Three - Fire Drill

Tom was focused on updating his monthly report when the alarm rudely interrupted his thoughts.  It took him a second to realize what was happening and then suddenly everything made sense.  It was the first Wednesday of the month - that's why Will and Doug were "offsite" this morning: it was the monthly fire drill.  Everyone knew that the drill happened on the first Wednesday of every month at 10:00 a.m. and everyone capable found a way to be away from the office during that time so they could avoid being herded like sheep into a parking lot about a half mile away from the building.  Tom was late in finishing his monthly report, which caused him to forget about the monthly drill.

He also realized that the only other people that would be in the building were the new associates and Stacy.


Tom saved his work on his computer and looked vainly for anything on his desk that he could take with him as a distraction.  Several of the new associates stopped by his office to ask him what they should be doing, as if the concept of a fire drill was completely foreign to them.  Tom tried not to condescend to them as he explained that everyone had to file down the stairwell and into the parking lots.

Tom was just about to give up on the procrastination when Stacy came to his door.

"Hey," Stacy said, "is this why Will and Doug aren't here this morning?"

"Yeah," Tom said, barely looking up.

"So why are you here?"

Tom looked up at her, annoyed. 

"I forgot," he said simply, "I was too tied up with my report to think about it."

"Well," Stacy replied sweetly, ignoring his grumpiness, "can you escort me out of the building and keep me safe from this life-threatening situation?"

Tom looked at her sharply, unsure if she was teasing him.  Then they both laughed and in that moment Tom felt like a wall broke down between them.  He joined her in the hallway and they walked together to the stairwell that served as their emergency exit. 

They didn't talk much as they walked down the stairs, but when they reached the parking lot, Stacy broke the awkward silence.

"Why don't you like me?" she asked.

"What makes you think I don't like you?"

"Come on, I'm not oblivious.  I can see that you are uneasy around me.  You don't like it when I talk to Will or Doug.  Like you're jealous."

"Sounds like you've already decided what I'm thinking," Tom said, defensively.

"Am I wrong?" Stacy asked.

Tom felt a little foolish.  He had been jealous, but when confronted with the truth it sounded absurd to him. 

"Your premise is wrong.  I don't dislike you, I hardly know you."

"But you never..." Stacy began.

"Listen," Tom interrupted, "I'm not the most outgoing guy, like Will.  It takes me a little while to get to know people.  And I've had a lot going on with work.  I'm sorry if I haven't been the most friendly person."

The last thing that he expected was to hear himself apologize, but now as he was saying it he realized that he truly meant it.  He had been overly paranoid about Stacy joining the team and it seemed ridiculous now.  They chatted for a while longer and then took their time returning to the building from the fire drill.

When they returned, they found Doug and Will already back, surrounded by stacks of paper in the executive conference room that was attached to Doug's office.  They went into the conference room, prepared to be given a hard time for being suckers.  Instead, Doug was serious.

"Where the fuck have you been?" he asked, his tone wiping the smiles off of Tom and Stacy's faces.

"Fire drill," Tom grunted.

"What's going on?" Stacy asked.

"Oversight wants a presentation on the Hill next week and they want a preview of the numbers by tomorrow," Doug said.

Congressional Oversight was a constant source of stress for their team.  There was always either someone who had just been elected and wanted to make good on campaign promises to cut costs or someone was about to run for re-election and wanted to run on a platform of cutting costs.  Since they were NASA's infrastructure, they were the ones that were called in front of committee meetings to answer a lot of questions about expenses and budget goals.  It was a big dog and pony show: the politicians knew that infrastructure wasn't where the big dollars were in NASA, but they also knew that if they wanted to talk about real money, they'd have to bring in the rocket scientists to talk about their projects and then they wouldn't understand 80% of what was said.  Instead, they brought in infrastructure as a way to show their constituents (who don't know any better) that they mean business.

"Go back to your offices and clear off your schedules for the rest of the day and come back in here in a half hour.  This is all hands on deck," Doug told them.

"I've got a project meeting scheduled..." Stacy started.

"I don't care," Doug interrupted, "cancel that shit."

Tom and Stacy left the room and gave each other a look.  Tom didn't have a lot on his calendar, so it didn't take him very long to clear it off.  He returned to the conference room about ten minutes later; Stacy hadn't come back yet. 

