Mr. Hartley (Alternate Places Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  Leaning forward to drop the game controller on the cardboard box they used as a coffee table, Troy turned on him suddenly, pointing at him accusingly. “Dude, I think you forgot the most important thing here!”

  Shifting away from the finger hovering about three feet from his face he cowered a little. “What did I forget?” This came out meekly.

  “Just the most important things! Are they hot? If so, are they single? Are you going to ask them out and if not, do you mind if I do? Details man! Details!”

  “Oh. Uh, that's way more than one thing. Well, I don't know if Lisa has anyone, but she's good-looking, I guess. My boss... so I'm not going to date her or anything. She's older, a bit, like thirty something older...”

  “Nice. A little MILF action, you mentioned that before... Go on.” Waving hands replaced the accusing finger.

  “Um, Hilda's good-looking, I guess. I didn't ask if she's seeing anyone, but I don't think so. She seemed a little down on herself, about her looks, which doesn't fit because she's great looking, tall and kind of muscular, but not like a dude, you know? Claire's a little thin, but pretty enough, I think. I know she's single. I asked. I don't know if I'll ask any of them out. Definitely not until I get some money coming in. Inviting women back to my place for a dinner of ramen my roommate bought doesn't seem like a very workable strategy.”

  Shadow Troy laughed at this. Outer Troy nodded sagely though. “Sound plan, to wait a bit. Still, you need to work them now, let them know if you're interested. The first few interactions are crucial. If you wait and try to be their friends for too long, women put you in that category forever. Which means no sex for you. Best to either write them off that way early or let them see that you want them. Speaking of women, there's a couple hot ones coming into the club lately. You should come in this weekend some time and have a look. Even if it's just window shopping...”

  They agreed that Zack would try to go in to The Tarantula Friday or Saturday, if he could. Not that he wanted to, as crowds didn't sit really well with him. All those conflicting messages from the inner and outer selves. What else did he have to do though? Sleep?

  The Tarantula, now that he thought of it, seemed a funny name. He knew it meant tarantula, everyone pronounced it funny though, 'Tar-un-too-la' like a foreign word or something. The club had been all right the few times he had gone before, even though he just sat and drank Sprite.

  Sleep sounded nice at this point, though. If he could do it without dreams.

  That decided, Troy headed off to bed and Zack thought it wasn't too early to go in to work and see what damage had been done to the store by all those people the night before.

  Once out the door he got through the shortcut across the street and covered the parking lot at a quick walk. Mainly trying to work out some of the stiffness from the previous night. He made it to the mall in just a few minutes, which was a little slower than normal, but not much. It wasn't like he was damaged that badly, just a bit sore.

  Inside he saw Claire through the window of her business. Zack waved when she looked up. She didn't wave back. She looked a little shocked to see him for some reason, actually. Maybe she hadn't expected him to be working since he hadn't opened in the morning? It was hard to know and asking felt a bit rude, so he smiled and went into his own place of work.

  The back room still had all the food sitting on the table uncovered, though someone had rinsed out the coffee pot and left it sitting upside down next to the machine, which should make cleaning it easier later. A few crumbled napkins littered the floor near the trash can. Plates with donuts and partially eaten sandwiches sat on the floor in various places where people had set them down, lacking anywhere else to put them.

  Shaking his head, he headed toward the supply closet. On his way past Lisa's office door she called out to him.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Lisa. I'm just grabbing a garbage bag, so that I can clean up the back room. Sorry I left so quickly last night. I was just exhausted, you know? Oh! What do you want done with the extra food? The sandwiches have meat so they should be tossed I think, but the donuts are still fine, the ones in the closed box at least should be. The crackers are the same...”

  She rounded her desk and grabbed him around the arms in a tight hug.

  “Are you all right? What are you doing here? You should be at home resting and recovering. I can take care of things here for a day.” Worried eyes stared at him from about six inches away.

