Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed



"What's up?" Roseanne asked, breaking the silence.

At her words, both Mamie and Scales jerked their heads up, their expressions suddenly mirroring that of kids caught in a mishap, finally seeing a comforting adult.

Mamie rushed over, her voice choked with emotion, eyes brimming with tears that she stubbornly fought back.

Scales was right behind her, his face tense and fists clenched, clearly agitated.

Roseanne immediately sensed trouble but tried to remain calm, "What happened? Why are you guys sitting out here instead of being inside?"

"Roseanne..." Mamie struggled to hold back her tears, "We can't get in anymore!"

"What do you mean you can't get in?" Roseanne was taken aback.

"Yesterday, the school's safety committee and the local fire department showed up unexpectedly at the lab for an inspection..."

Routine inspections were nothing new, so Mamie and Scales didn't think much of it and cooperated, opening up the lab.

But once the inspectors had made their rounds, poking here and there, they dropped a bombshell -

The lab failed the fire safety inspection and was given a week to vacate and rectify the issues!

Without allowing any time for questions or explanations, they slapped a notice on the door.

Mamie continued, "Scales and I were dumbfounded. Just last week, the lab across from us had a similar inspection, and it was all over in a jiffy, just a quick check and the inspectors left. Why were we flagged for violations and ordered to make changes? And to vacate?"

They had just set up their lab, with brand new equipment barely used. It felt utterly unfair.

Listening to all this, Roseanne remained somewhat composed, "So why are you sitting out here? If you have a week, why not go in?"

Scales replied, "This time it was the local fire department that issued the notice. Director White said we need to undergo a self-inspection process, so they took our keys."

But Roseanne still had a spare...

She unlocked the door, "Let's go in and talk."

Once inside, it felt like they had found their anchor.

"Take it easy, have some water," Roseanne said, handing each of them a bottle of water as they sat down.

But Mamie was too anxious to drink, "Roseanne, what do we do now? heard being ordered to rectify is just a polite way of kicking us out. Does this mean we're going to lose the lab we worked so hard to get?

The term "rectification" was tricky. It could mean a few days for some drag on for years for others.

ambiguity left too much room

for

manipulation.

or

Roseanne pondered for a moment before asking, "Where's the notice?"

"Right here." Scales quickly pulled it out from a drawer. He had taken it down right after the inspectors left. Roseanne skimmed through it. The main issues were:Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.

1. Incomplete fire safety equipment: missing fire extinguishers, fire blankets, sprinkler systems, and alarm devices.

2. Improper use of electricity and fire in the lab. An appliance was found on standby mode without being turned off.

Admittedly, these were genuine fire hazards.

But the peculiar part was, despite

similar equipment shortcomings

other labs hadn't received a

swnevelhet

rectification notice - only theirs did!

Moreover, when they had initially applied for this lab space, it was without these fire safety equipments.

Essentially, the oversight was on the part of the institution.

In situations like these, you'd expect the institution to cover it up, not blatantly highlight it by issuing a notice. As for the electricity misuse...