Down to Business (Business Series) (11 page)

I scoffed. “That has nothing to do with me listening to you two lick each other’s tonsils. It’s disgusting.”

“Fine.” She grabbed Tyler by the hand and dragged him off to her room, mumbling something about me.

“Have you even brushed your teeth? You’re disgusting!” I shouted after them.

She answered me by slamming her bedroom door.

Once I finished my cereal, I called my mother.

Grandma answered on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Hi Grandma.”

“Autumn? It’s about time you called. Your mother has been moping around since we dropped you off.”

“Is she there?”

“I think so…she might be in the crapper. We just drank our morning coffee.”

I grimaced. “Well tell her I’ll call her later.”

“You haven’t made friends with any of those STG guys have you?”

I laughed. “No.”

“Just remember Autumn, only hussy’s sleep with men they just met. You’re not a hussy are you?”

“Grandma!” I scoffed. “What do you think I am?”

“I was young once. I know about hanky panky. How do you think your mother got here?”

“Can you get Mom now?”

“If you do find one you like, make sure you use a rubber.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Is she in the bathroom or not?”

“Let me go see….” I heard her shuffle around then knock on a door. “Lori? Are you done in there? Autumn wants to talk to you.”

There was the sound of a toilet flushing, a sink running, and then the phone being passed between hands.

“Autumn?” Mom called.

“Hi Mom.”

“Hi honey. I saw the picture of your hair you sent me on my phone! I barely recognized you, you look so beautiful and grown up!”

“Thanks. How are things at Malones?” I asked brushing my hand through my hair.

“Good, I suppose. I had to order a food shipment last night, and our accountant is out on vacation, so he couldn’t be bothered with my questions. Your brother got a stomach bug, so he will be bedridden for a few days. I’m going to have to get in the kitchen and get my hands dirty today, but that’s nothing new.”

“That’s too bad,” I said, looking at my nails and considering how they would look with a manicure. “I miss you guys.”

“We miss you too, Honey. It’s just not the same without you. How are your classes?”

“They’re good.”

“Do you need anything? Money? You’re eating aren’t you?”

“No I don’t need anything…” I said standing up and deciding to take a shower. “Hey, I need to get going. I want to shower before Lindy hogs all the hot water, I’ll call you later.”

“Okay, well you have fun. I’m sending out a care package for you next week.”

“Okay, tell everyone I said hi.”

“I will. Take care, Auti. I love you.”

“Love you too Mom, bye.”

I hung up and went into the bathroom. I turned on the shower to steam it up while I brushed my teeth. Before I could finish brushing, I heard a raucous knocking on the door. I spit and rinsed my mouth before I opened the door.

Lindy stood on the other side with her arms crossed. “What are you doing?”

“Um, taking a shower?” I replied, noting the obvious and crossing my arms.

“You know I need to be in class in an hour, I need the bathroom now.”

“Actually, I didn’t know that. You never tell me anything. Maybe you told Tyler.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Maybe you just never pay attention.”

“Yeah, whatever.” I said moving to close the door in her face, but her foot caught it.

Her head popped in and she glared at me. “Are you kidding me? I have class! I need to shower now!”

“If you weren’t so busy sticking your tongue down Tyler’s throat all morning you’d be showered!”

“Would you just stop your petty bullshit?” she yelled, pushing the door open so hard it slammed into the wall. “This is
my
fucking bathroom and
I
will take a shower when
I
want to.
You’re
the roommate which means
you
work around my schedule and if you don’t like how things work here, then maybe
you
should find your own place to live.”

I stared at her in shock, the sting of her words made me want to slap the bitchy glare off her face. “Fine! I will! I hate living with you anyway.” I shouldered past her and headed back to my room.

“Great, you wasted all the hot water!” she yelled.

“Yeah, well, boyfriend is a waste of space!”

I slammed my door and paced over to the window. Glaring out at the dreary looking parking lot, I attempted to squelch the hurt that was encompassing me. In all the eighteen years we have known each other, Lindy and I had arguments, but nothing like this.

