Chapter Text
Operation No-Smoke: Day Two
“Boss?” Leroy tilted his head, squinting at Franks.
“Don’t bother,” Lala said, coming over to stand by his side. “Quitting sucks at the best of times,” she continued with a sigh. “And this is not the best time at all.”
Franks jerked in his seat, blinking up at his agents. “What have ya got?”
Lala slapped a folder on his desk. “I don’t think the fuel was cooking oil. The fire shouldn’t have spread that quickly.”
“Kitchen fires spread quicker than most folks think.” Franks flicked through the folder. “Most folks are ill-equipped at fighting them.” He paused for a moment. “How long?”
“Guys in the lab said —.” Lala began.
“Until Easter. How long until Lent is over and this nightmare is done?”
“I think it’s about a month, boss,” Leroy said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m not up on my celebrations so I could be wrong,”
“Twenty nine days,” Lala corrected.
Franks let out a frustrated huff before he flopped back in his chair, which made a loud squeaking noise.
Randy reached over, a stick of gum between two fingers as an offering. Franks nodded once, before he stuffed the whole thing into his mouth, silver wrapper and all. Randy winced and turned away.
Leroy opened his mouth but nothing came out. He turned to Lala, who was smothering a laugh.
“You sure you’re okay, boss?”
“I am certainly not okay!” Mike’s voice was muffled by the mess in his mouth.
“You wanna keep your voice down?” One of the lab boys yelled as they walked by, carrying several boxes.
“If I’m gonna go through whatever the hell is, you better believe everyone’s gonna know about it!” He took a deep breath and sat back in his chair once more. “Ain’t a big fan of suffering in silence.”
“How about I make you a sandwich?,” Randy suggested. “That gum won’t fill you up, and it’s a long time before lunch.”
“Good idea,” Lala said encouragingly.
Randy scrambled up and raced to the kitchen. He passed by Mary Jo outside, sitting at her desk. She paused in her typing.
“What the hell is going on in there? Those boys are making even more of a ruckus than usual.” She jabbed at her typewriter. “I’ve had to type out the same thing three times over, cause of the noise!”
Wheeler came out of his office at that moment, leaning over the rail. “Mary Jo, please contain your voice. I’m trying to do important paperwork, which I might add, is something you are employed to do as well.” He gave her a meaningful look and went back inside his office, banging the door with force.
Mary Jo sighed and shuffled a stack of papers with quiet restraint.
“You want a sandwich too?” Randy offered. “I think everyone’s having a low blood glucose moment right now.”
Mary Jo shook her head and went back to her transcription.
When Randy walked by a few minutes later, the noise from the bull pen had started up again. Randy gave her an apologetic look, but she took a breath, stood and marched ahead of him into the bull pen. Leroy and Lala were at their desks, but they both looked like they would rather be anywhere but the office.
“What is going on, Mike?” Mary Jo asked with an exasperated sigh.
“Yeah, Rando. Tell her what’s going on and why I’m being forced to go through this torture?”
Randy looked down at the plate he held. “I was getting you a sandwich. I just thought it would calm you down a bit.”
“I do not need to be calm,” Mike said through gritted teeth. “I need a damn smoke!” He swiped the sandwich from Randy and took several noisy bites, before making a face. “What kinda meat is in this thing?”
“It’s turkey, boss. It’s the only thing left in the breakroom.”
Mike swallowed his mouthful and then shoved the plate back into Randy’s hands. He stalked back to his desk with a sigh.
Mary Jo turned her gaze on Randy. “You made him a cold turkey sandwich? Child, what were you thinking?”
Randy looked confused for a moment before realisation dawned on him. He gasped and turned to Mike. “Oh, boss. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure you can give up without going through cold turkey and shaking apart and…”
Mary Jo placed a hand on Randy’s shoulder. “Stop talking, sweetie,” she whispered. “When you’re in a hole, stop digging.”