“Give it time to reboot and I’ll be back. I have to call Thomas anyway.” Julie came out of the office a little frazzled, rolling her eyes dramatically, but her smile was still bright.
“Let me get him on the phone. What was your name again?” she asked, taking her seat while picking up her phone. She didn’t wait for his answer as she began dialing. The high of moments ago began to fade. Aaron hadn’t anticipated the Hasselbeck guy might live close enough to just come on over. He had to remind himself that even if the guy did show up, all that meant was he was back to his original game plan. It would still take a while to figure out what was going on. Aaron was the only one who knew how to quickly override and restore the system. Still, even with that knowledge, he found himself mentally crossing his fingers, hoping Thomas didn’t answer.
“Hello, Thomas, it’s Julie. I have a couple of things to talk with you about. Call me when you get a minute,” she said, that bright smile faltering as she stared at her own monitor. “I got voice mail.” She placed the phone back in the cradle as three things happened simultaneously. First, the pastor barked he couldn’t log on and he had a deadline to meet. He needed to email Deacon Silas Burns. Aaron prayed the bureau caught that little jewel of information. Second, Julie’s phone lines began to light up, and third, the main office door opened.
“The whole place’s down, and I can’t find Jeb,” someone said.
Aaron supposed Jeb was the IT guy they’d mentioned earlier. Aaron weighed his best options. He wasn’t supposed to act overeager, so was now a good time to offer his help? Hell, he didn’t know. On instinct alone, he finally said out loud, “I could take a look. I have my master’s in information technology from New Hope University in Oklahoma.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not. Let me talk to Thomas first,” Julie said, biting her lip as she reached below her desk. Aaron supposed her CPU was there.
“He’s taking his grandkids to Oklahoma for the New Year,” the guy sticking his head in the door said. Aaron looked back to see several others standing behind him. Probably the entire skeleton crew.
“New Hope in Oklahoma is my alma mater. It might help me get the job if I can fix this problem,” Aaron suggested, sliding a hopeful look at Julie.