Nigel and the Blizzard

Nigel and the Blizzard

Nigel Ehru had started work at Campbell Logistics only two weeks before the big blizzard hit. Because he was rather naive about such things, the others slipped away.  He had to stay because the big boss Mr. Kenningston was calling. And, as everyone knew it being the first lesson they learnt as soon as they walked through the door one did not miss the phone call from the CEO.

Nigel hadn’t peered outside and was looking forward to going home and settling down with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa while he did the Suduku with his trusted cat, Slopperhagen resting comfortably on his lap.

So he sat at his desk playing Minecraft and waiting for that call. Since, he was the new guy there had been a vote that he should stay and wait for the important message form the CEO.

Nigel was a little nervous. After all, he had never met or even talked to Mr. Kenningston, but had heard all types of rumours.  The guy was full of himself and loved to talk about his achievements. It was always best to listen and not say a word.

Sometimes, he talked about his daughters. They were lovely girls and worked in the office during the summer.  More than one newbie had noticed either one of the three sisters and started to plan their future together, wedding, how many children they were going to have and the whole ball of wax.

One guy, Phil the Pill as he was called had no clue that Amanda was the bosses’ daughter.  So he charmed her, bought her a coffee, took her out to lunch and then proceeded to ask her on a date.

“Do you think it is proper that we date?”

“Why are you married or with someone?”

“You obviously don’t know who my father is do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“My father owns the company. I am Doug Kennington’s daughter.”

Phil nearly choked on his fettuccini Alfredo.

“Your Mr. Kennington’s daughter? Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“You never really asked.”

“Oh, my God, this is a disaster. He’s going to kill me. He’s going to rip me a new asshole. He’s going to like fire me.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Worry about it? I don’t know what to say or do.”

“Nobody will ever find out.”

But, he did and came to the office structure. 

“Okay, who is this Phil guy?”

He walked up to Phil who was perspiring profusely and looked like he was going to pass out.

“You want to date my daughter?”

“No sir, I-

“Oh, she’s not good enough for you?”

“No, sir she’s too good for me.”

“That’s right. I’ll let you keep your job for now, but you ever think of dating my daughter again — any of them — you’re fired.”

“Yes, sir, I fully understand.”

“Now get back to work. A productive worker is an asset to a company.”

Phil never approached the girl again.

Nigel had met Mr. Kennington’s three daughters and hoped that none of them would ever have a crush on him.  

Nigel looked at the office phone and hoped that it would ring soon. He wanted to get home.

The lights flickered on and off and he looked up at the ceiling.

“Okay, that’s strange.”

“If the lights did go out I didn’t know what to do about it. I guess I would call building maintenance.”

It was kind of spooky all alone in the office structure.  It was also weird because he had never been the only one in the place. He was a little paranoid about the whole situation and was very uneasy.

“If the lights go out I am not sure that building maintenance will be available.  I better go and check this stuff for myself.”

He left and walked down the hallway and came to a room that only Vicky the vice-president was allowed in. It said so on the door. She had a special key to it and nobody had one even Mr. Kenningston.

He tried the doorknob and of course it was locked.

But, as the new guy he was responsible for the office lottery and every time that he asked Vicky what numbers she wanted they were always the same. He had memorized them.

The keypad on her door begged intrusion.

“Okay, so we have eleven, twenty-six and thirty-two.” The door opened and he walked inside.

He was not quite prepared for what he saw.

There were all types of pictures of Herb the accountant in very compromising situations. Nigel couldn’t remember the two ever saying more than hello to one another.  

“I can’t believe this.”

He turned around and hit the desk. A ceramic mug fell and smashed to the ground.

“Oh, no, you’ve got to be kidding me?”

He looked around not sure what to do. Slowly, he started to pick up all of the pieces.  

“Maybe she will think it was an accident? After all, how would she know that I was able to crack the pad numbers? Because it is the same lottery numbers and she told them to you more than once.”

He left with the pieces of the mug in his hand unaware that he had dropped a piece on the floor leaving some very incriminating evidence.

Nigel moved down the hallway.  

He came to a door that was called the Lady Room. It wasn’t a bathroom or anything else and once again the keypad seemed intimidating. However, Kay, who was the leader of the group of women that went into the room, loved puzzles. And, she always substituted numbers for letters. It was rather easy.  The letter L was the number twelve, the letter A was number one, D was the number four and Y was the number 25.

The door opened up easily and he walked in.  There was a poker table in the middle of the room. There was a bar and a cigar machine. There were posters of scantily clad men, real hunks.  

There was also vending machines of condoms and candy.

He left.

There was one more room to explore. It was where the CEO’s daughters went to. The keypad was going to be really tough to crack. But, he remembered Julie wearing a shirt with the number 2120 on it. He tried the number and it opened. Amanda wore a shirt that had the number 8.  Eva had a shirt with the number 53 on it.

It took a while before he was able to crack the code.  The more frustrating and challenging it went, the more determined he was to open it.

He walked in and the room was dedicated to him. There were posters of him, photos everywhere, T-shirts, mugs and wallpaper.

Scribbled on the wall were the words: “Nigel is our hero!”

“I can’t believe this is real.”

The three daughters were every so attractive and lovely and rich.  

“I am glad that I was the one that got to stay behind and take the call. Oh, no the call!”

He ran out of the room and all the way down the hallway and rushed to the desk. The light was red and beeping.  

“I can’t believe that I missed the call.”

There was going to be some severe punishment waiting for him. And, then he looked outside and saw the blizzard. It was coming down hard.

“How am I going to get home?”

The bus was not going to be running. Maybe, a taxi or Uber might be available.  

But, he had missed the call.

“Do I call him back?  He has to like me his daughters are infatuated with me.”

He pressed the button and called back.

“Hello,” growled Mr. Kenningston.

“Hello, sir, I am truly sorry I missed the call, but we are having a blizzard here and the lights went out. I was worried for the safety of the office and didn’t want the computers to crash so I had to take care of business.”

“Is this Nigel?”

“Yes, sir it is.”

“Well, good work, Nigel. My daughters speak highly of you.”

“They do?”

“Yes, they do. Don’t worry about missing the call. You are going to get a promotion for this.”

“Thank you, sir, but I was just doing my duty.  I love this company and want to be known as the ultimate company man.”

“That is the spirit that made this company great.  I want you go to go home and I will pay for your cab or Uber or however way you get home. Just be safe.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You are welcome. Good bye, young man.”

Nigel was giddy with excitement.  

“Now, I just have to figure out a way to get home because the streets look really nasty.”

He looked out the window and felt that he could just walk home on the snow like some really cool snowman.

“Now which sister should I pursue?” His grin grew wider and wider.