Thunder and Lightening: Chapter 4Home « Thunder and Lightening Index « Previous
- Chapter 4
Posted: November 15, 2004 - 12:32:18 pm
Jerry drove back to the store from a busy morning. It wasn't even eight and he
had eaten a good breakfast of bacon and eggs at the local diner and visited the
YMCA. At the YMCA, he had taken a shower, shaved, and generally groomed himself
with extra care; even taking the opportunity to polish his shoes. On returning
to the store, he went through his clothes carefully looking for the best that he
had. He dressed, taking time to make sure everything looked good together.
Satisfied with his morning activities, he settled into his job with a peace of
mind that he hadn't felt in a long time. The telephone rang and Jerry answered
it even though the store wasn't supposed to open for another ten minutes. As he
was taking down the order, Mike entered the store and looked around taking in
the area knowing that he was going to have to teach his wife how to do
inventory. Today was going to be her first day on the job and he wondered how it
would go. Hopefully, Jerry wouldn't lose his temper.
Jerry hung up and handed the order over to Mike as he said, "They're calling
early today. Why don't you pull orders and I'll take the calls. When your wife
comes, she can help you and get to know the inventory a little."
"Sounds reasonable to me," answered Mike as he read over the order.
The phone rang and Jerry answered it. He started writing down the order trying
to remember if they had everything in stock. At one point, he put the customer
on hold and asked Mike if they had a particular part. When told they didn't, he
returned to the phone and said, "I don't have one of those. I can order it for
you, but it'll be Monday before we get it in."
When the guy at the other end of the line said that he would check some other
places, Jerry said, "I'll tell you what. I'll look around and see if I can find
one locally. I'll call you back and Howard can pick it up for you."
Mike had come back with the order that he was pulling and overheard Jerry. He
couldn't believe that Jerry had made that offer. When the call was over, Jerry
went to work on the phone to locate the part. On his third try, he located
someone that had it and placed an order for it. He also sent over the rest of
the order. Satisfied that they would have it ready, Jerry called his customer
back and let them know that the entire order was at another store waiting for
pickup.
Turning around, he looked up in time to see Karen enter the store. He said,
"Good morning. Ready to start working?"
She smiled and replied, "Sure."
"I asked Mike to have you help pull some orders this morning so that you can get
familiar with the stock here in the store. Take your time and pay attention to
Mike. He knows all there is to know about everything in stock."
Karen looked over at Mike and said, "Sure. What ever you say."
Jerry turned back to the phone as it rang again. He picked it up and took down
another order. At this rate, it was going to be a record day. He called over his
shoulder, "Mike, here's another one."
At fifteen past eleven, Jerry turned to look at Mike and Karen as they pulled
the last order he had taken. He waited until they finished before he asked,
"Would you mind taking your lunch a little early? I've got some business to take
care of during lunch and would like to take a little longer than usual."
Glancing over at his wife, Mike answered, "Sure. No problem."
"Okay, I'll see you in an hour," replied Jerry as he turned back to the counter.
Less than an hour later, Jerry pulled out of the parking lot for the short drive
to the Crimson Rose Bistro. When he had just about reached it, he swore, "Oaf,
you should have gotten her some sort of present."
He drove past the restaurant to a flower shop several blocks down the street.
Entering it, he looked around trying to figure out what kind of flower she might
appreciate. He was debating between some simple bouquet of simple flowers and a
rose, when he realized that the name of the restaurant was Crimson Rose. Of
course she would like a red rose.
Stepping up to the counter, he looked down at the elderly lady at the cash
register. He physically dwarfed her and felt like he could carry her around on
the palm of his hand. The contrast almost made him reconsider buying a rose for
Jenny. How would a young lady like her react to getting a flower from him? She'd
probably think he was some sort of stalker. What had she really done? She'd been
nice to a freak that had wandered into her place. Still, that had made him feel
real good.
The lady at the cash register cleared her throat and asked a second time, "What
can I get for you, sir?"
