A Satirical Scrooge (2/?) - The Eighth Night of Hanukkah
Hey,
I'm pretty impressed with myself that I was able to finish this chapter in a couple of days. Phew! I've already started on the next, so I'm sure I'll have it posted by tomorrow evening. Anyways, here's the second chapter to my Holiday fanfic, "A Satirical Scrooge".
I hope you all like it! ^_^
Title: A Satirical Scrooge (2/?) - The Eighth Night of Hanukkah
Author: me
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Wyatt Cenac, and Lewis Black (Other characters will show up in later chapters)
Genre: AU, angst.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for this fic. My muse for this story is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Chapter 2:
As it got later in the day, the outside air became bitterly cold and the heating in the building became less effective. The writers started to shiver and their breath was becoming visible.
Maher, who was partial to the temperature, thought nothing of it and continued to work. Jon’s breathing was becoming erratic and he rubbed his hands together a number of times and blew hot breath on them.
Jon tried to keep the noises he was making to a low, so that he wouldn’t disturb Maher. Jon looked up from his work for a moment and peeked out of Maher’s office to get a look at the writers. He saw them shivering uncomfortably and then watched Wyatt stood up from his desk and walked anxiously toward the office.
Before saying a word to Maher, Wyatt smiled wryly at Jon. Jon looked at him with a worried expression, as if warning him what he was risking.
“Um...E-excuse me, Mr. Maher.” He shivered as he spoke, from the cold or the anxiety, he couldn’t decide which. The temperature has dropped and we’re finding it hard to work because of it, so…” Wyatt paused, momentarily.
Maher raised his head slowly, not yet looking in the direction of Wyatt. “Is it possible we could turn the heat up a bit?” Jon looked away from them and glanced at the thermostat. There was a gray steel door covering it. Maher kept a lock on it so that neither Jon nor the writers could sneak in and change the temperature when he wasn’t looking.
Maher sighed, showing clear annoyance, and turned to Wyatt. Wyatt felt his stomach tighten. “The heating bill has been outrageously expensive this year, so the answer is no.” Maher said matter-of-factly, but then paused and continued, “But of course, if I got rid of you or one of you out there, I could afford paying for the heating.”
Jon’s eyes grew wide as he heard Maher’s words. Jon stood up from his chair. “Bill, please, I’ve got some extra money on me. There’s a fireplace in the corner. I could run out and buy some wood.”
Maher cut him off. “You will do no such thing. The workday ends in a couple of hours. I’m sure you all will make it. Its not that cold anyways.”
“But, sir, your office is a little warmer than ours.” Wyatt pointed out. “You have two air vents in your office. We only have one for the entire room that we’re in.”
Maher glared at Wyatt. “Well, its not my problem that the builders put two air vents in some rooms and only one in the others. Now,” Maher looked at both Jon and Wyatt this time. “You two are wasting precious work time by standing here and complaining about room temperature. Get back to work.”
Wyatt frowned. “Yes, sir.” He said, backing out of Maher’s office, and then walked back to his desk.
Jon stood still for a moment, clinging to any hope that he might persuade Maher’s mind, but was unsuccessful, and sat back down at his desk without saying a word.
A couple hours passed without another word from the writers, Jon, or Maher. Town life had begun to slow down and fewer people occupied the streets and sidewalks in front of their building. The streetlights shown through the windows, letting the writers know that it had reached the six o’clock hour. A few yawns escaped their mouths and some took a moment to rub their eyes sleepily. The feeling of full exhaustion had finally kicked in for them.
Jon put his pen down and ran his hands over his hair and down to his neck, massaging it gently. He let out a heavy sigh that made Maher glance over at him. Maher pondered the compassionate idea of letting Jon and the writers close up early.
Maher broke the silence, making Jon jump in his seat. “How many pages are there left for you to finish in that stack?”
Jon looked at the short stack of papers next to him. There weren’t many left for him to do, but his fatigue was getting the best of him and it would no doubt take a while to complete them all.
“Um…at this rate, it will take me longer than the thirty minutes we have left before we close up.” Jon replied, while trying to hold back a yawn.
