Chapter Twelve R: A Call Nobody Expected
The preliminary conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door.
A receptionist apologized and handed Helen a telephone.
Helen listened for a moment, then asked Emily whether she would mind waiting outside.
Emily stepped into the hallway and found Adrian standing beside the water cooler.
His usually composed expression had changed.
“Something happened?” Emily asked.
“The county is moving the Bellwether families again,” Adrian answered.
“They posted the destination list, but the buses arrived early.”
“Do the families know where they’re going?”
“Some do,” Adrian said.
“Others have been told to board first and ask questions later.”
Emily looked toward Helen’s office.
“Is this why she took the call?”
Adrian nodded.
“The cooperative has been asked to send staff to the pickup point.
”
Emily remembered Nadia underlining the county representative’s promise at the gymnasium.
“They agreed to publish the destination before another move,” she said.
“I know,” Adrian replied.
“We’re trying to get that corrected.”
Helen emerged and asked Adrian to join her in the conference room.
Emily started toward the waiting area, but Helen stopped her.
“You can stay if you wish,” she said.
“You were present at the public meeting.”
Emily followed them inside.
A county coordinator was speaking through a conference phone.
She explained that a contractor had dispatched two buses before the final passenger assignments were approved.
Several families had already gathered outside with their bags.
“Can the buses wait?” Helen asked.
“They can,” the coordinator said.
“But the drivers are charging for the delay.”
Adrian leaned toward the phone.
“The families were promised clear destinations,” he said.
“That promise doesn’t disappear because a contractor sent vehicles early.”
The coordinator sighed.
“I understand,” she answered.
“I need twenty minutes to confirm the room assignments.”
“Then tell the drivers to wait twenty minutes,” Emily said before she could stop herself.
Everyone turned toward her.
She felt heat rise in her face.
“I’m sorry,” she added.
“I know I’m only here for an interview.”
Helen gestured for her to continue.
“What would you tell the families?” she asked.
Emily looked at the conference phone.
“I’d tell them the truth,” she said.
“The destinations aren’t confirmed yet, and nobody has to get on a bus without knowing where it goes.”
The coordinator was silent for a moment.
“That is what we should say,” she admitted.
“I’ll send someone to explain it now.”
The call ended.
Helen looked at Adrian.
“I want a staff member at that pickup point,” she said.
“Someone who can write down the questions and make sure the answers reach everybody.”
Adrian nodded.
“I’ll send one of our coordinators.”
Emily stood.
“I can help with the list,” she offered.
Helen shook her head gently.
“Not today,” she said.
“You are here as an applicant, and we should finish your interview properly.”
Emily sat down again.
The distinction surprised her, but she appreciated it.
She had spent days helping wherever someone asked, without always considering what she could realistically sustain.
Helen opened the folder in front of her.
“Let’s talk about your experience at the diner,” she said.
“I understand your last shift ended badly.”
Emily took a breath and described the soup, the unpaid check, and Grant’s decision to fire her.
She explained how the twelve vehicles arrived the next morning and how the missing bus changed everything.
Helen listened without interrupting.
When Emily finished, the interviewer asked whether she regretted giving Samuel the meal.
“No,” Emily said.
“But I wish I’d known how to help without putting my coworkers in a difficult position.”
“What would you do differently now?”
Emily thought for a moment.
“I’d ask whether we had a policy for people who couldn’t pay,” she answered.
“If we didn’t, I’d ask how to make one.”
Helen smiled faintly.
“That sounds like a useful question for your first week,” she said.
Outside the window, the parking lot had emptied.
The delivery van was gone, and the entrance remained clear.
Emily closed her notebook and waited for the next question.
