Chapter 1

Short Chapter. WIP

She leaned against the wall outside the diner sweating in her turtleneck and jeans despite the fact that it was a comfortable temperature outside.  Clenching the Classifieds and resumes to her chest, she prayed desperately that this time when she asked if they were hiring they'd say yes.  Pulling open the door, she pasted on her winning smile and headed in.

 

Twenty minutes later she was dragging herself out disappointment and anxiety making her belly churn dangerously.  Nothing, Max had said. 

 

“Sorry, Beth, but I just hired Tammy and I can't afford to take on another waitress right now.”  His smile was apologetic

 

“But, Max, you don't understand! I've been looking for a job for weeks and I can't find anything.”  Desperation leaked into her voice then.  “Please, I'll do anything.”

 

“Sorry, Beth...” He had moved away then leaving her sitting at the counter nearly in tears. 

 

She had laid her head on the counter top and tried to get herself together, but for all her pep talking two fat tears found their way onto the marble.  Since the factory had started laying people off a few weeks again there was a frenzy to snatch up any available job in town.  It didn't help Beth any that she hadn't been in Templeton very long and if she knew anything about this town it was that you had to know the right person to get ahead. 

 

“What am I going to do?” She whispered. 

 

Rent was coming due, her gas tank was on empty, and she had been eating tuna fish for a few days already.  It was getting so bad and she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out.  It was like things had gotten bad the moment her mother died leaving Beth with a father who couldn't take care of himself and absolutely no way to get out of this town.  She felt a sob lodge in her throat as she had thought of her mother. 

 

She missed her so much.  Liver cancer had quickly eaten away at her and she was gone before Beth could blink.  She had quit her job in the city and moved back to help her parents.  Mom went from well deathly ill so fast Beth barely had time to say goodbye.  Her father had been so gripped by Alzheimer’s that he hadn’t even noticed that his wife of 35 years was dying right before his eyes.  She couldn’t afford a nursing home placement so she was taking care of him even though he didn’t recognize her anymore.  Beth was alone and it was so unfair. 

 

It was sheer determination that had carried her out of the diner and down across the street after that.  She had no hopes of finding something right now and was prepared to start looking for jobs out of town.  Contemplating her options, she found herself stopped in front of Bradley Contractors.  She debated going in to see if they were hiring, but was willing to do even menial tasks if that meant money in her bank account. 

 

Trying the front door, she found it locked.  The lights were all on and she thought she saw movement through the slates.  She knocked, but no one came.  Looking around, she noticed that the office sat at a corner so there had to be a back entrance.

 

Slipping around the building, she found the back door leading into the building.  The door eased open without a fight and Beth slipped through into what appeared to be a large half empty storage room.  It was dimly light and not very inviting she shivered superstitiously.  She stepped in tentatively and called out into the open air. 

 

“Excuse me.” My voice bounced back to me.  “Is anyone here?”

 

She moved further into the building and spotted a door at the far end.  Before she could make her way to it.  A dark shape rose out of the boxes and growled. Beth yelped and made for the exit, but the figure blocked her exit.  She moved against the wall praying whoever or whatever it was didn’t hurt her. 

 

“What do you want?”  The figure growled as it came toward her. 

 

It was a man.  A very large, very scary man.  She pressed closer to the wall then, anxiety tightening her nerves.  Her mouth dried out as she watched him approach.

 

As she looked at him, all she could see was his scars.  They covered his face, crisscrossed his cheeks, pulled up the corners of his mouth in a grotesque half smile, and disappeared like tracks into his hairline.  Old and deep, they made him appear menacing.  Fear skittered through her as she watched him stalk across the room to her.  The closer he got, the more the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.  He was tall, broad, and opposing.  The raw animal magnetism just flowed off of him.

 

When he was a mere few feet from her, he stopped and his eyes swept down her body before meeting her eyes.  All she wanted to do was look away, but those eyes held her.  He was angry, she could see it there in the way those dark brown eyes snapped and glittered, but there was more there. He was sad, she could feel his sadness and it made her relax almost involuntarily.

