Chapter 4: A good time is a Happy Time.
George got up early next morning. She hadn't heard a thing about what happened the night before.
She had to be at Happy Time an hour before her usual time to finish her collating job, she left the day before.
She sighed as she poured in her third cup of coffee. It was only 6 AM.
She got out the door and took her shiny, red mustang out of the garage.
Happy Time: 6.30 AM.
"Good Morning angel." George was greeted by her boss, Delores –as in her big fat ass- Herbig with a big smile.
George simply smiled back and locked herself into the office she was assigned to for the collating job. "You forgot about your sticky fingers again." Delores added, waving the big jar of sticky fingers before her eyes.
George, also known as Mildred, rolled her eyes and took out a few.
As a matter of control, Delores gave her ten fingers a "spirit fingers" and expected George to do the same.
She did.
After having gone through the agony of a happy Delores, George closed the office door and went back collating.
She'd been at it for just under an hour when Delores came in with a young man. He looked rather saddened by the company of Delores – as in her big brown eyes - Herbig.
"Millie, this is Freddie. He has just been hired as a temp at Happy Time, and I decided it would be a good idea for him to work with you for a while." And she smiled.
George looked up and saw the young man take a glance over the room. He seemed very insecure.
"Hi." He said, putting his hand out. "I'm Freddie Donahue." Delores left the room.
George shook his hand: "Mildred, but everyone calls me Millie around here so.."
As they were shaking hands, Delores came back with the jar of sticky fingers and started waving it around again. "No need for those nasty paper cuts. If you wanna get things done, you better show initiative."
Freddie took out a set of sticky fingers and looked around on the desk, where there were hundreds of papers lying around.
As soon as Delores had left the office again, George whispered "She has a website called Getting things done with Delores, what do you expect?"
The rookie didn't respond. He just went on to his collating job.
Two hours later, they finished the job. "Good Job." Was all Delores said. "Now isn't responsibility fun?"
Delores took one of the stacks of paper and went over to a machine. "This is the Bind-O-Matic 5000." She looked at the machine proudly. "Now, it's very easy to use, so you don't have to worry about it too much." She bundled the stack of papers neatly together. "You place the sheets in a cover and set the correct spine width. Then you place one or more covers to be bound in the machine and press the red button here. Then you wait until this light here goes off and put the covers in the cooling stand. It only takes about two minutes per stack and finit-o! Perfectly bound booklets!"
George Voiceover
"Strangely enough, she did seem proud of the stack of papers she just bound together. I can only hope she also finds this Zen."
Scene
Delores passed the bound booklet to George and seemed halfly as if she was hoping she'd give her a compliment about the machine.
So she did. "Wow, that's incredible." George said with a fake smile on her lips. "How did you do that?" she also faked interest.
"Just follow the simple steps I just gave you and you'll be able to bind like Delores in no time." Delores said with a smile. "Just make sure all the papers are tidy." She added with a smile that seemed painful for the onviewer.
George Voiceover
"I still say bees have no hands. But who am I? I just hope I'll be able to collate and bind like Delores Herbig can."
Scene
Freddie Donahue and George got split up after collating together. George went back to data-input and Freddie was tucked away at Archives.
A couple of hours later, Delores entered George's cubicle, seemingly in great distress.
She was nodding her head. "I can't believe this. After all I've done for him." She nearly whispered.
As George turned her attention to Delores, she turned around on her chair. "What's going on Delores?"
Delores came to George's height.
"I just caught…" her voice crackled. "I just caught Freddie Donahue stealing pens from Archives." She nearly had tears in her eyes. "I'm gonna have a serious talk with that boy, and I would like for you to join me." She said with hope in her voice.
"Yeah Delores, sure." George said as she got up from her seat. "When?"
"Now would be a good time. He's in my office as we speak. That little scoundrel!"
So the time came for George and Delores to go have a talk with Freddie. The newly hired, still-green-behind-his-ears temp.
When the two ladies sat down, they immediately put up their strict face. They didn't want him to think they were gonna let him get away with the theft of at least a dozen good pens! "How dare he?" you could basically see Delores think.
George however, just took it on as another act. She didn't really bond with the severeness of the situation. "It's just a couple of pens, geesh." She thought as the severity of her expressions spoke otherwise.
As Freddie looked upon the two women, who were about to become not only jury but also judge, he swallowed deeply.
"Freddie...It seems we have a little problem." Delores spoke with a calm voice. "Where are they?"
Freddie turned white and gave a grim smile. "Where are what exactly?" He started tapping the table with his fingers.
"THE PENS Freddie, where..." Delores took a sound breath. "Where..are the pens?"
George Voiceover
"Yup, you got that right. Delores was freaking out over a couple of pens. You could see him cringe at Five, Four, Three, Two, One...Now!"
Scene
"I don't know what you're talking about Ms. Herbig." Freddie said.
Delores looked down as a tear formed in her eyes. "But what about the team? Here at Happy Time, we're all family. If only you could tell us the truth."
Freddie answered with a smug smile.
Suddenly, George fired from her chair and came only inches away from Freddie's face. "Now, you listen to me, Dickweed, I don't know wheter your mother ever taught you any manners, but in the real world, we do things differently. We fess up if someone catches us in the act and we take our responsibilty for it. If we don't, we might end up getting fired."
George Voiceover
"There you have it, I just defended Happy Time, I just defended Delores Herbig. Much to my own surprise, I couldn't bare staring at that little prick smiling, lying and sliming his way through everything he'd ever done before.
Ick.
Scene
"Mr. Donahue, you have given us no other choise. You can pack your things and leave. I'll be sure to write a very negative note for your future employer. We simply cannot tolerate thievery at Happy Time, and you have thouroughly dissapointed me!"
It was the last thing Delores said before standing up, pointing to the desk where Freddie Donahue had put his things. "I want you out of here in no more than half an hour." She continued strictly.
Even before Freddie had a chance to move, Delores had left the cubicle and went to Chrystal for the final arrangements. She wanted him out pronto, and wasn't gonna let any paper work stand in the way of his instant removal at Happy Time.
George was slightly worried about her superior. Delores kept mumbling in what appeared to be some sort of foreign language.
"I didn't know Delores spoke Arameic?" She thought to herself as she saw the woman reach Chrystal's desk.
Freddie and George got up together. He gestured to shake George's hand, but out of sympathy for Delores, and Happy Time, she refused. She just went back to her cubicle and started re-entering some data.
End Of Chapter 4
