Thunder and Lightening
Chapter 4
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Jerry drove back to the auto parts store after a busy morning. It 
wasn't even eight and he had eaten a good breakfast of bacon and 
eggs at the local diner and visited the YMCA. At the YMCA, he 
had taken a shower, shaved, and generally groomed himself with 
extra care -- even taking the opportunity to polish his shoes. On 
returning to the store, he searched through his clothes carefully 
selecting the best outfit he had. He dressed taking time to make 
sure everything looked good together.

Satisfied with his morning activities, he settled into his job with a 
peace of mind he hadn't felt in a long time. The telephone rang and 
Jerry answered it even though the store wasn't supposed to open 
for another ten minutes. As he was taking down the order, Mike 
entered the store and looked around knowing he was going to have 
to teach his wife how to do inventory later that day. This was going 
to be her first day on the job and he wondered how it would go. 
Hopefully, Jerry wouldn't lose his temper.

Jerry hung up and handed the order over to Mike as he said, 
"They're calling early today. Why don't you pull orders and I'll take 
the calls. When your wife comes, she can help you and get to know 
the inventory a little."

"Sounds reasonable to me," answered Mike as he read over the 
order. 

The phone rang and Jerry answered it. He started writing down the 
order trying to remember if they had everything in stock. At one 
point, he put the customer on hold and asked Mike if they had a 
particular part. When told they didn't, he returned to the phone and 
said, "I don't have one of those. I can order it for you, but it'll be 
Monday before we get it in."

When the guy at the other end of the line said that he would check 
some other places, Jerry said, "I'll tell you what. I'll look around 
and see if I can find one locally. I'll call you back and Howard can 
pick it up for you."

Mike had come back with the order that he was pulling and 
overheard Jerry. He couldn't believe that Jerry had made that offer. 
When the call was over, Jerry went to work on the phone to locate 
the part. On his third try, he located someone that had it and placed 
an order for it. He also sent over the rest of the order. Satisfied that 
they would have it ready, Jerry called his customer back and let 
them know that the entire order was at another store waiting for 
pickup. 

Turning around, he looked up in time to see Karen enter the store. 
He said, "Good morning. Ready to start working?"

She smiled at the friendly greeting and replied, "Sure."

"I asked Mike to have you help pull some orders this morning so 
you can get familiar with the stock here in the store. Take your 
time and pay attention to Mike. He knows all there is to know 
about everything in stock."

Karen looked over at her husband and said, "Sure. What ever you 
say."

Jerry turned back to the phone as it rang again. He picked it up and 
took down another order. At this rate, it was going to be a record 
day. He called over his shoulder, "Mike, here's another one."

At fifteen past eleven, Jerry turned to look at Mike and Karen as 
they pulled the last order he had taken. He waited until they 
finished before he asked, "Would you mind taking your lunch a 
little early? I've got some business to take care of during lunch and 
would like to take a little longer than usual."

Glancing over at his wife, Mike answered, "Sure. No problem."

"Okay, I'll see you in an hour," replied Jerry as he turned back to 
the counter. 

Less than an hour later, Jerry pulled out of the parking lot for the 
short drive to the Crimson Rose Bistro. When he had just about 
reached it, he swore, "Oaf, you should have gotten her some sort of 
present."

He drove past the restaurant to a flower shop several blocks down 
the street. Entering it, he looked around trying to figure out what 
kind of flower she might appreciate. He was debating between 
some simple bouquet of simple flowers and a rose, when he 
recalled the name of the restaurant was Crimson Rose. Of course 
she would like a red rose.

Stepping up to the counter, he looked down at the elderly lady at 
the cash register. He physically dwarfed her and felt like he could 
carry her around on the palm of his hand. The contrast almost 
made him reconsider buying a rose for Jenny. How would a young 
lady like her react to getting a flower from him? She'd probably 
think he was some sort of stalker. What had she really done? She'd 
been nice to a freak who had wandered into her place. Still, she 
had made him feel real good.

The lady at the cash register cleared her throat and asked a second 
time, "What can I get for you, sir?"

"A Crimson Rose," answered Jerry. He low gravelly voice 
managed to convey the nervousness that he felt. 

