(Sorry about the title but I needed a name and this one popped into my head.)
Rachael and Jody’s conversation was stopped dead in its tracks when the fire alarm went off. Jody had her bag next to her and Rachael was still wearing hers as she had just returned from getting her coffee. They turned for the door to be met by a fireman.
“Gas leak Ladies so you had better get a move on.” He said to them as he moved down the mall.
Outside they were joined by the other shop staff in the arcade. It wasn’t a large city arcade mall it was a small arcade that Rachael's shop sat in so only about six or seven other people were standing beside them.
The fire chief came over to talk to them.
“Hi I am Chief Robinson but you can call me Will. There is a suspected gas leak in the building next door so we are asking you to vacate your properties as a safety measure. Now I know you will be worried about the contents of your shops so my men and I will make sure they are safe.” The Chief told them.
“How?” One of the other shop owners asked.
“Once we have located the leak we will lock your shops one by one but for the moment we need you to move back from the entrance.” The Chief replied.
One by one the crowd that had gathered moved back.
“Looks like you might to the bar early tonight Jody,” Rachael said to the younger woman who was visibly shaken by the events unfolding.
“Maybe,” Jody said in reply.
It took around half an hour or so for the Chief to approach them again.
“Good news and bad news everyone.” Chief Robinson said to them.
Somehow Winston who ran the newsagents near the entrance had been elected spokesperson for all of them. He moved forward to hear clearly what the chief had to say.
“The bad news is that there was a gas leak next door. The good news is that is under control now.” The Chief told Winston.
Even before Winston had time to relay this news a large cheer came from the assembled crowd. “Does that mean we can go back to our shops now?” He asked.
“I am afraid not today due to some of the fumes making it into your building.” Chief Robinson told Winston.
“What about our shops?” Came a voice from the crowd.
Winston turned with a slightly reddened face and repeated the question.
“We can make them safe with some help from your spokesperson here. If you are willing sir we can take you inside to lock all of the stores that can be locked manually this afternoon and then we will put a barrier at the door to the building to stop anyone getting inside afterward.” Chief Robinson said to Winston.
“One moment I will ask them,” Winston said knowing full well that they had heard everything that had been said. He knew that the Chief was trying to help him regain some of the authority that he had been given and then lost due to the person who had been shouting out questions.
This discussion took all of five minutes to happen as the owners including the loud ones knew that there was not much else they could do. Winston turned back around to face the Chief with a look that said thank you on his face.
“They have agreed. They will hand me their keys and I will lock up for them and then hand them back to them.” Winston told Chief Robinson.
“If you would like to follow the officer to your left sir and thank you for your help.” Chief Robinson said as he pointed to the officer in question.
Rachael handed her keys to Winston and spent the time he was away calming down Jody it turned out that her granddad's house had burnt down some years ago which had resulted in the death of her granddad. Even though she knew that the fire service where there to help anytime she saw them and their flashing lights part of went back to the little girl who blamed these men for taking her Poppop away from her.
About twenty minutes later Winston handed her the keys to her shop back. She was the last to get her keys as she was the furthest away from the arcade entrance mostly due to trying to keep Jody away from the firemen. The poor young girl she thought, Jody was only 19 as opposed to Rachael’s’ 26 but those seven years seemed like a million to her at that moment.
“Thanks, Winston,” Rachael said to Winston as he started to walk away.
“Not a problem. It’s a shame that the leak spoiled your promotion it looked like you were doing a lot of business this morning.” Winston said to her as he walked off towards the cafe where Jody had got her lunch a few hours ago.
That was when it hit her.
“Carly.”
Rachael sat Jody down on a bench just outside the arcade and went over to talk to the police officer who had been stationed at the entrance to the arcade.
“Excuse me officer, I run one of the shops inside do you know if everyone got out of the building earlier?” She asked the officer.
“Could you give me the name of your shop miss?” The officer asked her.
“Yes of course it's Modez Fashion,” Rachael told the officer.
“My wife loves your shop. It’s a shame that it had to close early this afternoon she was planning on coming down after my shift had finished. If you hold on I will check with the fire service.” The officer said as he began to speak into his radio. “Sargent, could you double-check for me did everyone get away ok from the gas leak this afternoon? I have one of the shop owners here who wants to check.”
“They told us that everyone got out of the building safely Miss.” The officer reassured her when he got his reply through the radio.
“Thank you for checking for me. I just wanted to make sure.” Rachael said as she walked back towards Jody.
“I’m ok boss,” Jody said trying to make it sound like she hadn’t been all that upset.
“If you are sure.” Rachael probed not wanting to sound too pushy.
“I’m sure boss. I take that this means I have the rest of the afternoon off?” Jody asked trying to smile.
“It does indeed. I will see you bright and early on Monday morning.” Rachael told her with a small smile on her face to match the one on Jody’s.
The two women parted and Rachael headed back to her car. Well, Jody wasn’t the only one who got an early finish today so did Carly. I really should thank her for her hard work this morning and see if she has any more ideas locked away in her head.
