Running Northwest (11 page)

With his legs crossed, Thomas sat smoking a cigarette and sipping his coffee. Since it was 11 am and the shop wasn’t opened yet he wasn’t concerned about breaking any laws. And since Alexis also smoked she wouldn’t complain about it. The interview was more of an informal meeting than an actual interview. So the two were just basically catching up and talking about Tracie and school and Daniel. They were also going over some new changes and things Thomas had made since Alexis was here last. In a stack next
to
his coffee cup was her resume and as well as her legal and tax paper work. He was supposed to have her fill these out but knew he wasn’t going to. She was going to work three shifts a week and Thomas after talking to Alexis had decided to pay her in cash as opposed to writing her a check every week or two. It wasn’t exactly legal but Thomas had done this a few times before and she wasn’t working enough where it would matter to either of them. It was mutually beneficial to them both in enough ways to where Thomas was willing to do it. Alexis was just as easy going as her cousin Tracie and Thomas liked the way he and she interacted. He also liked how she had gotten along with the customers in December and also the day before when she was in the shop while Tracie worked. He was surprised to see that some of the regulars remembered her

Alexis came walking out of the bathroom and smiled at Thomas as she sat down and crossed her legs so they were sticking out from the side of the table. She took a sip of her own drink and then reached for her own cigarette that she had left burning while she went and used the rest room. Thomas heard a horn honk and looked up and out a side window to see Tracie’s jeep pull up, her headlights piercing through the heavy rain that had been coming down in sheets all morning. He looked down at his watch; it was almost 11:30.

“Well Alexis, it looks like your cousin’s a little early today,” he said looking back in her direction and trying not to look at her tanned legs that stretched up to the torn edges of the jean skirt she was wearing.

“There goes our morning, right?” she said laughing and blowing smoke out of her mouth as she bobbed her leg up and down.

“Hell, maybe, who knows what kind of mood she’s in. Didn’t she have that date last night with the young guy from the realty agency down the street, Jason something or other?” he asked.

“Yeah, and she got home pretty late so who knows how it went,” she answered, adding, “So I guess we will just see how it goes.”

A minute or two later Tracie opened the front door with bang and shook the rain off her coat as she stepped inside. She walked over to where Thomas and Alexis were sitting and sat down in the seat next to Thomas, threw her purse and coat on the floor and put her head on his shoulder.

“Good morning sunshine! How was your night?” he asked his favorite employee in quiet voice.

“I hate men so much, so damn much,” she said followed by a sad angry sigh.

“So I’m assuming the date didn’t go so well then?” he asked her.

“It went great for him, he got what he wanted I guess,” Tracie said as she gave Thomas an all too familiar look.

“I called him this morning and he said he didn’t think it was gunna work out and asked me not to call him again, the jerk.”

Thomas grimaced a little, he hated days like this for Tracie. He felt bad for her; she hadn’t had the best luck with guys in recent months. He hated guys like the one she went out with the night before, always had. The kind that use wo
men, throw them away after they’re
done and got what they wanted. Jason had a reputation and he wanted to warn her but Thomas knew that Tracie would get upset if he got involved in her personal life. And for a brief second he relished in the fact he had a son and not a daughter. God only knows what he would do if he had a daughter and some guy treated her like that. Thomas also, and much more than briefly, considered calling this Jason kid’s boss, Jerry Ruiz. Jerry owned that particular reality company and was a good friend of his. Thomas knew that Jerry was an old fashioned kind of guy and would possibly be very interested in knowing how his employee treated women.

But Tracie had asked Thomas a while back not to get involved in things like this, unless she specifically asked him for help. She was more looking out for Thomas when she had asked this and he knew that. Tracie was well aware of his somewhat “protective” nature towards her. And she didn’t want him to get into trouble over some dumb kid she was seeing. She had seen the results of his “work” before. Regardless though he was still considering talking to Derrick about it and asking him to deal with the kid quietly. They were all fairly close friends. He knew Derrick would not mind dealing with it for Thomas, and he may actually enjoy doing it. But Thomas also knew that he couldn’t go around beating up or having every single guy that hurt or upset Tracie beat up. He was after all in the coffee business and not the vengeance business.

