A Crazy Little Thing

Can you get a second chance at love-at-first-sight?

Author's Note:

Thank you to blackrandl1958 for the invitation to write this story for the 2025 Legends' Day, Once More event. It's a slow-burn romance with what I hope you'll agree is a hot climax. Thanks for reading it and for your feedback.

© SouthernCrossfire - 2025. All rights reserved,

________________

"Hi, Lydia, hey, it's Mitch. I hate to do this and I'm sorry but I'm going to have to cancel for tonight. I just received a call from my boss's wife; he had a heart attack last night and needs to see me. Can we reschedule for tom--"

There was audible huff on the line as she broke in.

"Just go. Don't worry about me."

"I'm really sorry," I repeated, surprised at her lack of compassion for him. "I'll, ah, make it up to you."

"No you won't."

No compassion or understanding, I thought. "Yes, I will, I promise."

"No, Mitch, you don't get it. This is it. I'm done. We've been dating for six weeks and you've already had to reschedule things twice before this--"

I hadn't been keeping track but I realized she was right. Okay, maybe I understood the lack of understanding part.

"--and now you're doing it again? You're either married to your work or you're two-timing me with someone else, but you know what? I. Don't. Care. You do whatever you want, but first, lose my number, asshole, and don't call me again. Ever."

In our few dates, I'd only seen the sweet, soft-spoken Lydia, never this fire-breathing, angry one, so I was glad she'd revealed herself even though the revelation had been my fault. I was about to tell her goodbye and good luck when the line went dead, just like our relationship.

Slipping the phone in my pocket, I muttered instead, "Oh, well. Good riddance."

*****

Thanking my lucky stars that I'd dodged a much bigger bullet in the long run, I tapped on the door of room 624 at 6 p.m. as Mrs. Murphy had requested. She stepped out to join me just moments later.

"Mitchell, thanks for coming. Sonny started feeling bad late last night so I called 911 and they rushed him to the hospital. The doctor said he was lucky that this one didn't kill him, but if he goes back to work, the next one will, so we--the doctor and I--made it plain to him that he won't be doing that. Neill Barton is on his trip--"

Neill, our executive VP and Mr. Murphy's immediate backup, was somewhere in Alaska on a three-week hunting and fishing trip that he'd been talking about for over two years. I suspected that, if there was cell service wherever he was, it wouldn't matter since his cellphone would be off.

"--and I tried but couldn't reach him so Sonny said to call you."

I wasn't sure how lucid Mr. Murphy was, but that was correct according to the firm's emergency procedure. I'd been promoted from QC manager to VP of Operations just about three months earlier, which was why I hadn't gone out with anyone in the past three months until I started seeing Lydia and which now accounted for our breakup. I wasn't normally a workaholic but I had been putting in a lot more hours since the promotion as I learned the job and tried to live up to Mr. Murphy's expectations.

"He said everything's written down in the office but he wants to go over it with you so you'll be ready for the, ahem, quote 'shitstorm,' on Monday morning."

I would have normally laughed at that quote coming from Mrs. Murphy's rather than him, but it sounded like Mr. Murphy and I knew it would probably be close to the truth. I tried to force a smile for Mr. Murphy's sake as Mrs. Murphy ushered me into the room a moment later, but to my surprise, he seemed to already be in good spirits.

"Mitchell, come in," he rasped. "Thanks for coming."

I spent the next ten or so minutes speaking with Silas "Sonny" Murphy, Jr. With that raspy voice and through obvious pain, he did almost all of the talking before Mrs. Murphy finally said "Sonny, enough" and shut him up.

I held his hand and said a little prayer for him before I told him that I'd handle everything and for him not to worry. "Just concentrate on getting better."

He nodded and croaked, "Thank you, Mitchell," before Mrs. Murphy gave me a hug and repeated thanks on the way out.

As I walked down the hospital corridor, trying to remember everything he'd said and to keep from worrying, I realized I was lucky in one way.

At least I wouldn't have to worry about Lydia.

*****

After leaving the hospital, I drove to the office and went through the transition plan to make sure I understood everything correctly. I'd gone over it shortly after my promotion but hadn't been too concerned because the hardest parts would fall to Neill Barton.