Doug looked up at Tom as he entered the room, "You and Stacy are going to stay here and polish the presentation.  I need you to incorporate the data from Houston and Cape as it comes in throughout the day.  Will and I are going to the Pentagon for a couple hours and then we need to fly to Malmstrom to discuss what information has clearance to be discussed."

Tom's eyebrows raised at the mention of the Air Force base.  He knew that one of Will's projects involved some defense components of several Shuttle flights, but all details were top secret.

Doug didn't acknowledge Tom's look.  "You are going to be in charge here on this while we are gone.  You've been through this before and Stacy hasn't, so I need you to be sure that this isn't fucked up."

At that moment Stacy walked in, having overheard Doug from outside the door.

"Thanks for the confidence, Doug," she said, smiling.

Despite their pleasant conversation earlier, Tom couldn't help but to cringe a little inside at the familiar tone she took with Doug. 

"No offense intended, of course," Doug said, smiling back, "it's just that Tom has been through this before and these Oversight pricks love to grandstand and I don't want to give them any opportunities."

Tom was sure that a look had passed between Stacy and Doug.  They had been flirting.  Tom was incredulous, but he seemed to be the only one to notice; Will wasn't paying any attention at all, he was too involved in the report he was reviewing. 

Doug and Will gave them a ten minute overview of where the reports stood and Tom was sure that he caught Doug and Stacy exchanging meaningful looks a couple more times.  He felt conflicted.  During the fire drill he had come to regret his suspicions of Stacy, but the evidence in front of him was awfully hard to ignore. 

After the briefing, Doug and Will left and Tom and Stacy split up the duties and agreed to meet again in the afternoon to discuss their progress.  As it turned out, the incoming data was much larger than anticipated and so it was after 6:00pm when they were able to meet again. 

Tom and Stacy sat in the conference room and compared notes.  Both agreed that they were in a pretty good place and all that was left was how to incorporate the confidential data that Doug and Will would be providing, if any could be provided. 

"So what is Will's project at the Air Force Base?"  Stacy asked.

"I don't know," Tom replied, "it's eyes-only."

"Yeah, but you and Will are good friends - he hasn't told you?"

"Nope," Tom said "we are good friends, so I understand why he doesn't talk about it and I would never put him in an awkward situation by asking."

"It's got to bother you though," she said, "him getting the top secret-level clearance projects instead of you.  You've been here just as long, do you ever feel like you're getting the short end of the stick?"

Tom looked at her sharply.

"Not at all, and..."  he hesitated.

"And?"

"And this is the type of thing that makes me wary of you," Tom said, relieved to get it off his chest, but appalled that he was taking the conversation to a place that he had never intended to go.

"What's that mean?"

"You've got a vibe about you.  Opportunistic.  Here you are pumping me for information, trying to start shit between me and Will... like you would do anything to get ahead."

Stacy looked legitimately hurt.

"That's bullshit.  You just can't handle the thought of an attractive woman also being an intelligent and capable executive."

"You think awfully highly of yourself..." Tom started.

"Your just a sexist, you feel threatened by me," Stacy said, her voice indignantly raised.

"A sexist?" Tom yelled back, "You don't know me."

"Oh, I've met guys like you my whole career," Stacy said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, you're all cozy with your boss, but then a strong woman comes around and you're afraid that your masculinity is at stake, so you do anything you can to undermine her."

"What, did you take Intro to Psychology your Sophomore year or something?"  Tom said.

"No, just my own experiences.  But I've also learned how to deal with guys like you.  Don't worry, I'm not after your masculinity or your job.  I've already reached that level."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Stacy said, "some day you'll be reporting to me."

"Is that right?  That's what you are after?" Tom repeated again.

"Yeah, and I think you already know that I'm going to get it, too," Stacy said. 

They were both intense and yelling at each other and Tom's emotions got the better of him.

"Are you fucking Doug?" he asked, realizing that the question violated several HR policies and not caring.

The question took Stacy back for a second.  But only for a second.

"Would you be more jealous of him or me if I were?"  she asked.

Just then the phone rang.  Tom and Stacy glared at each other for two full rings before Tom broke off and picked up the phone.  It was Will with the report on the Data from Malmstrom.