"A Crimson Rose," answered Jerry. He low gravelly voice managed to convey the
nervousness that he felt.
The elderly woman smiled and asked, "Is this for a sweetheart?"
The question gave him a moment's pause. He answered, "Maybe. It's for someone
that was nice to me."
She asked, "Do you want it wrapped in paper with Baby's Breath?"
Frowning since he didn't know what the question meant, he finally answered, "No
babies. I'll just give it to her plain."
She laughed at his comment, recognizing that he probably hadn't ever bought
flowers before. With stiff presses on the keys of the register, she rang up the
purchase and said, "That'll be five dollars."
Shocked at the price of a single flower, he handed her the five dollars. She led
him over to a pail of roses to let him pick out the flower. Looking over the
bucket of red roses, he asked, "Which one is closest to Crimson in color?"
The elderly lady pulled out one of the darker purplish red roses and handed it
to him. He smiled and said, "Thank you."
The stem of the rose disappeared in his hand, even though he held it between his
forefinger and thumb. He carried it to the truck and set it on the passenger
seat. It didn't take him long to return to the restaurant. Once he had parked,
he reached over to grab the rose. In his nervousness, the long stem snapped in
his hand. For a long minute he stared at the broken rose wondering what he
should do now. If it hadn't been so expensive, he would have returned to the
flower store to buy another one.
Picking up the rose much more carefully, he carried it with him into the
restaurant. When Jenny saw him, she came over and said, "I was so afraid that
you weren't going to come here today. I set a special table for you."
Surprised at her reaction to seeing him, he held out the rose. Gruffly, he said,
"I bought this for you. It had a longer stem, but my clumsy hands broke it."
Smiling, she gently took the rose from his hands and said, "Oh, this is
wonderful. I love roses. How did you know that I love roses?"
"From the name of the restaurant," answered Jerry with a slight smile. She
hadn't reacted negatively to his gift and that pleased him significantly.
"Silly me. I didn't even think of that. Why don't you sit at that table over
there while I put this in some water and get you some iced tea?" Jenny smiled
and hurried away to the kitchen.
Jerry walked over to the table she had pointed out and noticed that the glasses
on this table were much bigger than the glasses he had used the last time here.
He watched as Jenny came out of the kitchen with the rose in a small vase and
set it on the little stand where she kept the reservations. The stem looked a
little shorter than when he brought it in, so he decided that the damage he had
done wasn't that important. She took a significant effort to show off the rose.
Smiling she came over to his table and asked, "How do you like your beef?"
"Medium rare," answered Jerry.
Smiling at him, Jenny said, "That's what I figured. I've got a Caesar Salad and
I'll put a nice sliced Rib-Eye steak on it instead of the chicken. You strike me
as a beef kind of man. Does that sound good?"
"It sounds great."
"Oh my. I forgot your iced tea. I'll be right back," said Jenny as she rushed
back to the kitchen. In the kitchen, she stopped just inside the door. Talking
to herself, she said, "Grow up, Jennifer. You're acting giddy as a schoolgirl.
He's married you fool. He even has a wedding ring on his hand."
Amazed at the effort she had put into this lunch, Jerry didn't know what to
think. She was a very attractive woman. It was hard to believe that she had
thought about his needs so much. He frowned at the thought that he was probably
just another customer to her.
Jenny came out with a pitcher of iced tea and filled his glass without saying a
word. He watched her carefully, taking in her nice full lips, the aristocratic
nose, her hazel eyes, and her delicate ears with little sapphire earrings. With
her brown hair, held back with a headband, she was just too pretty to be
interested in a monster like him. From deep inside, he could feel the rage
stirring hoping that this was going to turn out bad. He swallowed heavily and
said, "Thank you very much."
In a more professional tone of voice, Jenny said, "Your salad will be ready in a
minute or two. The Chef has to cook the steak."
"It sounds to me like he doesn't get to do that very often," remarked Jerry
hoping to break down the sudden awkwardness that seemed to have descended
between them.