Or rather, would have fallen to Neill Barton if the lucky bastard hadn't been one week into his self-described "three-week vacation of a lifetime." I chuckled at the thought and hoped he was having a nice time.

And hoped that I'd be able to fill in for Mr. Murphy and for Neill.

By the time I left the office, it was almost midnight, but I was back on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. When I left that evening, I had everything in order and sent out a series of emails explaining what had happened on Friday night and what would be occurring during the week to come. The most important things were that there was a plan, that everyone still had a job, and that it was of vital importance that everyone continue doing their job and doing it well.

Maybe it was a weekend without sex after enjoying it again starting just the weekend before, but as I drove home, my mind turned to Lydia. While I didn't want to get back together with her, I decided that I needed to remember the lesson learned and do better

if

I ever got another girlfriend.

*****

Murphy Filters and Auto Parts, often known as Murphy Parts, has been making air filters, oil filters, gaskets, wipers, automotive lights, and a number of other interchangeable, non-manufacturer-specific car parts for over 60 years. Other than vacations and an occasional sick day, Monday was the first time in all those years that a member of the Murphy family hadn't been in charge. As I walked up in front of our assembled workforce, I knew I had big shoes to fill.

I explained everything in my messages of the previous evening but now I gave everyone the latest update on Mr. Murphy's condition and then played a brief message from him that I'd recorded on my phone on Saturday evening in his hospital room. With his directive to stay on task to keep Murphy Parts running the way it was supposed to and a recorded endorsement of me that I hadn't asked for, I then went over how things would be operating in Mr. Murphy's and Neill Barton's absence. I fielded questions along the way but there was one big one I couldn't answer.

"For now, everyone will remain in their current position, with me temporarily filling the role of acting company manager and Shonda Roberts acting as temporary ops director. Ned, Byron, and Andrea from management will help out as needed." I looked at each in turn and was glad to see them nod. Continuing, I said, "Shonda and I will be working closely with our QC department to make sure it runs smoothly while she helps run things. Once Mr. Barton returns from his Alaskan safari--"

Everyone laughed, having heard Neill talk about his trip so much over the past year or so.

"--he'll take over as acting company manager and I'll step back more into my usual role but helping Neill as needed."

I paused, coming to the part that everyone, including me, was wondering about.

"However, with Mr. Murphy's health, we have a larger transition coming, but the details aren't finalized on that so I can't tell you more other than to say that none of us should worry. We'll let you know more about that transition as the details are nailed down and we'll get through this together. To do that, just like I put in the company-wide message last night, we need to do our jobs and do them well. We have products to produce, outsourced products to QC, and orders to fill. Now, let's get to work and do it."

*****

It was a crazy week for me, trying to hold down two new jobs and make sure that Shonda was doing well filling in on my regular job while her usual QC department also continued to function properly. I spoke with Mr. Murphy for a few minutes every day, with him asking good questions to keep me on track and offering good advice to keep Murphy Parts operational and profitable but I was mildly surprised when he left the decision making to me.

On Thursday afternoon, Mrs. Murphy called and asked me to come to their home that evening. She said Sonny had been sent home with home-health nurses coming by twice a day to make sure everything was going smoothly and that he was still on the road to recovery.

The evening nurse was just leaving as I arrived. She appeared to me to be the picture of nursing professionalism in her nurse's scrubs with her stethoscope around her neck, her long, blonde hair pulled back, and a smile that seemed to brighten the fading twilight.

"Hello," I said, pausing to the side of the walk as she approached.

"Hi," she replied. "Short discussion only, please; we don't want to overtax him. Goodnight."

She continued on past me without ever stopping and I barely stopped my eyes from following. Someday I'd meet someone like her, but not now. The experience with Lydia and what I was dealing with now was too much to try to add another complication into my life. Chuckling lightly, I pushed her and women in general out of my mind before ringing the Murphys' doorbell.

*****

The following Monday morning after another long weekend, I showed up at the office very early to prepare for the arrival of Bradley W. Kraus, Sonny Murphy's nephew and the proposed new President of Murphy Parts.