Instead of letting her get to me, I walked to my dresser and tore my pajamas off. I changed into blue jeans, a white Adelphi Panthers hoodie, and running shoes. After pulling my hair back into a ponytail, I grabbed my keys, debit card, ID, and phone and left the apartment.

I doubted Lindy would even notice I left since she was in the shower. Hiding my hands in the pockets of my hoodie, I walked up the street toward campus. It rained overnight so the ground was damp and the air felt heavy and cool.  I knew they would have a bulletin board somewhere on campus with flyers for people looking for roommates.

By the time I got to Adelphi, it was drizzling rain. My hair and the rain were worst enemies, so I was thankful that it was pulled back, or else it would be attempting to turn me into a lion.

My wet sneakers echoed down the hall as I made my way toward the administrative offices. I remembered there was a wall there with bulletin boards that boasted a mish-mosh of ads ranging from someone to do your laundry to car sales.

Once I found it, there were too many ads for roommates to choose from, so I narrowed it down to the ones only looking for females. I took a few of the flyers and then headed to the bookstore.

The funds I had saved up from working all summer at Malones were depleting faster than I had anticipated and I knew no one was going to let me pay a low rent like Lindy did.

I bought a newspaper, Lifesaver candies, and an Adelphi ballpoint pen from the bookstore.

Afterwards, I headed to the Library and sat down at one of the internet cubicles. I logged in with my student credentials and began the search for my new home.

Most of the roommate ads had an address included, so I used Google maps to pinpoint each place. The first one looked like it was close to campus. I figured that would be a little too congested for my tastes, and the rent was higher than I wanted. The second ad had potential. It was a one-story house two blocks off campus. The rent was affordable.

I called the number and left a voicemail. With any luck, I hoped to have a place by the end of the day.

I checked out one more ad that looked promising. It was further away but it was across the street from a park. It looked like a duplex apartment and the rent was good. Unfortunately, when I called I found out the room was already taken.

Feeling depleted, I gathered up my belongings and left the library. Before I could decide what to do next, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and blinked seeing an unknown local number.

“Hello?” I answered cautiously.

“Hey, it’s Vinny.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Hey. How are you?”

“I’m good. I didn’t wake you up did I?”

“No, I’ve been up for a while,” I said suddenly turning into a klutz and dropping everything in my hand. “I just got done at the library..” I explained as I picked up my belongings.

“I just got done at the gym and I was going to have breakfast. Did want to join me?”

“For breakfast? Sure, just tell me where.”

“Well if you’re at the campus library, there’s a little diner across the street called Penny Lane.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked across the street, spotting it. “I see it. I’ll meet you there in five?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you there,” he said with a smile in his voice.

I hung up and wished I wouldn’t have given up my shower. Oh well, it was too late to regret… he had seen me a lot worse anyway.

I walked across the street and entered the diner. It felt like I had taken a step back in time. It had the whole 50’s theme happening from the red and chrome décor to the black and white checkered floors. A soda counter was off to the left and fifties music hummed overhead.

I spotted Vinny at one of the booths in the back. He was dressed in what I would assume were his gym clothes, a black shirt that was snug in all the right areas with black basketball shorts.

He waved me over.

“Hey,” I said as I slid into the bench across from him.

A waitress dressed in a red polo shirt and black jeans approached our table with a pad and pen.

“Want something to drink?” she asked, chewing gum like a horse. I stared up at her and paused, knowing my mother would have slapped the gum right out of my mouth if I took someone’s order like that.

“Just an orange juice, please.”

“Kay,” she walked back behind the soda counter to get my drink. I looked around the restaurant, noting a few groups of students eating and others studying.

“How are you?” he asked, squeezing a lemon wedge into his water.

“I’m good.” I answered, noticing some girls at a table nearby staring at me. I wondered if those were some of Vinny’s whore hounds. Fortunately, their view was blocked a moment later by the waitress bringing back my juice.

She set it before me and tossed a straw down. “You know what you want?”