His comment took her by surprise. Jenny laughed and said, "You know, I don't
even know if he knows how to cook one."
With an exaggerated wink, he replied, "Maybe I should have ordered the chicken."
"Not on your life. I made a special effort to find a steak for you," replied
Jenny not realizing the import of what she said.
"In that case, I'll enjoy it even if it is burnt to a crisp," replied Jerry.
Jenny looked at him and said, "You know. I bet you would, too."
The restaurant wasn't as crowded this day as it had been on Wednesday, but the
customers still required her attention. Blushing slightly, Jenny took her leave
and went to take care of her other customers. A number of refills of tea,
dessert orders, and bill payments took most of her effort. In the mean time, she
managed to come by with his salad and watched his expression at getting it.
Jerry watched Jenny take care of business, recognizing that she was very good at
her job and understood her customers far better than the average waitress did.
She moved through the room with ease, taking care of everyone with special
attention to the individual. Of course, he didn't know if that was common in
places like this. His experience with higher-class restaurants was not quite
that extensive. Probably his wife went to places like this all of the time.
When the restaurant quieted down, Jenny returned to his table to check his
progress eating the salad. He had almost finished his iced tea and she refilled
his glass. After swallowing, Jerry said, "You are a very amazing woman."
Not knowing what motivated the complement, Jenny replied, "Thank you."
Looking around the room, he said, "You make everyone feel special, even me. I
have no idea how you do it."
When he had included himself in with the rest of the customers, Jenny realized
that something else was being said. It was almost as though he didn't expect to
be treated nicely. Her eyes glanced to the ring on his finger and replied,
"Believe me, it's a whole lot easier dealing with you than the rest of my
customers. You've got an honest appetite and I like men with honest appetites."
The assessment puzzled Jerry. He had never thought of himself in that manner. As
he tried to work through it, she returned to dealing with customers. He finished
his salad while watching her work. The restaurant was slowly clearing up, as
women paid their bills and left talking about the exhausting shopping excursions
that waited for them. He watched a couple leave, the man was horribly thin and
looked like he couldn't lift ten pounds. Jerry decided the guy probably didn't
even know what a monkey wrench was.
Three women came in the restaurant claiming to be there for a dessert rather
than a full lunch. Jenny seated them at a table near him as it was one of the
few that already set. He listened as the trio talked about the problems in their
lives. One of them was complaining that her manicurist had to reschedule her
appointment and how it broke up the rest of her day something horrible. Jerry
sat there listening, shocked at how trivial these things were compared to real
problems.
Jenny came by his table and whispered, "They won't be here long. They'll ravage
the chocolate dessert and then leave feeling guilty. I'll bring you one too, so
that you can show them how it is supposed to be enjoyed."
Unable to prevent himself, he guffawed in a volume that immediately attracted
attention from the rest of the women in the place. Jenny laughed and said, "I'll
be right back."
Looking over at the trio of women next to him, he could see that his presence
there bothered them. Deciding it was because he reminded them that there were
men in this world that were supporting them rather than his massive appearance,
he didn't feel the rage rising. Thinking about his rage, he wondered if it was
too embarrassed to burst forth in this highly feminine environment.
When Jenny came to the tables with the desserts, the women cooed and fussed
about how nice it looked. Interspersed with their positive comments were
negative comments about how many calories it contained and how they'd gain ten
pounds eating it. Jerry looked at his dessert and said, "This is wonderful. I
can't wait to eat it all."
The three women shot him ugly looks, jealous at his disregard for the calorie
content of the desert. Jenny smiled and gave him a wink, letting him know that
she appreciated his comments. She returned to her customers, settling bills and
slowly clearing out the customers. It was soon down to the trio of women and
Jerry. The trio of women was wolfing down the dessert in a dainty manner. That
meant that they were each taking lots of little bites, but were more focused on
the desert than each other. They stopped eating when there was still half of the
desert left on the plate. At that point, they started talking and occasionally
taking a taste of the desert.