“So did you sleep with him then?” Alexis asked, joining their conversation with an abrupt question.

“No Alexis, I didn’t have sex with him, we just…I don’t know…messed around a little bit,” she answered, a little embarrassed and directed a scowl at her cousin.

“Well you must have not been very good at whatever you did since he doesn’t want to see you again,” Alexis said with a laugh.

“Well you would be the expert now wouldn’t you? Oh, and by the way, nice skirt…real professional looking for an interview, Alex. Is that what you wear when you’re walking the streets at night in Phoenix?” Tracie said with her head still resting against Thomas’ bicep.

Alexis started to sputter out a reply when Thomas slapped the table with his huge hand and started to stand up expanding his massive frame.

“Ladies I’m really not in the damn mood for this right now, if you want to bicker and fight like children go home and do it – otherwise shut the hell up,” he said as he looked down at the two cousins who were giving each other death stares from opposite sides of the table.

“Sorry Thomas,” Alexis said looking up and batting her long eyelashes at him.

Thomas rolled his eyes as he briefly looked away; he was beyond frustrated at this point.

“Tracie why don’t you come in the back and have a talk with me alone okay?” he said smiling and putting his hand down to help Tracie up out of her seat; turning his head towards Alexis he said, “Oh and Alexis, knock it off with the eyelash thing okay? I’m 35, divorced and have a niece. That stuff stopped working on me ten or fifteen years ago. That crap only works on stupid college boys, do I look like a stupid college boy to you?” he added in a stern, almost growling voice looking her directly in the eyes as he talked.

“No, Thomas you don’t, sorry,” she answered quietly looking down at the floor more than a little embarrassed.

“Great, I’m glad we got that straightened out. Why don't you make yourself useful for a few minutes and get the shop ready to open while I talk to Tracie,” he said as he walked away.

Thomas helped Tracie up and put his hand on the small of her back as they walked around the counter and out the shop’s back door so they could talk privately. As soon as the door was shut behind them Tracie stared bawling and threw herself into her
bosses’
arms.

He just quietly whispered, “I’m sorry Darlin, I’m so sorry,” in her ear.

It was really the only thing he could say at a moment like this. Then he did the only thing he knew Tracie really wanted him to do, and that was to hug her. So he pulled her close to him, gently kissed her
forehead and held her tight to
his large body and just let her cry it out. He rubbed one hand up and down her back as her deep heavy sobs shook his frame, her fingers gripping the back of his black t-shirt. He hadn’t seen her so upset in quite a while; usually she was pretty tough.

A few minutes later she was calmed down enough and capable of conversation and ready to start working. The two walked back inside the coffee shop and were surprised to see that it was more or less ready to be opened with the exception of a few small things. Alexis was standing next to the counter putting out some “to go” cups for the hot drinks and looked up and smiled when they walked in.

“Alexis, I’m really sorry for being such a bitch when I first got here,” Tracie said
,
a small smile on her face.

“It’s okay and I’m sorry too, you had a bad night I s
houldn’t have got on you like I
did, I was an ass,” Alexis replied with an awkward smile.

The two cousins hugged, which made Thomas’ life easier for the moment. He looked around and checked out everything that Alexis had done while they were outside, he was very impressed.

“Hey Kiddo you did great in here, more than I actually expected you to do,” he said smiling at Alexis

“Thanks, boss,” she replied with a warm nervous smile as she looked up at her new boss who towered over both her and her cousin.

He smiled back at her and leaned up against the counter. He crossed his huge arms and looked at the two woman and then down at the ground, flexing his muscles as he did so. It was something he did involuntarily when he was thinking hard. He noticed the two women staring at his arms and sort of smiling. He noticed and became self-conscious, uncrossed them but not sure what to do with them. So he just put his hands half way into his pockets.

