Adam's Apple Pie

Ten - Lucky For Some

I pressed hard against the door but it wouldn't budge an inch. Pressing down on the silver bar across it did nothing either. No amount of force would open it – not if you had ten or twenty people it wouldn't move, it was almost as if it had been welded shut. And that was a huge problem! I went outside, thinking that something might have been blocking it from the other side. The door was quite close to the bin area and sometimes the large containers did move, due to the crap locking on the wheels. A quick glance outside showed that there was no blockage there whatsoever. This door was indeed stuck.

I knew this museum was old, but these were modern looking doors – albeit looking in a pretty bad state of repair. Maybe they just hadn't been used in so long that they just gave up and remained closed. Either way, we were breaking so many Health and Safety regulations!

"Duty officer, are you receiving?"

Always was a highlight to hear the grating tones of Lara on my radio!

"Go ahead," I replied into my radio.

"Can you meet me by the leaflet rack, please?"

Lara's voice sounded particularly chagrined today, best not annoy her more. "On my way," I replied. I headed straight to her location. Lara was standing near said leaflet section (where we had all the local attractions and whatnot), arms folded and with her piercing green eyes straight towards me. The leaflets looked somewhat dishevelled, like a wind had come in and blown them all over the place.

"Adam," Lara grunted, "this rack is filthy. Tidy it up for me."

She was in a bad mood.

"Um, isn't that... the VSO's job?" I asked.

"They're busy." Lara tilted her head to one side, towards the Visitor Information Desk. I saw that there was a cue of people at the desk, the two members of staff harrying to help them.

"Well, I guess I can spend some time on it," I sighed.

"Good," Lara replied. She started to walk away.

"Oh, Lara?" I said.

"Yes?" she snapped, looking back with a face like a smacked arse.

"We have a bit of an issue," I told here. "The fire door."

"What about it?" Lara grunted.

"It won't open," I replied. "It's like it's welded shut or rusted or something."

"Don't we have keys for it?" Lara grumbled.

"I tried that, but they didn't work," I replied. "We should probably get it fixed pretty soon. It is a fire door after all. I should call a locksmith."

"We don't have the budget to get it fixed," Lara replied.

I was taken aback by how blasé she was being. "Right," I stammered. "It's just that... well... if we have a fire, how are we supposed to escape?"

"Adam, this museum has existed since long before I was born," Lara said very matter-of-factly, "it's never had a fire before because it's been well maintained. It's your job to make sure that there are no fire hazards, is it not?"

"Well, yeah... but surely we're breaking so many..."

"Adam, I don't have time to listen to this. Just do your job properly and we won't have a problem. Is that clear?"

Lara turned and walked away. Okay, I thought. Most other people I knew would probably move Heaven and Earth to sort out something like this. But not cheapskate Lara it seemed.

"What crawled up her arse and died?" Rachel's voice appeared behind me.

"Oh," I jumped. "How it's going, Rachel?"