Runaway Mother chapter 10 part 2

The second I walk in the door, I can see that it’s a busy place. Bob comes towards me beaming and wringing his hands together. He looks just as nervous as he sounded on the phone.

‘Welcome Miss Fisher, I’m Bob the owner!’ He says and puts his hand out for me to shake. My nerves suddenly dissipate and my mind is clear.

‘Please,’ I say, ‘call me Mary!’ and take his hand.

‘Ok then Mary,’ he smiles, ‘I’m going to team you up with a colleague who will show you the ropes, one who’s been here since the Stone Age and happens to also be my son!’

I nod with gratitude.

‘Chad!’ Bob bellows.

I can see a teenager I’ve never met before advance towards me. Maybe he’s in college as the town only has two high schools and I would know a lot of the other students through Anna. Time seems to slow down. He puts his fingers through his long flowing locks and straight away I notice his finely chiseled jaw. Immediately I find him attractive. I’m noticing nothing and nobody other than the tall drink of water coming my way. He obviously keeps fit as his stomach is flat and his arms are bulging through his black t-shirt with the Bobs Deli logo emblazoned on the front. I can see him in the gym lifting weights in my head.

‘Hi,’ he says. He’s actually talking to me! I begin to feel giddy and say ‘calm down!’ to myself. I take a deep breath and notice his hand is extended for me to shake.

‘I’m Chad.’ he offers with a smile that extends to his deep brown eyes and unbelievably cute dimples.

I take another deep breath and say, ‘Mary’ in response, shaking his hand. I can’t help but notice through his hardy hand shake that he has very soft skin and his hand isn’t a bit clammy.

‘Chad here is going to show you around!’ Bob says bringing me back to the room with a bang. All of  a sudden, I notice all the other people around me, and it’s not just me and Chad anymore. My disassociation only lasted a few seconds but they were seconds that no one will ever take from me. ‘I’m going to be in the back but Chad is going to inform you of everything you need to know, right buddy?’ Bob says and puts his hand around his son’s shoulder and pats him on the chest.

When bob turns and walks away, Chad asks, ‘this your first job?’ His dimples make my insides tingle.

‘Yes,’ I answer.

‘Well, I’ll be gentle with you then!’ He says and winks at me. He beckons me to follow him and we walk straight through the place and into the break room.

I’m pleasantly surprised when I see a coffee machine and a microwave on a countertop with presses underneath. There is a fridge beside that and I notice a table with three chairs in the middle of the room. There is a two-seater battered brown leather couch against the wall opposite.

‘Here’s the toilet,’ Chad points to a little room just before a line of lockers. ‘And this baby is your locker!’ He caresses the one four lockers down from the toilet.

I notice what I first thought was a mural going across the lockers but all I can see are the words ‘die bitches die!’

‘This is why Bob asked you to come in today!’ He says shaking his head with his nose scrunched up in repulsion. ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to either paint over it or remove it!’ He tells me, ‘Bob hasn’t decided yet!’

‘Should I be worried,’ I say with a nervous giggle.

‘Not in the slightest!’ Chad reassures me, ‘that crazy bitch is long gone!’

I smile and nod wondering, ‘what have I got myself into?’

‘Oh,’ he puts a finger in the air and fishes for something in his pants. He produces a lock that has two little keys dangling from it. ‘Don’t worry if you lose them,’ he can see I’m utterly perplexed, ‘the keys I mean!’

Relief washes over me and I take the lock from him.

‘We have a spare key in the office which is that room there!’ he points to the door behind me. I almost didn’t notice it because it has a cork board attached to it with flyers stuck on by pins.

I nod at Chad, impressed at the set up.

He opens my locker and reaches in producing three t-shirts. ‘This is your uniform!’ he says and smiles, those dimples not helping with my concentration. ‘We give each employee three, but we have more if you need them,’ I nod in understanding and graciously take them from him. ‘It doesn’t really matter what you wear pants wise as we all wear aprons which can be found….’ he walks over towards the microwave and opens the cupboard door underneath, ‘…. here!’ He takes one out and throws it at me.

‘You have a good arm,’ I say catching the apron. ‘Do you play?’

‘I used to play in middle school, but its too much of a commitment when I have this place!’

I nod in understanding. ‘My brother plays basketball and can’t seem to find the time for anything else!’

‘Oh really?’ he raises his eyebrows intrigued. ‘Where does he play?’

Before I get a chance at answer him, another employee comes into the break room. ‘Chad, were getting slammed out here man!’

‘Sorry!’ he winces, ‘I’d better go and feed some hungry people!’ he announces, ‘can we put a pin in
that?’

‘Of course!’

Before Chad leaves me to change and put on an apron, he says ‘come out when you’re ready and I’ll show you everything there is to know about a deli!’ he says and pulls his hair back with a band and leaves the room.

I look at my ‘uniform’ and smile at the fact that I am now officially a ‘working girl!’ I stuff my backpack into the narrow locker, not unlike the one in school, and change my top in the toilet. Its more spacious than I imagined. Lastly, I tie the apron around my waist and take a deep breath before entering the madness of the deli.

 

 

I immediately find Chad whose making coffee. I watch him for a second in awe at how fast and precisely his hands are moving. Once he gives the customer their order, he looks at me, his eyes wide.

‘The uniform suits you!’ he says making my insides flip over and back again.

