Notes: Mari and Sammy – Thanks for the love and advice during my OI episode the last few days, especially since it was during the worst trifecta ever.
Readers and REAL McRollers – Thanks for your incredible support! It is always ALWAYS appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
Just Another Day at the Office (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
Cody stood at the kitchen counter, cutting up a cucumber for a dinner salad. He glanced out the window to check on his siblings playing in the yard as he balanced his phone between his ear and shoulder.
"It's an awesome idea," Jess said enthusiastically. "When are you going to present it?"
"I told Ms. Jackson about it on Monday. I thought she'd just take it from there but she wants me to propose it at the biweekly meeting tomorrow. The governor and lieutenant governor and everyone will be there."
"Whoa. Everyone?"
"Yeah, I'm … kinda nervous," he admitted.
"You can do it."
He smiled at the certainty in her voice. "You think?"
"Of course," she responded immediately.
" 'Cause I think it's a pretty good idea."
"It's a great idea, of course they're gonna go for it."
He smiled, relaxing. "Thanks."
They were silent for a beat before Jess continued with, "I still can't believe it about that student teacher that got arrested for gambling at school."
"I know."
"And it was Grace who solved it. That is so amazing. Just like her dad."
"Yeah." He grinned. "And her aunt. And her uncle …"
Jess laughed. "And her other aunt, and her other uncle."
"Kaitlyn's been working on a Five-0 badge for her."
"Aww. I bet it has a ton of glitter."
He chuckled. "Yeah, not so much like the real ones."
"That's really sweet, though."
"Yeah." He glanced back up at the backyard, and his brow furrowed. "Uh oh."
"What?"
He set down the knife. "Not always so sweet. Looks like she and Jacob are arguing about something."
"Okay, go take care of it, big brother."
"Text you later?" he asked, already moving toward the back door.
"Yeah."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye. And you're gonna do great tomorrow!"
He grinned. "Thanks."
Pocketing his phone, he headed outside to settle whatever dispute had arisen between his youngest siblings, his chest full at the confidence Jess had in him for tomorrow's meeting.
The next afternoon, the large conference room in the governor's wing at the Capitol was filled with interns, aides, and other staff. Governor Denning sat at the head of the table while Chas Silver, his chief of staff, ran the meeting as usual.
Cody sat in a chair along the wall with the other interns, nervously tapping his hand on his leg. He had managed to maintain his focus throughout the meeting, despite knowing that every minute brought him closer to the time he would have to speak. He glanced down at the small pocket notebook in his hand, hoping he'd be able to read his handwriting later.
The sound of ripped paper drew his attention to the head of the table.
"I'm sorry," Governor Denning said in a gruff voice. "Continue, please."
At Chas' nod, Ross Hedley finished up his report on the ongoing neighborhood rejuvenation project.
Cody noticed the tear at the top of one of the pages as the governor shuffled the papers in front of him and realized he wasn't the only one who was preoccupied. The governor usually had something to say on every agenda item, but he'd been unusually quiet today. He'd spent much of the meeting scribbling haphazardly on the papers in front of him, finally tearing through one, it seemed.
"Does anyone have anything else on the NRP?" Chas asked.
When no one immediately replied, he sat back in his chair and looked around. "Okay, then, very quickly, new ideas?"
From her seat next to Chas, Marliyah Jackson gave Cody a meaningful look.
Cody nervously cleared his throat and raised his hand a little.
"Cody," Chas said. "Go ahead."
"Well," Cody cleared his throat again, "um, I thought–"
"Stand up so we can hear you better," Marliyah said.
Cody stood slowly, looking around the room, gulping as he saw all eyes were on him. "Um, well, I thought maybe you could start a … a Don't Text and Drive, um … initiative?" he said, glancing at Marliyah for confirmation that was the right word. "Initiative. Aimed at teenagers."
"We did something like that last year," Teri Yeo, a senior aide, noted.
Cody swallowed again. "Yeah, but … it's still a problem. And I was thinking this time, maybe you could use high school and college students for the commercials and billboards." He glanced around, wincing. "No um … no offense but, teens don't always want to listen to adults telling them what to do."
"That's a good point," Lea Kekoa put in.
He straightened a little as others around the table nodded their agreement.
"Is that everything for today?" Governor Denning asked suddenly, surprising everyone. Standing abruptly, he pushed his chair back. "Excuse me," he said, pen still clutched in his hand, barely giving the rest of the room time to stand respectfully before he was out the door.
Cody slumped dejectedly as Chas and Marliyah quickly exited, and a murmur went through the room at the odd behavior.
While everyone else gathered their things, Lea came up to him.
"It's an excellent idea, Cody," she said sincerely. She glanced at the door, unable to hide her look of concern. "The governor had to run to another meeting, don't worry."
"Oh," Cody said quietly, his head down.
