Not Eligible For Rehire Page 2

  I laughed. “Yeah. Like ‘This girl just gave up her husband, so don’t feel bad about grassing anybody up.’”

  Then we both laughed, probably suspecting that we were quite close to the truth.

  Two days later we returned to our home port of Vancouver.

  I went to the gangway at 11 a.m. to meet Graham Burton, the head of Casino Operations for the eleven cruise ships in our fleet.

  In his late forties and English, he had lived in Miami for a number of years. He usually dressed in khakis and a tweed jacket with elbow patches, and that day was no exception.

  The first evening we sat at a table in the Cova Café, drinking cappuccinos and considering a number of outstanding casino issues. I’d met him several times before and I knew he liked to talk, but we got on well.

  The conversation moved around to Terry, and Diane’s part in his dismissal.

  “I don’t see how you can use her as a temp suit any more,” he said.

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that.”

  “Jack, let me ask you. When you walk on to your next ship, would you be happy to see her as part of your management team?”

  “No,” I replied. “But, strictly speaking, she did what she was supposed to do.”

  “How’s that?”

  “She had knowledge of somebody taking drugs, and she passed it on to her manager.”

  “Yeah, that’s true. But her own husband?” He shook his head. “How could you ever trust her?”

  He was right, of course; I couldn’t give her training as a supervisor because I didn’t want to see her promoted. I didn’t really trust her.

  He stayed onboard the next evening, but he visited a few other department heads and I didn’t see much of him. The following morning he got off in Juneau, and boarded another ship.

  Diane was on-board for another five weeks, until she finished her contract on July 22. She would occasionally ask about more supervisor training, and my reply would always be the same:

  “We can’t use any temp suits for a while, as we’re short-staffed.”

  In her final week she asked what her next ship would be.

  “It’s not been assigned yet,” I told her. “They’ll email you when you’re on vacation.”

  And while she was on vacation, she received an email from the scheduler, who advised her that there would be no return ship for her. Her file was marked not eligible for rehire.

  Thanks for reading!

  I hope you enjoyed my story.

  Please feel free to review this book on Amazon, and let me know your thoughts.

  Until next time.

  Glenn McGoldrick.

  If you enjoyed reading this story, then you might like to try a collection in the Dark Teesside series:

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