The elderly woman smiled and asked, "Is this for a sweetheart?"

The question gave him a moment's pause. He answered, "Maybe. 
It's for someone that was nice to me."

She asked, "Do you want it wrapped in paper with Baby's Breath?"

Frowning since he didn't know what the question meant, he finally 
answered, "No babies. I'll just give it to her plain."

She laughed at his comment, recognizing he probably hadn't ever 
bought flowers before. With stiff presses of her arthritic fingers on 
the keys of the register, she rang up the purchase and said, "That'll 
be five dollars."

Shocked at the price of a single flower, he handed her the five 
dollars. She led him over to a pail of roses to let him pick out the 
flower. Looking over the bucket of red roses, he asked, "Which 
one is closest to Crimson in color?"

The elderly lady pulled out one of the darker purplish red roses and 
handed it to him. He smiled and said, "Thank you."

The stem of the rose disappeared in his hand, even though he held 
it between his forefinger and thumb. Afraid of breaking it, he 
carried it to the truck and set it on the passenger seat with care. It 
didn't take him long to return to the restaurant. Once he had 
parked, he reached over to grab the rose. In his nervousness, the 
long stem snapped in his hand. For a long minute he stared at the 
broken rose wondering what he should do. If it hadn't been so 
expensive, he would have returned to the flower store to buy 
another one. 

Picking up the rose much more carefully, he carried it with him 
into the restaurant. When Jenny saw him, she came over and said, 
"I was so afraid that you weren't going to come here today. I set a 
special table for you."

Surprised at her reaction to seeing him, he held out the rose. 
Gruffly, he said, "I bought this for you. It had a longer stem, but 
my clumsy hands broke it."

Smiling, she gently took the rose from his hands and said, "Oh, this 
is wonderful. I love roses. How did you know I love roses?"

"From the name of the restaurant," answered Jerry with a slight 
smile. She hadn't reacted negatively to his gift and that pleased him 
significantly. 

"Silly me. I didn't even think of that. Why don't you sit at that table 
over there while I put this in some water and get you some iced 
tea?" Jenny smiled and hurried away to the kitchen. 

Jerry walked over to the table she had pointed out and noticed the 
glass on this table was much bigger than the glass he had used the 
last time here. He watched as Jenny came out of the kitchen with 
the rose in a small vase. Making a big deal out of it, she set it on 
the little stand where she kept the reservations. The stem looked a 
little shorter than when he brought it in, so he decided the damage 
he had done wasn't that important. She made on obvious effort to 
show off the rose. Smiling she came over to his table and asked, 
"How do you like your beef?"

"Medium rare," answered Jerry. 

Smiling at him, Jenny said, "That's what I figured. I've got a 
Caesar Salad and I'll put a nice sliced Rib-Eye steak on it instead 
of the chicken. You strike me as a beef kind of man. Does that 
sound good?"

"It sounds great."

"Oh my. I forgot your iced tea. I'll be right back," said Jenny as she 
rushed back to the kitchen. In the kitchen, she stopped just inside 
the door and fussed with her hair. Talking to herself, she said, 
"Grow up, Jennifer. You're acting giddy as a schoolgirl. He's 
married you fool. He even has a wedding ring on his hand."

Amazed at the effort she had put into this lunch, Jerry didn't know 
what to think. She was a very attractive woman. It was hard to 
believe she had thought about his needs in the manner she had. He 
frowned at the thought that he was probably just another customer 
to her. 

Jenny came out with a pitcher of iced tea and filled his glass 
without saying a word. He watched her carefully, taking in her nice 
full lips, the aristocratic nose, her hazel eyes, and her delicate ears 
with little sapphire earrings. With her brown hair, held back with a 
headband, she was just too pretty to be interested in a monster like 
him. From deep inside, he could feel the rage stirring hoping this 
was going to turn out bad. He swallowed heavily and said, "Thank 
you very much."

In a more professional tone of voice, Jenny said, "Your salad will 
be ready in a minute or two. The Chef has to cook the steak."

"It sounds to me like he doesn't get to do that very often," 
remarked Jerry hoping to break down the sudden awkwardness that 
seemed to have descended between them. 

