by Debra Doxer
“Welcome, sweetie.” Carol came out from behind the counter. “When Sam told me he’d found a high school girl willing to work every weekend, I was sure he was pulling my leg.”
I found myself smiling in return. “Well, I appreciate him hiring me with no experience.”
“Right.” She nodded. “Which reminds me, I’m supposed to be training you.”
After ushering me into the back and showing me where to hang my coat and store my stuff, she took me around, pointing out where everything was. I was supposed to help out with drinks and table settings when I wasn’t busy. I might also have to take orders when Carol was on her break, and bus a few tables.
“And sometimes Sam or Stephen will call you into the kitchen and ask you to fetch things for them.” She pushed her short brown hair behind her ear. “Let me show you where the storage room and freezer are.”
I followed her along the narrow hallway I knew led to the bathrooms. Just across from the Restrooms sign was a wide wooden door. Carol pushed it open to reveal a small rectangular room with several rows of shelves on each wall. Huge cans of fruits and vegetables and large, clear plastic bags containing individual servings of potato chips lined the shelves. There were also cans of soup and small containers of dry cereal.
“Our most popular item is our cheeseburger, so we go through lots of ground beef.”
Carol walked toward a large metal door with a long horizontal handle. When she pulled it open, air was released, and the cold poured out in puffs of white. It was a small walk-in freezer, about five by seven. My hands were already folding into fists by my side, protecting my fingers from the chill.
Carol reached to her left and turned on a light that buzzed to life. “The containers against the back wall have all the premade patties Sam and Stephen make the night before.” She turned and looked at me. “That’s a secret you need to keep when you work here. The burgers aren’t always fresh, but there’s no way they could serve all the people they’re expecting over the next few weeks without preparing in advance.”
She eyed me, waiting for me to voice some disapproval, but my thoughts were elsewhere. “Okay,” I replied, thinking I’d need to wear my gloves each time I went in there. But if I moved quickly enough, grabbing what I needed and getting out fast, I should be okay.
Sometimes, once my fingers got too cold and turned white, they’d be numb and useless for a long time afterward. I’d just have to make sure that didn’t happen, and I couldn’t tell Carol that the freezer might be a problem for me. Not on my very first day at my first job. I’d figure it out.
“Now the door is tricky,” she was saying as she backed out. “When you open it, you have to push on it until you hear the click. That means it’s locked in the open position. Otherwise, it could close behind you and lock you inside.”
My eyes widened. She’d just served up my worst nightmare.
Carol laughed at my expression. “Don’t worry. It only happened to me once, and Sam found me right away.”
I nearly gasped, wondering if she was being serious, but she turned around still laughing, making me think she was having fun at my expense. Unfortunately, I didn’t find her funny.
When we went back out into the main room, Sam and Stephen were there, wearing white aprons over jeans and white T-shirts. They wore similar smiles and matching Yankees caps with wisps of white hair visible beneath them.
“You all set for the day?” Sam asked. When I nodded, he pulled out some paperwork he wanted me to fill out for my paycheck.
Just like Carol said, when church let out, it seemed that most of the people walked right across the street to Dempsey’s. Following Carol’s seating chart for which tables to fill first, I smiled a greeting before leading people to their seats. Most of them were dressed nicely with little kids in tow. When the place was nearly full, Stephen came out to wait on tables too.
After the initial rush, the smell of hamburgers and french fries filled the diner. The first time Sam called for me from the kitchen, I wasn’t sure if I heard him or not. Carol gave me a smile from across the room and pointed to the back. Then I knew he’d called me.
When I arrived, the air in the small narrow kitchen was hot and damp. Sam stood in front of the smoking grill, wiping sweat from his face using a cloth he had beside him on the counter.
“I need more patties, Candy. Did Carol show you where the freezer is?”
I nodded.
“Good. Pull out a container and leave it in here to thaw for the afternoon rush.” Then he picked up his spatula and turned back to the hamburgers sizzling over the flame in front of him.
With a deep breath, I moved quickly toward the coat room, located my gloves in my coat pockets, and headed for the freezer. Pulling on the long metal handle, I got the door open. Cold air drifted out as I pushed it wide until I heard the click, just like Carol showed me. Then I stood there and watched it, making sure it remained propped open before I went inside.
It had been so hot in the kitchen that I was covered in a light sheen of sweat, warm enough that the cold hardly penetrated my skin at all, and I was glad that I hadn’t made a fuss about the freezer.
After turning on the light and locating the patty containers, I hauled one up using both hands and walked out. I put it down again to close the freezer door firmly behind me, releasing a relieved breath at the same time. Then I stuffed my gloves in my pocket in case I got sent in there again.
Sam thanked me when I deposited the container next to him. I flashed him a smile and then returned to the front to find more people gathered by the door waiting to be seated.
After a couple of hours, the diner completely cleared out again, and I helped Carol finish cleaning the tables and loading the dishwasher in the back. It wasn’t glamorous work. When I thought about coming back tomorrow and doing it all over again, I was less than enthusiastic.
But the point of the job was to prove to my father that I was responsible, and even though I didn’t enjoy working at Dempsey’s, I knew that quitting on my first day wouldn’t impress him.