"I think your angle, using teens, has real potential."
He raised his head at that, his face brightening. "Yeah?"
She smiled. "I assume you're willing to be one of the models?"
His eyes widen, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, um … I don't … I don't think so … but I could find some who would. My friend Jadon would totally do it."
She nodded decisively. "Have an outline for the project on my desk by Friday."
Cody blinked, surprised. "Me?"
"Of course, you. It was your idea."
"But … but I figured one of the …" His voice trailed off as he glanced around at the other staff in the room.
Lea smiled. "Well, not by yourself, of course. I wouldn't do that to you."
He sighed in relief.
"I'd be happy to work with you on it, Cody," Ross said, coming up beside him.
Lea nodded. "Excellent."
Trina Cowell, one of the lieutenant governor's aides, stepped up to her side. "Ma'am? Your 4:00 is here."
"Thank you." She looked back at Cody. "Excuse me. I've got another meeting," she said, starting to move away. She stopped and turned back. "Actually, Cody, why don't you sit in? I need someone to take notes."
He straightened. "Really?"
"Sure." She smiled. "You'll like this. It's with a familiar face."
He followed her through the halls to her outer office, and when they entered, there was indeed a familiar figure standing to greet them.
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting, Catherine," Lea apologized.
"Not at all, I just got here." She smiled warmly at the teen. "Hi, Cody. I was hoping I'd see you today."
Cody smiled genuinely to see such a friendly face after the big meeting. "Hi."
"Cody's going to sit in and take notes if that's okay," Lea said.
"Perfect."
Lea opened the door to her office, waving them inside. "Cody actually just proposed a new idea."
"Oh?" Catherine said, looking back at him proudly. "What's that?"
Lea nodded for Cody to explain as she shut the door behind them.
"A Don't Text and Drive initiative," he said with more certainty this time. "With teens."
Catherine nodded, a small smile of understanding on her face. "I know where that idea came from."
At Lea's confusion, Cody explained. "Some kids from my school crashed into our front yard a couple weeks ago. No one was hurt too bad, but they could have been."
Lea nodded approvingly. "I think that's great, Cody. You've taken something that happened, a real problem in our society, and made a decision to do something about it. That's governing. At least, that's how I see it."
Catherine smiled proudly. "Wait'll your mom and Steve hear."
Cody glanced down, a smile growing on his face.
Lea gave the teen a final smile and turned to Catherine. "Well, shall we get started?" She motioned her to a seat at the small table near her desk.
Catherine sat, taking papers out of a folder. "I did some initial research after we talked Monday …"
Lea grinned, taking her own seat. "Of course you did."
Cody sat off to the side, prepared to take notes, a proud smile still on his face.
Cody relaxed on his bed that evening, talking to Jess on the phone.
"At first it seemed like people liked my idea … then the governor just kinda got up and left." The sting of that rejection crept into his voice. "I guess he had another meeting or something."
"Ohh," Jess said sympathetically. "I'm sure that's all it was. You know he likes you."
"Yeah, I guess," he said, still sounding unsure. Then he brightened. "But the lieutenant governor really liked the idea. She said it has 'real potential.' "
"That's 'cause it does." He could hear her determined smile over the phone. "You could actually save lives with this, Cody."
He smiled proudly at her words. "Ms. Jackson says I need to work on my presentation a little, but that I did a good job for my first time. And the lieutenant governor wants me to work on it. I have to have an outline to her by Friday."
"Whoa. Friday?"
"Yeah, Mr. Hedl– er … Ross, he's going to work with me on it. He was in charge of the anti-littering campaign in the spring."
"Oh yeah. I remember that. With the animals that can die because of all the trash."
"Yeah. And then I got to take notes during a meeting the lieutenant governor had with Catherine."
"Catherine?" Jess asked, surprised.
"Yeah. I guess after the work she did on the refugee case in the summer, they want the task force to do more stuff like that with the governor's office."
"Cool."
"It was amazing. I mean, I knew Catherine was smart, of course, but her and Lieutenant Governor Kekoa together … man, they're, like, two of the smartest people I've ever met. I could barely keep up taking notes."
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
He shrugged. "Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but I'm telling you, it felt like I was watching ping pong. One idea would lead to the next and to the next and the next."
"Like what ideas …?"
His eyes widened slightly, and he cleared his throat. "Oh, um … I'm not supposed to say. Some of it was law enforcement stuff so it's … like, classified."
Jess laughed. " 'Classified'? Now you sound like Steve."
A small grin appeared on Cody's face as always at the comparison. "They even asked for my opinion a couple times."
"That's so cool."
"Yeah."
He heard her sigh. "You've got such an awesome job. You get to do things that really help people."
Cody smiled, giving a little shrug, but his voice was proud when he replied, "Just another day at the office."
Hope you enjoyed!
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