Love is Crazy by b.m.7

Chapter 3: Gavin and the Beanstalk

Ben went to bed Monday night with a smile on his face, the pleasantry of the evening still lingering in the air. It was a great contrast to the morning; up at seven, Ben had to leave by eight. He had the coffee on to make as he got his shower and a bagel in the toaster as he ironed his shirt. He put on his best watch and nice shoes and ate his bagel as he made his way towards his car. Then a seed of memory struck him as he forgot his book that he liked to read for lunch. Jenny had a book the other night, somewhat of a fiction novel opened to love spells. He disregarded it as he headed to the office, hoping and praying someone had a book for him to read.

He disliked being late more than he disliked forgetting his book. His manager had promised him full-time work once he had some experience, and some of that hinged on him being punctual.

Parking his car, he ran into Gavin on the way in. Gavin worked two jobs. One as a bar tender at the bar down the street and one at the law firm up the street. He always said he multi-tasked when I asked him how he did it.

"Hey Ben" said Gavin enthusiastically.

"Yo Gavin." I replied. We stopped to talk a little.

"Did you see the game last night?" He asked.

"The game? I must have forgotten. Jenny and I were hanging." I said.

"'Hanging' aye." He said implying an innuendo, "Its the third game this season you've missed. Keep it up." He said.

"What..."

"Its been a three game winning streak, all thanks to you." He said.

"You're full of it." I said jokingly.

"You haven't watched, what do you know?" He asked. We were laughing by this time.

"I got to go, but you up for catching a beer after work?"

"If you mean you're paying for then yes." said Gavin.

We laughed it off as we went our separate ways.

Work wasn't as hard as it usually was. Gary, the manager, had me go over old financial statements as practice since I had down time. The human resources department lady, Salima, came by to drop off some budgets for events and the employee Christmas party that would be held in a few months. We were almost there, not too far from a good amount of time off.

By the end of my shift at 3:00, I was both bored out of my mind and daydreaming. Between 3:00 and 5:00 I did some errands for Jenny and myself, stopped by her place, and then took a nap at 5:30. By 6:30 I was at Hooligans', the bar Gavin worked at. I sat at the counter and waited for Gavin to come over.

"You look beat." He said, washing the counter in front of me with a white cloth. "You're cheerful today. How are you and Danielle getting along?" I asked.

"Pretty great, she and I are still strong. Today she had me pick up some laundry for her though." This seemed off, Gavin barely any did anything nice for no reason. There was always some sinister plot or hilarious scheme behind what he did. He was the type of guy who always got people into crazy situations.

"Are you expecting a favor from her later?" I asked.

"Only the pleasant kind." He said, a naughty look in his eyes.

"You're a sick bastard. Get me a whiskey and Coke." We both couldn't help laughing.

"Thanks." I said, taking a sip of the glorious combination. We sat there and talked for a while. Gavin served some other customers as well. When he came back, I lead with: