When the Lights Go Out by Roxy Mews Page B

with pink feathers.
    Taylor drank half of his coffee. It was going to be a long day.
     
    After nearly an hour of responding to emails and returning phone calls from his two days off, Taylor had needed a break. He was a strong guy, but he was no match for the imagination of his staff when it came to their pranks. Rolling his shoulders he’d reminded himself that he was the boss, and even if his district supervisor thought this prank war was good for morale, he could still fire people. With that cheery thought, he went to hit the bathroom before he gave himself the joy of finding horribly mundane tasks for his staff.
    Taylor had seen the new men’s and women’s restroom signs as a special order on the supply truck and he knew darn well what one of the jokes was going to be. You would think his employees would be smart enough to know he’d remember which restroom was the men’s after working at this location for nearly a decade. All three of the urinals had plants sitting in them. At least it would freshen the air in here. He grabbed the green fern by the base of the stalks and placed it on the floor by the sinks so he could take care of business.

Chapter Three
    The handcarts were out of stock on the shelf. April looked up into the caged areas that stretched toward the ceiling and thanked her lucky stars that there was at least one left up in the rafters. Her phone rang again. She took a long swallow of coffee before she answered.
    “Please tell me you’re finished, Mom.”
    “Yes, but I told you before, I am very capable of multi-tasking while having sex. Your father does most of the work.”
    April gagged. “I just wanted to warn you that I might stop by and take a shower tomorrow. Please wear clothes.”
    She explained what happened with the electric company mix-up.
    Her mother was far too excited about this development. “We can come over with some of our off the grid supplies. Are you at your house now?”
    “No, I needed to pick up a few things.” April eyed the notebooks, but put them back down. She didn’t need anything else to move.
    April heard the sound of her parents’ outbuilding storage light turn on and cringed.
    “How many MREs do you need to get through?” Her mom asked, and April was pretty sure there was an entire box being filled.
    “I don’t need MREs, Mom. I can go out to eat.” And those things tasted like cardboard.
    “Oh, these need to be used up in the next few months. You need a stash anyway. You didn’t pack any when you left. Bet you feel silly now, don’t you?”
    April banged her head on the endcap with file folders on it.
    “Mom, I’m good, I promise. And if you and Dad want to come over and help me unload the truck I’ll even take you two out to that new vegan restaurant you’ve been wanting to try.” And not eat MREs.
    “I’m still bringing the supplies you refused to take with you the first time.”
    Of course she was.
    “I’m at the Business Depot that’s five minutes from my new house. I’m picking up a few moving supplies. How about I meet you at the cottage in thirty minutes?”
    “Sounds good, sweetie. We’ll get your emergency stash started with you. It will be fun!”
    April hung up and paced a bit as the coffee made its way through her system.
    There was no way she would make it back to her house without using the facilities. Besides, it might be nice to wash her hands in warm water while she could.
    A red-shirted employee walked by giggling to herself. April hated to interrupt anyone’s good time, but she tapped the distracted girl on the shoulder anyway.
    “Excuse me. Do you have a public restroom?”
    The girl looked a bit scared. “We only have employee bathrooms, but I don’t think you want to use them. You see…um…there’s this contest and—”
    “That all sounds great, but unless you want to clean up a series of yellow puddles, just…just point, okay? I won’t tell anyone you let me in.”
    The girl sputtered and automatically