His comment took her by surprise. Jenny laughed and said, "You 
know, I don't even know if he knows how to cook one. I probably 
should have asked."

With an exaggerated wink, he replied, "Maybe I should have 
ordered the chicken."

"Not on your life. I made a special effort to find a steak for you," 
replied Jenny not realizing the import of what she said.

"In that case, I'll enjoy it even if it is burnt to a crisp," replied Jerry. 

Jenny looked at him and said, "You know. I bet you would, too."

The restaurant wasn't as crowded this day as it had been on 
Wednesday, but the customers still required her attention. Blushing 
slightly, Jenny took her leave and went to take care of her other 
customers. A number of refills of tea, dessert orders, and bill 
payments took most of her effort. In the mean time, she managed 
to come by with his salad and watched his expression at getting it. 

Jerry watched Jenny take care of business, recognizing she was 
very good at her job and understood her customers far better than 
the average waitress did. She moved through the room with ease, 
taking care of everyone with special attention to the individual. Of 
course, he didn't know if service like hers was common in places 
like this. His experience with higher-class restaurants was not quite 
that extensive. He figured his wife probably went to places like this 
all of the time. 

When the restaurant quieted down, Jenny returned to his table to 
check his progress eating the salad. He had almost finished his iced 
tea and she refilled his glass. After swallowing, Jerry said, "You 
are a very amazing woman."

Not knowing what motivated the complement, Jenny replied, 
"Thank you."

Looking around the room, he said, "You make everyone feel 
special, even me. I have no idea how you do it."

When he had included himself in with the rest of the customers, 
Jenny realized that something else was being said. It was almost as 
though he didn't expect to be treated nicely. Her eyes glanced to 
the ring on his finger and replied, "Believe me, it's a whole lot 
easier dealing with you than the rest of my customers. You've got 
an honest appetite and I like men with honest appetites."

The assessment puzzled Jerry. He had never thought of himself in 
that manner. As he tried to work through it, she returned to dealing 
with customers. He finished his salad while watching her work. 
The restaurant was slowly clearing up, as women paid their bills 
and left talking about the exhausting shopping excursions that 
waited for them. He watched a couple leave, the man was horribly 
thin and looked like he couldn't lift ten pounds. Jerry decided the 
guy probably didn't even know what a monkey wrench was.

Three women came in the restaurant claiming to be there for a 
dessert rather than a full lunch. Jenny seated them at a table near 
his since it was one of the few that were already set. He listened as 
the trio talked about the problems in their lives. One of them was 
complaining that her manicurist had to reschedule her appointment 
and how it broke up the rest of her day something horrible. Jerry 
sat there listening, shocked at how trivial these things were 
compared to real problems. 

Jenny came by his table and whispered, "They won't be here long. 
They'll ravage the chocolate dessert and then leave feeling guilty. 
I'll bring you one too, so you can show them how it is supposed to 
be enjoyed."

Unable to prevent himself, he guffawed in a volume that 
immediately attracted attention from the rest of the women in the 
place. Jenny laughed and said, "I'll be right back."

Looking over at the trio of women next to him, he could see his 
presence there bothered them. Deciding it was because he 
reminded them that there were men in this world who were 
supporting them rather than his massive appearance, he didn't feel 
the rage rising. Thinking about his rage, he wondered if it was too 
embarrassed to burst forth in this highly feminine environment.

When Jenny came to the tables with the desserts, the women cooed 
and fussed about how nice it looked. Interspersed with their 
positive comments were negative comments about how many 
calories it contained and how they'd gain ten pounds eating it. 
When she presented Jerry with his desert, he looked at it and said, 
"This looks is wonderful. I can't wait to eat it all."

The three women shot him ugly looks, jealous at his disregard for 
the caloric content of the desert. Jenny smiled and gave him a 
wink, letting him know that she appreciated his comments. She 
returned to her customers, settling bills and slowly clearing out the 
customers. It was soon down to the trio of women and Jerry. The 
trio of women wolfed down the dessert in a dainty manner. They 
were each taking lots of little bites, but were more focused on the 
desert than each other. They stopped eating when there was still 
half of the desert left on the plate. At that point, they started talking 
and occasionally taking a taste of the desert. 