I paused and picked up the two-sided laminated menu on the table in front of me. “I just need another minute.”

“Kay, take your time.” She snapped her gum and moseyed back behind the counter.

I studied the menu. “What’s good here?”

“I haven’t been here before actually.”

“Oh…” I flipped the menu over, trying to decide between an omelet and pancakes.

“Did you and Lindy make up?”

“Not yet.”

“You ready now?” the waitress called from my left.

“Uh sure, I’ll just have the Denver omelet.”

“What about you?” she asked, pointing the end of her pen at Vinny.

“I’ll have three eggs over easy with a side of bacon.”

“Kay,” she said, blowing a bubble with her gum and popping it between her teeth. “Coming right up.”

We watched her walk off and I wondered if he was as annoyed by her terrible etiquette as I was.

“Do you always only eat meat for breakfast?” I asked, sipping my orange juice.

“Yeah, I’m on a strict protein workout regimen,” he said and picked up his water, taking a drink.

I smirked. “What about the spaghetti you ate last night?”

“Never said I didn’t cheat once in a while.” He winked at me, causing my stomach to cinch.

The waitress came back and looked down at me and mumbled an inaudible question.

“I’m sorry?” I asked, furrowing my brow.

“Do you want home-fries with your
omelet
?” she asked with attitude, her wad of gum sticking in her left cheek.

“Oh…yes.”

“Maybe if you took that gum out of your mouth she would understand what the hell you just asked.” Vinny snapped.

The waitress glared down at him and put her hand on her hip. “Who are you, my manager?”

“No, but I could call him.” Vinny answered.

The girl pulled the gum out of her mouth and held it to the side, giving me a sneer. “Would you like
home
-
fries
with your order?”

“Yanno what?” Vinny said, sliding his drink aside. “Forget this, she doesn’t want anything.”

“I don’t?” I asked meekly.

“No. Bring me the check.”

I blinked at Vinny in surprise.

“We’re going to go someplace that has real service, not one with a waitress that chews gum like a fuckin’ cow.”

She scoffed. “What did you call me?”

I inwardly winced and shrunk down in my seat.

“I didn’t call you anything. I
said
you chew your gum like a cow. But if you really want me to call you something, I could always call your manager, and
then
I could call you fired.”

She pinched the gum between her fingers, scowling at Vinny. He stared back at her, daring her to say something. Instead, she just shook her head, turned on her heel, and stalked back behind the counter to ring up the check.

“She wouldn’t last a day in a real restaurant.” He said.

“I thought it was basic knowledge not to chew gum while waiting tables.”

“Yeah, well, some people think they are better than the rules. That shit doesn’t fly in my book.” He said and pulled out his wallet.

She returned and slapped the check down on the table in front of him. Vinny picked up the check, looked it over, then tossed a few bucks over it, and stood up. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

As we slid from the booth, I noticed the girls at the table nearby watched us. He didn’t seem to notice them as he placed his palm on my back and led me out of the diner, the little bells hanging from the door handle jangled loudly to announce our departure.

We walked to his car parked at the curb and he opened the passenger door for me. A rumpled pile of his dirty clothes waited on the seat and he quickly swiped them into the back. The cool leather bit through my jeans when I sat down and he slid in beside me a moment later. Once he turned the key in the ignition, a blast of luke-warm air hit my face and the song “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses blasted from the stereo. He turned down the music and looked over at me.

“Sorry.”

I wasn’t sure if he was apologizing about the scene in the restaurant or the music being too loud.

“It’s okay. I like this song,” I said picking the safer option.

“No I meant back there. I didn’t mean to come off as a prick, but she needed to be told off.”

“I agree. It’s good practice. You’ll need that spine someday when you own your restaurant right?”

“Yeah I guess.” He pulled away from the curb and turned the music back up a notch. “So you like this song?”

“Yeah, I grew up with Guns N’ Roses. My dad is a big fan.”

“This song is one of my favorites. You know how some songs just speak to you? This song got me through a rough breakup.”