Kill on Command (20 page)

“I understand.”

“Look, send me your expenses for this trip.  I will take care of it.  I will ask them to cut the check this week.”

“Thanks.”  Sean was now more worried than pissed.

Cathy gave him a hug.

“Come on, I will walk you out.”

Cathy and Sean walked downstairs past Erin.  Erin had tears in her eyes.  Cathy stood at the door as Sean walked out into the parking lot past the Porsche to his Jeep.  He was tempted to key it, but knew Bill would have him thrown in jail.  He tossed his computer-less bag into the passenger seat and started the Jeep. As he backed up he noticed the Porsche was right behind him.  He depressed the clutch, revved the engine, and took off spraying what was left of the winter salt all over Bill’s car.  He made his way up Chagrin Boulevard, jumped onto I-271, which took him to I-480 and the despised Ohio Turnpike.

He was about forty minutes into his trip when the phone rang.  The Jeep’s torn top made it tough to hear.

“Hello.”

“Sean, this is Scott Drury.  I just got a call from Bill.  What’s all that noise?”  Scott was the Pittsburgh co-op president.

“My Jeep.  I need a new top.  What did Bill have to say?”

“He told me he let you go for insubordination.  What happened?”

“Scott, I will tell you all about it when I get my check from those guys.  I would not put it past Bill to keep it.”

“Well.  I can tell you, the franchisees are not happy and things are not going to go well for Bill.  He said he was coming to our next meeting.  I asked him if he knew how to find Pittsburgh.”

“Thanks.  I appreciate that.”

“Sean. I will call you next week.  Let’s get together for a beer.”

“Thanks again Scott.”  Sean dropped his phone on the passenger seat and kept driving. 

Looking down at his phone, he saw a handful of texts from Michelle.  She wanted him to call her.  He was seeing her off and on and was certain the news of his firing would not please her.  She felt he was reckless and immature.  She wanted him to settle down and he was just not ready or sure he wanted to settle down with her.  He was twenty-six for Christ’s sakes!  She had been pushing him since college to become more serious about their relationship.  Sean found her smothering at times.  He felt the need to rebel against the pressure.

The text message notification kept beeping.  He turned off the phone.

It was nearly 1 P.M. and there wasn’t much traffic, for which he was thankful.

He pulled off the turnpike and headed towards downtown.  He stopped at a gas station at the top of Greentree Hill.  “What the hell?” Might as well charge the agency for mileage and the gas,” he thought.  He stood there pumping the gas, looking at his torn top.  He saw a Starbucks across the street.  It was one of those cool buildings that they had some how wedged into a very small space. 

“A coffee would be nice,” he thought.  Not the smartest use of money, especially in light of his recent career detour, but he didn’t care.   He finished filling up the Jeep, put the receipt in his pocket and made his way over to Starbucks.  He ordered his usual and pulled back out onto Greentree and made right back onto I-279 and down the other side of the hill.  As usual, traffic backed up in front of the tunnel.  For some reason, people in Pittsburgh felt they needed to slow down and aim their cars into the tunnel opening.  Once inside, they sped up.  Strange, but true.

Sean took a sip of his coffee.  He came out of the tunnel, turned and looked at Heinz Field, as he always did.  What he didn’t notice was that the traffic had come to a screeching halt one hundred feet in front of him.  He slammed on the breaks.  The Jeep stopped, but not without spilling his drink.  It went all over the floor and his shoes.  The Jeep now reeked of coffee, which some might say was an improvement.

“Perfect!  Just perfect!” he said.  The traffic had stopped just short of the exit to I-376.  Sean sat for several minutes before traffic started moving.  He took the Forbes exit and made it to Shadyside without further trouble.  He turned off of Fifth and onto St. James.  The trees were budding and Pittsburgh would soon be green again.  The streets, slightly slick from an afternoon shower, smelled fresh. He pulled into the driveway and saw Bailey where she had been when he left, looking out the big picture window.  She jumped down and ran to the back door when she saw him.

Sean stopped short of the garage and got out, walked to the front of the garage, bent over and lifted the door.  It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the light, but he found what he was looking for, a roll of paper towels.  He went back to the Jeep and soaked up the coffee off the rubber floor mats.  He took the towels and the empty cup and tossed them in the garbage can on the side of the garage, gathered his bag and phone and went to the back door. Bailey was jumping up and down, excited to see him and also to go out.  He opened the door and she bounded out.  She jumped all over him and he did his best to hug her, but she was too crazy.

“Go do your business girl.” 

She ran into the yard and came right back. Sean tossed his bag into a chair in the kitchen and dropped his keys and phone on the counter.  No one was home.  Brian would be back about 7 P.M.  Upstairs, he took off his jacket and hung it in the closet, took off his shirt and tossed it on the floor.  He looked at his shoes, now stained with coffee.  “Damn it!” He slipped them off, took off his pants and threw them on the floor, next to the shirt.

Standing there in the mirror, he looked at himself.  He felt he was in decent shape, a little extra around his waist, and he seems to be getting a little jowly, but not too bad.