  “Well, I'm a little stiff. My lungs hurt, too. I don't know if it's from that running around I did last night or the bad dreams I had. Tired, but I couldn't sleep anyway, so I decided to come in.” Shrugging as well as he could while being hugged, Zack tried to smile on both levels of being.

  “You know, I wonder if the people at the Gym would like the donuts and stuff. I know that Hilda eats fried food, so maybe the others do too? Should we just keep the left over sodas? They should keep for a while, right?”

  The older looking woman let him go and stepped back. Her inner self looked at him, worried still and asked him if he really felt well. He signaled that he felt okay and could work, just telling her this outright on the deeper level.

  She smiled on the surface then. “You know, I don't know if the Gym people would like donuts or not. I suppose it can't hurt to take them some and see. I don't think it will be taken amiss at least.”

  Nodding he set to work. A few minutes later he had the donuts and crackers ready to go, the unused napkins sitting on top, to be delivered to the YoGurt shop on the way over. There was also a small bag of trash, tied off and ready to go out to the dumpster that sat along the back of the building. Lisa told him that his front door key also would work to let him in and out the back way, so he didn't have to take the trash through the mall itself. That would be less tacky, which was a good thing.

  He ran that out first, making sure the lid closed tightly before coming back in. A sign on the dumpster asked him to. He generally tried to do what signs said. Most people didn't really seem to see most of them and ignored them about half the time, but they were almost always accurate.

  Then Zack washed his hands in the tiny bathroom across from the supply closet and set off to deliver everything. Claire's napkins first.

  After a moment Zack realized as he walked into the YoGurt shop that he should take some napkins with him to the gym. He'd have to ask Claire if that would be all right, he decided.

  “Mr. Hartley! How are you, this fine day?” Her accent, normally an Irish lilt that barely surfaced, seemed much stronger today. “I heard there was a little excitement across the way last night. You're well, I trust?”

  “Yep. Doing fine, thanks for asking. I borrowed some napkins here from the night man, Ken, I think he said his name was? Nice guy, he really saved the day. I'd have had to go all the way back to the store otherwise.” Zack skewed the man's name on purpose, because it was odd and people expected little errors in speech. It made them feel more comfortable in the long run. He also knew that he had to respond on the inner side of things too or she'd be worried. Keane did great! Thank you for the napkins. I'm fine.

  Grinning she spoke, her accent much less pronounced, “Keane? He'll be glad to hear that his actions were the lynch pin to the evening's success. I'll be sure to let him know. Now, why do you have a box of donuts?” I don't eat food...

  “We got these for people last night, in case they needed quick energy or something. I'm just going to take them down to the gym, in case some of those people might like them. Otherwise they'll just go to waste, so, I figured, why not?” As Zack watched her, she seemed to come to a realization of some kind, at least Shadow Claire snapped her fingers and looked up suddenly.

  “If you don't mind playing delivery man, might I also add some of my wares to your hoard for them? Perhaps they could make a party of it of some kind?”

  Zack waited a few minutes while Claire worked magic with frosty streams of frozen yogurt and various toppings, sauces, cherries, whipped topping th
at she made fresh and put in a plastic tube to squirt out on the top of the treats. Nuts, sprinkles and cookie crumbs followed.

  Then she placed them into two four pack holders, added spoons and napkins in a bag and stacked it all on top of the cardboard donut box.

  “There we go Mr. Hartley! Please send my regards to them as well.” Shadow Claire smiled with no hint of fang. Her inner self saw this as a political act of some kind. A kind gesture to bridge differences, he saw.

  Zack walked the distance more slowly than normal, carrying a precarious load as he was. When he got to the Power Center door Hilda looked up at him from behind her counter. Her face lit up and she bounced around the counter to open the door.

  “You came! I didn't know if you would. What's this?” Her nose actually twitched a little, her big gray eyes drifting from his face to what he carried.

  “We had some people in the shop last night, so we got donuts and crackers and stuff. Way more than we needed. So Lisa and I thought that you folks here might like what was left? The frozen yogurts on top are courtesy of Claire. She wanted me to let you know that she also sends her regards.”