Having a little fun, Jerry took last spoonful of the desert and as he 
lifted it to his mouth, said, "This tastes so good. I think I'll order 
another one."

The looks the women gave him threatened murder. It wasn't long 
after he finished his dessert that they left while making comments 
about how they needed to work off all those sinful calories. As 
soon as they left, Jenny seated herself across the table from Jerry 
and smiled. With a twinkle in her eye, she said, "That was 
priceless. You paid for your meal with that single comment."

"I had a feeling it would upset them," replied Jerry with a grin. He 
could imagine how his wife would have reacted had he done that 
while dining with her. 

"Well, I get so tired of delivering a great dessert and hearing half 
of the comments be negative," replied Jenny. She imitated the 
women that had just left. "This is so fattening. It must have five 
thousand calories. It's sinful and shouldn't be served."

"I can see how it would get to you after a time."

"When I took it off the menu, you should have heard all of the 
comments and pleas to bring it back," sighed Jenny.

"Must be tough. Damned if you do and damned if you don't."

"Tell me about it. I really enjoy watching you dig into your food 
and enjoying it. You didn't say a single negative thing about the 
meal."

"It was a great meal and I enjoyed every bite of it. You seem to 
handle the other customers well," remarked Jerry. 

"Oh, I understand them well enough. The prices on the menu are 
three times what they should be. Why? They wouldn't come here if 
the prices were low. It is a great status symbol that they can afford 
to overpay for their meals."

Jerry nodded, as that had been his assessment as well. His reason 
for returning was entirely different. The reason he was here was 
sitting across from him twirling a stray strand of hair between her 
fingers. He said, "That must help tips."

"Not at all. They calculate the tip to the penny and will short-tip if 
there is the least little thing wrong with the meal," she replied. 
With a snort, she said, "You should see them argue over the bill. 
They calculate exactly how much each woman owes. Men, on the 
other hand, just split the bill three ways and go on their way."

That assessment of the difference between men and women 
surprised Jerry. These women were acting like money didn't matter 
to them, but then fought over every cent. Shaking his head, he 
asked, "Sounds kind of contradictory to me."

"Yeah. They are so happy spending their husband's money, but 
they want the other women to be just as guilty in the process." 
Jenny sat there shaking her head. 

"You don't sound like you like them all that much," remarked 
Jerry.

"Just catty, I guess," replied Jenny. She worked for a living and 
only had her income to spend. She was careful with every penny, 
but envied the ability of these women to buy things when they 
desired. She shook her head and said, "I guess I'm jealous."

That statement bothered Jerry much more than anything she could 
have said. He remarked, "They don't seem to care much about their 
husbands except as a money source."

"Yeah and that's a shame."

"True. I used to be one of those husbands until this week. Realized 
that I was being used and I getting nothing out of it. Hell, I wasn't 
even getting to rub bodies with her. When I told her that I was in 
an accident, she reacted by telling me how it would interrupt her 
lifestyle because I would need a ride to work," replied Jerry. He 
was quiet for a moment and then said, "She didn't even care that I 
might have died."

The statement that he had almost been killed that week reminded 
Jenny why he had come into the restaurant in the first place. She 
couldn't believe his wife didn't show the least amount of concern 
for him and wondered if this was some sort of pickup line. Shaking 
her head, she said, "I can understand why you left her."

Licking his lips, he said, "There's more to the story than that, but I 
realized I needed to take care of myself first."

Jenny looked over at him realizing that he wasn't as married as the 
ring suggested. Of course, he could be lying to her. It wasn't the 
first time a married man lied to her and it probably wouldn't be the 
last. She wondered what was going to happen next. 

Jerry glanced at his watch and said, "As much as I hate to leave 
such an attractive companion, I have an appointment to keep."

Nervous, Jenny asked, "Will you be coming back here?"

"I'll be here Wednesday."

"Wednesday?"

"Yeah. I will be taking Monday off to finish moving into my new 
place. It's a mess and I figure it will take tonight, tomorrow night, 
all day Sunday, and most of Monday to get it into shape to move 
into it." 

