Over the Phone | Mike Schmidt

2 | Mike

Mike's leg bounced nervously as he watched the man behind the desk write something on his notepad. He'd had a better feeling about this interview than the last few he'd been to. The guy interviewing him, Dave Stratton, didn't ask too many questions, which bode well for Mike. He didn't even mention how many jobs he'd had before, and the awkwardly small amount of time he'd spent employed at them.

When he'd first seen the posting for a security position at the mall in the newspaper, Mike didn't think too much of it. But the more he thought about it, the better it seemed to get. From what he'd heard, there wasn't too much involved with what he had to do. Walk around the place, give some warnings to a couple kids that tried to steal whatever crap they were into, and help whoever happened to get lost. It had mostly perfect hours that lined up with Abby's schooling, and he could have a selection of whatever he wanted for lunch from the food court.

The only thing he wondered as he sat anxiously in the rather uncomfortable plastic chair was why he hadn't thought of it sooner. The mall was close to the grocer, too, so he could pick up whatever he needed right after he left and still make it on time to pick up Abby from her bus stop.

"When can you start, Mr. Schmidt?" Dave's voice was deep, like Patrick Warburton from Seinfeld. The sudden nostalgia practically slapped Mike in the face; he'd rather never think about him and his dad watching that show again.

Mike swallowed down the memories and cleared his throat. "As soon as possible."

"Perfect." Dave nodded. "You can start Monday."

Immediately, his leg stopped bouncing. Thank fucking god.

"You can come in tomorrow morning for training—look for Jeremiah when you get here. He'll be in the staff room in the food court. You don't have to worry about things like your uniform and whatnot until tomorrow. It'll all be taken care of then. Same thing with your questions. Save them for tomorrow."

Dave stood up, and Mike followed. "Understood," he said.

"Congratulations, Mike." Dave's hand was rough, and slightly smaller than he expected it to be. He made sure to keep his shake strong, anyway.

"Thank you." He nodded at the older man before collecting his coat and shrugging it over his shoulders. This was probably the best news he'd heard in a long time. Or, at least, since the last guy told him he was hired and ready to start on Monday.

"Oh, and, uh—Mike?"

Mike paused in the doorway and turned to his new boss.

"Keep at those weights." Dave's frown was small. "You never know who you could be up against."

He nodded. "Yes, sir."

Abby was fifteen minutes away from the school day ending by the time he made it back to the car. That gave him two options: either he could race the school bus home to try to make it home at the same time she did, or race the clock to get to her school before the bell rang.

By the time he turned on his car and made it onto the street, he'd already decided on the latter. Besides, they had something to celebrate, now, right?

He made it to the school with three minutes to spare. Lucky, too, because it gave him the chance to walk up to the front of the school and stop Abby from getting on the bus. His hands were deep in the pockets of his jacket as he waited. It was too cold for his liking.

The bell rang, and the file of kids immediately began. Mike waited until he saw the familiar thick jean jacket, curly brown hair and red overalls before he moved. She had a few papers in her hand and the same, delicate little smile she always had pulling her lips.