"What's taking her so long?" Chris asked looking up at Joey.
"You know girls. They take forever to get ready."
"Kinda like Justin."
"Yeah I guess."
"Why do you like her? Girls have cooties."
"No they don't, they lose when they turn 12."
"So they aren't bad when they are old like you."
"Nope. They're really nice."
"I can't wait to turn 12 so girls will be nice to me. They always pick on me."
"They just like ya buddy." Chris crossed his arms and pouted. Just then the car door opened.
"Hey sorry I took so long." Chris got out of the front seat and let Adrianna take his seat and then he sat on her lap. "Hey there."
"Hi. Anna how old are you?"
"16. Why?"
"Just a second." He sat there and counted in his head. "OK you don't have cooties. I can like you."
"Good I would hate it if you didn't like me."
"You like me right?"
"Of course I do."
"I love you."
"I love you too." Chris stuck his tongue out at Joey.
"I better watch out that 6 year old is stealing my woman."
"Do you blame me how could you say no to that face." Adrianna put her hand on his cheek. Chris displayed a big grin on his face.
"You're right the little terd is the cutest thing I've ever seen." They pulled up into the parking lot of Chris' kindergarten building. "I'll pick you up after school at day care OK?"
"OK. I see you later Anna."
"See you too Chris." He gave her a hug and jumped out of the car. He waved to Joey and Adrianna then skipped into the building.
"He's so adorable." Adrianna said.
"I know he takes after his older brother."
"Yes he does. Justin is adorable."
"I was wrong. You do have cooties." They drove along and noticed JC walking on the sidewalk. They pulled up to him. "JC! Where's Justin?" JC walked over to the car.
"He's staying home. Lance told us not too, but he's doing it anyways."
"Come on get it we'll give you a ride." JC hopped into the backseat.
"I'm sorry if I would have known you guys had to walk I would've given you a ride." Joey apologized.
"It's OK I would've taken my bike, but Justin popped the wheel."
"So Justin is going to get in trouble again. That kid has been so much trouble for Lance."
"I think he's just at a sensitive stage in his life. He's crying out for attention and with all that's gone on the past couple of weeks it's been hard for him to get." Adrianna impressed them with what she had learned in psychology class. They pulled up to JC's school.
"Thanks for the ride."
"No problem. Do you want me to pick you up too?"
"Could you?"
"Yeah I will."
"OK thanks bye. Bye Adrianna."
"Bye." They then continued on their way to school.
=|=|=|=
"Lance! Lance!" Richard walked into his office. "We ran out of mocca java beans we need more."
"There aren't any in the inventory room?"
"No."
"OK I'll put an order in for them. Make sure you take it off of the board."
"Sure thing." Richard left Lance to figuring out December's budget for the household. It was the 1st of December, with their parents gone Lance would be in charge of everything. His dad had promised him that when he was gone the business would be his, he never thought it would be when he was 19. He had dropped out of college when he found out and moved back in the house to take care of his brothers.
"How am I suppose to afford Christmas presents for everyone when we can barely put food on the table every night?" He was frustrated. He already felt bad making Joey work during the school year, which their parents would never approved of. He came to the conclusion that he would need to take another job. One with a descent pay, but how was he going to get descent pay with only a high school diploma. He had considered night school, but that's not an option now. He ran his hand through his hair. He had been under a lot of stress lately. He walked out of his office from the back of the café.
"Hey Lance. The usual?" Brooke asked.
"Yeah thanks." He took a seat on the stool at the counter. Brooke made his coffee and set it down in front of him.
"This one's on me."
"No I always pay." He gave her the total it was every day $3.15.
"You don't look so good. How much sleep did you get?"
"Not much getting the kids to bed and working on the bills. I didn't get to bed until 4:30"
"I'm so sorry. You know everything will be ok right?"
"I'm sure it will be. Do you have the classifieds?"
"Yeah." She reached from under the counter and pulled out a newspaper and handed it to him. He opened it up and began to skim the pages. "What are you looking for?"
"I need another job. I don't want to ask Joey to work over time just so Chris could get that new bike he's wanted for Christmas."
"If it helps my uncle is looking for an assistant."
"Like a secretary?"
"Well it's more glorified than that you'd be a legal assistant for Buchner and Tate. You don't really need that much experience and the pay is good."
"I could promote Richard to manager and he can handle everything here."
"And you'll still be making a profit from here, cause you're the owner."
"Right. Like how much is the pay?"
"I think it starts out as $12.50 an hour and if you worked a 9-5 shift you would make $100.00 a day and the pay is only going to increase with the experience you gain. Plus my uncle is the sweetest man. I could talk to him if you like?" Lance sat there for moment.
"Yeah talk to him please."
"OK. Can I get you any sugar in your coffee?"
"That would be nice."Next
