Page 118 of One Bossy Date
My sentence cut off when a bright spark flashed.
A loudpopsounded from the back room, and suddenly all the lights were out. Not only that, but with the computer screen dying, it was clear we’d lost all power. The room was suddenly dark, and my eyes struggled to focus.
“Oh.My.God,” Jim shouted out abruptly.
Seeing a yellow glow emanating from the back, I darted for the back room. Fire?Fire! Jim hastily filled a bucket of water from the wash station, while a flame flickered from the outlet at the counter.
What the…?No.
My heartbeat quickened.
“No, Jim,don’tuse that,” I called out.
Just when panic nearly overwhelmed my body, I forced myself to remain calm and collected.
“One task at a time,” I mumbled to myself, then quickly ran for the fire extinguisher at the front of the store. Passing a flabbergasted Granny Dotty with her hands over her mouth, I ran back and released the powdery foam all over the outlet, and, well, everywhere else in the direct vicinity. It couldn’t be helped.
The fire was gone.
Instant silence and absolute darkness shrouded us. The only sound left was the loud pattering of the rain outside. I turned around, squinting.
“Jim? You okay?”
“Yeah…I think so.” He was behind me, shaken, but all right. I herded him and my gran back to the front, where our eyes adjusted to the dim light of the stormy afternoon coming through the front windows, which hardly provided enough illumination to see each other’s faces.
“What happened?” my gran asked.
“I’m not sure—” I started, but Jim had the answer.
“It was that outlet. I plugged the blow-dryer in andwaaa! It sparked and sent this horrible chill up my arm.” He hugged his body, rubbing his arms.
“Oh, no! It must have shocked you, Jim.”
“I’m fine, honey, it was just a small wave. Then in the darkness, I just noticed this flame spark up.Thank Godyou knew what to do, Zo.”
I looked him over once more to make sure he was indeed fine, then pulled my phone out of my back pocket and put the flashlight on. “You two wait here. I’m going to check on the cats and the distribution board.”
They were quiet, waiting in suspense, while I quickly made my way to the distribution board in the room at the back where the two kitties were meowing in confusion.
“It’s all right, babies,” I cooed. “I got you!”
Before reaching them, I opened the cover and found that none of the switches had tripped. I flicked the main switch off, just in case there was a live current somewhere. Quickly, I picked up the two cats in their carriers, holding my phone between my chest and chin, and moved back to the front.
“Here we are, little ones,” I said, drawing a sympathetic noise from Granny Dotty while I put them down closer to the front window on the waiting bench.
“Aww, the poor kitties,” Gran said.
“Shame, they were so confused,” I said, my heart squeezing. But thankfully nothing had happened in that room, other than sudden darkness, and fortunately the fire had been a small one. And, surprisingly, the foam from the fire extinguisher hadn’t left as big of a mess as I’d anticipated. It was centrally located near the outlet and countertop.
Jim was pressing his hand against his chest, still catching his breath after the shock.
“You sure you’re okay, Jim?”
He nodded, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, thanks, Zo. I’m just calming my heart. Holy fuck-sticks, that was scary!”
“Yeah, but thankfully it wasn’t too bad.” I chuckled. “Let me just call the fire department to make sure.”
I found the number for the district fire department and spoke to someone who told me they would send a firefighter out to double-check, but that if there was no more fire, we should open all the windows for ventilation, and then have an electrician come in to assess the issue at hand. I let my shoulders fall to their normal position and nodded to the expectant Jim and Granny Dotty.