  Just then a large, powerfully built man with a lot of hair, pulled back in a pony tail and a huge shaggy beard walked up to them. He stared at Zack openly. His Shadow self stood nearly nine foot tall and regarded him equally intensely. Are you the one then?

  “Look, Merle! Zack brought treats! Oh, Merle this is Zack... Hartley?” Glancing at him to make certain this was right. She continued when he nodded and smiled. “Zack, this is my boss and the headman here, Merlait Dervog. We all call him Merle.”

  A huge hand thrust toward him, followed by a hearty chuckle. “Good to meet you, Hartley! I've been hearing many things about you. You're the new one down at Candles and More? Cleaning the place up I hear?”

  Without being summoned, a half dozen giant men came out of the gym and started grabbing frozen yogurts and donuts. As quickly as they came they disappeared into the back again. They left a few donuts and two of the frozen yogurts for Hilda and Merle.

  “Zack is going to come and work out here soon. I asked him yesterday. I'm giving him the first month free. He said I'm pretty, so don't go back on that now!” Her outer face smiled, but her inner self turned toward Merle and crossed her arms with purpose.

  No worries, lass, I'll not ruin your chances with the boy. Shadow Merle turned to Zack and watched him closely again.

  “Good!” He said out loud. “We need more people from the mall working out here. We'll get you a schedule and some work out clothing. I think we have some things small enough for you in the back. When can you start? How about next Monday? That way we can debate about who gets to be your trainer without you watching.”

  Hilda glanced at her boss. “I'll do it!” A blush rose after saying this.

  The big man put a hand on her shoulder. “You know that everyone will want to help, no fair jumping the line, Hildgeurde. I don't want any fights breaking out over this.”

  Hilda mock pouted, her larger form smiled though, which probably meant some kind of teasing had taken place, Zack thought.

  “Please thank your employer, the Lady Lisa, for us. We appreciate these gifts. We'll send an emissary to express thanks to the Vampires. Again, on behalf of us all, I give thanks to you as well.” Merle actually bowed slightly, which looked out of place given his sweats with “Power Center” logos all over them.

  Zack bowed back. When in Rome and all. He hoped that he did it right. The giant Merle smiled warmly on both levels though, so it couldn't have been too far off, he hoped.

  Waving goodbye to Hilda he left and walked quickly back to the shop. As he walked by “The Chasm” an obvious play on “The Gap”, the Bat girl saw him and smiled, waving. Her looks weren't as good as some of the others in the mall, but her smile made up for it. Waving back he tried to smile the same way in return. Nessa, seeing this, rolled her eyes at her friend, then stared with interest at Zack.

  Her Shadow looked at him and said, Did you really do it?

  Zack walked quickly back to Candles and More, not wanting to take too long away from work. Especially since he didn't know if delivering the donuts counted as a fifteen minute break or not. Now he just needed to go over the front and see if anything had gotten broken last night, fix any messes and see if he could get Lisa to okay anything on his list of suggestions.

  The shelves needed to be straightened up a little, but nothing too bad. One of his displays had been half dismantled for some reason. It only took a minute to put it back together. Someone probably messed it up not knowing what to do with themselves. People did strange things like that when they got stressed. He could see that happening easily enough, given everything the night before.

  The small table that Beth had hit when she ran out to get Jennifer had to be re-set completely, of course. The contents having been scattered over a third of the room. Going to the box of cloths under the counter he picked a deep green piece that looked like silk to use as a little table cloth. It didn't have too much magic residue or intent on it, and the green worked well enough with the light colored candles on the top.

  Collecting his list from the front, and the receipt for the food and such from the table in the back first, he approached the office door again. Lisa seemed to be having a heated discussion with someone on the phone. He started to step away when he heard his name.