Having a little fun, Jerry took last spoonful of the desert and as he lifted it
to his mouth, said, "This tastes so good. I think I'll order another one."
The looks the women gave him threatened murder. It wasn't long after he finished
his dessert that they left while making comments about how they needed to work
off all those sinful calories. As soon as they left, Jenny seated herself across
the table from Jerry and smiled, "That was priceless. You paid for your meal
with that single comment."
"I had a feeling that it would upset them," replied Jerry with a grin. He could
imagine how his wife would have reacted had he done that while dining with her.
"Well, I get so tired of delivering a great dessert and hearing half of the
comments be negative," replied Jenny. She imitated the women that had just left,
"This is so fattening. It must have five thousand calories. It's sinful and
shouldn't be served."
"I can see how that would get to you after a time."
"When I took it off the menu, you should have heard all of the comments and
pleas to bring it back," sighed Jenny.
"Must be tough. Damned if you do and damned if you don't."
"Tell me about it. I really enjoy watching you dig into your food and enjoying
it. You didn't say a single negative thing about the meal."
"It was a great meal and I enjoyed every bite of it. You seem to handle the
other customers well," remarked Jerry.
"Oh, I understand them well enough. The prices on the menu are three times what
they should be. Why? They wouldn't come here if the prices were low. It is a
great status symbol that they can afford to overpay for their meals."
Jerry nodded, as that had been his assessment as well. His reason for returning
was entirely different. The reason he was here was sitting across from him. He
said, "That must help tips."
"Not at all. They calculate the tip to the penny and will short-tip if there is
the least little thing wrong with the meal," she replied. With a snort, she
said, "You should see them argue over the bill. They calculate how much each
woman owes. Men, on the other hand, just split the bill three ways and go on
their way."
That assessment of the difference between men and women surprised Jerry. These
women were acting like money didn't matter to them, but then fought over every
cent. Shaking his head, he asked, "Sounds kind of contradictory to me."
"Yeah. They are so happy spending their husband's money, but want the others to
be just as guilty in the process." Jenny sat there shaking her head.
"You don't sound like you like them all that much," remarked Jerry.
"Just catty, I guess," replied Jenny. She worked for a living and only had her
income to spend. She was careful with every penny, but envied the ability of
these women to buy things when they desired. She shook her head and said, "I
guess I'm jealous."
That statement bothered Jerry much more than anything she could have said. He
remarked, "They don't seem to care much about their husbands except as a money
source."
"Yeah and that's a shame."
"True. I used to be one of those husbands until this week. Realized that I was
being used and getting nothing out of it. Hell, I wasn't even getting to rub
bodies with her. When I told her that I was in an accident, she reacted by
telling me how it would interrupt her lifestyle because I would need a ride to
work," replied Jerry. He was quiet for a moment and then said, "She didn't even
care that I might have died."
The statement that he had almost been killed that week reminded Jenny why he had
come into the restaurant in the first place. She couldn't believe that his wife
didn't show the least amount of concern for him. Shaking her head, she said, "I
can understand why you left her."
Licking his lips, he said, "There's more to the story than that, but I realized
I needed to take care of myself first."
Jenny looked over at him realizing that he wasn't as married as the ring
suggested. Of course, he could be lying to her. It wasn't the first time that a
married man had lied to her and probably wouldn't be the last. She wondered what
was going to happen next.
Jerry glanced at his watch and said, "As much as I hate to leave such an
attractive companion, I have an appointment to keep."
Nervous, Jenny asked, "Will you be coming back here?"
"I'll be here Wednesday."
"Wednesday?"
"Yeah. I will be taking Monday off to finish moving into my new place. It's a
mess and I figure it will take tonight, tomorrow night, all day Sunday, and most
of Monday to get it into shape to move into it."
"It can't be that bad," replied Jenny in surprise. She figured this guy would be
able to live anywhere comfortably.