***
Theo: It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
After picking me up from Dempsey’s, my father decided I shouldn’t have to come home and make dinner. He wanted to take me out to eat. It seemed like a peace offering, and I decided to accept it. While we ate, he didn’t bring up our conversation from earlier in the day and neither did I, which made for a quiet meal.
When I woke up on Monday morning, the first thought in my head was that Jonah was going to show me where he spent his lunch period. It wasn’t a big deal, but I was turning it into one as I carefully chose my outfit—nothing too skimpy today, it was too cold out for it anyway—and applied my makeup.
I hadn’t heard from Jonah all weekend. I thought he might text just to say hello or ask how my first weekend working went, but he hadn’t, and I felt foolish for believing he might. Despite that, he was smiling at me when he walked into English class that morning. He arrived at the last minute again, too late to talk to me, but I hoped he hadn’t forgotten about lunch.
Rather than bolting when class ended, Jonah approached me after the bell. “The lasagna was a hit.”
“Really?” I could feel the smile lighting up my face. “Was your dad surprised?”
We walked side by side out of class. “After he picked his jaw up off the floor, he asked if an alien ship had landed and kidnapped his real son.”
“Come on.” I laughed, nudging him with my elbow.
“I’m being serious, sort of. He was shocked, but impressed with my culinary skills. The only problem was, I didn’t make enough.”
We stopped at my locker. “So you both sat down at the table and ate together?”
He laughed. “Well, yeah, for the five minutes it took to inhale our food. But still, it was good, and I have you to thank for it.”
Leaning against my locker, I turned to face him. “You’re welcome.”
We were grinning like
idiots at each other, but his smile slowly faded as his eyes latched onto mine. Oh boy. He was staring at me in that intense way he had again. But this time, it looked as though he wanted to kiss me, and that realization felt like a kick to the stomach, one that vibrated all the way down to my toes.
I had the urge to reach out and shake him, tell him to stop looking at me that way if he wasn’t going to do anything about it. I was in suspense, waiting for him to end the moment and then act like it never happened like he always did. I was so afraid of him doing it, that I did it first.
Clearing my throat, I averted my eyes. “So is this going to become a trend?”
He blinked. “What?”
“Cooking for you and your father.” I tried to sound casual as I spun the combination lock.
“Oh yeah.” He ran his hand over the back of his neck. “I mean, I don’t know. It was a lot of work.”
“To make lasagna?”
With a good-natured shrug, he nodded. “My dad, unlike yours, didn’t offer to do the cleanup.”
I pulled open my locker door. “I could look for something easier, maybe a one-dish casserole or something.”
Jonah’s brow creased. “I just mastered lasagna. You want me to learn something else already?”
“Fine.” I chuckled, rolling my eyes. Reaching in, I pulled out what I needed, shut my locker door, and turned to walk away.
Jonah took my hand and pulled me back, releasing it quickly. The maneuver was so smooth that before I knew it, he was standing only a few inches away.
“If you still want to hang out at lunch, meet me by the back doors near the chemistry labs.”
Excitement bubbled inside me. He hadn’t forgotten, but wait. “The chemistry labs?”
“You’ll see.” He grinned and walked away, leaving me standing there watching after him.
Jonah was late and I was annoyed. Pretty soon people were going to start wondering why I was loitering in the back hallway by the chemistry labs since I didn’t even take chemistry. The smell of formaldehyde made my nose twitch, and if he didn’t get here soon, I was going to lose my appetite.
When he appeared around the corner and curled his finger at me, motioning for me to follow, my answering smile was involuntary.
“You’re late,” I said once I reached him.
“I know, but don’t yell at me, because after you see why I’m late, you’ll feel bad about it.”
I stayed with him as he moved down the hallway. “I don’t yell.”
“No?” He peered down at me. “You look like you could.”
I sputtered out a laugh. “Excuse me?”
“I just mean you don’t look like you’d put up with any crap. You never put up with any of mine.” He grinned as if that fact impressed him.
“Hmm,” I muttered, reluctantly losing the offense I’d taken. By the time I realized that we’d passed through a set of heavy double doors and were standing in a dark narrow hallway that looked different from the rest of the school, Jonah was announcing that we were here.
“Here where?” I wrinkled my nose at the chipped tile walls and the dirty green linoleum squares on the floor.
“The old school building.” Jonah moved aside so I could see down the length of the short hallway. At the end was a set of rusted metal doors.
“When they built the new section, they didn’t tear down all of the old building. They left this part and seemed to forget about it.” He walked to the end of the hall and pushed open the metal doors, gesturing for me to go inside.
When I hesitated because I had some common sense, even when it came to him, he laughed. “I promise you’ll come back alive when lunch ends.”
Hesitating a moment more before tossing aside my better judgment, I walked past him through the doors.
My gaze first went to the ancient car sitting in the middle of the gray cement floor. Then I noticed the garage door at the end of the space. Glancing around, I saw tack boards along the walls with large and small tools hanging on hooks. Round metal lights hung down from exposed ceiling rafters, and a couple of folding chairs snugged up to a metal desk pushed against the wall nearest the door.