“I guess we could run a little more,” he said to Bailey.  She was fine with that.  She could run all day.  Sean was the one who hated running.  He didn’t mind going to the gym, but he just couldn’t focus on working out.  He always ended up going for a month or so religiously, but then lost interest and stopped.  He pulled out a sweatshirt, some wool socks and a pair of jeans, put them on and walked downstairs.  Bailey hopped up next to him on the couch.  He swiveled around and lay down and tried to forget about his shitty day. She hopped off and then got back up and lay down on top of him. She was warm and Sean soon fell asleep. Dogs have that effect; they can make you feel like there’s nothing in the world more important than you. 

II

A cold beer and a break-up

Pittsburgh

The afternoon moved into night.  Sean remained on the couch - he had not moved since returning from Cleveland, the sight of his spectacular firing.  A set of headlights illuminated the room.  Bailey put her head up to see Brian’s police cruiser pull into the driveway and she jumped up to greet him.  Brian entered the house though the kitchen.

“Hey Bailey.”  He threw his keys down next to Sean’s and came into the dark living room and flipped on the light. Brian sat down on the chair and looked at Sean.

“Why is your phone off?”

Sean covered his eyes with his arm.

“I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.”

“Michelle wants to talk to you.  She has been driving me fucking nuts.”

“I don’t want to talk to her right now.”

“She’s your girlfriend, not mine and I am not your answering service.”

Sean sat up and Bailey jumped up next to him.

“Bill fired me.”

“What?  What happened?  I don’t believe it.  The franchisees love you,” Brian asked, leaning forward. 

“Well, he never liked me to begin with.”

“I know that.”

“He says I was insubordinate.”

“Now, that I do believe,” Brian chuckled.

Sean explained everything that happened.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Well, I need to get a job of some sort,” Sean replied

Sean just starred straight ahead.

“You eat yet?”  Brian asked him, breaking the silence.

“No.” Sean really had not eaten all day.

“Let’s go get something.  I am going to change and we’ll go over to Doc’s, but first call Michelle.  I am sick of her messages.”

“Thanks,” Sean mumbled.  He had no intention of calling Michelle.   “Who would want to?”  He thought to himself.

Brian slapped him on the shoulder and headed upstairs.  Sean rose, picked up his old Vasque hiking boots next to the front door and pulled them on.  Brian came back down in less than five minutes.

“You ready?”

“Yeah,” Sean answered, standing and stretching

“You going to comb your hair or something?  A hat maybe?” Brian asked, teasing him slightly.

“No.”

“Have it your way.”

They made their way over to Doc’s and found a place by the window facing Walnut Street.  Brian ordered a pitcher of beer, while Sean looked over the menu.  He settled on a burger and cheese fries.  Brian ordered the same.

“What are you going to do?”  Brian asked, taking a sip of the beer.  He noticed Sean was gulping his down.

“I guess I will get on LinkedIn in the morning, update my profile and see what I can find.  There are a couple of recruiters I can call.”

Sean finished his beer and poured another.  It was going right to his head.  The lack of food was a factor. 

“I can reduce your rent,” Brian offered.

“Too what?  $100?  I only pay you $150 as it is.  That’s not fair to you.”

“It’s not a problem, it’s not like I owe anything on the house.”

“You have to pay taxes,” Sean replied.

“Well, that’s true.”

“I appreciate the offer.” 

The food arrived.  Sean also ordered another pitcher.  He quickly ate everything on his plate and had another beer.  Brian’s phone was beeping. 

“Sean, did you call Michelle?”

“No.”

“Well, you are not going to have to worry about it. She is on the way over here,” Brian told him.

“Come on!  Did you tell her where we are?”  Sean asked, making a face and putting down his beer.

“No.  But it’s not hard to figure it out.  You come here every night.”

Sean shrugged his shoulders.   Both of them sat back and watched the TV over the bar.  Sean had another beer and Brian was finishing up his burger when Michelle passed by the window.

“Dude, she’s here,” Brian said, nodding towards the door.

Michelle stormed in and stood at the table.  Sean looked at her.

“You want a beer?” he asked her.

Michelle ignored him and ripped right into Sean, “Why have you not called me back or texted me?”

“I guess that’s a no.”

Brian started to get up.

“Brian, you can stay there.  This will only take a minute.”

Sean looked at her with a smirk on his face.

“You think this is funny?  Well, I am tired of it.  I think I am the only one who takes this seriously.”

“I take it seriously.”

“No you don’t!”  She took a deep breath.  “I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“OK,” he said with both hands on his beer.

“OK?  OK?  That’s all you have to say?” Now, she was mad.

“Yes.”

“This is what drives me nuts! Goodbye Sean,” she turned and stormed out.

Brian looked at Sean, but didn’t say anything.

“I guess we should get another pitcher,” Sean said, waving at the waitress. He actually felt a little relieved, but it’s never fun getting dumped.

