Roller Coaster Romance

by Kate Moseman

  Vanessa shook her head and smiled at Amy. If you think I’m that stupid, lady, you got another think coming.

  “I feel great about this,” said Dirk. “I’m happy to be of service.”

  Amy took his remarks in stride. “Well, then, let’s move on.” She pulled out an elaborate chart. “These are all the Legacy employees. As you can see, they have a mark beside their names indicating their stance on the union. Plus sign if they lean toward management. Minus sign if they are against management. Question mark if their views are unknown.” She handed the chart to Vanessa. “What we need you to do is update this list.”

  Vanessa handed the chart off to Dirk. “How do we do that, if we can’t ‘interrogate’ anyone?”

  “Every employee will receive a letter from Mr. Destiny with some interesting facts about the union. All you need to do is mention one of the facts. Perfectly legal. For example”—she turned to Dirk—“ask me if I knew the union could make me pay a penalty for not following the rules.”

  Dirk sat up straight, eager to roleplay. “Did you know,” he said, “the union could make you pay a penalty for not following the rules?”

  “No, I did not know that. Thank you for telling me! I will definitely not vote for the union,” said Amy. “See? It’s easy. And if they look uncomfortable, or argue—it’s a minus.” She tapped the chart with her pen. “As for the known troublemakers, they need to be carefully watched.” Amy’s cool gaze met Vanessa’s carefully neutral one. “Do you know if any of the employees with minus signs have been found breaking company rules? Arriving late? Taking too long for breaks?”

  Vanessa thought back to finding Thomas hidden behind the curtain, then pushed the thought out of her mind before it altered her expression. “I’m new here, so I don’t know their histories. But I will take a closer look,” she said.

  “Please do,” said Amy, emphasizing each word. “In addition, Mr. Destiny will be giving out a new award, called the Silver Mirror, to one attractions employee in each area. We will need you to select a suitable candidate for the award. Someone who follows all the rules. No troublemakers. Do you get my meaning? These will be given out before the vote.”

  Vanessa nodded.

  She had to give them credit.

  They’d thought of everything from carrot to stick.

  And she would be expected to wield both.

  Thomas

  Thomas tore open his pay envelope and found an extra sheet of paper tucked behind his measly check.

  Dear Fellow Crew Member,

  You may have become aware of an outside organization attempting to infiltrate our workplace. As your friend, I would like to reassure you that your management team is hard at work to preserve the special relationship Destiny Park crew members currently enjoy with management. Did you know:

  A union is a business that can’t survive without taking money from your paycheck.

  Union organizers will make salary and benefit promises to you they can’t keep.

  A union will control everything about your job and make it impossible to deal directly with your manager.

  Rest assured that we stand with you in this matter and do not wish to see an outside organization come between us. If you feel that we have done you wrong in the past, we ask you to give us a chance to make it right. If you have any concerns, please contact a member of management or call extension VOTENO (868366) from any house phone.

  Regards,

  John Destiny

  “Oh, now we’re on a first-name basis, are we, ‘John’? Bastard.” Thomas shoved the envelope and letter into the nearest trash can, almost forgetting to remove his paycheck first. He stuffed the check in his pocket and stormed up to the Ghost Factory break room.

  A new flyer hung from the bulletin board.

  Great. Just great. What now?

  The flyer, titled “The Silver Mirror: Reflecting Excellence,” announced a new award for selected crew members in recognition of “Loyalty, Service, and Achievement,” to be given on a date that coincidentally fell just before the union election.

  Of course. His gaze shifted from the flyer to the sparkling new water cooler in the corner. Now they’re buttering us up. The question is: what will the knife be used for next?

  Vanessa

  After the meeting with the consultant, Vanessa retreated downstairs to the Legacy office. For once, hiding underground seemed like a peaceful alternative to being upstairs. She opened the door with a sigh of relief.

  The open door permitted the unmistakable sound of weeping to reach her in the doorway.

  Maribel sat in a second chair at Charlotte’s desk. She attempted to compose herself as soon as she saw Vanessa. “I’m sorry,” Maribel said to Charlotte. “I’ll go.”

  “Maribel, what’s wrong?” Vanessa rushed to her. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Maribel sniffled. “Really. I’m sorry.” She tried to stand up.

  “You sit down,” said Vanessa. She filled a cup with water and handed it to Maribel. “Now. Tell me what this is all about.”

  Charlotte and Maribel looked at each other. Charlotte shrugged as if to say, It’s up to you.

  Maribel wiped her eyes with a tissue. “It’s just … people are saying … they’re going to fire the union organizers. I can’t … I can’t lose my job. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just trying to make things better for us.” Her tears threatened to spill.

  Vanessa’s blood ran cold. The consultant had just asked her to dig into her employees’ records. Even a rumor of dismissal would make the crew uneasy, but an actual firing would terrify them into toeing the line. Even worse, she would be the one ordered to do the firing. How could she possibly comfort Maribel with reassurances that might turn out to be lies?

  Vanessa kneeled next to Maribel’s chair. “Maribel, listen to me. I have to be honest with you. This is all coming from much higher than me.”

