I found this forgotten story sitting in my docs (I must have started it around 2018) and decided to revisit/finish it.

(This is based on the West End/Toronto production so there will be a couple of mentions of moments I've found unique to this version)


"The plane is waiting for you, Mr. Warbucks."

"Fine. Thank you, Grace."

Grace stood back as she watched her boss quickly cram half of the papers on his desk into his briefcase. She refrained from going over his packing list again having already been reprimanded over the fourth check earlier that afternoon. Keeping her worry to herself was even more difficult. Oliver had gone on a number of these factory checks in her years as his secretary. However, this was only the second since the market crash and things were much direr now.

Walking to the front door, Grace in tow, Oliver said, "If all goes well, I'll be back by the end of the month. Unfortunately, I don't see this being the case."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"I need you here," he answered, taking his hat that was being held forward by Drake. "I'll be phoning with the factories that will need to be shut down and I'll need you to send me the employee lists and other information."

"Oh, sir... you don't think you'll have to close any, do you?"

"I'm afraid so. It's unavoidable at this point. I'm going out to spare as many as possible."

"How many do you anticipate?" she asked.

"Hopefully no more than three. I'm going to do whatever I can to merge two of those and spare as many jobs as possible."

Grace remained in the doorway while Oliver hurried to the car. "Good luck, Mr. Warbucks," she called to him.

"I'll need it," he sighed, though she couldn't hear him.

She waved as the driver started the engine. He tipped his head to her when he noticed.

Watching the car drive off, Grace hugged her arms. Only November 2nd and the air was already brisk. Stepping back inside once the car was gone, Drake offered to make her up a cup of tea. Gratefully accepting this, she wandered into the office, hoping the rest of the staff wouldn't notice her frown. Or if they did, they would assume it was business. Maybe it was. Without Oliver around, she didn't have many tasks to do. Not until he called. No dictation, no meetings to organize or transcribe, less paperwork to file, and fewer phone calls to make. Taking calls and sorting messages would be her most consistent task as well as her usual errands. Fortunately, she did have one other project to work on. One she hoped Oliver wouldn't forget about by the time he came home...