things. You can use the phone over there,” he said pointing to an empty desk. “Dial nine to get out.”
I grabbed the phone and quickly punched in the numbers—I hit the wrong button. I hadn’t realized until now that I was actually shaking. I hung up and started dialing again. It clicked and then started to ring.
“Come on … pick it up … be home.” It kept on ringing until the answering machine kicked in.
“Mom, it’s me … we’re fine. It wasn’t our building, it was the North Tower that got hit. But we’re leaving anyway. We’ll probably be home before you get this message. We’re fine … bye-bye.”
People were already starting to leave. They had put on their jackets, grabbed their briefcases or bags and headed toward the stairwell. I looked up at the TVs. Now every single one of them was showing scenes from the North Tower. This had to be the biggest news story of the day, and I was a witness. I shook my head. I wasn’t seeing anything different from anybody else, anywhere in the world. I had to see it with my own eyes.
I slowly walked back into my father’s office. He was on the phone.
“We have to redirect all our business to the L.A. office … Yes, I know that it won’t be open for another two hours. The London office can handlethings until then … I
know
it wasn’t our tower that was hit, and no, I won’t be leaving a skeleton staff. They’ve already left. I’ll be home in about two hours. You can direct calls to me at that time … Yes … Yes, don’t worry. I’ll simply field calls from my house as soon as I get home. I can make up for things then and I’ll work until all the important deals are dealt with … Yes … Yes, I understand that you’re not happy, but it’s my call. Fine … yes …”
It was obvious that while my father was going to leave he wasn’t going to take the advice he’d given his staff about spending time with their families. He was just going to do his work from home. How typical. Even a plane crashing into the World Trade Center and his office being evacuated wasn’t enough to stop him from working.
I eased over to the windows. I was caught by an irrational fear that somehow what was happening over at the other building would jump out across the open space and get me. That was stupid. We were here, safe, separated by the distance of the plaza.
My father finally hung up the phone. “The big boss doesn’t agree with my decision. He said there was no need to take such extreme measures.” He shook his head. “The old fart would have wanted us to keep working if it had been
this
tower that was hit. Let me get my things, and then we have something else to do before we leave.”
Slowly I edged toward the window. I looked up. The smoke was even thicker and it didn’t look as though it was just coming from four or five of the floors now. What had happened to the people on that floor when the plane hit? No, it wasn’t
floor
, it was
floors
. And what was happening to those people on all the floors above the fire? Had they been able to get down the stairs, or would they be trapped up there until the firemen climbed up to save them? Could they get off from the top? Could a helicopter land up there or dangle a rope and ladder like I’d seen in movies?
“Oh my God,” I gasped as I stepped back from the window. There, just before my eyes, two small figures, hand in hand, had leaped from a window.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
“Will, what’s wrong?” my father asked.
I backed away from the windows. I didn’t want to look down. I didn’t want to see what I knew had happened.
“Will, are you okay?”
I numbly nodded my head. “They … they … out of the tower … two people … they … they …” I couldn’t get myself to finish the sentence. I felt like I was going to be sick. I had just seen them for a split second, and thank goodness they were too far away for me to see their faces, but I knew it was a man and a woman and they were holding
I grabbed the phone and quickly punched in the numbers—I hit the wrong button. I hadn’t realized until now that I was actually shaking. I hung up and started dialing again. It clicked and then started to ring.
“Come on … pick it up … be home.” It kept on ringing until the answering machine kicked in.
“Mom, it’s me … we’re fine. It wasn’t our building, it was the North Tower that got hit. But we’re leaving anyway. We’ll probably be home before you get this message. We’re fine … bye-bye.”
People were already starting to leave. They had put on their jackets, grabbed their briefcases or bags and headed toward the stairwell. I looked up at the TVs. Now every single one of them was showing scenes from the North Tower. This had to be the biggest news story of the day, and I was a witness. I shook my head. I wasn’t seeing anything different from anybody else, anywhere in the world. I had to see it with my own eyes.
I slowly walked back into my father’s office. He was on the phone.
“We have to redirect all our business to the L.A. office … Yes, I know that it won’t be open for another two hours. The London office can handlethings until then … I
know
it wasn’t our tower that was hit, and no, I won’t be leaving a skeleton staff. They’ve already left. I’ll be home in about two hours. You can direct calls to me at that time … Yes … Yes, don’t worry. I’ll simply field calls from my house as soon as I get home. I can make up for things then and I’ll work until all the important deals are dealt with … Yes … Yes, I understand that you’re not happy, but it’s my call. Fine … yes …”
It was obvious that while my father was going to leave he wasn’t going to take the advice he’d given his staff about spending time with their families. He was just going to do his work from home. How typical. Even a plane crashing into the World Trade Center and his office being evacuated wasn’t enough to stop him from working.
I eased over to the windows. I was caught by an irrational fear that somehow what was happening over at the other building would jump out across the open space and get me. That was stupid. We were here, safe, separated by the distance of the plaza.
My father finally hung up the phone. “The big boss doesn’t agree with my decision. He said there was no need to take such extreme measures.” He shook his head. “The old fart would have wanted us to keep working if it had been
this
tower that was hit. Let me get my things, and then we have something else to do before we leave.”
Slowly I edged toward the window. I looked up. The smoke was even thicker and it didn’t look as though it was just coming from four or five of the floors now. What had happened to the people on that floor when the plane hit? No, it wasn’t
floor
, it was
floors
. And what was happening to those people on all the floors above the fire? Had they been able to get down the stairs, or would they be trapped up there until the firemen climbed up to save them? Could they get off from the top? Could a helicopter land up there or dangle a rope and ladder like I’d seen in movies?
“Oh my God,” I gasped as I stepped back from the window. There, just before my eyes, two small figures, hand in hand, had leaped from a window.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
“Will, what’s wrong?” my father asked.
I backed away from the windows. I didn’t want to look down. I didn’t want to see what I knew had happened.
“Will, are you okay?”
I numbly nodded my head. “They … they … out of the tower … two people … they … they …” I couldn’t get myself to finish the sentence. I felt like I was going to be sick. I had just seen them for a split second, and thank goodness they were too far away for me to see their faces, but I knew it was a man and a woman and they were holding
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