Brad had worked in the Murphy head office in high school and in the production plant during the summers while he was in college before heading off to grad school. This was followed by several years with a Wall Street investment firm, and, most recently, a high-ranking job with a Fortune 500 firm out west. I'd met him a few times over the years when he visited for company board meetings or was home to see his parents and his uncle and aunt, and I believed him to be knowledgeable and interested in doing a good job.

However, my concern was whether Brad would want to leave his current position, move to the other side of the country, and take over the day-to-day operation of our firm as Sonny Murphy was proposing. I checked Brad's professional page and did a search on his current company but found nothing about him leaving that firm.

Therefore, I wondered if he would be coming in to take over himself, to fill the position permanently, either from within or from outside, or if he was planning to put us on the market. I didn't think Mr. Murphy and his sister, June Murphy Kraus, would allow Brad to sell the family firm, but perhaps it would give them a lovely retirement and allow them to leave something nice to Brad and any siblings.

Or maybe he was investigating while trying to make up his mind.

Having received a brief email from Neill that he was having a great time in the Alaskan wilds while restocking supplies in a trading post that had WIFI, I realized that he wasn't reading any of the mountain of messages he'd been copied on over the past week, so on Sunday afternoon, I called Brad only to be diverted to his voicemail. He called me late Sunday evening to let me know that he'd been traveling and that he'd meet me on Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. to talk briefly before he addressed the whole firm.

"Mitch, thanks for all of your efforts over the past week and for keeping Uncle Sonny so well informed without overdoing it. Aunt Kathy has been keeping me up-to-date. We'll see you in the morning."

What followed was a very troubled night for me as I worried about where we might be going as a firm and whether I'd have to start looking for a new job after spending the last six years at Murphy.

Therefore, I was quite tired on Monday morning and started becoming apprehensive when Brad wasn't there by 7:35 and was even more so by 7:45. I tried his cell number but it went to voicemail.

Our staff started assembling about that time and my concern was growing by the minute. At 7:55 and again at 7:58, I tried Brad's cell only for it to roll over to voicemail both times.

At 8:00, practically every eye in the big room was looking my way while my eyes flicked between theirs and the clock on my phone. Mr. Murphy always said "We don't start meetings late at Murphy Parts" so I walked up to the podium.

"Good morning, everyone. Hope you had a nice weekend. It's a new work week and we have orders to fill. Neill Barton sends his best from the wilds of Alaska; though he claims to have seen a grizzly bear, none have thought his scrawny butt worth sampling, at least as of Saturday morning."

Neill was of moderate height but beanpole thin so this got a decent laugh. "Seriously, wishing Neill well on the rest of his excursion and I have good news on Mr. Murphy's recovery." I told them about that and continued on into the morning briefing. Five minutes later, I was about to dismiss everyone with the instructions to get to work when I saw Brad and a woman enter the room.

All eyes turned to him as he strode forward. Shaking my hand, he whispered, "Sorry for being late. Rental car problems this morning and I was on the phone with them trying to get help. Vic ended up picking me up."

I introduced him and he approached the mic and spoke for maybe two minutes, giving a pep talk similar to my own but also promising that we'd be seeing some changes over coming days and weeks that would answer everyone's questions. With that, he handed it back over to me to instruct everyone to get to work.

As everyone made their way out of the room, I went over to talk to Brad only to see his female companion approach from the back. She was in her late twenties or early thirties, was around 5-foot 9 or 10-inches tall and had a well-proportioned frame. With dark, honey-blonde hair and a sweet smile, she was quite appealing but it was her bright green eyes studying me that gave me pause.

I'd always loved that color.

I looked back to Bradley and said, "Nice job, Brad. Now, introduce me to your..."

I left it hanging like a question, and he nodded. "Mitchell, this is my sister, Victoria Kraus Landon. Vic, this is Mitchell Decker, our VP of Operations who's also filling in as acting company director in Uncle Sonny's and Barton's absence while we get things sorted out. Let's go somewhere so we can speak in private."

Victoria and I shook hands as Bradley headed out. I noticed that those eyes were still focused on me until I waved and said, "Ladies first."

Her brow knitted slightly and she nodded. "Thank you," she said before following her brother while I picked up my folder from the lectern and went after them.

