Theo wiped down the lunch counter, grumbling to himself. Helen had called in sick, and he was stuck playing waitress for the day. He looked up when Greta walked in, her hair slightly curled and damp at the edges as she walked in from the humid outdoors.
“How ya doing, Greta?” he greeted.
“Hi, Theo.”
She sat down at the counter and he handed her a menu.
“Late lunch, huh?”
“Um, yes, I have some things to do today,” Greta said. She looked over the lunch specials. “I think that I’ll just have the minestrone soup.”
He might be wrinkled, brusque and demanding, but he had a soft spot for Greta. He’d known since she was little, when she and her mother would come in the after mass on Sundays. She’d acted the perfect little lady, demure and almost afraid to speak in the presence of her mother. Her mother didn’t like him, he knew, but he didn’t give a hoot’s ass what she thought. To him she was a stuck-up snob and he didn’t like how she treated her daughter.
He poured Greta a cup of coffee, setting a fresh container of cream next to her. She was a big coffee drinker. Maybe she needed to cut back a little, seeing as she was already the nervous type.
“You make the best coffee, Theo.”
“Yeah, I know – you say that every time you come in.”
“It’s true. So, what’s your secret?”
“And you ask me that every time, too.”
They laughed over their standing joke.
“Alright, I’ll tell ya.” He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “The secret is — a little salt in the coffee grinds.”
***
In the office of Richie’s Auto Repair, Richard tended to the coffee
machine. He poured the old coffee into the sink, then added fresh water
to the coffee pot. He threw the old filter of grinds in the trash bin
and added a new fresh filter, scooping coffee into the new one. He
always added a little extra because he needed that extra kick in order
to get through the work day. Already lined up were three cars that
needed work, and he hadn’t even had his first cup of coffee.He headed into the shop carrying two mugs of coffee, handing one to Nick before sitting down on one of the stools at the work table. Nick came over to sit with him.
“I met a girl,” the younger man said.
Richard raised a brow as he scrutinized his employee. “I see,” he said, blowing gently into his cup before he took a sip.
“Yeah, so then I helped her get home,” Nick continued. “Her and her little dog. Cute thing.”
“The dog or the girl?”
Nick rolled his eyes. “I was talking about the dog.”
“I thought we were talking about the girl.”
Nick laughed. “Yeah, I thought we were too.”