"It can't be that bad," replied Jenny in surprise. She figured this 
guy would be able to live anywhere comfortably.

"The owner locked the previous tenants out. He went in and took 
all of their possessions that were worth anything and left the rest. 
He didn't even throw out the trash that was in the kitchen," replied 
Jerry. Abe had told him about it after he had finished cleaning out 
the living room. 

"Sounds like a horrible person," replied Jenny.

"Oh, he's a real piece of work alright. He told me that I'd love 
living there because all of the women in the neighborhood had low 
morals. Of course, he put it a lot more crudely than that." Jerry still 
got angry thinking back to when he had signed the lease. 

Jenny sat there looking at Jerry amazed at the slight flash of anger 
that crossed his face. For the first time since she had met him, she 
realized he could be a very scary man particularly if his anger was 
directed at her. She asked, "What did you say?"

"Nothing. I just left before he got me too angry. Even a few more 
comments and I would have used his head as a soccer ball," 
answered Jerry.  Shaking his head, he added, "I feel horrible saying 
that. One of these days my rage is going to get me into trouble."

Studying him carefully, Jenny couldn't believe how hard this guy 
was on himself. Anyone with a conscience would be angry at 
hearing someone refer to all women as sluts. She said, "You're too 
hard on yourself. Anyone would be angry at that."

"It's different with me," replied Jerry. He thought back to years of 
fighting his rage and how easy it would be to lose the battle. All it 
needed was to escape just once and there was no telling what 
would be the result. He added, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a 
big man. In fact, I'd say that I'm monstrous."

"Monstrous?" asked Jenny very surprised at the harsh 
characterization of himself. 

Jerry didn't answer as he stared at his hands. He didn't mean for the 
conversation to take such a horrible turn. He felt as if he was 
coming off like a whining baby. Changing the subject, he asked, 
"So how was it that you came to own this place?"

"I graduated from college and couldn't find a job. After drifting 
around a bit, I came to the conclusion that if no one would hire me 
that I would have to hire myself. Since I had waited on tables 
through school, I decided I would give this a try. It took almost a 
year before I hit on the right combination to attract the rich wives 
crowd, but it has paid off."

"That's very gutsy of you," replied Jerry. He couldn't imagine just 
opening a business like that. The chances for failure of a small 
business were very significant. His respect for her increased 
significantly. 

They both realized at the same time that it was getting late. Jerry 
had meant to leave ten minutes earlier and she needed to get the 
tables cleared. He was tempted to ask her out for dinner, but that 
would have to wait until he resolved some aspects of his life. 

It was two hours before closing when Jerry returned to the auto 
parts store. Before entering the store, he stood next to the truck 
looking it over. He had meant to get a muffler, but it didn't happen. 
Patting the truck, he said, "Some days, you are lucky if you just 
make it through the day. I had such hopes for today, but nothing 
came of them."

Jerry was disturbed by what he had learned at the attorney's office. 
What he had thought would be a fifteen-minute visit had turned 
into two hours and had cost him a fortune. The up side was that the 
lawyer, after going through the check records, had increased how 
much a month he would have to spend. The down side of the visit 
was that the divorce process was going to take eighteen months, 
maybe more. Monday, the papers for a separation would be 
delivered to his wife. 

Inside the store, Mike had been waiting most of the afternoon for 
Jerry. He was not happy about the late return of his boss, having 
expected him hours before. He had to run the store all afternoon 
and wasn't used to having the responsibility of watching over a 
new employee and a high school kid. His wife had stayed late so 
Jerry could double-check her work, but finally had to leave to pick 
up the kids from her mother. 

When Jerry entered the store, Mike said, "I'm glad you're back."

Fully aware that he had returned far later than intended, Jerry 
replied, "Sorry about that. I was at the attorney's office."

"Attorney's office?"

"Yeah," replied Jerry without explanation. He glanced around the 
store and saw things were at least under control there. He looked 
over at Mike and noticed the paperwork in his hand. He asked, 
"So, how is your wife working out?"

Frowning, Mike answered, "Well, we went through as much of 
what she would be doing as I understood. However, I didn't do a 
very good job when I was doing it."