For the next couple of hours, it was all business. We sat in the executive huddle room and discussed the firm in depth, with Bradley asking questions and me providing answers. Victoria chimed in from time to time, asking me to expand on some point, but both seemed to be very interested in seeing the family firm, founded by their grandfather and expanded by their uncle, continue to grow and prosper for the next generation of their family.

Bradley finally nodded. "Let's take a break for a bit. I took personal leave from my job to make this trip but it was practically last minute so I have a teleconference shortly--west coast time, you know? And I still have to deal with the damn rental car. I'll be next door in Uncle Sonny's office. Mitchell, please show Victoria around the office and give her a quick tour of the plant. She never had the pleasure of working here when she was a kid."

Victoria rolled her eyes and gave him a perturbed look, causing him to laugh. "And he got out of piano, violin, dance, voice, and practically every other torture our mom could come up with for me. She even made me do water ballet--you know, like synchronized swimming in the Olympics--one summer, though our team was

nothing

like the Olympics."

Bradley laughed. "But you're well-rounded, sis, unlike one of us."

*****

I started to show her around the office area, but Victoria put up a hand. "Mitchell, I never worked here, but I spent a lot of time roaming around the office area as a kid when Mom would come to meet with Uncle Sonny about the firm. I'm not as familiar with the factory and warehouse areas and I've never seen the new addition."

As we headed toward the back, I asked, "So your mom was very involved in the firm?" I'd met her a couple of times, but didn't know her well, knowing only that she was on the board of directors.

Victoria nodded. "She still is, really. She and Uncle Sonny are equal partners as far as ownership, but he's always held the final vote if they disagreed about something because he's the managing partner and chairman of the board."

"Have they ever disagreed?"

"Not that I know of. She's always trusted him and he's been very successful with the firm while my dad was making a killing in banking. That's where Brad got his calling after Uncle Sonny taught him a little and probably pounded some common sense in his head here in the factory while he was growing up. At least Brad realized he didn't want to work on a factory floor."

We walked for a while, wearing earplugs through the noisiest parts of the factory while I pointed out some of the operations and she nodded. On reaching the new addition, we were able to remove the earplugs where we could talk normally; Victoria had a few questions so I answered as we walked before she finally said, "Let's go outside to the picnic tables where we can talk in private."

I'd wanted to do that, to ask her about herself but she'd volunteered nothing to that point and had deftly avoided the few questions I asked. Based on her looks alone, she could be my dream woman but I knew nothing of her personally and there was a good chance she was married based on her last name, though she wore no wedding ring. That really didn't matter though because I'd learned enough from the recent breakup with Lydia that I was going to be careful not to try to make a connection with Victoria or anyone else in the near future that I wouldn't be able to keep.

On reaching the picnic tables, she stopped to look out across the Murphy Parts expansion area and into the complex beyond. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning toward me with a curious look.

"Mitchell? Mitch? You don't remember me do you?"

Something in her voice and the way she said it struck me as much as the implication in the words themselves, but I knew I'd never met this woman in my life. "No, Victoria. If I'd met you, I'm sure I'd remember that."

"Sure you would," she said as she gathered her hair in her hand like it was in a high ponytail. "Just like you promised you'd call. But you never did."

The ponytail and what she said prompted something, a memory deep inside me, despite not recognizing her. Looking into her beautiful eyes, it clicked; my throat was suddenly dry and I struggled to gasp, "Tori?"

*****

About twelve years earlier

"Come on man, Cam Pooler's senior party is at Wyngren and 17th," said Scot, one of my suitemates. "You gotta come."

"Cam and I are acquaintances, not best friends, and I don't have a clue where Wyn-whatever is."

"Maybe not that well but you

do

know him--we've all hung out together at a few parties over the past four years--and you have a phone with GPS. Remember?" he said as he rolled his eyes.

The truth was, it wasn't Cam Pooler; I just didn't want to go. Knowing that graduation was in about three weeks and that we'd be going our separate ways, Patty and I had broken up the weekend before. We'd never been sure we were in it for the long haul, but our discussion about our upcoming plans had turned into a fight and I ended our relationship then and there.