Indirect Director

“Right. That’s okay. Mmm-hmm. No problem. You can phone me later when you find out. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll be here for about another hour. No problem. Cheers.” Trixie hung up and groaned as she raked a hand through her dark hair. The day, hell, the month, had been unbelievably frustrating with the amount of calls she’d received, along with the nature of all those callers. Everybody wanted something for cheap or for free, and they wanted it done yesterday. “Bah! Like I’d bend over backwards for a measly £995. This gig isn’t what I thought it’d be when I was at university.” She grumbled to herself as she looked over the information, she’d collected during her recent phone conversation. “I know they said it’d be difficult but bloody hell; this is way worse than I’d ever imagined.”

Her monologue was interrupted by the phone on her desk ringing. “Oy! Will this ever stop?!” She looked at the caller ID and noted it wasn’t for her location, so she didn’t bother to pick it up. She did turn the volume down on the ringer so she could concentrate for a little while. “Where was I? Oh yeah. Mr. Kleider. Right.” She pulled up her email cover letter template and adjusted it to match her current file then started on the Application for Cremation, where she filled in as much as she was allowed. The rest would have to be completed by the widow via email. Trixie double-checked her work and was about to send everything off when the ringing began again. This time, she had to answer it.

“London Funerary and Cremation Care, how can I help you?” She did her best to put on the customer service voice but she could tell it was strained. “Mmm-hmm, how can I help you? We can do that, yes, but if you’re wanting something more then I would suggest phoning one of our other locations. They have the facilities for,” She frowned as the young man on the other end cut her off. “I do have the number, yes, if you want to,” She couldn’t tell if this one was too distraught to listen or if he was getting some bit of satisfaction out of pushing her buttons. “Alright. Yep. That’s fine. Just call us back to let us know. Cheers.” She hung up and let out a growl. “Ugh! I just wanna go home!”

“You alright in there, kid?” Her head shot up at the familiar voice from the doorway of her office. She turned to see one of the other directors, who’d been like a big brother to her since she’d started. “Sound like you’re having a bad day.”

“More like a bad month, Bryan.” She growled again as the phone rang. “You mind getting this one? I need a breather.”

“Sure thing. London Funerary and Cremation Care. This is Bryan, how can I help you?”

‘How does he do that?’ Trixie wondered.

“She’s on a lunch break at the moment. Can I take a message?” He grinned at her. “Yep. Okay. What was that last number again? Ah, cheers. Yep. I’ll make sure she gets it before she leaves today. Uh-huh. You too. Afternoon.”

“Message for me?”

“Nope. You know where Cathy’s at today?”

“Think she’s at Devon & Peter’s. She always take lunch this late?”

“Just about. She never has time earlier in the day.” He dialed an extension. “Cathy? It’s Bryan. Great. How are you? Fine, fine. Have a message for you.” He rattled off what he’d written. “Right. No. They said tomorrow’s fine if you’re busy. No worries. Glad to help. Afternoon.”

“I really don’t know how you guys do this, day in and day out. I’m losing what marbles I’ve got left trying to field all these calls.”

“Don’t beat yourself up too much ‘bout it. You’ll get the hang of it. Just have to remember that not every call is ‘bout a death. Folks may be grieving, true, but don’t let their tears and anger at the situation get to you. It’ll burn you out faster than you can say, ‘Elementary, my dear Watson.’”

“Feel as though I’m already getting it, truth be told.” She crossed her arms and sighed. “How do you deal with it?”

He shrugged. “When I’m here, I’m who I need to be. When I punch out, I’m myself. You’ll learn to draw the line.”

“What if I don’t?” She didn’t like how desperate she sounded.

Bryan started to walk out of the office. “If you don’t, you may want to find out sooner rather than later. Don’t want to piss off the wrong person or be stuck somewhere you don’t wanna be. Phone me if you need anything.” He departed, and Trixie sat back at her desk.

“He’s right,” she muttered. “I need to figure myself out before I get so deep into this, I can’t dig myself out. I should speak to Ryan about it. Does he have a gig tonight?” She checked her mobile calendar, and sure enough, the Silver Coffin Sound was due to play at the Royal Albert Hall that evening. “That’s a sold-out show but I know I can get in. Of course, if I’m on call tonight, that’s outta the question.” She checked the funeral director’s schedule, and breathed a bit of relief when she saw she had the night off. “Thank goodness for that. Hold the phone.” She looked a little closer. “I’m not on call anymore? Hell. Suits me just fine. Maybe Peter wants to give me a break for a while. I’ll have to thank him next time I see him.”

Her desk phone rang but it was her direct extension this time. “This is Trixie.”

“Hey, Trix. It’s Olivia. You got a moment?”

“As of the moment. What’s up?”

“Was wondering if could pick your brain about something.”

“I’ll do my best, but I am the newbie.”

“All the better as your school info’s still fresh.”

“What do ya need to know?”

“Got someone here I need to embalm but my fried brain is hitting a wall on what fluids to use.”

“What’s the condition of the body?” She pulled out her embalming textbook she always carried with her, just in case she needed to reference it. She listened, while ignoring the other phone, as her colleague rattled off what was going on in her current case. “When’s the service?”

“In three days.”

“What time?”

“One. Family comes in at midday.”

“Okay. Here’s what I think you can do. Start with a vascular conditioner and water corrector. That should clear everything out, with the possible exception of arteriosclerosis and some stubborn clots. Add a bit of decomp and beta factor. Those’ll help with the onset of decomposition and combat any drugs/medication they may have been on. You said they came from hospital, right?”

