Ben
I’m glad I bought a variety spare cables with me, because after Julie helps
me replace the two that are clearly damaged the register actually boots up when
I push the power button. I hear an
excited squeal next to me and turn and see Julie beaming.
“Wow! It worked,” she exclaims.
“Well, we’re not all the way there yet, but it’s a good sign that it boots.” I
don’t want her to get all giddy for nothing.
Before I can say anything else a middle-aged man wearing a red uniform
shirt walks up to us with a slightly annoyed look on his face.
“There you are, Julie. I thought you were going to finish unpacking that
pallet and go to lunch. That was almost half an hour ago.”
“Oh, crap!,” Julie says, clearly flustered. “Ben showed up and I’ve been helping him
with the register.” Before I can make a move to introduce myself Julie takes
the initiative. “Aaron, this is Ben from
tech. Ben, this is Aaron, the manager
here.”
I extend my hand to Aaron and am rewarded with a firm handshake and to
my relief Aaron seems a bit less annoyed now.
“Good to meet you, Ben. Are you
making any progress?”
“I’m cautiously optimistic. Julie helped me check out the wiring under
the counter and we replaced a couple of damaged ones. It just finished booting up, so I guess we’ll
know in a few minutes.”
“Good,” Aaron says in a slightly dismissive tone and then he turns his
attention to Julie. I turn to the
register and get back to work.
Julie
Aaron is clearly annoyed that I abandoned the pallet and haven’t gone
to lunch yet. I guess I don’t blame him, since that was what we agreed on
earlier. But Ben showed up and I got
distracted. I hope the fact that we, well Ben, seems to be succeeding in fixing it helps his mood a little.
“It seems like Ben has everything under control here, so go finish that
pallet and take your lunch break as soon as you’re finished. Got it?”
I nod. “I only have a couple of boxes left, so it shouldn’t take more
than half an hour. Probably less.”
“Good. Get to work.”
“Ok,” I reply. I want to say
something to Ben, but he’s got his back to me and appears to be focused on his
work. I reluctantly turn around and walk
back to the pallet I abandoned half an hour ago.
Ben
I give myself a mental pat on the back.
The register is up and running again and Aaron thanks me for the help
and walks back to the office to fetch a cash drawer. I quickly pack my
backpack before I put my scarf, jacket and gloves back on.
For a second I consider heading into the store to find Julie and thank
her for helping me, but two things hold me back. The first is her awkward reaction when she
realized I’m in a wheelchair and the second is that Aaron didn’t seem too
pleased about her spending half an hour helping me instead of unpacking the
pallet she was working on when I arrived.
I don’t want to get her into more trouble by interrupting her again.
I grab my backpack and put it on my back.
Just as it was when I arrived it’s a bit of a challenge to squeeze past
a pallet next to the counter, but by grabbing the counter with my left hand and
pushing my right wheel with the other I manage just fine. I guess my wheelchair skills are improving. Go me!
I know I should be happy about that, but I’m not there yet. I still wish I didn’t need the damn chair in
the first place.
As I wheel out of the front doors of the store the cold air hits
me. Damn it’s cold outside. And a loud
growl from my stomach makes me realize I’m hungry and I’m tempted something to
eat before I head back home. The trip
takes almost an hour and I actually don’t have much food at my place because I’ve
been putting off grocery shopping for a couple of days.
When I spot a Shake Shack sign about half a block away I can’t resist
the temptation to grab a burger there, so I turn my chair and head in that
direction, which is opposite of Grand Central Terminal.
Julie
I finish unpacking the pallet in about 15 minutes and head to the back
to grab my coat and purse from my locker.
I stop by Aaron’s office to let him know I’m taking my lunch break. I’m pleasantly surprised when he tells me I can
take a long lunch break since I came in early today, if I’m back by one o’clock
it’s fine. Since it’s a few minutes past
noon now it’s great news. It means I’m
getting almost an hour-long break and I have the time to get a proper meal
somewhere.
As I walk out of the store I’m a bit disappointed to see that Ben has
left, but it’s great to see both registers working for the first time in almost
a week. Fingers crossed it’ll stay that way for the next few weeks, ’till the
Christmas rush is over.
It only takes me a couple minutes to reach the Shake Shack down the
block. I love their food and decide I
deserve a treat today. Especially since Aaron has granted me almost twice the
time normally have for my lunch break.
After ordering I look around for an open table and I stop when I spot a
familiar face at a table not far away.