"The owner locked the previous tenants out. He went in and took all of their
possessions that were worth anything and left the rest. He didn't even throw out
the trash that was in the kitchen," replied Jerry. Abe had told him about it
after he had finished cleaning out the living room.
"Sounds like a horrible person," replied Jenny.
"Oh, he's a real piece of work alright. He told me that I'd love living there
because all of the women in the neighborhood were whores. Of course, he put it a
lot more crudely than that." Jerry still got angry thinking back to when he had
signed the lease.
Jenny sat there looking at Jerry seeing the slight flash of anger that crossed
his face. For the first time since she had met him, she realized that he could
be a very scary man particularly if his anger was directed at you. She asked,
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. I just left before he got me too angry. Even a few more comments and I
would have used his head as a soccer ball," answered Jerry. Shaking his head, he
added, "I feel horrible saying that. One of these days my rage is going to get
me into trouble."
Studying him carefully, Jenny couldn't believe how hard this guy was on himself.
Anyone with a conscious would be angry at hearing someone refer to all women as
sluts. She said, "You're too hard on yourself. Anyone would be angry at that."
"It's different with me," replied Jerry. He thought back to years of fighting
his rage and how easy it would be to loose the battle. All it needed was to
escape just once and there was no telling what would be the result. He added,
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm a big man. In fact, I'd say that I'm
monstrous."
"Monstrous?" asked Jenny very surprised at the harsh characterization of
himself.
Jerry didn't answer as he stared at his hands. He didn't mean for the
conversation to take such a horrible turn. He was definitely coming off like a
whining baby. Changing the subject, he asked, "So how was it that you came to
own this place?"
"I graduated from college and couldn't find a job. After drifting around a bit,
I came to the conclusion that if no one would hire me that I would have to hire
myself. Since I had waited on tables through school, I decided that I would give
this a try. It took almost a year before I hit on the right combination to
attract the rich wives crowd, but it has paid off."
"That's very gutsy of you," replied Jerry. He couldn't imagine just opening a
business like that. The chances for failure of a small business were very
significant. His respect for her increased significantly.
They both realized at the same time, that it was getting late. Jerry had meant
to leave ten minutes earlier and she needed to get the tables cleared. He was
tempted to ask her out for dinner, but that would have to wait until he resolved
some aspects of his life.
It was a two hours before closing when Jerry returned to the auto parts store.
Before entering the store, he stood next to the truck looking it over. He had
meant to get a muffler today, but it didn't happen. Patting the truck, he said,
"Some days, you are lucky if you just make it through the day. I had such hopes
for today, but nothing came of them."
Jerry was disturbed by what he had learned at the attorney's office. What he had
thought would be a fifteen-minute visit had turned into two hours and had cost
him a fortune. The up side was that the lawyer, after going through the check
records, had increased how much a month he would have to spend. The down side of
the visit was that the divorce process was going to take eighteen months, maybe
more. Monday, the papers for a separation would be delivered to his wife.
Inside the store, Mike had been waiting most of the afternoon for Jerry. He was
not happy about the late return of his boss, having expected him hours before.
He had to run the store all afternoon and wasn't use to having the
responsibility of watching over a new employee and a high school kid. His wife
had stayed late so that Jerry could double-check her work, but finally had to
leave so that she could pick up the kids from her mother.
When Jerry entered the store, Mike said, "I'm glad you're back."
Fully aware that he had returned far later than intended, Jerry replied, "Sorry
about that. I was at the attorney's office."
"Attorney's office?"
"Yeah," replied Jerry without explanation. He glanced around the store and saw
that things were at least under control here. He looked over at Jerry and
noticed the paperwork in his hand. He asked, "So, how is your wife working out?"
Frowning, Jerry answered, "Well, we went through as much of what she would be
doing as I understood. However, I didn't do a very good job when I was doing
it."