He beckons me over with a tilt of his head and introduces me to the coffee machines. ‘This is Betsy!’ he announces. ‘She is both your best friend and your worst enemy!’

I look at him in horror, to which he laughs and says, ‘don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to charm her!’ and winks.

I notice that he has this way about him, and go over to meet the great Betsy. I couldn’t believe how big she was! It put our little French press that mom used to take out on special occasions to shame.

Firstly he shows me the Puq press. ‘It makes the coffee consistent every time by removing the air pockets to make sure the water moves evenly through the coffee. Its called tamping!’

I nod wishing I had brought a notebook.

‘Once the coffee is entered into Betsy who has a level temperature at all times, making the coffee flow out more consistently, it is distributed into the cups ready for the milk.’

I nod again…’how didn’t I look this up on YouTube last night?’

‘Next were going to steam the milk. Now the secret is to have the right milk and that its cold.’ He  points to the fridge. ‘You pour the milk to half a centimeter under the spout of the jug. Now every time you do this you have to use a moist towel, which are everywhere, and grab the steam wand, which Betsy has three of, and turn it on to maximum for literally a second with the towel around it. Next, you position the steam wand 35-45 degrees towards you. Then you have to hold the jug a certain way. First your thumb goes through the handle with your palm around it and your pinky finger underneath. That will help you notice the rise in temperature of the milk. You with me?’

‘Yea…pinky finger under the jug!’

‘Ok, so then you want to put the tip of the steam wand where the spout is and slide it down along it into the middle of the jug, about 0.5 – 1.5 centimeters under the surface. You want to create a vortex so the wand destroys the big air bubbles immediately, making them into smaller ones. To do that you tilt the jug to the side keeping the wand half way between the center of the jug and the wall of the jug. Turn the steam wand on maximum and you will hear something like the sound of ripping paper. The milk will rise, and when it does that you raise the jug a tiny bit up to stop too much air getting into it. Tilt the jug towards yourself and a quick vortex will occur making the sound change. When you feel the milk has had enough from how it feels in your hand, you turn off the machine and wait until it goes completely silent. The temperature should be at about 60 degrees at this stage. Next you have to clean the steam wand again, ready for the next person to use, but only leave the milk on the counter for a second, anything more will ruin the work you have put into it. When you swirl the milk, you should see that its nice and shiny with no visible bubbles, like its glowing almost, that is the microfoam which you pour over your coffee that is patiently waiting on the milk, pop a lid on the cup and hand it to the customer!’

I realize now that I am totally out of my depth…vortex, microfoam, and all the angles. I have to remember all of that?

‘Now the key to making good coffee is practice!’ Chad smiles at me. He guides me through the process again, me making the coffee this time, and reminds me of the key points as I’m doing them. The second I pop that lid on the cup, I can’t help but smile. ‘I have just made my first real coffee!’ I tell myself.

Chad tastes the coffee. ‘That’s actually not half bad!’ he smiles looking surprised. ‘If you make me three more, on your own this time, and they taste this good, I might just release you to the public!’

I nod and accept the challenge. I found myself on coffee number three getting quicker at the process
and notice my confidence build. He tastes the three of them in the order I made them and guides me towards the start of the patrons who are patiently waiting.

 

 

On the way home, I was ready to collapse onto the couch. Instead, however, I could hear Ethan screaming three doors away. I roll my eyes and put my key in the door. Before I turn it, I take a deep breath.

I’m met with what could only be described as a war zone. The cushions are off the couch and there are toys everywhere! I pick up the couch cushions and listen to what some may believe to be Zach torturing Ethan. I have had a long day and when I look at the state of the kitchen I have to just turn around and double back. I ascend the stairs, the screams getting louder with each step, and announce my presence. Zach gives me a look that would shatter a million mirrors and bumps into me as he begins to go downstairs. That leaves me with a distraught Ethan.

I walk into his room and he is on the floor in a full-blown tantrum. I hear the front door slam and shake my head disgusted that Zach just left me here with him.

I sit on the floor beside Ethan and pick up ducky. I begin to talk to the duck in hopes that Ethan will hear me and want to join in. Within five minutes the child is sitting up and laughing with me and ducky, his face covered in tears, his nose runny and his cheeks red.

I look at him, ‘what’s up buddy?’

He quickly gets up off the floor and envelopes me in a hug. ‘I thought you left like mommy!’ his little voice says and my heart melts. I sit him down on my lap and try to explain to him the situation.

‘You see Ethan, mommy went away on a business trip, but I just went to work!’ he interlocks his fingers with mine. ‘I have to work to get some money so that we can pay the bills!’

‘Are you going to work every day?’ he looks up at me, his eyes tired.

‘No buddy!’ I reassure him. ‘But I do have to work every Tuesday and Thursday and Sunday. But I promise I will always come home because my work is in town, but mommy’s is in another place far away!’ He snuggles into me. ‘Would it help if tomorrow we make a chart for the fridge so you can see the days I won’t be here?’

‘Yea,’ he yawns and I rock back and forth with him in my arms right there on the floor. I recite Goodnight Moon and by the time I’m finished, he’s asleep. I get up as gracefully as possible, my feet aching, and carry him to bed placing ducky beside him.

‘Sleep well buddy!’ I say as I turn out the light and get into bed myself.

As I lay there, tears form in my eyes and I can’t help but curse my mother for putting all that stress on a four-year old’s shoulders!