It’s Ben. I’m tempted to join
him, but I’m hesitant since he got so annoyed with me when we met and although
he was friendlier at the end it wasn’t like he acted like he was interested in
getting to know me. And he never thanked
me for helping him. I had kind of hoped
he’d come into the store and say goodbye and thank me for the help when he was
done, since Aaron interrupted us and sent me away kind of abruptly.
Ben
I’ve just settled in at my table after grabbing my tray of food from the counter
when I get the feeling someone is staring at me. Great.
I’m starting to regret my decision to have lunch here before I head
home. I look up and almost immediately I’m
face to face with Julie. Her cheeks redden
and she looks embarrassed as she lifts her hand and tentatively waves at me.
Before I can think more about it I gesture for her to join me and point
at the empty seat across from me. She
hesitantly comes over, placing her drink cup on the table, unzips her parka and
hangs it on the chair before she takes a seat.
“Hi,” she says with a smile. “Thanks
for letting me join you.”
“No problem,” I reply. “I don’t
mind some company.” Truth is I crave company (yes, I've been kind of a hermit lately, but that's not normal for me, I'm normally a very social person), even if it’s the girl that got all
awkward when she saw my wheelchair for the first time. The awkwardness kind of faded away when we
worked together and I am grateful for
her help. I couldn’t have done the job
successfully without her assistance. “And
I really appreciate your help.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she says before she takes a sip of her
drink. I take a bite of my burger and
have to restrain myself to not audibly groan with pleasure as the flavors hits
my mouth. Damn, this is good. “Um, Ben?”
Her voice has a nervous edge to it when she gets my attention
again. I swallow the piece of burger I’ve
been chewing before I answer.
“Yeah?” I wonder where this is
going.
Julie
“I’m sorry for the way I reacted when we first met. It had nothing to do with your wheelchair, my
cousin’s a para in a chair and I’m not flustered by disabled people.” Ben looks puzzled and somewhat dubious. God, this is embarrassing. “I wasn’t expecting you to be as hot as your
voice made me imagine. I was prepared
for you to be a total dork like the other tech guys.” My face is burning by the time I finish my
not-very-well-thought-through-apology.
Ben is leaning back in his chair with a mixture of disbelief and a
pleased smile on his face. He takes
another bite of his burger followed by a couple of fries and his silence
really unnerves me. Before I can say anything
else my name is called and I get up to grab my food. Saved by the bell?
Ben
Wow! I didn’t see that coming. I
replay Julie’s words in my mind a couple of times while I have a few more bites
of my burger and some fries while she goes to the counter. Did she really say she thinks I’m hot? Yes, she did.
I know my looks aren’t exactly against me, heck, before the accident I
was actually pretty successful in the dating game, but lately my confidence has
taken a beating. I don’t expect a woman
to see past my chair when I find it hard to do so myself.
Julie returns with a tray with a burger and cheesy fries on it and sits
back down. She looks shy and
flustered. She grabs a fry and starts playing
with the cheese topping. I have a sip of
my beer (yes, I’m treating myself to a beer, maybe two, with my lunch today, it’s
past noon and I’m an adult, so don’t judge).
“So, are we going to finish this meal in an awkward silence and pretend
like this never happened?” I ask her, hoping
I appear braver than I feel.
Julie looks a little more at ease.
“Well, I hope not. I hope we can
at least be friends. You probably
already have a girlfriend, so I’m not getting my hopes up about anything else.”
I smile at that. She’s definitely
attracted to me. Unfortunately, I’m not
sure I’m ready to get back in the dating game yet, but something tells me I
need to be honest and do something to make sure this girl doesn’t disappear
from my life, that she’s something special.
“I’m single, but to be perfectly honest with you I’m not sure I feel
ready for more than friendship. I’ve
only been out of rehab for a couple of months and this is all pretty new to me,”
I say, gesturing to my wheelchair. Since
she mentioned a cousin with a similar disability to mine I hope she gets it.
Julie
I pop a couple of fries into my mouth and use the seconds it takes me to
chew and swallow them to think about what to reply to that. If he’s only been out of rehab for a couple
of months it’s probably been eight to ten months since he was injured. I know it took Jason more than a year to
adjust to his situation and accept his injury, so I’m prepared to give Ben
time. At the same time, I want him to
know that I’m interested in more than friendship when he’s ready.
“I can live with that,” I say
with a smile. “But I hope I get to be
the first girl you ask out on a date when you feel ready for that.”
“Deal,” Ben replies with a grin as he reaches across the table and grabs
my free hand, giving it a squeeze.
THE END
