Although it really wasn’t part of her job description, Myrtle spent much of the rest of Thursday calling around for a substitute instructor to oversee Mr. Pelham’s courses. It wasn’t an easy task. Myrtle suspected it was the Dean’s way of punishing her for whatever role she played in all the fuss. The Dean didn’t like interruptions in his routine and he could be very autocratic that way. So Myrtle accepted the task graciously and kept at it. Most certified instructors were either unavailable due to other commitments or were off on some sort of sabbatical. So she changed her approach and found two graduates of the program who’d taken and passed the courses in question. Both were “between jobs” at the moment. One was a little frank about why, but Myrtle suggested he keep it quiet in the interview that he’d accidentally burned down a set while working on a film. She told him to just not bring even a lighter with him to the interview.
Neither of these former students had training to teach, but one, or even both of them could be hired as teaching assistants to get around that. Myrtle arranged for them to come in and speak with Dick Friday morning. Then she notified the Dean’s assistant of this, in case the Dean wanted to meet with them as well.
Having done her best, Myrtle felt a lot better about asking Dick if it would be all right for her to leave early on Friday. Assured that things were looking up, Dick agreed. Myrtle could only hope that at least one of the replacements would fill the bill and nothing would go wrong, requiring Dick to change his mind. She wondered sort of vaguely how many flammable papers were on Dick’s desk, but then gave her head a shake. By the time she left work, she was in a fairly cheerful mood and looking forward to springing Fred from the hospital the next day and looking after him on the weekend.
For his part, Fred was still more or less recovering from Mr. Grieves’ unexpected visit. For some reason, it made Fred feel worrisome about his job. He just had a nagging feeling there were things going on at work he didn’t know about. He tried to put it out of his mind though, because there really wasn’t any point in dwelling on it he kept telling himself. There wasn’t anything he could do about it at the moment. By the time Myrtle showed up, he was very relieved to see her.
They enjoyed their supper together as had become habit, and they chatted about things unimportant, though it would have been clear to any outsider that both were just a little preoccupied and inattentive of the other, since there was a lot of repetition going on. But neither of them seemed to notice, so they babbled their way through the evening until visiting hours were over.
Myrtle slept only fitfully that night, dreaming on and off about strange creatures showing up to interview for the teaching job. One had the body of a mule and the head of Mr. Pelham. Myrtle woke up laughing from that one, the symbolism being all too obvious.
Fred’s own sleep was punctuated by rubber-soled feet running in the hallway and dreams about Mr. Grieves’ huge face leaning over him, tsking away at how sad it all was. Fred did not wake up laughing from that one.
Friday saw them both groggy but a tad excited too. Both the young men who showed up to interview as Pelham stand-ins seemed very bright and confident, though the one Myrtle silently dubbed the “firebug” seemed a little nervous too. Myrtle had already suggested to Dick that if he couldn’t make up his mind, he consider splitting the classes between the two. “It might,” she reasoned, “give them both an opportunity to see if they like to teach, and give you a back-up if one backs out.”
Dick had nodded in somewhat wide-eyed agreement, then went to his office to wait. Myrtle saw the Dean totter by her office just before the due time for the first interviewee. He didn’t stop in to say good morning to Myrtle, which surprised her, leaving her feeling both a little alarmed and a little relieved at the same time. A couple of hours later, Dick came by Myrtle’s office smiling. He and the Dean had decided to hire both young men as temporary teaching assistants. The Dean’s assistant would draw up the employment agreements and the first of the young men would cover Monday’s classes with a copy of the course plan in hand, and any of his own notes from the class he could find. Myrtle breathed a sigh of relief. It would seem that, for now at least, the Pelham affair was over. And Myrtle was off the hook. At least, she hoped so, as she replayed in her mind a sideways glance from the Dean as he passed her office again.
As all this was going on, Fred was out of his hospital bed, struggling to put on his clothes. His stomach still hurt, so bending over to put on his shoes was impossible. Fortunately a nurse showed up to hurry him along and helped him on with his socks and shoes both. Then he got a wheelchair ride to the patient lounge where he sat watching a talk show on TV, feeling just a little as if he’d been kicked out of his home. One of the nurses showed up with a tray for him at lunch time, as arranged. After that, a nurse brought him his instructions for caring for his incision, and his medication to take home. Then he just waited. When Myrtle showed up, he was very happy to see her and very ready to leave the hospital and go home to his new digs.
The logistics of parking the car and helping Fred into his apartment were a little challenging, but once inside with Fred safely on the couch, both started giggling as if they’d gotten away with something. Fred was too excited to nap, so Myrtle showed him where everything was so he could manage when she wasn’t there. Then they chatted until suppertime, when Myrtle made them a homemade meal of spaghetti and meatballs. Fred thought it was the best thing he’d ever eaten, but he got sleepy shortly after, so Myrtle tucked him into bed and went home early. It really had been a tiring day. She’d considered staying over on the couch just in case Fred needed her, but he knew where everything was, was getting around pretty well, and Myrtle wanted to sleep in her own bed. So she promised to be back early the next day to make breakfast, then she headed for home.
Fred was only too happy to be left alone in his own apartment, with his own, new bed, where he could snore his heart out without bothering anyone. Tired, he snuggled in for the night.
