Home to Roost (Closed for spawnofdavey)

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

Burt Leonard was a self made man. He’d gotten into the shipping business in the late seventies with the help of a small loan from his in-laws, and what had started out as a five man business had long since turned him into a multimillionaire. That wasn’t to say he’d lived a cushy life without tragedy-no, it had taken years of grueling hard work to get to where he was now, having sacrificed the years of his twenties and thirties and, ultimately, costing him his relationship with his wife. That was old news, though-she’d remarried and they’d even become friends again, before cancer had taken her to her final reward back in ‘98.

He never quite recovered from either time he had lost her, and lived a relatively quiet life, doddering around between his home and business, an enterprise the younger generation mostly ran for him, with his occasional guidance.

Lynnette Hawkens was one of these. She’d come to work for him nearly a decade ago, secretary for the floor manager or something, he can’t quite recall. She’d gotten herself the rest of the way through school and then, one wintry day-came to his office bold as brass, wanting to apply for Jeanine Rogers’ old job not two days after the old woman had announced her retirement.

He wouldn’t have thought so young a woman would stick around for so taxing a position, become second in the company only to him-but she had. Both she and his business had flourished in the intervening years, and Lynnette had become his most trusted employee. More than that-she became his family. He doted on her as much as she’d allow him to, and he viewed her as the daughter life hadn’t gotten around to giving to him. Company wide people speculated he’d leave the business to her someday, given his lack of heirs and the amount of work she’d put into it. She was as devoted as he was to its health, its employees...and its profit margins.

He worried about her, sometimes. He’d had and blown his own marriage with Charlotte, but at least he’d known love-Lynnette seemed to have no interest in it. Like him, she’d sacrificed her twenties to Leo’s Shipping-and while she was still a very lovely woman at thirty three, tall and confident, flaming red hair and intelligent, green flecked hazel eyes-she seemed determined to also give over the next decade, romance free. Oh, he’s tried to encourage her to have more of a personal life-he’s even hired handsome, promising young men on occasion, always under the flimsy excuse of lightening her workload-but she wouldn’t have them nor would she surrender any responsibilities, and they’d inevitably move on to more challenging work rather than sit back and do nothing.

Well, maybe someday she’d settle down. At this exact moment however, two thirty in the morning and with shipping manifests rolling off three different printers, he was almost glad she hadn’t-this client had always been one of their most demanding, but they really had the fire burning under them all this past month.

“It’ll be at least another three weeks of overnights.” Lynnette said to him, rearranging reports on his admittedly messy desk. He’d had three cups of coffee in the last two hours, and was starting to believe his doctor about being too old for this.

“That’s alright-the boys down there like the overtime, and they’re worth it. Johnson just had a baby, he’ll be looking for extra pay.”

“Hm. We might need a larger overnight crew if this keeps up, I don’t want people burning out. I can head down, see what our hiring needs would be for a designated night shift.”

“Ask Ms. Henderson to do that tomorrow-that’s the reason we hired an H.R. representative, and that poor man would probably like to go home at some point-as would I, and so should you.” The aging, fatherly owner rose from his cushioned office chair and rounded the desk, squeezing her shoulder. “You were still here when I left yesterday night, and leaving when I came back in.” He waggled a disapproving finger. “This time I’m not driving off until you’re right behind me, missy. So if you keep at this, you’re keeping an old man from his bed and nightcap.”

She laughed. “Alright, alright-I’ll head down for a quick chat just to get an idea, and then we can walk out of here together. Find that Lancaster report? I want to take it home.”

He threw up his hands and headed to his filing cabinet. “Well of course you’d want that for bedtime reading-”

“It’s not my fault you refuse to use a computer. One of these days I’ll stop printing your emails for you, and then you’ll have to catch up with the times.”

“Never.”

Another silvery laugh, and then she exited the office, closing the door as she stepped out onto the mezzanine walkway and closed the door.

