Kelly heard the creaking and groaning of the garage door going up. She hurried over to the front window and squinted as she peered through the glass and drizzling rain outside. He’s back already, she thought. He must have forgotten something. She went back to her ironing board and stretched out the sleeve of the business shirt. The closing car door made a dull thud. The inside door opened and Neil walked in.
“What did you forget?” she asked.
“Can you ring Hogan for me and tell him I’m sick?”
“Are you sick?” she asked.
“I don’t feel like going today. Can you ring?”
“Can’t you do it? What will I tell him?” she asked.
“You know, stomach upset or something,” he said over his shoulder as he walked away from her to the bedroom. He listened as Kelly shuffled around getting the phone number and dialing. He couldn’t hear exactly what she said but the conversation was short.
Kelly appeared at the bedroom door. He was lying stretched out on top of the bedcovers, hands clasped across his chest.
“What did he say?’ he asked, not looking at her.
“He just said OK, hope he’s in tomorrow... thanks for calling,” she paused and then stood at the end of the bed. “What’s wrong? You were going to work, then came back home.”
“I’m not up for it,” he said.
“It’s Hogan isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. I’m not happy there anymore,” he said.
Why don’t you look for another job?” she asked.
“Yeah, think I’ll sleep for a bit.” He rolled onto his side.
“Ok, let’s talk later,” She stood and looked down at him for a moment and walked out.
Between the hisses and gurgles of Kelly ironing Neil could hear the light sprinkle of rain on the iron awning outside the window. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, stood up and looked out. There were no clouds to see, just a flat greyness. He thought it was like a grey ceiling pressing down. The timber fence a few meters away blocked most of the view of the next door lowset house. This neighbourhood was full of this style house but with no mature trees, the area seemed barren. He lay back down and closed his eyes. He dozed restlessly for about an hour. When he woke and came out of the bedroom, Kelly was still at the ironing board. “Aren’t you finished yet?” he asked.
“Oh you’re up,” she said. “I’ve got two loads to do and it’s being picked up at three.”
“I’ve decided to make a complaint about Hogan.”
Kelly put the iron in its rack and walked over to face him. “I think you should Neil. She put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him softly on the lips. “You haven’t been the same since he showed up.”
He moved the basket of clothing on the couch and sat down. “Yeah, you know I’ve been leading hand there for two years and he’s only been there six months. I can’t work it out. He gets on fine with the other leading hands. He just has favourites.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m going to talk to Tony Magnussen.”
“And say what?”
“Not really sure yet, it’s pretty risky,” he said. “I can guess what will happen. It will be one of two things, nothing, because bosses look after each other, or he will call us both in to sort out our differences. If he calls us in, I’m really stuffed.”
“Magnussen must know what he’s like,” Kelly said.
“He probably does. You remember Phil Howard who used to be the admin clerk in the office with Hogan?” he asked.
“Yeah, I remember him from the Christmas party.”
“He is a really nice quiet guy, not all that old. He was good at his job and Hogan just put shit on him all the time. He’s been on sick leave for over a month now and the word is he’s not coming back. He does the same thing to me, probably not as bad. But you never know when he’s going to snap. I’m walking on eggshells whenever he’s around.”
“You can always look for another job. You’d get one pretty easy,” she said.
“Not so sure about that, used to think so. But why should I? I don’t want to have to leave just because of that prick.”
Kelly sat quietly next to him and looked out the lounge room window at the continuing drizzle. What a miserable, grey day, she thought.
“I know what I’ll do,” Neil said. “I’ll ask Magnussen to transfer me to a different job, not under Hogan. Then I’ll tell him how Hogan is a bully and killing morale.”
“Are there other jobs there that you would like?” she asked.
“Maybe in the office, there’s a bunch of buyers and admin people. Be good there, wouldn’t get dirty,” he said and stood up from the couch. “Yep, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll see Tony Magnussen tomorrow.” Neil went to the side table and picked up his car keys “I’m just going to slip down the bottle shop Kel. I might have a couple tonight,” he said.