“I am not supporting your over indulgence.  I don’t care if you just lost your job and your girlfriend.”

“I am not upset.  How many times has she broken up with me?
 

“I don’t know, but
I think she means it this time,” Brian said.

“That’s fine.  It was a doomed relationship.”

“Sean, finish up the beer and then we are leaving.  I am not going to leave you here to close this place down.”  Brian threw down his American Express.

“Thanks for dinner,” Sean said.

“You’re welcome.  It’s the least I can do.”

Sean polished off the rest of the beer and they left Doc’s.  It was still a bit chilly.  You could smell the rain in the air.  Another storm was coming in.

They entered the house.  Sean stumbled upstairs and Bailey followed.  He went into his room, closed the door and threw himself on the bed.  Bailey jumped up next to him.  He slept straight through the night.

He woke up at 9:50 the next morning.  He had a bad case of cottonmouth.  He got up and brushed his teeth and took a long drink from the tap.  He still had on the clothes from last night.  He really didn’t care, after all, where was he going?  He looked out the window at the rain.  It was really coming down.  He went downstairs to let Bailey out.  She refused to go out into the yard.  He opened the fridge and got out a bottle of water and then turned to see a note on the counter.   It was from Brian.

We forgot to put your Jeep in last night.  Sorry.

“Shit!”  He looked outside.  It was pouring and his top was basically a sieve.  He grabbed his key and ran out into the rain in his bare feet.  He was soaked before he got off the deck.  He quickly opened the garage, jumped in the Jeep and was greeted by a drenched seat.  Pools of water were on the floorboards.  The cup holder was full of water as well.  He put the key in the ignition and turned it.   All he heard were rapid clicking sounds.  Dead battery. 

“Shit!  Shit! Shit!” he screamed.  He put his head on the steering wheel, “what next!” He put the Jeep in neutral, got out to try and push it into the garage.  He got behind it and started to push, but could not get any momentum going.  If anything, it moved backwards.

“Fuck it!”  He stopped pushing, reached into the front and pulled the emergency brake.  He walked back to the house.  Why run?  Everything he had on was wet. Just inside the kitchen door, he started pulling his wet clothes off.  He opened the basement door and threw them down the stairs.  They landed a couple of feet from the washer and dryer. Naked, he went upstairs straight into the shower and turned on the water.  He jumped in hoping to wash off the last twenty-four hours.  Unfortunately, it would not come off and he got out having to figure out how to solve this new set of problems.  He dried off and put on dry jeans and another sweatshirt.  Taking his iPad off his dresser he went downstairs, into the kitchen, sat down at the counter and then opened up the LinkedIn app and went to his profile.  He looked at his career details and made a few adjustments here and there and ran a quick job search but found very few opportunities.  He looked at his phone and turned it on and found nine text messages.  Eight were from Michelle.  He deleted them.  The remaining message was from Cathy letting him know that his money, $6,566, would be in his account on Friday.  She also wished him good luck.  With the deposit, he would have roughly $9,000.  “Could be worse,” he thought to himself.  However, he remembered quickly that he would have to buy a new battery today and probably a new top for the Jeep.

He logged into his email and saw nothing of interest.  Next, he checked Facebook.  He scrolled through a couple of updates.  Everyone really enjoyed talking about all the important things they were doing or how drunk they were last week.  He wondered if he should talk about losing his job, his girlfriend and his broken-down car.  Then he noticed something different.  Something had changed.  He took a look at his list of friends.  Michelle was missing.  So was Stacy, her roommate.

“How fucking petty.  She un-friended me.”  Sean said, looking at Bailey.  “So did her bitchy friend.  Well, they have no idea what they are missing, not being my friend.”

It was approaching 11 A.M.  He wasn’t really hungry, but this is when you ate.  So, he ate.  He made a quick PB&J, went into the living room and sat down.  He flipped through the channels on the TV.  Nothing good.  Game shows.  Talk shows.  He turned off the TV and finished his sandwich.  He really did not know what to do with himself.  He turned and looked out the window.  It had stopped raining.  He put on a pair of running shoes and went outside to take a look at the Jeep.  Bailey followed and was sniffing around the yard.  He was in an incredibly foul mood.

“Piece of shit top,” he muttered looking at the Jeep.  He began taking it off.  It took about ten minutes to get the whole thing off.  He did his best to stuff it in the trash, but it wouldn’t fit.   He looked at Bailey.

“Spring has arrived!”  He said to her, looking at the topless Jeep.  Then he took the doors off thinking it would dry out faster. 

He looked up at the sky.  “Come on sun!  I need you.”  He set the doors in the back of the garage and looked for a battery charger.  He figured it was worth a try to get it going.  He found it on the old workbench, hooked it up and walked back to the deck. He opened up a storage box on the deck and took out two cushions for the chairs.  The sun was coming out.  He set up two chairs facing the sun.  He sat in one, Bailey in the other.  The sun felt warm on his face.  Then it dawned on him.  He was going to do absolutely nothing.

“I like doing nothing,” he said aloud.