"Actually, you did a fine job. I just didn't do my part," replied Jerry as he
settled into the chair behind the counter. There had been more than a few things
that he missed when training Mike to do the job.
"She stayed here so that you could discuss this, but had to go home to pick up
the kids," said Mike as he handed over the order forms that his wife had filled
out.
"I should have called. I apologize for that. Things just took longer than I
thought they would." With a frown, Jerry looked over the papers without saying a
word. There were a few items that were ordered that he had ordered the previous
day. He guessed they didn't check against those orders before filling out the
form. With a pen, he crossed a couple of items off the form and then set the
forms down on the counter. He would fax them in before the store closed. Looking
over at Mike, he said, "She did fine for her first day."
"I noticed you crossed out some of the items she put down to order," remarked
Mike wondering what he had failed to tell his wife. He had checked her work and
found it to be correct as far as he could tell.
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you that I ordered some stuff in the middle of the
week."
Mike was quiet as he realized that he had blown it for his wife. Taking a deep
breath, Jerry let it out with a sigh. Mike asked, "Are you disappointed? I
didn't think to tell her to check for outstanding orders."
Jerry scrubbed his face with one massive paw and replied, "I'm not disappointed
in you or your wife. I just didn't have a very good afternoon."
"You seemed kind of excited about lunch," said Mike, curious why Jerry had been
so anxious about leaving early for lunch. His wife had speculated that Jerry was
having an affair because he had dressed up for lunch. It had been a long topic
of discussion, but Mike couldn't believe that there would be a woman that would
want Jerry as a lover.
"Oh, the lunch was the high point of the day," remarked Jerry with a smile.
Jenny was a nice person in addition to being very attractive. She understood how
difficult it was to earn a living. His wife had never worked a day in her life,
even when he was just a struggling salesman.
"Oh," replied Mike not knowing how to find out more. If his wife had been here,
she would have gotten the whole story.
Jerry sat down behind the counter and leaned over the counter using his elbows
to support himself. After a minute, he said, "We're still short two fulltime
people. There are a lot of unemployed people in my new neighborhood and I was
thinking that I would look around there for someone to work here full time."
Focusing on the fact that Jerry was talking about a new neighborhood, he almost
missed the statement that he would be looking for a fulltime employee. Mike
said, "Whoever you get probably won't have any experience."
"Hell, I'd be surprised if they knew what a clutch looked like," replied Jerry.
He rubbed his chin and said, "We'd have to train who ever I get."
"Sounds like a lot of extra work," replied Mike hoping that they could find
someone with experience.
"That's true."
Mike was silent as he thought about the consequences of bringing in a new
person. The only job opening that they had was the assistant manager position.
He wondered if it was fair for him to have to train his next boss. "The job has
a lot of responsibilities."
"Not that many," remarked Jerry. He changed the topic back to the newest
employee when he asked, "So tell me how Karen's first day went?"
The shift in conversation was jarring for Mike. He answered, "It's hard to say.
I started with her helping me pull orders. It took her some time to figure out
where everything was in the store. She'll have to work at it for a while, I
think."
"Good. That's a good introduction to doing inventory work. She gets a very
hands-on understanding of the inventory." Jerry hadn't thought of doing it that
way, but she would be able to walk down the isles and notice if something was
low without needing to go through all of the sales records.
"Well, it sure helped me out today. We were swamped," said Mike.
"It's the end of the summer. Everyone is getting their cars fixed for the last
trip of the summer." The first few days after the first hot spell or cold spell
were always the same. In summer, it was radiators, water pumps, and air
conditioners. In winter, it was headlights, batteries and alternators. At the
end of the summer season, it was everyone trying to fix the problems before they
went off for Labor Day.
"We were lucky. Two crates of coolant were delivered right after you left."
"Ah, that's good," replied Jerry. They probably broke even on them since he had
paid a fortune for overnight shipping. It was worse to not have things in stock
than to not make money on them in this business.
"We'll get your wife, a new stock boy, and a full-time salesman trained."
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