“It’s the old auto shop classroom,” Jonah explained, walking past me to stand beside the impossibly long green sedan. “This is a 1971 Chevelle Malibu. It’s probably been taken apart and put together hundreds of times since it was first donated to the school. I’m the latest student to work on it. I wanted to get the doors back on before I showed it to you.”
“You take auto shop?” I asked, looking down at all the car parts scattered on the floor.
“Officially, no. They haven’t had shop class here in over twenty years.”
From a table nearby, Jonah picked up what looked like a wrench and gripped it in his hand before setting it down again. “But the old shop teacher, who also taught math and retired last year, told me about this place. He said they never cleared it out, so of course I had to find it.”
I walked toward him, taking in the car and the tools. “Puke green,” I stated, eyeing the paint job.
Leaning his hip against the fender, Jonah grinned. “The seventies isn’t remembered for its good taste.”
“Did you actually put this whole car together yourself?” I gestured to parts lined up on the floor in what looked like some kind of order.
“Most of it.” He straightened, looking it over. “It’s like a puzzle, seeing what all the parts do and how they work together.” His eyes met mine and held for a moment before he turned back to the car. “I’m nearly done. The engine is complete. It’s the exhaust system I’m working on now.”
“Oh.” I tried not to smile. I didn’t know anything about cars, but I knew exactly where the exhaust system was located on a Dodge Charger.
He eyed me. “Something funny?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Nothing.” But the teasing way I answered didn’t exactly put him off.
“Uh-huh. You’re not making fun of my hobby, are you?”
My eyes widened. “No. Of course not. I think it’s great.”
Jonah walked over to the desk and sat down, pushing the other chair out in my direction. “Then why can’t you tell me what you’re smiling about?”
As I made my way over to the chair, I wondered if I should tell him. If he had any thoughts of us being more than friends, this would undoubtedly change his mind. But considering his dating history, he might appreciate this story more than most people. It took less than two seconds for me to decide I was going to spill it.
Plopping down into the chair, I pulled my lunch out of my messenger bag. “Well, my uncle used to work on cars in his driveway, and I’d watch him sometimes.”
“Now that’s what I call a sandwich.” Jonah interrupted me, gripping what looked like a soggy peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “What’s in there?” he asked.
“Turkey, ham, cheese, and lettuce.” Taking pity on him, I carefully tore my sandwich and handed him half.
Jonah shook his head. “No, I can’t take half your lunch.”
“Yes, you can.” I pushed my hand closer to him.
“You sure?” His brow arched in question.
When I nodded, he took it and mumbled his thanks around a big bite.
Taking a sip of my water, I realized for the first time how adorable he was. “As I was saying—”
“Your uncle worked on cars,” he finished for me.
“Right, and the day I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me, my uncle found a dead squirrel stuck up behind the exhaust manifold of a friend’s car he was fixing.”
“Stop the tape. Rewind.” Jonah sat up straighter. “Your boyfriend cheated on you?”
I nodded, ignoring the way my gut still clenched when I thought of it.
“Are you about to tell me the story your friend Theo mentioned at the diner? The one you wouldn’t talk about that night?”
I nodded again, surprised he remembered.
“Okay. Give me a minute.” Finishing off the sandwi
ch, Jonah wiped his hands on his jeans, opened his water, and drank deeply from it before setting it down and looking at me intently. “Okay, now I’m ready. I didn’t want to miss any of it.”
Snorting out a laugh, my worries about what he’d think faded along with the tightness in my belly. I realized for the first time that even though thinking of my ex still hurt, when I was with Jonah, it hurt a little less.
“Anyway,” I continued, “my uncle mentioned how the inside of that car must have stank from that squirrel, which gave me the idea of breaking into my ex’s garage and putting a dead fish behind the exhaust manifold of his precious Dodge Charger. That car was his baby. I figured the rotting-fish smell had to be worse than the squirrel.”
A grin slowly spread across Jonah’s face.
“It took a few days for the fish odor to really ripen, but once it did, oh man . . .” I giggled softly, recalling how he had to keep the windows open all the time. You couldn’t walk by that car without wanting to vomit from the smell.
“Did he know you did it?” Jonah asked.
“Not at first. Not that time.”
“What?” He chuckled. “What else did you do to the poor bastard?”
I shrugged casually. “When the putrid fish smell wore off, I didn’t feel any better. So I glued all the door handles on his car. I think he had to pry open the driver’s side with a crowbar.”
Jonah’s shoulders shook with laughter, and I laughed along with him. After a while, he said, “I think I feel bad for the car. Did you finally feel better after that?”
“Actually, no. Good thing for him I moved away.”
He leaned forward. “My opinion? He never deserved you in the first place.” Sitting back again, he picked up the remnants of his lunch and stuffed them into his bag, leaving me staring at him. I hadn’t expected him to laugh it off so easily, just like I hadn’t expected to laugh about it with him.
“You didn’t want to hurt Katelyn after she cheated on you?” I asked.
Jonah looked thoughtful as he began moving around the room, turning off the lights. “She was already hurting. She knew she’d made a mistake. I’m guessing your ex wasn’t as remorseful.”