Kelly was back ironing and looked up. “What if someone sees you? You’re supposed to sick,” she said.
“Don’t care if they see me,” he replied.
Neil returned with two six packs of beer. One went into the fridge and the other with him to the lounge room. He was not a routine heavy drinker but the day had made him sullen and tense. Alcohol was his medication of choice. It usually provided a reaction of friendly sociability – not tonight. Neil declined Kelly’s invitation to eat dinner and continued to drink. She ate alone in the kitchen. She could sense him slipping into melancholy. Kelly walked into the lounge room. Neil was sitting on the sofa - both feet were on the coffee table surrounded by empty beer bottles.
“You’re not going to drink all the beer tonight, are you?” she asked.
“Yeah – I might,” he replied with a sullen tone. He didn’t look up.
“C’mon, don’t be a dick. I know you’re worried but you don’t need to drink.”
“I’m not fuckin’ worried!” he shouted, looking at her with an angry gaze.
“Alright!” Kelly replied tersely as she turned away.
“I’m going to bed and you should too,” she said as she walked out of the room.
The next morning was grey, a replica of the previous day, but not raining. It was still quite dark when Neil woke. Kelly was asleep - lying on her side. He quietly slid out of bed, stood and stretched his arms up. He looked over at Kelly. He looked at the curve of her hip under the covers and wondered why that shape attracted him so much. He wanted to touch her. He resisted the urge.
He quickly showered, shaved and dressed in his work clothes. He sat on the edge of the bed, bent down and grabbed his work boots.
Kelly woke and blinked a few times to get the sleep from her eyes. She looked at Neil hunched over doing up his boots. “Call me later Neil,” she said softly. “Let me know how it went.”
“OK.” He got up, went around to her side, bent and kissed her. “Sorry about last night,” he said. He knew he was lucky to have her to talk to and to care about how he felt.
The forty-minute drive to the plant seemed to not exist. Neil pulled into the staff car park and into in his usual place. He had a knot in his stomach. He walked briskly to the main front office, not to the side workshop door as he normally would. He scanned his I.D. card to enter and walked past the unattended reception desk. A few employees were sitting at their desks. The rest of the office was empty. He knew Magnussen would be in his office in the corner. He usually came in early. Neil walked through and stood in Magnussen’s open doorway.
Magnussen looked up from his desk over the top of his laptop. “Morning Neil, you want to see me?” he asked.
“Yeah, you got time Tony?”
“Sure, come in.” He stood up, moved around the desk and sat at the round table in his office.
Neil entered and sat opposite him. He was sure the tension in his face must have been obvious. He decided to ask about changing jobs first and then tell him about the problems with Hogan.
Magnussen explained that Neil was unlikely to get a white-collar job anywhere near his current pay level. “If you don’t have experience Neil, you start at the very bottom,” He paused and leaned forward. “You’re a leading hand Neil, why do you want to change?”
This was the opportunity – now - to do something about Hogan. Neil swallowed, looked down, then directly up at Magnussen. “Just thought doing something different might be a good move,” he said.
Magnussen said he would let Neil know if anything came up that may suit him. He left the office with a painful thought. “Jesus, I’m a wuss. What am I going to say to Kel?” He made his way from the main office back to the workshop area. He was despondent and apprehensive now about how Hogan would react about his day off. He was thinking about what to say when the forklift hit him.
The investigation into the accident went on for about three months. It concluded that the forklift driver was not at fault. Neil was held totally responsible. He had been walking outside the designated walk zone and was not paying due attention to the surrounding work activity.
The unexpected outcome of the investigation and associated statement gathering from workers was that Supervisor Hogan was unsuited for people management. Many of the staff interviewed used the opportunity to complain about bullying from Hogan. He was shifted to a specialist role without subordinates. Neil recovered from the broken leg he sustained in the accident but was left with a permanent limp. He was unable to carry out the usual heavy work of the leading hand. He resolved that never again would he allow himself to be a target for intimidation. Neil was promoted to the vacant Supervisor position on his return from sick leave.