Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership towards Fillmore! I am simply borrowing its characters.
-F-
I hate having to admit I'm not perfect. After all, in my job, politics are just as important as image and public relations. Actually, the only perfect thing about me is my make-up - there is a crease in my skirt, and my body is unmentionable – I live on coffee and pain meds. How hypocritical of me.
My therapist says I should quit by Christmas, at the latest. That 'I can't handle the stresses of this job' – which is why I don't tell her I have cancer.
As for people finding out this secret, I'm only worried by Cornelius Fillmore and Ingrid Third. They're 'the best' Safety Patrollers in the Safety Patrol here, and since we have the best Safety Patrol in the state, that's saying something. But I don't think they know yet. At least, I hope they don't.
"Excuse me, Principal Folsom?" - I grimaced when my thought process was interrupted, but responded tersely to the voice coming from somewhere inside the intercom. Its sweet voice told me the very people I did not want to see were on their way in. Of course Fillmore and Third wouldn't wait.
I was worried now. Why were they coming here without Vallejo, their Junior Commissioner? Was this even related to the Safety Patrol?
I would've continued with my worrying, but the patrollers walked into my office side-by-side then, arms swinging and oozing confidence. Their confidence made me worry more - they must know something? Have they found out? They're ominously confident...
"Principal Folsom, on behalf of the student body, we want to know a few things," Fillmore said in a voice that was deep and authorative.
I now understood why Fillmore was kept out of the interrogation room if he wasn't with his partner. He could be rather scary. Not that he scared me, but that didn't mean I was blind.
"When were you planning on telling us you have cancer? Did you think we were all so stupid as to not notice you're wearing a wig? Did you think we wouldn't notice when something's off?"
When they spoke together like this, it was hard to believe the duo was ever apart. It was like watching a tennis match. Left, right, left, right, Fillmore, Third, Fillmore, Third...hmm...
"And dawg, have you forgotten we're in the best Safety Patrol in the state? We didn't get here by being naive."
And with that, Fillmore's eyebrow raised in some kind of unspoken hinting gesture.
"You're right. I have cancer. But I haven't forgotten who you are, or who you represent. I knew you'd figure it out eventually. What I want to know is how you did. What gave me away?"
"Your medical files," was the instant response. It was my turn to raise an eyebrow.
-F-
I'll leave what happens next up to your imaginations.
-QM