“Here’s what’s going for the day. Alexis I want you to stay for an hour or so with Tracie and let her catch you up on some things that you and I didn’t go over earlier. And I think I’d like to have you start working tonight at 7 pm until 1 am. Does that sound all right with you?” he said to Alexis.

“Hey, sounds good to me,” Alexis replied smiling and excited.

“All right great, welcome aboard kid; and Tracie what are your dinner plans after work?” Thomas asked looking at Tracie who was in the process of putting her makeup back on. She looked up curiously.

“Well, umm, I don’t really have any now…I mean I did. But now I don’t. Why what’s up?” she asked

“I was wondering if you would like to come up to the house and have dinner with Daniel and
me
tonight. He hasn’t seen you since Monday and he literally told me to ‘fix that’ this morning. He said you’re a pretty girl and that I should make pretty girls dinner sometimes. But I think he just wants to see his favorite girlfriend. He said he wanted to dress up nice,” he said with a laugh

“Aww, Thomas I’d love to. I miss Daniel. Are you sure though I thought you and he had plans for the weekend?”  
She
asked.

“I’m positive; we would love to see you. We were going to go camping but it’s obviously not going to stop raining. So…yeah, just give me a call when you are on your way up. I am assuming you will want to stop home and change first, so I’ll plan on seeing you about eight okay. Then after Daniel goes to bed you and I can talk about some things,” he said.

“That sounds great, I’d really love that. I’ll see you at eight but I will call when I am on my way. Should I bring anything with me?” she sai
d with a smile, running her hand
through
her hair
still trying to fix herself up for the day.

“Nope, just bring yourself, Darlin. Us guys will take care of the rest,” he said with a smile and a little growl in his voice.

“Well all right then ladies, you have a good day. Tracie I’ll see you tonight. Alexis if you have any problems at all tonight don’t be afraid to call me, okay? Seriously I’d rather have you call me than not if you run into issues,” he said.

“I’m sure I will be fine but thanks Thomas,” she answered.

Thomas turned and put his pea coat on and grabbed his laptop bag and walked out the door. The two female employees watched their boss leave after saying goodbye one last time. After he had a gotten into his truck and pulled away Alexis turned and looked at Tracie who was suddenly quiet again.

“So Trace, did Thomas just ask you on a date? Is that what just happened there?” she asked smiling.

“Shut up Alex, he just invited me over for dinner with his SON. He does it once in a while. Thomas and I are just friends, don’t get all excited over nothing,” she said not realizing she was blushing a little bit.

“Well if you say so, because to me it sounded like a date,” Alexis said.

“It’s not Alex, trust me,” Tracie said in a stern tone as she was looking down and counting out the money in the cash register.

“Okay, well he is sexy
as hell
,
for and older guy. I wouldn’t blame you, I’m just saying,” she answered back.

“Yeah, I know he is, I mean handsome not old,” Tracie said and then put her hand over her eyes adding, “Could you just go grab the cream cheese from the fridge for me please?”

A few minutes later Thomas was driving north down the rain covered street. He had to go and pick up the dogs from the vets at 1:30. He had dropped them off after bringing Daniel to school so they could get their shots and checkups. He looked at the clock on the radio in the truck, it was 12:15 now and he had some time to burn. So he decided to go and talk with Derrick for a little bit at their bar The Whaleback until then. The bar opened at noon but was not usually busy at that point and he knew Derrick had been there since 11 am. Thomas drove down the street and a few minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of the bar, there were only a few other cars in it. When he got inside he saw only four people: an older couple and two regulars who were sitting up at one end of the bar. He knew them all and briefly said hello before setting up his laptop at the opposite end of the bar and sitting down. Even though Thomas was half owner of The Whaleback, Derrick was the one who ran it and Thomas never wanted to step on his toes. Therefore, he waited for Derrick as opposed to getting himself a drink.