Chapter 26

Tom watched as two very unhappy woman followed Alison to the edge of the lake. Alison was wearing her typical bathing suit. Ann and Sally were much more conservatively dressed for the occasion. They didn’t seem to like her choice of in bathing suit.

He commented, “It looks like storm clouds are building on the horizon.”

Dan looked around at the sky. It was clear blue without a hint of a cloud anywhere. Puzzled, he asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that Ann and Sally aren’t all that happy with Alison,” Tom said.

“This was their idea,” Dan said.

He watched the three women enter the water. A very unsubtle hint from Alison had let him know that he and Tom should stay at the picnic table for a while. Being honest with himself, he suspected that Tom was right.

“I wish Ellen was here,” Tom said.

He was thinking that she would know how to deal with the problem. She was off in Las Vegas doing some work for the restaurant. She didn’t discuss her job with him, but it had to be a pretty unusual job. She could afford a house of her own and only had to work a couple of days over the summer.

“She’s got to attend the Las Vegas trade show,” Dan said.

“What does she do for a living anyway?”

“She’s in charge of the kitchen equipment for the Derkins restaurant chain,” Dan answered.

Ellen had told him that he wasn’t to tell Tom about her family beyond what she had already shared with Tom. He was going to respect that.

“It seems to me like she has an awful lot of free time for such an important job,” Tom said.

“Maybe,” Dan said.

“So what is up with Alison? She hasn’t seemed to be herself lately,” Tom said gesturing over to where the three women were swimming.

“Ellen gave her the three articles,” Dan answered.

“Do you mean you hadn’t given them to her before now?” Tom asked rather surprised.

“I didn’t think of it. She’s always appeared to me to know exactly what she wants and knows how to go after it,” Dan answered.

In hind sight, he should have known better. He remembered thinking she could have used the articles the first time they had really talked.

“I guess. Have you given copies of it to Ann and Sally?” Tom asked.

“Should I?” Dan asked surprised by the suggestion.

Tom shook his head and said, “Everyone should understand the facts of life. You know that. Every time I meet someone who seems interested in improving themselves I give them a copy of it.”

“You’re kidding!”

“No, I’m not. There are a lot of people out there who have perfectly miserable lives because no one has ever explained the facts of life to them. No one ever talks about how to live a happy life. We all assume that we know what it means to be happy. That’s bullshit. When I see someone who could be helped by knowing more, I give them the articles,” Tom said.

Dan thought about it for a moment. Diana had asked him to give copies of the articles to Kim, but he had never done it. He had figured that she would be insulted by it.

As he thought about the number of people in his life that could benefit from them, he said, “I guess I’ll visit the photocopy center tomorrow.”

“Do it,” Tom said.

He watched the women in the water thinking that a storm was brewing. Alison had waited until Ann and Sally were in water deep enough that it came up to their waists before turning around to face them. She wanted them in a position where they couldn’t storm off before hearing what she had to say. The expression on her face was not happy. Pointing a finger at them, she said, “You two had better shape up or you’re going to lose Dan. I’d hate for that to happen.”

It felt to Ann like someone had hit her with a baseball bat. She staggered back and asked, “What do you mean?”

“You are acting like jealous bitches. Grow up or Dan will leave you in a minute flat. Everyone is responsible for their own happiness. Dan will recognize when he starts getting unhappy about something and he’ll act to change it. You are responsible for your own happiness. If having Dan in your life is part of it then you had better take steps to keep him in it,” Alison said looking at Ann the entire time she was talking.

Sally was too stunned to say anything. Ann turned to look at her lover for guidance. Alison crossed her arms. Looking from one woman to the other, she said, “Now I don’t expect us to become intimate friends, but we had better become good friends.”

“You’re serious,” Ann said while trying to process what Alison had said to them.

Sally had recognized what Alison had said about everyone being responsible for their own happiness. It was the kind of thing that Dan often said to them.

Sally said, “She’s right.”

“What do we do now?” Ann asked.

Alison grinned and looked down at the water that surrounded them. She lowered herself so that she was in the water to her neck. Cupping a hand, she said, “We have a water fight.”

Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she splashed Sally with water. Sally stared at Alison as the wave of water splashed her. Ann was a little quicker on the uptake and splashed Alison back. An all out water fight ensued. It was several minutes before the fight was joined with laughter.

At the picnic table, Dan handed Tom a cold can of root beer and said, “It looks like they are having fun. Do you think we should join them?”

“No,” Tom answered. He was rather surprised by the turn of events.

Opening a can of root beer, Dan said, “I think you’re right. I’d better start handing out those articles.”

Dan walked into the restaurant feeling rested and ready to work. He went over to get an apron and his cook’s hat. Rob intercepted him and said, “Dan, I need to talk to you.”

“Sure,” Dan said.

Rob licked his lips and said, “We just hired two new cooks. They’re going to be working nights until Jimmy is convinced that they can handle the job.”

“Okay. So you want me to go back to being a busboy,” Dan said starting to remove his apron.

Shaking his head, Rob said, “No. I want you to fill in as cook two nights a week.”

“Okay. I don’t see a problem with that,” Dan said wondering why Rob was acting so strange. It seemed to him that all Rob had to do was tell him what job he wanted done and he’d go do it.

“I want to cut your hours back to Friday and Sunday.”

Dan frowned as he considered the loss in income that would represent. Wondering if he had done something to anger someone, he asked, “Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“No. I talked to Mr. Foreman. He wants you to work some additional hours this summer. He told me about how you found some people cheating him. He wants you to go through all of his books, especially concerning his subcontractors, and find out if there are any others stealing from him,” Rob said.

“Oh,” Dan said trying to decide if that was a good thing or not.

Rob said, “Look, the only job that you haven’t done here is management. Mr. Foreman is offering to give you some experience that we can’t give you, here, without enrolling you in the manager trainee program. That’s not going to happen when everyone knows that you are going to leave in December to start your pizzeria. This is your best chance to learn about managing a business.”

Dan smiled at the argument and said, “That does sound a little better, when put that way.”

“You would have come to that conclusion sooner or later,” Rob said. He had been around Dan long enough to know how his mind worked. He’d sit there thinking about it until he could see a way of directing his efforts towards his goal of opening a pizzeria.

“Tonight is Sunday,” Dan said.

“That’s right. Get ready to cook. You’re going to be handling orders while Jimmy is teaching the new guy how to do the prep work,” Rob said.

Dan got into the kitchen in time to hear Jimmy say, “Now this is a head of lettuce. You don’t cut lettuce with a knife...”

Remember his first night learning preparation, Dan smiled and winked at Jimmy. Jimmy winked back at him and continued his little introduction to short order cooking. Moving over to the grill, Dan pulled an order off the counter and read it. With easy confident moves, he started to assemble the meal.

When his break time came, Dan headed out of the kitchen and to the dining room floor. Kim was straightening up the service area. He went over to her and said, “Kim. Would you mind going outside to my car with me? I have something that I’d like to give you.”

Frowning, Kim asked, “What is it?”

“I’ll explain it outside,” Dan said.

Trusting Dan, Kim said, “Okay.”

She followed him out to the parking lot realizing that it was pretty dark out there. Kim wasn’t normally a fearful woman, but she felt that Dan was acting a little strange and that bothered her. Dan opened the door of his car and leaned in. He straightened up and held up some papers. She stared at the papers and then at him.

Holding them out to her, Dan said, “I have three articles here that I’d like you to read.”

Frowning at the stack of papers, Kim asked, “Are you trying to get me to join some sort of cult or something?”

Laughing, Dan answered, “No. It’s nothing like that. I’d just appreciate it if you’d read these three articles.”

“What are they?”

“There are a lot of things that no one tells us about with regard to how to live happy fulfilling lives. These three articles are about that,” Dan answered. Seeing the raised eyebrow, he said, “Don’t worry. It isn’t about religion. It’s about how the world works and how we fit into it. I promise you that if you read those articles, it will change your life.”

“I have to work,” Kim said looking over the restaurant.

“Those copies are for you to keep. Take them home and read them there,” Dan said.

Looking down at the stack of papers, Kim wondered what she had to lose. There wasn’t anything at home to occupy her time. Shrugging her shoulders, she said, “Okay. I’ll read them tomorrow and tell you what I think of them.”