Maher nodded and leaned back in his chair. Even he was beginning to feel effects of the long day. He wrestled quietly with the idea of closing up early some more, eventually giving in. Maher stood up and walked out of his office. Jon got up to stand by the doorway so he could hear what Maher was going to say. Maher called the writers’ attention and said, “Okay, since its been a long day for all of us and since the need for business is not going to be very high for the next day or two, let’s go ahead and close up now.” When hearing these surprising words from their severely strict employer, the writers smiled and began to chatter noisily.
“Hey!” Maher snapped. The writers got quiet. “Its not a gift or a reward for you. It’s strictly for economic reasons. Do you understand me?”
The writers nodded silently, not wanting to ruin the possibility of getting out early. Maher stared at them for a few moments to make sure that he had their complete attention and said, “Now, since I’m letting you leave early and also because you get tomorrow off, I need you to be here two hours earlier the following morning.” That brought about a few groans from some of the writers. “Are we clear?” Maher asked. Maher received a unanimous “yes” from all of them.
Maher gave them the signal that he was finished talking, and then they all packed up their briefcases and cleaned up the space around them before filing one by one out the front door.
Jon made the effort to finish the page that was on his desk before packing his things to go. Maher, who had gone back to his desk to continue his work, kept an eye on Jon. Jon picked up the small stack of papers that were left on his desk and stared down at them. He contemplated whether he should take them home to work on, thus making his work not as piled up when he returns to the office the following day. Finally making a decision, Jon placed the stack of papers in a folder and stuck it in his briefcase.
Maher raised an eyebrow in his direction. “What are you doing with those?” He asked Jon. Jon turned to Maher, surprised that his employer was watching him closely, and replied, “Oh, I figured I would get at least a couple done in the morning and maybe a few more late tomorrow afternoon. Less to work to worry about when I return.”
Maher gave him a perplexed look. “What about the Christmas festivities? Are you not spending the holiday with family or friends?”
Jon smiled wryly. “Um, Bill…I’m Jewish.” He tried not to seem condescending. “Plus, Hanukkah began early this year and tonight’s the eighth night, in fact. I’m spending the evening with a friend of mine. He’s going to join me in lighting the last candle.” Jon chuckled lightly, thinking to himself how he knows his friend does not really enjoy religious holidays that much.
As if it couldn’t have happened at a better moment, the front door opened and Lewis Black stepped in. Lewis shook his arms, letting the fresh snow fall off, while cursing silently about the cold, and removed his glasses to wipe the fog from the lenses.
Maher, not recognizing the man at first, yelled. “We’re closed!”
Jon, on the other hand knew right away who it was, told Maher not to worry and turned back to Lewis. “Hey, Lewis!” Jon smiled, very happy to see his friend. “I’m about ready to go. I just have to finish packing my stuff here.”
Lewis cleared his throat and replied, “No problem, Jon. Take your time.” He then looked closely into the office where Jon was and saw Maher. With a friendly smile plastered on his face, Lewis walked towards them. “Hey, Bill. How’re you doing?” His voice was scratchier than normal due to the cold.
Maher smirked at the man, slightly amused to see him. “Mr. Black, it’s a pleasure to see you. So, you’re Jon’s company tonight, I presume?”
Lewis chuckled. “Yep.” He reached out to pat Jon on the back. “Even though I almost never participate in the religious festivities of my people, I felt bad about letting this guy spend the last night of Hanukkah by himself.”
Jon giggled. “I really do appreciate it, by the way, Lewis.”
Lewis grinned. “Nothing to it, buddy. Ready?”
“Yes, I’m ready now.” Jon replied, grabbing his briefcase.
“Have a good night, Bill” Lewis said on his way to the front door with Jon. Before opening the door, Lewis turned back to Maher and extended his index finger as he always did when he was going to ask a question. “Say, Bill, will you be at the food and clothing drive tomorrow evening?”
Maher shook his head. “No, I will not.” Maher was sick of hearing about it, but was too tired to pick an argument with Lewis.
“Ah, well, have a nice relaxing day off tomorrow.” Lewis said before turning to walk out the door, while hiding a sarcastic grin from Maher.
Jon held back a grin and nudged Lewis’ arm playfully. “Take care, Bill.” Jon waved at Maher before closing the door behind him.
“Pfft! Even the Jews are fools.” Maher grumbled. With just his office light on, Maher finished his work in silence.