"Actually, you did a fine job. I just didn't do my part," replied Jerry 
as he settled into the chair behind the counter. There had been 
more than a few things he missed when training Mike to do the 
job.

"She stayed here so you could discuss this, but had to go home to 
pick up the kids," said Mike as he handed over the order forms his 
wife had filled out. 

"I should have called. I apologize for that. Things just took longer 
than I thought they would." With a frown, Jerry looked over the 
papers without saying a word. There were a few items she had put 
on the order form that he had ordered the previous day. He guessed 
they didn't check against those orders before filling out the form. 
With a pen, he crossed a couple of items off the form and then set 
them down on the counter. He would fax them in before the store 
closed. Looking over at Mike, he said, "She did fine for her first 
day."

"I noticed you crossed out some of the items she put down to 
order," remarked Mike wondering what he had failed to tell his 
wife. He had checked her work and found it to be correct as far as 
he could tell.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you that I ordered some stuff in the middle 
of the week."

Mike was quiet as he realized he had blown it for his wife. Taking 
a deep breath, Jerry let it out with a sigh. Mike asked, "Are you 
disappointed? I didn't think to tell her to check for outstanding 
orders."

Jerry scrubbed his face with one massive paw and replied, "I'm not 
disappointed in you or your wife. I just didn't have a very good 
afternoon."

"You seemed kind of excited about lunch," said Mike, curious why 
Jerry had been so anxious about leaving early for lunch. His wife 
had speculated Jerry was having an affair because he had dressed 
up for lunch. It had been a long topic of discussion, but Mike 
couldn't believe that there would be a woman who would want 
Jerry as a lover.

"Oh, the lunch was the high point of the day," remarked Jerry with 
a smile. Jenny was a nice person in addition to being very 
attractive. She understood how difficult it was to earn a living. His 
wife had never worked a day in her life, even when he was just a 
struggling salesman. 

"Oh," replied Mike not knowing how to find out more. If his wife 
had been here, she would have gotten the whole story. 

Jerry sat down behind the counter and leaned over it using his 
elbows to support himself. After a minute, he said, "We're still 
short two full-time people. There are a lot of unemployed people in 
my new neighborhood and I was thinking I would look around 
there for someone to work here full time."

Focusing on the fact that Jerry was talking about a new 
neighborhood, he almost missed the statement that he would be 
looking for a fulltime employee. Mike said, "Whoever you get 
probably won't have any experience."

"Hell, I'd be surprised if they knew what a clutch looked like," 
replied Jerry. He rubbed his chin and said, "We'd have to train who 
ever I get."

"Sounds like a lot of extra work," replied Mike hoping they could 
find someone with experience. 

"That's true."

Mike was silent as he thought about the consequences of bringing 
in a new person. The only job opening they had was the assistant 
manager position. He wondered if it was fair for him to have to 
train his next boss. "The job has a lot of responsibilities."

"Not that many," remarked Jerry. He changed the topic back to the 
newest employee when he asked, "So tell me how Karen's first day 
went?"

The shift in conversation was jarring for Mike. He answered, "It's 
hard to say. I started with her helping me pull orders. It took her 
some time to figure out where everything was in the store. She'll 
have to work at it for a while, I think."

"Good. That's a good introduction to doing inventory work. She 
gets a very hands-on understanding of the inventory." Jerry hadn't 
thought of doing it that way, but she would be able to walk down 
the aisles and notice if something was low without needing to go 
through all of the sales records. 

"Well, it sure helped me out today. We were swamped," said Mike. 

"It's the end of the summer. Everyone is getting their cars fixed for 
the last trip of the summer." The first few days after the first hot 
spell or cold spell were always the same. In summer, it was 
radiators, water pumps, and air conditioners. In winter, it was 
headlights, batteries and alternators. At the end of the summer 
season, it was everyone trying to fix the problems before they went 
off for Labor Day.

"We were lucky. Two crates of coolant were delivered right after 
you left."

"Ah, that's good," replied Jerry. They probably broke even on them 
since he had paid a fortune for overnight shipping. It was worse to 
not have things in stock than to not make money on them in this 
business. 

"We'll get your wife, a new stock boy, and a full-time salesman 
trained."