The Fan Problem

The clicks started as the heat increased on one of the hottest days of the year. The typing stopped as the cool air quickly disappeared. Amy could feel the sweat in her blouse, and the stains were forming. Then the best idea was that she had a fan in her car. The others ran to the refrigerator and freezer, trying to cool off. Amy came in as Arny, the boss, was screaming at the others. She tied down her fan as she started her work again. The others, in their sweat, were rather angry as they saw the fan. By that time, all the guys had loosened their ties. The computers became alive as they only continued as the heat rose, and that was just the first hour.

Amy was ignoring the stares as she tried to stay cool. Yet even the call of nature was there, and they would have been fine if she left it. The smell of sweat was all around her. Amy rose to go as she wanted to be quick. Greg had already taken off his tie, came over, untied the fan, and put it on his desk. The others looked at him too, but he had to go also. Chad went over and took the fan to his desk, and his face was relieved till Amy came over and took the fan back.

Chad looked at her angrily, but the rest were sweating, wanting that fan. Amy was angry since it was only ten minutes, and she stormed off. Chad and Greg went to follow her as the rest of the others still stared. The heat was the worst, as even the boss was looking at her fan. Amy sat down and started her work. The day continued to be the hottest day of the year, and maintenance did not even help. They were the most hated in the building now.  

Amy kept a close eye on her fan, waiting for the day to end. And the minute she looked away, Jane came from the corner and stole the fan. Her presence was gone faster than Amy could turn around to try to find the fan again. Amy searched all the cubicles and finally found them again as the boss looked at her taking them back.

"This is my personal fan and not for use by anybody else in this office," Amy screamed as she returned to her desk.

The others looked mad when they watched the one fan go past them as if they were not even wearing suit coats anymore. The work was not getting done as everyone started to snap at each other and go to Amy to share the fan around. The boss had come down hearing the screams, and in his dress shirt too.

"We are having a meeting in the break room, and that is everyone," the boss stated.

The employees all sat with sweat running down their faces. They all gathered as the boss reamed them all out. Even the manager was hanging his head low. Each person was tired and hot, and the air conditioning was still not fixed. Each looked at the boss, who didn't seem to care. The work was always more important, and the workers stared at him. At the end, he sent them back to stop the bickering to finish out the day.

As they returned, Amy noticed the fan was gone again. In her rampage, it was not on the floor at all. She walked around the higher offices. Her face was red as she went to the head boss with her fan. He looked at her with a stare and shook his head as she went back down to her desk. She knew he wasn't giving that up, and she needed her job. Amy sat hot at her desk without her personal fan and the workers working on the air conditioning. With a flicker of lights, everything went dark. Amy and her co-workers could only feel the heat, and now there was no light.  

The lights flickered back on with the backup generator. The head boss came down from his office.

"Since the day is about over, we are going to send you home and finish your work tomorrow," the boss stated.

He handed Amy her fan, and she left with her coworkers. The heat was still present, but the workers were still working on the ceiling. It was a hot day, and all were ready to go home. As the last employee left, the maintenance worker yelled at the others, and they turned the air conditioner back on to cold air. All the men were pleased as they started to clean up their tools after a hard day's work.

"We worked a long day; let's try another place tomorrow," the crew leader stated as they left.