Page 32 of Truck

“Hello, Rory. You are going to tell me you want out of the contract aren’t you?”

I shake my head, which I know he can’t see, but he’s so intuitive it’s shocking. “Yes. Mrs. Silvermaine is wasting my time, Thomas. I spend time creating the budget for her, and within days she’s messed it up, and I have to start again. It’s a total crock of shit to put it bluntly. Oh, and Mr. Bush retired, and his son has signed with a company close to him. With that in mind, let’s just call it a day, Thomas.”

Thomas sighs at his end of the call. “Okay, Rory. I hoped that keeping those two clients would give you the desire to come back. But I can see now that it’s not going to happen. Are you okay?”

“Actually, Thomas, I am doing fine. I love serving at the diner. Yes, it’s not what I trained to do. But after losing Terrence I needed a fresh direction. I’m happy here, making friends and family. Thank you for my time with you and for all the support you’ve given me over the years. Particularly for being so kind when I needed help through the funeral.”

Thomas quickly speaks, cutting off more of what I was going to say. “Rory. You don’t have to thank me for that. I liked Terrence very much. He was a great man, and he loved you deeply. Everyone could see how much he loved you, and we all should live up to that with our own wives or girlfriends. Take care of yourself, Rory. If you ever need me, you know where I am.”

“Thank you, Thomas.” The call is cut before I can say more, and I know Thomas well enough that he doesn’t do emotional stuff since he also lost his wife six years previously.

Looking at the laptop, I close out all the open files, and upload them to the server, then I sign out for the last time. It feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I love my job of financial management, but I think I need to step away from my old life and create a new one. I can continue with that part of my life if I want to, but only on my terms. For the moment, I’m happy being Shelby’s evening server.

My phone pings, which tells me I have a message. I wonder if Shelby needs me to go into work early?

Picking my phone back up from where I’d placed it on the table I smile because it’s not Shelby, it’s Truck.

Truck: Saturday evening, I’ll pick you up at 7:00

Rory: OK. Where are we going? What should I wear?

Truck: The Prime Cut. I’ve not been there, so it's a fresh experience for both of us.

Rory: OK. Great.

Now, I’m nervous. My first date since… No, stop, don’t go there, Rory. Enjoy the experience and move forward as Terrence wanted you to.

Chapter 17

TRUCK

It is going to be a busy day. Rum is organizing the opening of the gas station. We are looking at giving a reduced price on gas for 48 hours. A desktop of ideas is how we’ve been wading through the ideas he had. He has Collins and Mitchell up the top of ladders tying bunting all around the place, and by that I mean inside the station and outside.

Looking at Rum, I can see why the man was successful in his life. He has a determined attitude and a bullheadedness that keeps him on track. “What are you looking at, Truck?”

“Sorry, Rum. I was thinking you have been great in the way you have stepped up and helped with the gas station. I would have struggled to get through all the stuff that was needed to set up the office, supplies, gas, etcetera. You eased all that from my back and at the same time were educating me on how to run the place,” I gave Rum an honest, thankful look. I want him to know how sincere I am in my thanks.

“Truck, I was sitting in the damn easy chair staring outside the window for hours at a time. Bored out of my skull, I’ll admit. Since my wife died, I had lost my direction but helping you has made me get up in the morning and have a purpose. For that, I’m thankful to you. We’ve helped each other, and that is all that matters. Now, let’s get this opening ready. I reckon we need some badges, you know, manager, assistant manager, and the like.” Rum smirks and I return it.

“You reckon we should have store one, store two, lol. Maybe have underling one…” I am stopped when I hear a snort from behind me.

“You’ve gotta be kidding? I’m not wearing a badge calling me anything, so you can save your money, because it’ll go right in the trash if you bother,” Xero looks at me with a face full of disgust.

I laugh at the look of him, and Rum chuckles beside me. Rum lets out a huge laugh, throwing his head back as he does. I’m watching this older man enjoying the moment and remember what he’d just said about staring out of the window. I’m happy to see how his life has changed.

Xero breaks the moment when he speaks. “Let’s have bunting up near the front with something that says when we are opening. The two registers have been checked and Coin, along with Keys, says all is good.”

“Let’s open on Tuesday. All we need is to be here when we open the doors. All of us are on duty sometime during the day. Who wants to take the first week of overnight shifts?” I ask, knowing Mitchell said he’d not be bothered about working at night.

“Mitchell said he’d do the first week. I’ll do the second and Collins can do week three. If you do week four, Truck, we’ll have the month covered without any gaps,” Xero throws in.

Rum nods, “It would work. I’ll keep the office running and supplies covered. Truck, I’ll show you during the first week what we need to watch for on the computer, while Xero, Collins, and Mitchell make sure the shop and the gas station itself are running without issue.”

“How many people do we need at one time in the store, Rum?” I ask, wondering if I have to hire staff.

“Often two, but that is sometimes because they are young women who are serving, so it’s necessary to have a man around in case anything kicks off. We had an armed robber in here once, but he didn’t get far since he missed the fact that the Deputy was in getting his pregnant wife some shit she was craving.” Rum laughs as he recalls the incident. “You’ve seen no one run as fast as he did, but that deputy, he can run. Took him down in moments, and he cried like a baby for his mama.”