Super Wimp Chapter 4
Copyright Skip1934a 8 October 2006
This story is fiction, and none of the characters or events in this story is real
My sincere appreciation to AsylumSeeker, my wonderful editor for the two final chapters. A special thank you to curl4ever for offering useful suggestions as a beta reader. Thanks, too, to those writers and readers who offered valuable advice and suggestions in their comments. Feedback is always welcome, as it is a major means of learning for a new writer. For those of you who merely attacked me personally, and offered no reason for not liking the story, your comments went straight to the trashcan. I invite you to seek other stories to read.
An urgent email and a revealing video dialog
To Skip's amazement, Sandy was up before him and even had breakfast ready when he sauntered into the kitchen intent on making coffee. After they shared a pleasant breakfast, Skip went to his office to check email. Most of them looked innocuous, routine, or like junk, but one was tagged as urgent so he opened it first. He never made it to the others. It was from Harold, the owner of Clemens and Associates, a client of his. He had a serious problem with his computer network. Skip used his cell phone to call Harold, and after a cursory dialog, Skip thought he needed to go onsite for this one. He told Harold he'd be there in an hour.
On his way out the door he yelled to Sandy that he was going to a client's location and would likely be back in the early evening. Otherwise, he would call and let her know what was going on. For some reason he felt unusually good this morning. Not a worry in the world. He guessed it was] because of how Sandy has been acting these last couple of days, he thought.
He made it to the location almost right at the hour he had promised. Harold saw him immediately when the secretary buzzed to announce Skip's arrival. "Skip. Good to see you. Come on in and have a seat. Let's talk about the problem a little more and see where you think it is. Want coffee?"
"Thanks, I'd love some; black."
Harold buzzed his secretary and asked her to bring in coffee for the two of them. Then they started talking about the network issue. Harold was showing the difficulty he was having with his workstation when the coffee came. It was obvious after seeing the effect the problem was having on Harold's machine that, if all the other stations were responding the same way, he had a long day ahead of him. The network was down, but each station could work as a stand-alone. However] the server would not be available.
He told Harold what he thought it would take to fix everything, and quoted a price. Harold grimaced, but nodded his acceptance. "Go ahead, Skip. I'm almost crippled as it is, and I need to get the network back up in the worst way. When can you get to it?"
"I can start now. But I'll need to go down the street to the wholesale warehouse and pick up the needed parts. I'll head out and be back as soon as I can."
Skip got up, gulped down the rest of his lukewarm coffee, and headed out. Harold walked with him, making small talk until they got to the exit.
"I'll be back in just a few," Skip said as the men shook hands at the door.
He pulled out his cell phone on his way to the warehouse and called home to tell Sandy he'd be gone most of the day, as he had expected. It was busy. Well, I'll call back in a few minutes, he thought, closing the cell phone and dropping it on the seat beside him.
As he returned from the warehouse he mulled over how to tackle the job with the least amount of intrusion on his customer's time while still getting it done today. He figured he could repair three stations an hour. With 25 stations and the server it would take until early evening to get everything back online and tweaked. He thought Harold would be pleased with the fix.
He wasn't able to get the same network card that Harold's server was using. The only network cards he could find operated at a higher speed. He was sure Harold would like that. When he got back, Skip told him what he was going to be doing and then started on Harold's station first.
He worked quickly, but with care, so he would get it done right the first time. At quitting time Harold found him to see how the fix was coming along.
Skip reported "Pretty well. I should be able to finish up in another hour to an hour and a half. Got anybody who can hang with me until then to lock up?"
"The security guard can let you out. I'll tell him to watch for you."
"Fine. Can I leave the invoice with him, or would you rather I mail it to you?"
"I think I'd rather you mail it, if you don't mind."
"No problem. I can do that."
Two hours later Skip had finished the job, including a test at each station. He felt proud of the job he had done. Skip headed home, hoping Sandy would still be in a good mood, and maybe even have dinner ready for him. The traffic was light at this time of day, so he made it home just before eight.
Sandy was in the kitchen when he went in from the carport. "Hi, Sandy, I'm back."
"I'm glad, Skip. I missed you today. And for once I didn't have anywhere to go, so I just piddled around the house, bored as all hell. Have you eaten?"
"No. Have you got anything?"
"Sure, honey. I haven't eaten either, and I can whip up something in a jiffy. Go sit down and watch TV or something. I'll call you when it's on the table. Kiss me?"
Skip took her in his arms and kissed her long and hard, their tongues dueling for supremacy. Skip thought Sandy won. "Wow, honey, are you hot or what?"
"Just welcoming my wonderful husband home," she announced, grinning ear to ear. "Now get lost so I can fix something."
"Okay. I'll watch the tube 'til you call me." When he turned to walk away Sandy playfully slapped him on the ass.
Now that's the Sandy I married, he thought, as he picked up the remote to start the TV. Things were picking up around here and it was finally starting to feel like a real marriage again. All he could find to watch were the latest stupid sitcoms, so he picked the best of the bad and settled in until dinner was ready.