You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.
-
Christmas
Story
Brooke got to The March a little before her 4:30 shift
started and greeted Gio, who was standing at the door acting weird. She decided to ignore his weirdness and
strolled straight into the office.
She tucked her bike seat away, grabbed an apron and tied it around her
waist as she walked up to the wait stand.
She was in a great mood.
Teddy had invited her back the next day.
At the bar, Mary was leaning back, chatting with Farebrother
and Fred, who was still pouring over the sports page.
“Brooke,” said Mary, handing her a bank. Did I hear that you asked about
recycling here?”
Brooke smiled and nodded. “Caleb said we could do it if I took charge. I called the alderman and he said he
could get me the containers, but I’d have to get them to the redemption center
on my own. I don’t know how to do
that. It’s ridiculous how
difficult this is. We should all
be recycling by now as a matter of course!”
‘You know,” said Mary.
“Most of the ignorant motherfuckers who come in here have no idea that
they bear any responsibility for the air we breathe. Maybe a blue garbage can or two will at least make
them feel guilty. Fred, let’s help
Brooke out. Can you find a van or
something to carry recycled bottles to the redemption center?”
“Yeah,” said Fred, always happy to do a favor for Mary. “I’m sure I can scrounge something up.”
“Really?” said Brooke.
“That’s amazing!”
“Yep,” said Mary.
“The March Tavern goes treehugger.
I love it.”
The Marshall Field floor managers wandered in and sat at
their normal table. Brooke headed
over to wait on them. She was
friendly in her greeting. Why
not? The day kept getting better! A recycling program at The March was a
quantifiable, authentic contribution to the environmental movement. At long last she was doing something. She was very excited to tell Teddy.
She passed the rest of her shift uneventfully. As did Gio. No minors tried to get past him. No one touched her butt. At the shift change, she tipped out $4 to Gio and then
asked if he wanted to have a drink before going home. Gio demurred citing homework and wandered home thinking
less about the beer Brooke had uncharacteristically suggested and more about
Celia.
Fred, typically gallant, decided to
rescue Brooke who had been set to sea by Gio. He invited her to join him at the bar.
Business was brisk that night. The floor was full and Rosie was
working the floor like a sassy tornado.
Farebrother was joined at the bar by a host of other regulars and Mary,
who had been relieved by Caleb and was happy to join the regular crew to drink
and argue about sports. Caleb
mixed cocktails and chatted with regulars. It was pleasant for one and all.
At around 9:00, Teddy came in. It was
late for him, but he felt that he hadn’t gotten his usual work done during the
day due to Brooke’s visit. So,
he’d stayed at home compiling scientific evidence of various 19th
century pollutants (you know, because we’ve always been assholes like this)
before heading in for his evening beers and note review. Or so he’d have you think. Teddy was no stranger to the circadian
rhythms of The March and he’d have known that Brooke was recently off
duty. I’ll leave it to you to
decide if he wanted her to join him at the bar or if he was hoping to miss her.
I’m not sure. Teddy probably
wasn’t either.
When he arrived at his usual stool,
he sat down, placed a twenty on the bar, set his cigarettes and lighter next to
it, and settled in. Looking
around, he saw Brooke sitting at the bar with Fred and Farebrother. He frowned.
Brooke hadn’t noticed Teddy come in. Both Fred and Farebrother were
encouraging her ideas to green up The March and this, plus a few beers, had
left her feeling a little loose and enthusiastic. She sparkled with their attention.
Teddy watched her laughing and
eagerly scribbling on a piece of paper.
It probably looked to Teddy (as it might have to you) like she was
flirting. Fred and Brooke were
both, after all, good looking people of roughly the same age. But Brooke wasn’t flirting. Shoot, even if Brooke knew how to flirt, she was completely
smitten with Teddy. And Fred’s only goal was for Mary to notice his nascent
admirable interest in a recycling program.
Teddy was so sourly engrossed in
observing the threesome that when Caleb approached him with his beer, he didn’t
hear his friendly greeting, didn’t notice Caleb making change for the twenty,
was barely aware of lifting the beer mug.
He drank, broodingly.
At around 9:30, Tré walked into The
March and looked around. “Tré!”
said Fred when he spied him. “Come, join us. I have an idea to pitch to you.”
Tré could have believably claimed
that he was there to wet his whistle after a long day of work in the
Lightweight Group’s office. There
was a good case to be made that he was there as part of his tour of stores, in
search of “organic cohesion.” But,
let’s be honest (even if Tré won’t):
the beautiful, blonde waitress who was smiling at him from the wait
station factored prominently in his decision of where he'd grab a drink after work.
Tré took the stool closest to the
wait station and brushed Rosie’s arm as he sat down. Fred introduced him to Brooke (much to Rosie’s
annoyance). Fred asked about Tré’s
plans to cohere the establishments and then suggested that he think about
Brooke’s green initiatives as part of the rebrand.
“Interesting,” said Tré, noncommittal
at first, but warming as he thought about it. Maybe this Brooke girl was onto something. She was a nice looking girl, too. A little intense, maybe.
Rosie tied of waiting for attention,
so she tapped Tré on the shoulder and commenced flirting and being flirted
with. Brooke kept talking to Fred,
Mary, and Farebrother about how they could manage the recycling program. Other regulars wandered in and joined
them. Caleb kept everyone’s
glasses filled. It was a cheerful little corner that evening.
Teddy left after just three beers
(far fewer than was his wont) and made sure that Brooke saw him leave. He ignored her when she called out a
greeting and made sure she was upset before exiting.
