Running Northwest (5 page)

“I know you’re not pushing Derrick, it’s just that…well you know that if Sarah hadn’t died I probably would have asked her to marry me. You and I talked about that back then and it’s something I can’t let go of. Maybe I am a little scared I guess; every time I seem to find love or think I am close to it, it seems to be ripped away somehow. I have to think about Daniel and I do not want him to think I’m trying to replace his
mom.
You know how kids can get and I have to worry about the kind of women I bring around him. Even if I were willing to try dating again,” Thomas said quietly.

“I know what you’re saying, Boss, I do and it’s great that you worry about Daniel so much.
You are
an amazing father and I
do not
know how you do it sometimes. Erin and I care about him too and we don’t want to see either of you guys hurt again.
Nevertheless,
you have to worry about yourself a little bit also. Listen, Laura is Daniel’s teacher…he already thinks
she is
great and she seems to adore him even if it’s just as a teacher.
Besides, she’s hot as hell; even you think so and you don’t even find Latin
o
women that attractive.
But I know you think she is,” Derrick said laughing.

That last remark made Thomas smile because it was, in fact, true. He did think Laura was attractive.

“It’s just hard Derrick, every time I walk down the beach I still see her there walking with me. I walk downtown through the shops…and she’s there trying on dresses. I still hear her voice in my dreams. The way she smelled, the way her skin felt, the way she
walked, talked,
and smiled…lots of little things I guess, I don’t know. But I know what you’re saying.”

“It’s damn hard man. I understand completely…but Sarah loved you, Bro, and she would not have wanted you to be alone forever. I know that for a fact! Just think about it, okay? I mean it…seriously think about it,” Thomas’ friend asked half smiling.

Nevertheless, in his head he wondered which woman Thomas was talking about sometimes. Was it Sarah, Daniel’s mother or Stephanie, who was the reason why he left Michigan and never looked back? Thomas never talked about Stephanie much anymore but Derrick knew that Thomas had never gotten over her completely or forgot about the so-called dumb bitch as much as he should have and as much as Derrick wished he would have considering what she did to him. Especially since, he knew about the picture that Thomas had in his room that he never took down. He sat looking at his friend across the table trying to read his poker face.

“I’ll think about it Derrick. I promise I’ll at least think about it, okay?” Thomas replied to his friend as he leaned back and looked at Derrick’s face wondering what more he was thinking but not saying.

“That’s all I ask, man,” Derrick said.

Thomas smiled and laid down the next set of runs he was holding for quite some time, inciting an ass remark from Derrick. He then took a hit of his own cigarette. Thomas cut back on his smoking a few years ago and never smoked anywhere near Daniel. Occasionally before the coffee shop opened, he would allow himself to have a few while he and Derrick played cards.

At 11:40 am, Tracie Adams walked in the front door. Tracie was an employee of the coffee shop as well as Daniel’s occasional baby sitter. She was 22 and still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. However, she loved the coffee shop business and had been a barista for a few years now. She had worked for Thomas for a little less than a year, and usually did the opening shifts four days a week. He had stolen her from a large national coffee shop chain where they both felt her talents were underused. He considered stealing her a small coup for the little man because he hated that particular chain of coffee shops. In
particular,
he hated how they destroyed small shops like his all over the United States, which he considered the heart and soul of the coff
ee business. Considering Thomas
’ experience in the coffee shop business and how much success he has had at it over the years, Tracie considered it a great learning experience working for someone like Thomas. The two got along great in a weird, semi-dysfunctional sort of way.

“What’s the matter boss, afraid I’m not gunna show up for work? Had to come and check up on me?” she asked as she walked through the door.

“Something like that, Kiddo,” he answered, adding “What’s the matter? Can’t your boss be in his own coffee shop?”

“Of course you can just stay the hell out of way though, I’ve got a routine,” she said heading towards the counter.

“Well, about that, Tracie…we should talk,” he said.

“Shut up, Tom,” she said laughing.

The way that Tom and Tracie interacted was always entertaining for Derrick who sat quietly laughing in his chair.

“No, but seriously, there is something extra for you to do today Darlin. There is a kid coming in at 5 pm for an interview. Young guy from somewhere in California,
he is
19 years old, just a fetus yet if I remember right. He is staying with his grandma a little north of here until the end of the summer. His name is Pete something or other. And he is looking for a part time summer job; he wants the shift right after you three days a week. Says he has barista experience but you know what I’m looking for when they say they have experience,” Thomas said with a sort of stern look.

“Okay, so how do you want me to handle the kid, you want me to be ‘nice’ or be ‘me’,” she asked, giving a Thomas a look that amounted to an unsaid question.

Tracie Adams was known to be somewhat of a bad ass to the coffee shop regulars, not as much as Thomas was but she was close. They both have been known to throw people out for trying to order drinks by using size names like Grande or Venti or ordering drinks from other coffee shops. They were both coffee shop snobs and took pride in the business and what they did. The regulars found it all sorts of amusing. Tracie was the only female employee now in the shop. Another girl worked at the shop about 6 months ago.
Who abruptly quit ten minutes into her shift after only
being on the job for two weeks. A
shift that
coincidentally followed Tracie
.
Thomas never asked Tracie what, if anything, happened that day and she never brought it up either. He just assumed the other girl had been the victim of one of Tracie’s famous tirades. He really did not have much of a problem with that since the first three months of working for Thomas at one of his coffee shops was like going through boot camp. If someone
could not
cut it he rather they just quit and leave.

