The Check

The Check

“Diane, can you get back to the office? The courier dropped off a check from that company that Dr. Lane has been waiting for?” Her boss, Bob Peters screamed. She knew that this meant he was hyper, an overreacting. Diane had been hired three months ago, and then the pandemic hit. It was the first time that she had built up a vacation day, and she was taking it. Yes, she knew the virus was raging, but if she did nothing but ride back and forth on the Q Line up and down Woodward Avenue, she was getting out that darn house.

“Hi Bob! What check? “

“You know the one from that company that kept promising him money for that project. Promising for year to do that study on soy? Well Jimmy said that he put it on your desk. Can you pick it up, it needs to get deposited at the University? Dr. James is freaking out, and we don’t want it ratcheted up the chain, because you know he will call the Dean in a heartbeat, and I don’t need the VP breathing down my neck.”

“Bob, you do know that campus is closed. What am I supposed to do with it?” she said as she headed towards her car disgusted that this task was on her plate. Just then she realized that she had forgotten her mask, slammed the door, her Bluetooth flying out of her left ear and almost getting lost in the grass. She quickly caught it, but her finger landed on the button, and she disconnected her boss. Panicked she juggled her cell phone and mask as she tried to get in the driver’s side door without getting side swiped by a red pickup truck barreling her way. Before she could finish dialing, Bob was calling her back.

“Diane! Diane! Are you there, hello?”

“Yes, Bob, I am here, I dropped the Bluetooth and we got disconnected. I am heading to campus right now.”

“Ok, Ok, good! Thank you, Diane. I will call around and see if I can get anyone. You would think the cashier’s office would be open. I’ll call you back.” Bob abruptly hung up before Diane could respond. She took and deep breath, put on her seat belt and took a deep breath. I must have buzzard luck she thought. It is the last day before Christmas closure, normally the University works a half day, and I have a check to get deposited. The company said it needs to be deposited before the end of the year, and the University is closed after this.

Diane pulled up to the parking gate and pressed the door opener, but the gate to the empty snow-covered lot did not budge. “You got to be fricking kidding me!” She said as she pressed it continuously. Frustrated, she backed out almost backing into the cement beam that surrounded the construction site behind her and sped around the corner. She jumped out and went to the meter, running back to look at her license plate and back to the machine only to realize that there was no charge. “Thank God!”

She ran to the front door, pulling the badge that was almost caught in the zipper of her coat, and swiped it in the door until it clicked. She hurriedly ran to the elevator ignoring the guard behind his newly installed plexiglass.

“Hey there, young lady! You got to stop here and get you temperature taken.” He said with a smile.

“Sorry, I forgot. I am in a rush. Is there anyone up there?” She said as she stood still long enough for her temperature to register.

“No, but Bob said you would be coming by. Slow down and be safe “he said just as the bell of the elevator rang.

“Thanks! said Diane as the doors closed and she leaned back realizing that she hadn’t even pressed the button.

The elevator slowly made its way to the fifth floor. It was eerily quiet as she swiped her badge again. The suite was dark, as she felt for the first light switch, turning the corner to feel for the second one above the copier. She opened the unlocked door to her office, and there was the FedEx package addressed to her. She thought it was kind of bulky for a check but ripped the cardboard tab to open the express package. Inside was a little black book, the size of a deck of cards and three checks, all hand-written. One for $200,000, one for $40,000, and one for $20,000. There must be some mistake she thought. The budget for Dr. James’ study is $200,000 and $40,000 for the overhead, and who in the world handwrites checks for this much money, she thought. Did they send money for someone else’s project? She shook the envelope to see if there was a letter. The letter only mentioned Dr. Lane and the soy project. The check for the $20,000 was a blank check but signed by the company President. The other two checks were addressed to Dr. Lane, with a memo for the Soy study, and the Soy study with the elderly population. Just then she looked at the little black book that had a rubber green rubber band on it’s vinyl cover. She popped the rubber band off and opened the book. It had a single page with a handwritten note that said, “You will receive a call at 3:00pm with instructions on the blank $20,000 check. Please wait for instructions.” Diane dropped the little black book on the floor and looked around as if someone were watching. Her brow began to sweat as she paced back and forth in front of her desk. She looked up at the glass clock on her wall. It was 2:30pm. The ringing of the phone startled her. She looked at the caller ID, it was her boss, Bob. Should she mention the book and the other check, she thought.

“Hello, Bob?” I am here, and I have the checks. Can you believe they are handwritten? This is crazy.”

“That is odd, but anyway, I got ahold of someone in the cashier’s office. They will be there for the next half hour. They are waiting for you. Just give them the checks, and they will deposit them in the suspense account, Ok?”

“Ok, Bob. I am heading over there, and then I am heading home. It is creepy around campus. It’s like a ghost town; no students, no one walking, everything shut down.”

“I know. Be safe. Sorry you must do this. I really appreciate it. Happy Holidays!” He said as he hung up before she could respond.

Diane’s heart sank as she thought about the impending phone call and getting the check there and getting back. “Am I being punked?” she thought.

She was too frazzled to wait for the elevator, so she raced down the five flights of steps and raced past the guard, as he yelled out that he was leaving at 3:00pm.

She raced down Woodward the few blocks to the cashier’s office. She patted her pocket to make sure that she still had the little black book and the blank check folded up in her pocked. “Why didn’t I just forward my phone to my cell phone?” She thought. The lone person from the cashier’s office was waiting by the door as she pulled up. He opened the door, sticking only his hand out, and thanking her. She raced back to her car looking at the time on the dashboard, it was 2:55pm. After racing back down Woodward, she realized that she must have left her badge on her desk. How would she get back in and back to her desk? Luckily, the guard agreed to let her in, although he was annoyed, taking her temperature, again and letting her back in on the fifth floor. She thanked him profusely and hoped he did not want to talk which he did not since he was getting off. She practically closed the door in his face. Just then the telephone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hello, this is Maggie from Soy Research. Were you able to get the checks to the University and get them to the cashier’s office? Bob assured me you would be able to get them in today?”

“Yes, I was able to give them to the cashier, but what about the third check for $20,000?” The note said someone was going to call me at 3pm and tell me what to do.”

“I just called as I was leaving for the holiday. Third check? $20,000. Black book, that sounds odd. Are you sure? We only sent two checks. I know we wrote three, one was written on the wrong account, but we destroyed the third one because it was out of sequence in the series. Let me check the ledger? Can you hold on?”

“Yes, I can hold on.” Diane suddenly felt faint and sat down in one of the side chairs in her office.

“Hello? Miss Diane. We must deposit that check as well. It has already been counted on our books as an expense. It is the end of the year. I may lose my job, she cried. It has to be cashed.”

“Can’t you just void it. The cashier’s office is closed. It is Christmas break. The University is closed until January 2nd.”

“No, we can’t. It was supposed to go into faculty member’s research account, but we ran out of time, and were not able to notify him because he was out of the country. He is not at your University. This is going to sound crazy, but you need to deposit it in your account.”

“My account? What do you mean, my account?”

“You and I are the only two that know about this check. It must be off our books. Merry Christmas!!”

“This makes no sense; won’t they want to know who I am?” Just then, the phone disconnected, and Diane heard a pounding on the door.

“Diane! Diane! Wake up, your alarm has been going off for a half hour. You are going to be late for your first day.