Running Northwest (7 page)

“Stephanie, really! I just heard you breaking pictures of your ex-boyfriend in your office. I come in and see you sitting on the floor, crying and holding a picture of some strange sexy man from your past that
I have
never met let alone EVER heard you talk about. You’re trying to tell me there is nothing for you to talk about!”

Stephanie put her hands on her hips, tapped her left foot, and tried to stare down her friend and coworker.

“Okay fine, come over and we will talk. It would probably be good for me to talk about it anyway,” she ended up saying.

“I wasn
’t really giving you a choice
, Steph, but I’m glad you agreed to it anyway,” Karen said laughing as she turned and headed out of the room with the box in her hand. “And I’m putting this crap in the garbage now,” she said, walking through the doorway.

“That’s fine with me,” Stephanie said with a wave as she looked down at the picture frame in her hand.

She set it on her desk and sat back down in her chair to fix her makeup.

Thomas looked up from the notepad in front of him and at the front of his cell phone; it was 5:35. They had been there for about 40 minutes now. Things were not going quite as well as he had hoped when it came to Pete, the new kid that Tracie was testing out. Thomas was keeping notes on everything he saw and heard. Thomas looked away from the shops counter and across the table at his son Daniel and smiled.

Daniel was doing his homework and sipping on an almost empty strawberry smoothie, periodically reaching down to scratch the head of Harley, their yellow lab that was sleeping on the floor next to the boy’s chair. Oregon was generally known to be very pet-friendly state and some businesses were known to allow leashed dogs inside. And at least in Thomas’ coffee shop dogs were always welcomed as long as they were not dangerous and were well behaved. Thomas usually had one or both of his dogs with him when he was there.
He decided to leave Layla the M
astiff at home when he went to pick Daniel up from school as she was sleeping happily on the bed.

Thomas had promised Daniel that if he got his homework at least started that they would go for a hike or have a campfire tonight, then call his grandmother in Florida before he went to bed. Daniel had his ear buds from his MP3 player on and was plugging away at his
schoolwork
in a very quick and impressive fashion. Daniel, much like his mother and adoptive father worked better and faster, with background music.

A few minutes went by and Thomas tapped the table in front of his son Daniel with his fingers, trying to get the boys attention. Daniel removed the ear buds from his ears, realizing his father had something to say to him.

“What’s up, Dad?” he asked, smiling.

“How’s the homework going?” Thomas answered his son with a question.

“It’s fine, a little easy I think. I’m doing my history homework right now and a lot of this is stuff I already learned from you,” the boy answered.

“Well, you like reading my books so you should be proud of being so smart. Do you want another drink because we’re going to get going in about ten minutes?”

“I am pretty smart,” the boy said, smiling and full of attitude. “Umm yeah…I wouldn’t mind another smoothie but can I go get it myself, Dad, if that’s okay,” he said, sort of nervously asking.

He had wanted to go and say hello to Tracie since they got there but Thomas said he
could not
yet

“Of course you can,” Thomas said with a grin as he pulled out a ten dollar bill from the inside pocket of his black pea coat. He handed it to his son, waiting to see what happened with the ensuing interaction which had been more or less set up already between him and Tracie.

Daniel practically jumped his tiny frame up from the chair after getting the money from his dad and started heading towards the counter with a smile on his face but turned around a few feet from the table, coming back to his dad.

“Should I give Tracie the change, Dad, or give it back to you?” the boy asked.

“Give it to Tracie,” he answered with a laugh. Thomas had taught the boy about the importance of tipping, but he still always asked.

Daniel turned back towards the counter and inched forward waiting for Tracie and the new guy to help the person in front of him. The other customer got his
drink, paid,
and walked past the small boy and towards the door. Daniel stepped forward and put his arms up on the counter. His chin just a few inches above the counter top.

Tracie, who had her back to the counter at that moment, turned around and looked at Daniel who had a huge grin on his face as he looked at her. Tracie gave Daniel a little wink and nudged the new guy Pete to let him know he had a customer. Pete walked over to the counter and leaned down a little eyeing Daniel with an annoyed look.

“What’s up, kid, what do you want?” Pete asked Daniel as he looked at his watch impatiently.

Daniel’s large grin went away and he backed away from the counter slightly. He looked over Pete’s shoulder at Tracie. She was standing behind Pete with her arms crossed and was staring at him with an evil look. Daniel
did not
answer right away and looked scared. Tracie and Thomas both knew Daniel was nervous around new people, especially grown men.

“Umm…umm,” was all Daniel could say at first.

They wanted to see how Pete handled the boy. In the
summer,
a lot of younger kids came into the coffee shop with their parents while they were on vacation in the area. And when school was out a lot of teenagers and young adults would hang out on the deck for hours at a time so Thomas liked his employees to be able to tolerate the younger crowd in a pleasant way. Pete stared at Daniel and leaned down a little more.

“Come on, kid, I don’t have all day…what do you want?” he said as he tapped his fingers on the counter as one would when one is annoyed and being impatient.

Tracie was looking directly at the potential employees tapping fingers and shot a fierce look at Thomas who was watching intently.

“Can Tracie make it for me?” Daniel said quietly to the irritated 19-year-old.

Pete rolled his eyes and said, “No, she can’t, but I’ll make it for you. What can I get for you?” he repeated speaking slowly.