“Yeah. Chemo patient, if I recall.”

“Definitely add a lot of beta factor then.”

“Right. Got it. What else?”

“Let that mixture run then I’d use a thirty-five-index fluid plus an edema factor to get rid of the swelling in the hands. I’d make the whole mixture waterless too with a water corrector to offset that. As far as how much to use, go by weight. The guidelines on the bottles should give you a formula to go by.”

“Right on. Great. I’ll get on it and see how they handle it. Inject tonight then check in the morning. Cheers, Trix.”

“Afternoon, Liv.” Trixie set the massive textbook aside and checked the clock. “Time for this tumbleweed to roll.” She logged out of her work email, saved and closed everything she’d been working on then shut the laptop down. She stood and stretched then started to gather everything when the phone went off again. She glared at it but it was only the lines being diverted for the evening. “Thank goodness for that. Not like I’d answer it if it was an actual call anyway. I’m off the clock.” She finished packing her satchel, grabbed her lunchbox and water from the refrigerator then punched out. “Suppose my family from earlier will phone tomorrow or sometime tonight. No matter. Someone can get the message to me.” She checked all the doors, turned the lights off, set the alarm, and locked the door.

“Another week gone.” She mumbled as she walked across the car park to her navy-blue Subaru Outlander. “At least I’m not on call tonight so I can go to the show. Speaking of, I’d better get home so I can get ready. Ryan’ll most likely want me to go there with him before the ticket holders are let in.” She got in her auto and pulled out of the lot to head back to her shared flat.

It took about forty minutes with traffic then she had trouble locating a parking space in the structure. “Damn! Is everybody else stuck at home besides me?” She asked as she parked two floors down from the roof. “Wonder if the lift’s fixed yet.” She smacked the down button with no success. “Of course, it’s not. Time to walk.” The walk wasn’t so bad as each of the building’s floors were connected to the parking structure by sky-ways but she was tired, and this only served to make her more so as she trudged down the stairwells to her floor.

She opened the door to the flat to find it empty. “Works for me. Now, I can blast some tunes before meeting Ryan.” She went to her room, selected a playlist, changed her clothes then texted her boyfriend. ‘Don’t know if you’ve already left for the Albert but if you haven’t, want me to go with you? Not on call tonight and I need to talk to you about something.’

‘Absolutely, I want you to come with. Be over in an hour to pick you up. We can speak on the way. Love ya!’

“An hour, eh? Better see if there’s any food in the fridge.” Trixie rummaged through the ice box and found a chicken-and-rice dish she’d cooked the night before. “That’ll work.” She warmed it up and inhaled the food then darted back to her room as the front door was opening.

“For the love of Hermes, Trix! Do you have to blast that stuff so bloody loud?! It’s a wonder the neighbors haven’t complained yet!”

“You’re one to talk, Lily. I don’t complain when you have Adam in your room, do I?”

Lillian coloured. “Point taken. Still, you really don’t want someone complaining to the landlady. Could get us all the boot.”

“Fair enough.” She turned the electronic dance music down to a tolerable level. “Ryan’ll be over here in a bit to head to the gig at the Albert tonight. You need me to pick up anything on the way back?”

Lily shrugged. “If I do, I’ll message you. How was work?” She set up her laptop on the coffee table.

Trixie sighed. “Truthfully, I don’t think I’m cut out for this work. Been screamed at and argued with more times than I care to count lately, and I’m the verge of telling them to piss off.”

“Sounds like burnout. You need a holiday, girl.”

“What good will that do if I have to come right back to where I was?”

“Couldn’t hurt. Maybe you need a career change.”

“What else would I do? Damn, I sound like I’m whining.”

“You are, but that’s okay. You’ll have to figure it out.”

“Yeah. I’m spilling my guts to Ryan to see if he can give me any pointers.”

“You can always talk to Julia too. What she does is in the same rugby court as you.”

“Smart idea.” Her mobile went off. “That’s Ryan. Laters, Lily.”

“Laters.” Trixie made her way down to the street, where Ryan was waiting in his black Toyota Avalon, music blasting.

“How was your shift today, love?” He asked, turning the stereo down.

“Too much to deal with. I think I’m in over my head.”

“Why’s that?” He pulled into traffic and headed to the venue.

“I don’t know. Maybe I wasn’t prepared for how many people would attempt to argue with me on everything I’m telling them, especially when it comes to the law. You’d be amazed at how often they try to find some work-around.”

“Does it ever work?”

She shook her head. “I had a whopper today who tried to play it off like they hadn’t spoken to their sibling in years but yet when I asked for the contact information so I could reach out to them, they were too willing to supply it. People do strange shit when someone dies.”

“Sounds like it.” He parked around the back of the building, where his bandmates were already assisting the roadies with unloading. “I suppose the question is: are you willing to keep at this thing you went to university for or do you think you’d be happier doing something else?”

“That’s just it: I don’t know what else I’d want to do.”

He got out and she followed. “I can’t make this decision for you, love. You have the final say in your future. Just make sure it includes me.” He grinned.

Trixie smiled. “Wouldn’t have it without you. Go help your friends. I’ll see you inside.”

“Here.” He tossed her an all-access pass.

“Cheers.” She went to the backstage area and met up with Tiffany, Dori, and Terry. As she settled in the VIP room, she continued to ponder what to do about her career. ‘The hell with it for now,’ she decided. ‘I’ll figure it out over the week’s end.’