 

“Who are you? How did you get in here?”

 

She jumped and squeaked at the harshness of his gruff voice.  Her heart had lodged in her throat when he spoke.  Moistening her lips, she took a deep breath before answering.

 

“I… am here looking for work.  I lost my job at the factory so I have been dropping off applications to all the businesses in the area.  No one answered at the front when I tried to come in, I just came around back.”

 

He stepped closer and she pressed further into the wall.  Her heart was whispering not to be scared of him, but her mind was recoiling with fear at the anger in his eyes.

 

“We’re not hiring and breaking and entering will get you arrested.  Leave before I call the police.”

 

As he turned to walk away, she reached out without thinking to stop him with a hand on his arm.  He flinched away from her touch as if she hit him, but stayed where he was.

 

“Wait, I will do anything.  I am willing to learn and can work anywhere, just let me show you what I’m capable of. Please.”

 

He turned to the side, his face pointed away from her.  She watched the rise and fall of his chest and waited for him to respond.  The waiting made her tense up again.  She wanted, no, needed a job and was willing to work for this frightening man in order to have one.  She squared her shoulder prepared to prove herself.

 

“Alright, I’ll let you work here. I want you here by 8 a.m., no later.”

 

Excitement made her squeal again, her fear forgotten.  ”Thank you, I promise you won’t regret it.”

 

He turned to look at her fully then and she saw the anguish in his eyes again.  As quickly as the pain appeared, it disappeared and was replaced by his usual angry stare.

 

“Don’t make me regret it then.”

 

He walked away leaving her to stand against the wall.  After a few moments, moved away walked back out the way she came in.  Her mind filled with thoughts of this powerful, scarred man who hid his pain behind a wall of anger.

 

 

 

 

 ---

 

“Hi, Daddy.” Beth walked in to her parent’s house to find her father sitting in his favorite chair staring blankly at the television set.  “I found a job. Did you have a good day?”

 

He turned to look at him not a shred of recognition registering in his vacant eyes.  His white hair, as thick as the day he married her mother, was waving around in a wild frenzy around his head.  Though his figure was slightly thinner than it had been, he still looked exactly the same as he did when she was younger.  The only thing missing was his mind.

 

For a second his vision cleared and she thought he was going to call out to her, but they simply clouded again and he grunted before turning back to the TV.  He yelled at something that happened and then fell silent again. 

 

Beth’s eyes clouded with tears as she stared at him.  She hated this, hated what the disease was doing to him.  Her strong father who held her when she was little couldn’t even take care of himself any longer.  It ripped at her heart that he was deteriorating so rapidly right before her eyes.

 

“I’ll make you something for dinner.”  She heard his grunt

 

Turning away, she stumbled into the kitchen and been the mindless process of making them some dinner.  She found that it was in completing this task that her mind turned to her new boss.  Her hands tightened involuntarily around the bowl she was holding. 

 

He was frightening on a level she hadn’t anticipated.  She thought about earlier when he was bearing down on her and she shivered.  Even though she felt the rawness of him and had been scared, something about him tempered her fear.  Beneath that surliness was pain.  She saw it flash across his face and it had gotten to her. 

 

She tried to push thoughts of his pain away.  It was a job and she had a feeling she was going to have a rough time.  She worked the meatloaf and stiffened her resolve.  It didn’t matter, she had work and she would do her darnest to keep it.

Author's Note

Excusing grammar, I'm just wondering how it sounds. Interesting beginning?

Reviews

[Zak]

Rather. You said that you were lengthening it, you need to keep that up. There's details missing here that we need to know. First, what kind of skills does she have that could be useful in "Bradley Contractors?" Describe the place for us, and what exactly she might be doing.
And describe our large scarred friend more, would you? He's a deep character, and I barely know what he's wearing.
Her father...allow her some emotion when he just grunts and looks away.
Overall...think about what the characters are doing. Allow them to reveal their personalities to you before you let them do anything. Else...it doesn't seem as real and moving.