At that moment, Tracie came towards the counter, literally shoved Pete out of the way and sighed loudly. “Daniel my love, of course I’ll make it for you, do you want the same thing you had earlier?” she asked the boy whose smile returned to his face and back came closer to the counter, still looking at Pete nervously.

“Yeah, please,” Daniel answered, following with, “Thank you.”

Pete sputtered and looked at the woman that was training him and said, “Tracie, I got it. Damn, the kid was just taking forever.”

Across the
shop,
Thomas sat in the corner watching what was going on, his eyes wide with rage.
However,
he stayed in his seat for the time being.

“The kid can take as long as he wants, PETE,” Tracie said, annoyed and then loudly added, “Since you’re not doing anything, go clean the food prep area.”

The new kid Pete walked off, quietly swearing at Tracie as he did.

“Daniel before I make your drink come and give me a big hug real quick,” she told Daniel as she was burning holes through the teen’s head with her intense stare.

The boy ran towards the end of the counter and met Tracie who picked him up and gave him a big hug. As Pete
watched,
his eyes got wider and wider.

Two minutes later, Tracie finished Daniel’s drink and took the ten-dollar bill his father gave him. She looked up as she was handing the change and the drink to the boy and saw his father walking towards the counter with an angry look that only a boss would have. Thomas looked down at Daniel who was happily sipping on his drink now.

“I think it’s time to go, big man, go pack your things up and tell Tracie goodbye,” Thomas said.

“Okay, no problem, Dad. Bye, Tracie, love you. I’ll see you later,” Daniel said with a wave.

“Bye, Daniel, love you too, be good for your dad. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Tracie replied with a wave as the boy went to the table to pack his things up.

Thomas looked over Tracie’s shoulder and made eye contact with Pete who was towards the back, cleaning.

“I’ll call you in a little while after you leave, okay?” Thomas said in a low voice as he put the change that was still sitting on the counter in the tip jar.

Tracie let out a little laugh saying, “Yeah, be sure you do, we have much to talk about. Do you want me to set up an interview for Pete with you?”

Thomas gave an evil smile and sighed, “Definitely. Set it up for tomorrow morning at 9 am; don’t give him any other choice” he said.

Tracie smiled, “I’ll get right on it.”

“Oh and Tracie, do him a favor and let him know that I’m your boss and the owner,” Thomas said.

An evil grin crossed her face.

“I will most definitely tell him. Now get out of here and go spend some time with Daniel,” she said

“I’m leaving right now, sweetheart,” he answered. “Talk to you later,” he added as he turned away and walked out the door with his son and their dog leading the way.

A minute later, the large pickup backed out and pulled away
, heading
up the road. Pete watched what he thought to be a regular customer and his son leave and walked to the counter and stood next to Tracie.

“Well at least they’re gone; them and their damn dog,” he said.

Tracie whirled around, her mouth wide open in shock, amazed at what she just heard.

“Did you really just say that, Junior?” she asked Pete as she poked her finger into his bony chest.

“Yeah, I did. The kid was annoying and I don’t like dogs,” he replied arrogantly.

“Huh. Wow you’re an asshole and a dumb little boy,” she said smiling then
adding,
“
You
might want to get used to the dogs here kid”.

He replied with a simple “What? Whatever,” and waved his hand in the air,
blowing off
what Tracie said.

“So yeah, anyway, your interview with the owner is at 9 am on the dot. It’s up to you if you want to show up or not though,” she said as she eyeballed the teenager.

“Why the hell wouldn’t I show up?” he asked with a little too much attitude.

Tracie put one hand on her hip and the other on the counter and looked at Pete square in the eye and smiled, cocking her head as she looked at him.

“Because, PETE, that annoying kid that just left, the kid that you insulted and treated like crap? Well, he is the owner’s son who I adore and babysit sometimes. That damn dog was the owner’s dog,” she said, watching Pete start to sweat a little and shake as his eyes got wider.

“And the guy I was talking to, the guy who just left with that kid, is his father, my boss, friend and the guy you will be interviewing with at 9 am. So have fun with that, IF you have the balls to show. But you’re done for the day so get your dirty hipster ass out of here,” Tracie said, smiling to the teenager whose jaw was practically on the floor.

The teenager bent down and grabbed his backpack that was on the floor and turned to leave. He had a defeated look on his face. This made Tracie extremely happy. She stood behind the counter watching him head to the door.

“Oh and Peter, one more thing before you go…” she said sarcastically.

“What, Tracie?” he answered quietly
, stopping
before he walked out the door, not even turning in her direction to look at her.

“If you do have the guts to show up in the morning – and for your sake I really hope you don’t – I would fess up to Big Tom that you never actually were a barista before. Because from trying you out today, I can tell you have never done it in your life, and he probably could also…just saying,” she said smiling menacingly.

Pete
did not
respond and just walked out the door with his head down. Tracie went back to getting work done, before the next shift showed up in a few hours.

.
             
.
             
.

Later that night, Thomas and his son Daniel sat around the campfire that they had made out on the beach behind their home. It was a relatively cool Oregonian Coastal evening. The temperature was in the 50’s and the wind was blowing slightly from the north. Thomas looked out onto the ocean watching the relatively small waves gently glide onto shore. Out in the distance, the last remnants of sunlight sat low on the horizon. Thomas took a sip of the one beer he had allowed himself to have this evening as he looked over at his son and smiled.