  Tears rolled down Maribel’s cheeks.

  “But I promise: I only want to do right by you, and by all the crew members. I will do what I can. I wish I could offer more.” Vanessa’s heart ached at her own powerlessness.

  “I know,” said Maribel. “Thank you. I’m sorry I … ”

  Vanessa folded Maribel into a hug. “No apology necessary.” She let go and stood up. “Are you off work now?”

  Maribel nodded.

  “Go home. Rest. Get your mind off things for a while, okay?” said Vanessa.

  When Maribel had gone, Vanessa turned to Charlotte. “Where’s Dirk?”

  “He took those ‘Silver Mirror’ posters upstairs.”

  Vanessa whipped out her radio. “Legacy to Legacy 2.”

  “Legacy 2 here,” Dirk’s voice came over the radio.

  “Legacy 2, what’s your 20?”

  “Outside Gold Rush.”

  “Stay where you are. I’m coming up. Legacy out.” She clipped the radio back on her waistband. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” she said to Charlotte.

  “Good luck,” said Charlotte.

  Vanessa found Dirk at the Gold Rush overlook. “I got the posters up,” he said.

  “Can I see?”

  “Sure.” He led the way back to the Gold Rush break room.

  Vanessa watched the faces of the crew members as they made their way deeper into the attraction building. She spotted far more frowns than usual.

  When they reached the break room, Vanessa feigned interest in the poster, then turned to Dirk. “Did you notice something off with the crew today? They seem”—here she pretended to search for the right word, when in fact she had already planned out exactly what she was going to say—“nervous.”

  Dirk beamed. “You noticed.”

  Good Lord, he’s proud of himself. “I did, yes. Why don’t we take a little walk and you can tell me all about it?”

>   As they strolled through Legacy, Dirk explained that he’d taken the idea from Amy about “employees with minus signs” and run with it, dropping dire hints to the crew members as he went from attraction to attraction.

  Vanessa’s horror grew.

  “Just enough to put the fear of God into them,” he said. “Nothing we can get in trouble for.”

  She could tell he expected praise. “That shows a lot of initiative, Dirk.” As they passed a vendor selling balloons, she added, “Maybe—to avoid any legal complications—run those ideas past me beforehand?” The strain of keeping a pleasant tone made her head pound.

  “You got it,” he said, making his fingers into guns and pointing them at her.

  Thomas

  After work, Thomas slid into a booth at The Black Hole, the space-themed restaurant located in Galaxy. He squeezed a lemon wedge into his iced tea, then stirred it ferociously.

  Paulina watched him over her soda.

  Bob stared into his coffee.

  “Where’s Maribel?” said Thomas.

  Paulina and Bob exchanged looks.

  “You haven’t heard?” said Paulina.

  Thomas looked from Paulina to Bob. “What do you mean?”

  “She went home crying,” said Bob.

  “What? Why?”

  “Someone told her anyone involved with the union was going to get fired,” said Bob.

  Thomas swallowed iced tea the wrong way and coughed uncontrollably. “Who said that?” he choked out. “That’s not even legal. That’s a threat!”

  “I don’t know who said it,” Bob replied. “I just know Maribel broke down in the office before she went home.”

  “This is not good,” said Paulina.

  “No kidding,” said Thomas. “What are we going to do? They have everything on their side. Time. Money. Manpower. Access.” He drank his tea. “What do we have? A handful of crew members trying to strategize in a cheeseburger joint. Honestly. It burns me up.”

  Galaxy chandeliers rotated slowly above them as they sat in silence.

  “Have you”—Paulina hesitated before finishing her sentence—“talked to Vanessa?”

  Thomas shot her a look.

  “Just asking,” Paulina said.

  He sighed. “She’s sympathetic, but her hands are tied. She can’t do anything to help without jeopardizing her own job. And we’re much better off with her than we would be without her.”

  “So, what are we going to do?” asked Bob.

  “I don’t think we should run scared. If anything,” said Paulina, “they’re scared, or they wouldn’t be pulling out all the stops.”

  Thomas steepled his fingers, rested his chin on them, and closed his eyes. “Go on,” he said.

  “Think about it. They’re throwing Jell-O at the wall and seeing what sticks. Why can’t we turn that to our advantage? We need to take credit,” she said. “For years, they refused to give us water coolers, and now look—a new water cooler in every attraction. Why’s that, you ask? Just from mentioning the word ‘union.’”

  “And,” Bob said, “imagine what could happen if we negotiated as a union.”

  Thomas’s eyes flew open. “No matter what upper management does, it’s just more proof that our union is powerful enough to make them react. And the more they react, the more they prove the point. People will start connecting the dots.”

  “It’s still gonna get ugly,” said Bob.

  “No doubt,” said Thomas. “But we can tell people that it’s going to be ugly because management is running scared. It won’t be a surprise. It might even bring a few fence-sitters over to our side.”

  “We need to write this up,” said Paulina.

  “I got this one,” Thomas said. “Can you check on Maribel?”

