Happiness....A Different Kind of Maylor Love Story

Dirty Laundry...

Brian and Roger stood in the parking lot of what once was The Inner Groove.  There was only the crumbled walls of a burned out building and charred debris strewn everywhere.  The bakery next door was barely there.  It was like their kitchen had melted so Brian could imagine how hot the fire had got as it swept through his shop.  The odor was nauseating.  The vile smell of melted vinyl permeated the area.  Puddles of water from dousing the fire remained and caution tape was fastened across the former entryway to the businesses.  

Brian felt numb.  His entire livelihood lay in ruin before his eyes.  If he hadn't known the layout of his shop so well he couldn't have determined where his front counter once stood or his rows of record shelving.  A small portion of a display for Michael Jackson's Thriller was still recognizable but was soggy from the water.  Brian surmised just from his view a hundred feet back that there was nothing to salvage.  Broken pieces of records could be seen on the floor if you looked closer and some boxes with burned off edges remained in the area that was once his back room.  It was all gone!  All of it!  Five years of hard work had gone up in smoke and flame.

"You okay?"  Roger asked him as he gently rubbed Brian's arm.  Brian wasn't okay but there was nothing he could about it.  A tear slid down his face as he wondered what he was supposed to do now.

"No..."  Brian said back honestly.  It was all he could muster.  He remembered there are seven stages in grief.  Shock and denial come first.  The shock had worn off on the trip back to London.  Denial was pointless since the reality of it all was laid out before him.  So he waited for anger.  He knew it was next.  But all he felt was numb.  Maybe he was going to skip anger and bargaining and head straight into depression.  It was a familiar feeling.  When his father died he experienced it.  Buying this shop was proof to himself he was climbing out of depression.  Moving forward from his father's passing.  This felt like another death.

His grief was interrupted by the arrival of a car with the name of his insurance company painted on the side.  His agent got out and walked over to him.  There were brief introductions between Brian, his agent and Roger.

"It's pretty bad..."  the agent stated to him.  Brian simply nodded.  He appreciated the candor and not being told something other than the harsh truth.  "The good news is you shouldn't have a problem with your claim...especially since the fire appears to have started in the adjoining business..."  his agent remarked.  It was good news to hear.  

"That's a relief..."  Brian commented and tried to find something resembling gratitude on his face.  The agent patted his arm.

"Just as soon as the fire investigator finishes his review then we can start the process..."  he informed Brian.  

"How long does that usually take?"  Brian asked.  The agent looked perplexed.

"That is the tricky part..." he confessed.  "Sometimes a few weeks...but some investigations take months...it just depends..."  he explained.  

"Can I go ahead and request some of the money to cover my expenses?  My loss of income?"  Brian checked.  The agent seemed a little subdued.

"I have to remind you Brian that the coverage you elected when you opened the policy was for losses related to your store contents and then just the standard liabilities....you opted out of revenue losses...said you couldn't afford the premium for it..."  It was bad news.  His policy was bought five years ago and renewed annually.  Brian had never made a claim and forgot he should have increased his coverage when the store started making real money.  Now all he could count on was a check to cover the inventory and his furnishings.