She cut a neat figure-wearing a pinstriped pencil skirt and matching blazer, her button up blouse underneath was a dark green and tucked into the skirt at her narrow waist, businesslike and professional, even at so late (or at this point, early) an hour. Conservative short heels gave a bit of added lift to her already five foot eight, lithe bodied frame, a pair of simple emerald studs in each ear. She had a narrow, rather straight nose and prominent cheekbones, a defined brow and just the slightest of hints of freckling across her otherwise fair face. Red, very hair was her only other adornment, and what a glorious adornment it was-she wore it down rather than up, a half ponytail keeping it away from her face while the tousled waves fell around her shoulders, starkly contrasted against the dark material of her blazer.

 

[spawnofdavey]

Working for Leonard’s Logistics was hardly exciting or taxing but for Ellis Thompson, it was a financial lifeline. The pay was good for blue-collar work and with his elderly parents care to pay for, the almost permanent overtime and night shifts on offer were a godsend.

Ellis was in his early forties and had given most of the last decade of his life to caring for his parents. Unfortunately their physical and mental health had declined rapidly over the last few years and they’d been forced to move into a care home. While that freed Ellis from having to care for his parents himself, the burden shifted to an astoundingly costly financial one.

He’d taken the job at the logistics company as they offered a good basic salary as well as an almost unlimited amount of overtime. He was still struggling, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel, at least in terms of the financial aspect. Working 12+ hours a day, packing boxes and loading pallets onto trucks wasn’t exactly how he’d envisaged spending the majority of his time in his mid-forties, but needs must and he wasn’t one to complain. He’d gotten through university with a good qualification and made a decent amount of money in his mid-twenties in the dot com boom, so when it came to looking after his parent when they first became ill, money was no issue. Unfortunately, the boom turned to bust for the investments he’d made and money soon started to run out.

So, Ellis found himself on the shop floor at close to 3 a.m. packing boxes with a few of the other guys pulling another night shift. Most of the others were younger men, part time workers paying themselves through school or university but there were a few old timers too with Ellis in between. He wore jeans and an old t-shirt emblazoned with a Metallica logo. His features were relatively youthful, though his hair was shot through with grey particularly at his temples. His dark brown eyes had the look of someone a little world weary, not to mention tired after pulling three extra night shifts in a row.

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

The college aged kid working across from him paused, nudging his buddy and giving a nod to something somewhere behind Ellis.

It’s the bosslady, Lynnette-not Ms Hawkens, just Lynnette-same as Burt Leonard was just Burt. The striking woman was just now leaving the stairs to the mezzanine, double checking something on the tablet she carried in the crook of one arm. She tapped at it with the elegant bronze stylus in her left hand, continued to stride towards the line-the two men got back to work, but they were paying attention.

She looked up, spotted Thompson-and either gestured him over with a nod, or tapped him on the shoulder. “Have a minute, Ellis?” She glanced at the late nighters hard at work, looking for anybody dead on their feet-but everyone still looked in good shape, if a little fatigued in spots.

She thinks a few dedicated night shifters might strike the right balance, let more people take a night off when they needed it, but not too many people folks that wanted it couldn’t get overtime. Burt was right-they were worth it.

She’s looking forward to Thanksgiving, where the usual Christmas shopping bonus would be complemented with the news of a surprise four dollar raise. They were doing well, and it was important to spread it around if they wanted to keep doing well.

“How’re you holding up?” She asks him, looking over at him as they walked towards the few offices just through the side door. He’s not dead on his feet either, but he does look a little tired.

 

[spawnofdavey]

He noticed the young lad nudge the guy next to him and figured one of the bosses had come down stairs from their office. Ellis didn’t change what he was doing, waiting to see if it was Burt or Lynette that had come down.

A light tap on his shoulder and the sound of her voice confirmed it was Lynette Hawkens – Burt’s protégé and heir apparent – that had come to the shop floor tonight.

“Sure Lynette.” He replied, used to seeing her talking to the other workers. They walked together towards a side office.

“I’m going okay, a couple of long shifts, but then it’s worth the money, Christmas coming up and all that.” He told her, unconsciously rubbing the back of his stiff neck.

“How about you? I’ve seen you here every night this week too.” He asked in return, knowing full well that she’d be here all day, every day if Burt didn’t make her go home for a break.