Connor - Close Calls and Beating Up Old Guys
“Mike, you old bastard,” I yell before the door is even closed behind me. “I need to work out some frustration. Got time for some training?”
“You bet, kid,” I hear him yell from somewhere. It takes a minute, but finally I see him up in his office. “Go get warmed up and I’ll be there in a minute.”
Going over to the ring in the corner, I strip down to just my shorts and grab a weighted jump rope from the wall. Sweat is pouring off me before I allow myself to stop. Grabbing a seat on a bench, I start wrapping up my hands while I wait for Mike. The least I can do is protect my hands while I hit stuff today. I may not always play guitar during shows, but I play when I’m writing new music. And now that the tour’s over, I will be doing a lot of writing.
“Alright son, you ready?” Mike is walking over to where I’m finishing wrapping up and he takes over for me. He grabs my gloves from my bag and helps me into them, fastening them for me. “So, you wanna tell me why you’re all worked up and looking to fight?” he says, while holding up my gloved hands. “You’re usually a little more cheerful when you come in to train.”
“Just girl troubles, Mike, you know how it is.” I try to sound lighthearted, but I fail miserably.
“Ha. Good one kid. I don’t have any clue about the girl troubles a musician has. Too many to choose from? Crazy ones following you around? Got a kid somewhere you’re just finding out about?” He shakes his head while laughing. “I don’t think I would be much help with those. I only ever loved one girl in my life, and I married her as soon as she would have me. And when she passed, I just put that part of my life away. Until my granddaughter came to live with me, all I had was this gym. So yeah, girl troubles are not my area of expertise.”
“It’s actually none of those issues, Mike. I just found my first girlfriend again and lost her before we really reconnected. And now I have no way to find her. I don’t know where she works or anything.” I punch my fists together. “But enough about that. Let’s get to training.”
“You got it, kid.” Mike gets up and goes to grab some pads. “And hey, if you decide you want to meet a good girl and settle down, let me know. My granddaughter keeps getting caught up with shitty guys and could stand to date a nice one for once.”
“Good one, Mike.” I chuckle a little. “She must date real assholes if I’m your idea of a good guy.” I grin and start throwing punches in the air. First Alex, and now Mike’s granddaughter. There must be a lot of assholes in this city if two nice girls like them keep getting caught up with them.
“Yeah, well, maybe my standards are a little low.” He barks out a laugh and holds up the pads. “Now get over here and let some of that frustration out. You’ll feel better once you’ve beat up an old man for a while.”
Fucking Mike. He always knows how to make me laugh. I knew it was a good idea to come to the gym today. “Alright, gramps, get ready. I won’t take it easy on you. I don’t care how old you are.”
Chapter 18
Alex - New Jobs and New Beginnings
It turns out that not many people are looking for a personal chef right now. I set up one interview for this morning, through a former client that I’ve remained friendly with. It’s for a six-month contract, round-the-clock hours, seven days a week. I would have to live onsite for the duration. It’s pretty intense, but the money is worth it. I just need to make it through this interview and convince this woman that she wants to hire me.
I pull up at the address she gave me on the phone and immediately feel out of my element. I’ve worked in nice homes before, but this one far surpasses any of them. It’s beautifully designed modern architecture, all sharp angles and enormous windows. Glad I don’t have to wash them. It looks to be three stories high, surrounded by rock gardens with minimal flowers here and there. A place this nice probably has a pool around the back.
“Hello, are you Alex Wilson?” There is a woman standing at the front door. She looks to be about my age, but she’s more put together than I am. Long, straight, black hair frames her beautifully made-up face. She’s wearing a vintage Guns n’ Roses tee with a leather pencil skirt topped off with bright yellow peep toe booties with a platform wedge heel. Can I be her when I grow up? I look down to my cuffed, distressed boyfriend jeans, loose, white, v-neck t-shirt, long grey cardigan, and low top black converse sneakers. If I didn’t have my hair styled and a little makeup on, I’d look like I just rolled out of bed. She said it was a casual meeting, right? I wasn’t just hearing things?
“Hi, yes, I’m Alex.” I have to physically shake myself to get back to the present. “Are you Denise Lathan?”
“Sure am. Come on in and let’s get started. This won’t take too long. I’ve already contacted your list of former clients and looked over your qualifications, so I just want to get to know you a little before I make my decision.” She turns and gestures for me to follow her inside. “Let’s start in the kitchen since that is where you would do most of your actual work.”
“Sounds good to me. I assume you already saw my list of kitchen requirements? Those items would be available, if you decide to offer me the position?” I mean, I can cook with pretty much anything, but I have preferences for cooking utensils and supplies. “I bring my knives with me, but the client usually provides everything else.”
“Yes, that would be no problem,” Denise tells me. “You’ll find that the kitchen is very well appointed already. The last chef we employed was also very particular about equipment, and most of it is still here. We will supply you with a company credit card for grocery purchases and you would be welcome to use that for any other equipment you might need.”
“Alright. So what should we talk about? What would you like to know about me?” Usually the client wants to discuss my requirements because it can be an enormous expense to buy all of that equipment at once. And since she said she already knew enough about me professionally, I’m a little confused what this meeting is for.
“I just need to get a feel for you and tell you some of the more sensitive aspects of the position. If we decide to go ahead, there will be some extra paperwork you would need to sign in order to protect my clients.” Oh, she’s hiring me on behalf of someone, not for herself after all. Interesting. Now I’m even more curious about this job. “So how about for now just tell me a little about yourself.”
“Um, yeah ok, sure. I grew up in a little town a few hours away from here, but when my parents died I moved here to live with my grandpa. I was just 15 when they passed in a car accident and grandpa was the only relative who could take me in. He owns a gym on the other side of town, and that’s where I spent most of my time until I graduated high school and moved out with my best friend. I decided on culinary school because I like to cook and I like to feed people, so it seemed like a perfect fit. So far it’s been great. I’ve had a lot of kitchen jobs as I was coming up in the industry, working my way up to running my own kitchen as head chef, but I was burning out on that.”
“About five years ago, I decided to transition to starting my business as a personal chef. I’ve had great clients and not so great clients, as with any other job I guess, and now I am here.” I smile to let her know that I’m done with my brief speech. “Is that kind of what you were looking for?”
“Mostly, yes. I can’t really ask personal questions, legally, but is a live in position something you could manage in relation to family and such? You wouldn’t have to leave anyone behind in order to stay here for the duration of the contract? Partners wouldn’t be allowed to move in, unfortunately. We’ve found that people who are unattached have better luck with working out the length of the contract, and we prefer not to have to find someone else in the middle of the time frame.” Ahh, so this is more what she was looking for. She wants to know if I have a spouse or significant other I would miss too much to live here.
“I just have my grandfather and my best friend, and I am more than able to live away from them. I also just broke up with my ex when I caught him cheating, so there is no boyfriend in the picture either. And there is no possibility of reconciliation, just so you know. I would be fine to live here for 6 months and since I’m just living with my best friend temporarily I could move in and start right away.” Denise seems almost relieved to hear that I don’t have a boyfriend which is a little strange I suppose but who am I to say?
“Great, that’s great. A previous chef had to leave us when her boyfriend found out who my client and their friends were. He was jealous and couldn’t handle having her around them.”
Ok, now I’m really curious. Who is this client? Probably a famous movie star. Or a reality TV star. I just hope it’s not a politician. Not that I would turn the job down if it were.
“You have officially piqued my curiosity, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that you can’t tell me who this person is?” I’m impressed with myself for figuring this out. “Confidentiality and all that?”