  Paulina nodded.

  “You all working the fireworks shift tomorrow?” said Bob.

  “Not me,” said Paulina. “I’m off.”

  “I’ll be there,” said Thomas.

  They went their separate ways.

  Instead of heading straight for the crew member parking lot, Thomas detoured to Galaxy’s thrill ride, Escape Velocity, hoping it would shake the nerves out of him.

  The attraction queue twisted and turned through dark inner hallways until it reached the loading platform lit with spotlights and neon.

  He climbed into the two-person vehicle, pulled down the lap bar, and had just enough time to think I wish Vanessa were here before blasting off into the darkness.

  Chapter 13

  Vanessa

  Vanessa crumpled up the second sheet of paper and dropped it in the trash can beside her desk. “Let’s try this again,” she said. “Please accept this letter—no.”

  She scratched it out.

  “I would like to inform you—nope.”

  Another strike-through.

  “I regret to inform you that I am officially resigning from my position as Legacy Area Manager.” She sat back, cast a critical eye over the sentence, and decided that it would do.

  She’d had enough.

  Between Mr. Destiny, Dirk, and the union-busting consultant, she knew that sooner or later she would be asked to do something that didn’t square with her sense of right and wrong. If that meant giving up her dream job at Destiny Park, so be it. She refused to be a party to underhanded dealings against people who were barely getting by despite working harder than Mr. Destiny ever had.

  A wave of relief rolled over her as she finished writing the letter, followed by an ebb of regret when she slid the letter into a desk drawer.

  Thomas

  The night sky stole over the Mirror Castle until every panel reflected the light of the moon.

  Thomas, stationed at the border between Legacy and the Hub, waved a lit traffic control wand to keep visitors on the proper pathway away from the viewing area.

  The lights in the trees twinkled through a range of color schemes, bright enough to be noticed, but too dim to make anything else visible in the darkness. Crew members around the Hub, sunk into darkness, were invisible but for their apparently disembodied wands.

  The Hub filled with visitors. Most gravitated to the viewing area around the castle, but others planted themselves in the walkway and refused to budge.

  Thomas, an old hand at crowd control, kept them moving with a mixture of cajoling and shouting, depending on the need of the moment and the politeness of the visitor in question.

  He saw Vanessa’s wand before he saw her. It floated all the way across the Legacy border at hip height until he recognized the person carrying it.

  Vanessa looked lost.

  “Vanessa!” he called.

  She looked to him and smiled, changing direction to meet him.

  “I didn’t know you were coming tonight,” he said. “Is this the first time you’ve seen the fireworks?”

  “I didn’t want to miss it,” she said, standing beside him and attempting to wave her traffic wand in time with his.

  “It’s great!” His enthusiasm bubbled up from a sense of pride. Despite the stress of the job, he never forgot that he worked at the most beautiful theme park in the world. “You’re going to love it.” The night looked better than ever, with Vanessa’s company and a spectacular show to enjoy.

  He noticed her smile slip. She must be tired from working later than usual. He redoubled his efforts to bring a smile to her face, clowning with the traffic wand and dancing to the ambient music much to the delight of the nearby visitors.

  Her smile, though it came more frequently, turned more melancholy by the minute.

  The fanfare rippled over the sound system, announcing the beginning of the show. Points of light shot into the sky.

  Thomas cheered along with the rest of the crowd. He turned to catch Vanessa’s expression.

  She patted her sleeve
against each eye and continued watching the fireworks.

  “Are you okay?” he shouted over the explosions and the roar of the music.

  “I’m fine,” she shouted back.

  He looked closer.

  Her lip trembled.

  “No, you’re not. What’s wrong?” It really was awkward to shout.

  She motioned him closer. “I can’t stay,” she said.

  “It’s only a couple minutes longer; are you sure?” he asked, assuming she meant the fireworks show.

  “No! Not the show. Here. I have to go. I’m resigning.”

  A huge firework exploded overhead and the sound reverberated in Thomas’s chest. His lips parted in shock. “Why?”

  “I can’t do this. I can’t do the things they’re going to ask me to do. For God’s sake, Thomas, they’re probably going to make me fire some innocent crew member.”

  “You don’t know that,” he pleaded.

  She shook her head. “I can’t do it.”

  A white star exploded, followed by a ringed planet.

  He ran one hand through his hair and gripped it as if he would pull it out by the roots. Think, Thomas, think!

  “Vanessa, listen, I know this is impossible. I know you are in a terrible position and I don’t fault you for wanting out. But, please, I know we are so much better off with you here than with anyone else.”

  The fireworks flashed in their eyes as his gaze met hers.

  “I—” Vanessa began, then whirled away into the crowd, which closed behind her as she made her way through. She was lost to sight within seconds.

  The last firework faded away with a fluttering hiss.

  Chapter 14

  Vanessa

  The park emptied rapidly after the fireworks show, leaving her little cover as the crowd thinned. Vanessa fled the Hub and veered into Discovery, hoping no one would recognize her there. Most of the shops and restaurants had already closed.