  “Zack's here actually. I know. It surprised me too. No, no, he cleaned up the store though... He hasn't asked for anything. I know! Seriously, I don't think that would bother Beth right now, do you? Hm, hm! And there he is now! Got to go, talk to you later. Bye.”

  He entered the office and handed her the list and the receipt. She looked concerned for a moment, then baffled. Looking up and raising her eyebrows she smiled at him encouragingly and nodded her head a little.

  What's this Zack? Inner Lisa asked.

  He made a point to speak with two voices. Hitting both the Shadow message and his surface on in identical terms.

  “The receipt is for the food and stuff from last night. I got two coffeemakers, but one can go back. I kind of added the change from that into what I gave my roommate for rent by accident this morning. I took two hundred from the till, so that minus the amount of the receipt, plus what you gave me the other day will have to come out of my next paycheck or two. Is that all right? If it isn't, I may be able to get it back from Troy...”

  Her mouth hung open a little for about ten seconds before she spoke. “Ah, no, that's fine. Don't worry about it at all.... This other list is...?” It seemed clear that she desired a change of conversation for some reason. Possibly to move away from something he had said? He'd have to try and watch that. He didn't want to put her off.

  “That? I came up with some things that seemed like they may be good for the store. I didn't know what you'd say, so I didn't get anything or do anything about it yet.”

  She looked at the list again.

  “Well, the sound system is easy, we have one that's wired to the store in that cabinet right there. Feel free to use it or not, as you choose. Just try to keep the Punk Rock Death Metal to a minimum, in case we ever get a real customer in here.... Incense? I think that will be okay. You should talk to the people in the Import store about it. They also do fire control for the mall. A bell for the door... What do you mean?”

  Pantomiming with his hands he described a little bell above the door that would ring when someone came in. He explained that he could probably put it in himself with simple tools. Just a drill, probably.

  “All of that sounds fine, Zack. You can just take what you need out of the till for anything. Fully authorized to do whatever you want with the store from now on. If there's not enough in the till for something, just let me know and I'll get you the money.”

  She stared at him again for about ten seconds. It almost crossed that fine line between interest, and an indication she either wanted to kiss or fight.

  “You know, you truly are a m
arvel, Zack. I wanted to thank you personally for all your help last night. You saved a life, you know. Maybe two. I don't think Beth would have lived long if Jennifer didn't make it. I also wanted to let you know that we won't let anyone take advantage of you, and this thing you can do. I think you can count on Master Wu-Li for that too. You seem to have won him over...”

  The phone rang again. Lisa picked it up and frowned after the other person spoke for a minute.

  “No! Seriously. Normal channels for this kind of thing. Goodbye. No, we will not talk about this later, unless you go through the council. Goodbye now.” She hung the phone up a little harder than strictly needed.

  Rubbing her face with both hands for a moment, then brushing hair out of the way with the left she rose.

  “Zack, I hate to do this to you, but I need to go to the local office and talk to some people in person. Could you hold things here for me? I don't think I'll be able to lock up tonight. You can just do it early if you need to. I know you must be exhausted!”

  As he nodded, the phone rang again.

  He walked to the front of the store. Only a few hours had passed since Zack had left home, which meant he could count on a full work shift today. Now, if he could just figure out how to make a little more money he could cover, if not his fair share of the back rent and bills, at least enough to get them caught up.

  Lisa said goodbye, and made sure he had her cell number again and left with a wave over her shoulder. Zack noticed his eyes lingering on her back as she left for some reason. He shook himself suddenly, realizing he had been staring at her behind, not her back. He decided to focus on other things for a while.

  The music system worked well enough. He found a radio station that played classical music and left it there. Didn't classical music get people to buy more? He remembered hearing something like that once. Or maybe that had been shoplift less. Either way it couldn't hurt. It seemed to fit with the ambiance of the store.

  To this backdrop he started sweeping, and then he mopped when it looked like no one would be coming in any time soon. Of course, as soon as he did that, and put a sign out saying wet floor, someone did walk in.