“Tracie, just be your wonderful, hard-ass, overbearing self! Put him through the ringer Darlin.
That is
part of the reason I want you to do the interview him before I do.
U
sually
that is
a busy shift and if I put some hack job kid who doesn’t know what the hell he is doing behind the wheel, people are gunna go somewhere else.
The shop will get a bad rep and I do not need or want that. You know we get a little busy in here. Look at his resume and quiz him a bit and see what he knows and if he is lying or not, you will know if he is. If he does okay with that, have him make a single shot latte and a smoothie off the menu. Maybe you should come up with something interesting to have him make and see how it tastes. Don’t worry too much about his speed though, that will come in time anyway. And I don’t worry all that much about it, this isn’t one of those coffee shops that get people in and out the door as fast as possible. Then if you think he did okay, set up a time for him to meet with me here, then I can really hammer him, but call me first. I would rather waste your time first than mine. Besides, if he can get past you then he deserves to meet the guy who signs the checks,” he told her with a little chuckle.

“Oh jeez thanks boss, make me the evil bitch,” she laughed and added, “But okay I’ll see what he knows and give you a call. Are you gunna be back in later before I leave?”

“I’ll be here when you’re interviewing him and watching to see how he does,” Thomas said.

“Wait a minute, why don’t you just do it yourself then
?
He knows who you are, you met him right?”

“I only talked to him over the phone when I called him about his application. He doesn’t know what I look like and he’s not a local so I can sort of spy on him.” Thomas laughed and then said, “You know, I watched you for three weeks on and off before I first approached you about working for me. So what more would you expect?” Thomas said laughing.

The comment caused Tracie to suddenly stop, turn and give Thomas an evil look yelling, “Stalker!
You are
a sick bastard sometimes…I love it! I can handle trying him out.”

“But why are you looking to hire someone three days a week for that shift anyway, Tom?” Tracie asked from behind the counter as she sipped on a cup of coffee.

“Because it’s going to be summer soon, and Daniel is going to be out of school.
I would
like to be able to be around more for him and be here a little less. I’ll still be here two nights a week and in the mornings for a little bit doing paper work,” Thomas answered.

“Aww, that’s cool, I miss Daniel. Tell him I said hi, okay?” she asked.

“I will, but you will see him this afternoon anyway, when I stop in since he will be with me, and I think he expects a big hug okay, just so you know,” he answered.

“Well, duh,” Tracie replied, smiling.

Thomas turned back to Derrick and the card game.

“Damn, you’re an ass for a potential boss,” Derrick said amused at the whole thing.

“Tom’s an ass for a boss period…just saying!” Tracie said as she stuck her tongue out at Thomas along with a little giggle as she counted the money in the cash register.

“Thank you for that Tracie.
I am
only an ass to you! By the way, can you still get your old job back? Because yeah…you might
want to
look into that, Doll,” Thomas said with smile.

Tracie laughed, “Ha, ha, what a funny guy you are. You know you would miss me! And who could do my job as well as I do.”

“True, you’re right, kid, I would in fact miss you,” Thomas said.

“Well, I hear chimpanzees are very trainable, Tom!” Derrick said laughing and getting in on the back and forth.

“Hey,” Tracie yelled picking up a small knife and pointing it at Derrick, adding, “Don’t you start with me Mister, you don’t pay me!”

“Well Tracie that may depend on what else you can do besides make coffee now doesn’t it,” Thomas said smiling, not even looking at Tracie when he spoke; it almost caused Derrick to spit out his coffee from laughing.

“I’ll cut you both. I will…swear to God!” she said smiling in an attempted menacing way, “But seriously…nice catch there old man, I guess I left myself open for that one.”

“Just a little,” Thomas said not looking up as continued playing his card game.

“Yeah, ha, ha, now put your damn cigarettes out I’m gunna open up in three and a half minutes. We don’t want to break the law now do we, gentleman,” she said sarcastically as she put a cigarette in her mouth, lighting it and exhaling as she walked towards the open back door.

It was 8:30 in the morning and Stephanie sat in the driver’s seat of her black SUV. Her head and arms were draped over the steering wheel crying, alone once again. The vehicle was still parked in the driveway of her home and had been even though she got into it nearly 30 minutes ago. She bought her home about three years ago it was her first house. Until about five months ago, she spent the previous 13 months living with her now ex-boyfriend, Jared Singer, who was 38 years old. She did not sleep much the night before since she was up late arguing with him until 2 am. Jared decided to show up drunk at her door once again, demanding that she take him back. It was yet another fight, one of many the last couple of months. After what he did to her, there was no way she would ever take him back.

Stephanie Sue Davis was 27 years old and worked for a family-owned company that operated convenience stores and gas stations in and around the southwest side of Michigan. She was the Human Resources director there and had been in the position for almost three years, though she had been with the company for a lot longer than that. She started as server in one of their restaurants and gradually moved up the corporate ladder. She loved her job and was very good at it. However, she was also terribly unhappy with a lot of things about her life. Not being able to experience certain things that many women her age already had weighed heavily on Stephanie, things that she always wanted and always thought she would have by now, it left her feeling very lonely and bitter. Since the
breakup,
things had gotten much harder.

Stephanie buried herself in her work. She spent most nights by herself, staring into her fireplace. She read a lot and usually had her coffee alone every day. She rarely spent any time with her friends and had all but turned her back on dating again. She was only 27 years old, but she felt much older than that sometimes. She felt unattractive and unwanted, which was not the case, but it was still how she felt. She had almost no one outside of her parents, her brother and his family, and the few friends that were still around. It was just her and her dog Shadow, who was a large 3-year-old female Husky. Stephanie and Shadow would spend a lot of time walking through the woods by her home, or the beaches along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Sometimes they would just sit and watch the sunset together and stare out across the wide expanse of water with far away thoughts.