The door opened easily as I pushed through and greeted a smiling Earl. “Only two minutes late today! I have to admit, I’m impressed,” Earl chuckled.
I winced. It was clear I needed to up my game. “Sorry about that, Earl. I’ll do better, I promise.”
He waved me off. “I know you will, Remi.” He gave my shoulder a squeeze and left to get his morning pastry from across the street. Earl always started his day with a Danish and some cookies from Darcy’s bakery. I had a strong suspicion it was Darcy he was hooked on and not her baking, but since I never joined him at her store, I couldn’t be certain.
The door opened just as I finished tying my apron around my waist. I spotted the familiar faces of a couple of regulars; college students like me who needed their daily caffeine fix to survive yet another day.
The morning would fly by in a rush like every other morning once people started piling in. I greeted the customers and got to work.
I found myself back at the library, deep in Idea Land as I scribbled down thought after thought. They didn’t normally hit me like this. Usually, I would get an idea and then spend hours figuring out if it could work out or not. I wasn’t into actually building the machines. It was more about the creative process for me. Figuring out if and how they could work in real life was what I felt passionate about. It was what I wanted to do with my life, regardless of what my parents and Hayley thought.
My latest idea came to me when I saw how dirty my tips from work were. As I struggled to identify the individual coins, I thought more about how the banks should clean the ones that got back to them somehow. Like with the machines that collected your coins and you got the money put into your bank account. If all banks had coin washers, then coins would be noticeably cleaner over time and we wouldn’t be so put off by touching them. Brilliant, right? Or maybe that was just me? Anyway, a coin washer was what I was researching now, but itwas harder than I thought since most searches came up with washing machines that accepted coins. I had not thought this through, it seemed.
My vibrating pocket interrupted my focus and I pulled out my phone to see my friend Jason had texted me.
Jason:How are you not in class right now? Mr. Trent is going to kick your ass.
Fuck! I’d completely lost track of time. I looked at my phone and sure enough, I was ten minutes late to class. I was so not going to pass. I’d already received two warnings from Mr. Trent, the last one stating that he would fail me if I missed one more of his classes.
I could sprint over there and maybe beg him to let me in?
Jason’s name appeared on my phone again.
Jason:He fucking locked the door! Where are you, man?
Shit!
I frantically opened my email and started writing out an apology, my last hope of continuing his class.
With that sent, I closed my laptop and quickly replied to Jason, thanking him for reminding me of my fuck up. Then I grabbed my things and headed out of the library. I had dinner with my parents tonight and I tended to show up late for them, too, if I didn’t forget altogether. They, like my professor, didn’t care much for my forgetfulness, and I had to agree it wasn’t something I was proud of either. I just got so into my ideas and how things worked that I lost all sense of time.
Knowing Hayley didn’t have any classes today, I called her and asked if she wanted to join me. She couldn’t, though, having what she called a girls’ night planned with her closest friends. Iwished them a good night and hung up, actually relieved I would see my parents without her, since they tended to gang up on me whenever the topic of my future came up. Tonight, I would just be facing my parents.Yay me.
The walk to my parents took around twenty minutes, and as soon as my childhood home came into view, I mentally prepared myself. I reminded myself that they loved me and only wanted what was best for me. They weren’t against me. Even though I kept saying those words to myself, I still found myself unable to believe them.
Mom was in the garden pulling up weeds, her back to the road as she worked. I headed for the front door to greet my father first, he would either be in the kitchen or the living room. In their house it was only my dad who cooked, since my mom couldn’t for the life of her cook anything without either burning it or over salting it to the point of preserving it forever. Thankfully, my dad loved cooking. It had been his mother’s love language and since my grandma wasn’t a person who ever said I love you or gave out hugs, cooking had been what my dad saw as showing love. He was a hugger though, and both my parents told me they loved me often, so I got love in many different ways as I grew up.
“Hey, Dad!” I called out as I entered the living room. He was on the couch watching some home renovation program, his favorite thing to watch lately.
“Hey, son! You’re early.” He stood and gave me a tight hug. I couldn’t tell him I’d missed class and start their grilling early, so I lied. Like the mature person I was.
“Oh, class was cancelled,” I lied easily and sat down next to where he had been sitting. He joined me with a raised brow, not a total “I don’t believe you”, but a “I’m not certain you’re speaking the truth” raise of brow. What could I say, the man knew how to communicate with his big bushy brows.
Ignoring said brows, I looked over at the TV. “So, how’re you and Mom?” I asked, trying to control the conversation.
“Can’t complain,” he shrugged and looked at the TV again. “Is Hayley joining us for dinner?”
“She’s having a girls’ night,” I replied, happy to finally tell a truth.
Dad stood up and walked to the kitchen with me right behind him. “I’m glad she’s taking time to nurture her friendships. You should do the same.” He used a teasing tone that seemed forced, like he wanted me to receive his message, but also didn’t want me to feel like it was a pointed finger. Whatever he intended, I received it nonetheless.
I knew they worried that I neglected my friends after starting college and dating Hayley. It was hard finding time for everything, friends, school, work, Hayley, my parents, and then my ideas.
“I know, Dad,” I finally replied. “Just trying to learn how to balance it all.”Look at that! Another truth.I knew he was worried and just wanted to help, but every time they said stuff like that, I felt like I was failing somehow. If I worked too much, I would hear about it. If I didn’t work enough, I would hear about it. I honestly couldn’t win.
The back door opened and mom breezed in to wash her hands in the kitchen sink. Dad gave her a kiss on the cheek as he started on dinner.
“Hey, honey,” Mom said after drying her hands. She gave me a soft hug and kissed my cheek.
