“Done.”
I nod. I wasn’t kidding when I told Zane he was going to be my right hand in all of this. I have a ton of shit to get done in a small amount of time if I want to meet my opening night of Halloween weekend.
THE RAIN FINALLY stops, but it’s still dreary outside. My shift ends in ten minutes, which I’m sure will feel like an eternity. This has been the longest day ever. It’s been slow and boring—well, unless you count the visit from Mr. Super Sexy Beard. He’s been on my mind all day. I’ve never seen him in here before, but I can only hope that he becomes a regular. That will most definitely be the highlight of each shift.
I stare at the clock on the register, waiting for it to flip over to three. Two more minutes. Pulling out my phone, I text my roommate and best friend, Maggie.
Me: You at home?
Maggie: Yep.
Me: Barry?
Maggie: Yep.
Me: Takeout?
Maggie: YES!
So she does know how to spell something other than ‘yep.’
Me: Harold’s?
Maggie: Yum! The usual for me and B.
I knew that’s what she would say. I slide my phone back in my pocket and look up at the register just as the time ticks over. Three o’clock—finally! Hopping off my stool, I untie my apron and quickly type in my code to clock out. Carrie, my boss, looks up from her book and gives me a nod. She’s working on her master’s in something or another, so her nose is always stuck in a book. Not that I mind; as far as bosses go, she’s pretty cool.
Thankfully the rain has let up enough that I don’t get drenched during the mad dash to my car. Harold’s is just around the block, but no way am I walking in this weather. I pull up in front of the building just as it starts to pour once again. Hoping that if I wait it out it will slow down, I grab my phone from my purse and call them, placing our usual order. They tell me fifteen minutes, so I spend the time carelessly scrolling through my social media. Same old stuff, nothing new and exciting. Then I check my e-mail, hoping there might be some correspondence from the what seems like hundreds of résumés I’ve submitted. Nothing, not even a simple ‘thank you for your submission.’
The rain is still pouring and my fifteen minutes are up. Time for another mad dash. It’s maybe fifteen feet from my car to the door, but by the time I’m inside I’m drenched.
“Hey, Berklee. Still raining?” Harold asks.
Harold and his wife, Martha, have owned this place for years. I’ve been eating here my whole life and it’s always been one or both of them behind the counter. I love the guy to pieces. Looking down at my soaked clothes and then back at Harold, I grin. “What gives you that idea?”
He chuckles, a deep belly laugh that only Harold can pull off. “I could have brought it out to you, girly,” he says after he has his laughter under control.
“You’re too good to me, Harold.”
“Berklee, dear. My goodness, look at you. Let me get you a towel,” Martha says.
“No, it’s okay,” I say quickly to stop her. “I have to go back out in this and I’m just ten minutes away from home. I’ll be fine.”
“You sure, dear?” she asks.
“Absolutely. Now, fill me in. How have you been?”
Harold gingerly places his arm around his wife’s shoulders and holds her next to him. “I get to spend my days with this beauty, so life is good,” he says proudly.
I watch as Martha blushes. Blushes! They’ve been married for over forty years and he still makes her blush. I want what they have. Is that too much to ask?
“Oh, you,” Martha says, removing his hand from her shoulders. “How about you? Any news on the job hunt?”
Told you I was here a lot. “Nothing yet. One day I’ll get a break and find someone willing to give me a shot.”
“Really,” Martha huffs. “You are a bright, beautiful young woman. How are you to get experience if they don’t give you a chance?”
See why I love them? “The struggle is real,” I say, defeated. “I’m just going to keep trying.”
“I’ll put you to work,” Harold says for what must be at least the tenth time since graduation. I know he means well, but they don’t need me. They have each other and this place is a well-oiled machine. A small mom-and-pop operation that has been able to withstand the test of time.
“You don’t need me. You two make owning a business look effortless.” I tell them the same thing every time.
“The offer stands,” Harold says sternly. It’s his way of letting me know that he’s serious.
“Well, I better get going. Maggie and Barry are probably starving to death by now.” I give them a big grin.
“How are they? We don’t see them much anymore,” Martha says.
“Good. Barry is still teaching at Garrison High. Maggie is actually subbing several days a week at Garrison Elementary. Of course, it helps that her dad is the superintendent and her mom is the principal.”
Martha shakes her head. “The whole lot of them teachers. I sure do bet their parents are proud to see them follow in their footsteps.”
They are. I remember I asked them both why education, and they said that teaching gave them a happy life. Their parents were able to be home with them during the summer and snow days, and they never went without. “Why mess with a good thing?” Barry had said. They both always liked school, something that formed from having parents as teachers, I’m sure.
“That they are,” I say, reaching for our bag of dinner. “Thank you. I’ll see you all soon.” With that I turn and head back out into the rain. It’s a little lighter now but still a pain in the ass.
Once I’m in the car, I look over and see Martha and Harold waving in the window. I wave back before pulling out. Those two are like my surrogate grandparents. They never had kids of their own, but not for lack of trying. Martha told me once that after you lose a few pregnancies your heart just can’t take it again. I remember that day and the pain in her eyes. I could see how badly she wanted kids, but it didn’t work out for them. Despite the struggles, they’re still together and more in love than ever.
By the time I get home, which is a three-bedroom condo I share with Maggie and Barry, the rain has reached an all new level of downpour. I grab my purse, shove my phone in the side pocket, pull the keys from the ignition, and grab our bag of dinner. I survey my car, a Honda Accord that I’ve been driving since I turned sixteen, to make sure I have everything. I don’t plan on trudging back out in the tears of Mother Nature to get whatever it is I might leave behind.
Suddenly my door is pulled open, scaring the shit out of me. I look up to see Barry grinning, holding a huge umbrella over his head. He sticks out his hand and I give him our dinner before he steps back to let me climb out of the car.