Before the Horns - A Bob Velseb Story

Chapter 4

Walking home without a coat in weather like this was absolutely miserable. Sure, it was worth seeing Lila warm but dang was Bob upset he forgot the jacket at her house. 

He huffed at himself frustratedly, and exhaled into his hands. It was cold enough to see his own breath and he could feel the goosebumps forming over his skin in the night wind. Rubbing his hands up and down his arms, Bob checked his watch. Oh god it's almost  7 'o'clock, how long did I spend there? Bob hurried home, hoping it wouldn't be too late by the time he got there.

The night was a lot darker than recently, and the chilly air was blanketed by lazy whisps of fog. Gentle gusts of wind nudged painted leaves to dance around under the flickering street lights, and they weaved in and out of fog puffs. 

Bob thought he was the only one left on the street, until he caught a glimpse of someone else still in the cold. She had fiery red hair that messily framed her face poking out of the crimson hood of her trench coat, and pale freckled skin. She was housed in blackness, a harsh shadow cast down her face by her hood. Had she not been staring at her raggedy black sneakers, she'd have been a little easier to spot. The only reason Bob recognized her was that she was the only unfamiliar face on the block.

He called out to her as he passed under a broken street light. "Sarah! Hey Sarah I-,"

He stepped out into the road to go meet her, but was startled by a loud shout come from across the street. In a split second, a bright pair of twin reapers came careening down the street to take Bob to the light. The pair blared an ugly cry, then shrieking like a banshee as they swerved off course as not to hit him. Bob jumped back out of the road fearfully, and tumbled back onto his rear. 

Bob looked up to see a car speeding off, with its driver yelling obscenities out the window at him. He was still breathing hard after the scare, and internally shamed himself. He'd just promised Lila he'd be careful in the road maybe twenty minutes ago, and already had almost gotten hit. 

"Bad habits are harder to break than I thought..." Bob whispered to himself. He brushed the dirt and dust from the sidewalk off of his once clean work uniform and looked around for Sarah to thank her for warning him, but she'd disappeared just like in the diner. Shaking his head, he carried himself back home shivering. However, now he wasn't just shaking because of the cold. 

Stumbling back into the safety of his dirty house, Bob had never been so happy to see a mess in his life. He wandered into the kitchen, put Sarah's abandoned sandwich in the toaster, and laid on the tile floor. Sure it was cold, but he didn't care as long as he was on safe, solid, not-road ground.

"Okay, for real this time, I'm never wandrin' back out into the road again without lookin'..." he muttered, laying on the floor lazily waiting for his food to finish cooking. 

For the most part he just drifted through the rest of the day as usual, and eventually crashed on the couch. That was until his phone his phone went off. Bob startled back awake at the sudden noise, almost throwing his phone across the room before answering the call with a trembling hand.

"Hello, Bob Velseb speaking..." he let out a sleepy yawn mid-sentence, "C'n I take your order- I mean, how can I help you?"

A woman's voice answered from the other end of the line. "Hello, you're the owner of Boys & Grills, right?" she asked.

Bob sat up a little straighter in the recliner, sliding the plate out of his lap. "Sure am, what can I do ya for Miss?" he replied, trying to put on a façade of being more awake than he actually was.

"Well, I noticed you were the only one running the place, and wanted to know if you were hiring." she explained. Bob couldn't put his finger on it but something about her dull tone was familiar.

"Oh, well I've run the place alone so long I've never really thought about havin' any employees. Say, have we met? You seem sorta familiar."

The girl on the other line sighed. "You didn't answer my question sir."

Bob thought about it for a minute. Sure, it may speed up service and he'd have an extra hand or two on deck, and sure, he wouldn't come home every night so exhausted, and would have someone other than the customers to talk to, but Boys & Grills was his baby. He'd always run the place on his own. Why hire someone else now? Then again he didn't see many downsides to it. He looked around the grimy living room, contemplating his options when he was startled back to reality by the phone.

"Hello? It's rude to ignore someone you're on the phone with you know." said the voice flatly.

Bob stammered before answering her. "I mean sure why not? It'd be nice to get some help for a while. You can come in tomorrow if that's alright with ya. Just so long as ya show up before openin', we can see 'bout gettin' you a job."

The woman thanked him, and before he could get another word in, she hung up. Bob looked down at the now black screen of his phone, seeing his reflection staring back. He sighed seeing how his house wasn't the only thing he'd let go. He had a messy blanket of stubble on his jawline and chin, and desperately needed a haircut his shaggy hair was so out of control. On top of that, he had dark circles under his eyes from such long exhausting work days. Maybe it really was a good idea he hired the mystery woman. It meant he'd get a little extra rest and maybe would have extra time to tidy his house. Plus, if he ended up preferring working alone he could always let her go.

He smiled down at the little reflection of himself bittersweetly, and stood to go sleep in his own bed for the first time in weeks.