The Ring of Fire & Serpents

Chapter Five - Old Habits Die Hard

Frank enters the room moments later and sits down at the table with me in the kitchen, “Oh my gosh, Laura. I apologize for how Charlie treated you. If that ever happens again, you let me know.”

“How do you know him?” I ask curiously.

His eyes wide as he works to unwrap his sandwich, “He’s a client of mine, but I’ve known him for years. We are pretty good friends, I guess… mean son of a gun, but I will make sure he knows that I won’t tolerate that kind of behavior.”

I take a sip of my drink to chase down the half-masticated food rolling around in my mouth, “I’m surprised…well…never mind. It’s none of my business.”

He chuckles, “Go ahead and say it. I think I know what you are going to say.”

I clear my throat, “I hope I don’t upset you, but you are such a gentleman, and it’s surprising to me that you would be friends with someone like that.”

He nods his head, “I know… sometimes I ask myself that very same question. Old habits die hard, I guess. One thing that is good about that old boy is if I need something done, he gets it done.”

I eye him curiously, “What do you mean?”

“He’s a hell of a mechanic and owns a tow truck. He works out of his garage at his house, and the people of Laurel flock to him to have their cars worked on, so he’s got that going for him. When it comes to working on cars, he’s as honest and fair as they come, but outside of that, nobody in town really wants anything to do with him other than me. I’m really the only friend he has, so I try to look past all the negative. I’ve learned to deal with him over the years, and he’s never lost his temper with me.”

I shake my head in disbelief, “Wow… that’s so kind of you. It doesn’t surprise me, though.”

He snickers, “Oh?”

“No, you are one of the good ones. I can tell.”

His cheeks flush as he smiles warmly at me before taking a bite of his sandwich. The moment he takes a bite, he belts out a soft-pitched growl, “Oh man, this is fantastic.” He says with a mouthful of food.

I nod, “Oh yeah, it’s delicious. Thanks for lunch.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The two of us enjoy our food, finish out the day training on the system, and generate quotes for customers. By the time 3:00 p.m. rolls around, I bid farewell and head back home to fix dinner for the girls.

TWO WEEKS LATER…

I arrive to work a bit early that morning so that I can decorate my office area. As I walk inside, Frank is already hard at work in his office on the phone. He waves as I waltz inside, carrying a box of pictures and plants. I walk over to my desk and set the box down before pulling the décor out to figure out placement for everything. I proudly display the girls’ pictures on my desk.

Once Frank is finished on the phone, he strolls out and sits across from me, grabbing the pictures of my girls, “Ahh, these are your girls? They look just like you, Laura. What are their names?” he asks.

I come around my desk behind him, reaching to point them out, “The tall one is Savannah; she’s eighteen. The petite one is Sophia, and she’s sixteen.”

He shakes his head, “Lovely young ladies.” He states as he gently sets the picture back in place.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a candle burner in and a couple of plants.” I chime in.

He chuckles, “I don’t mind at all. I’m not much of a decorator, so feel free to make the space more inviting for our clients. I ordered a Keurig with some K-cups that you suggested yesterday morning, so we should be getting those soon.”

“Oh, that’s great. How about the candy dish for the kids and the juice boxes?”

He nods, “Oh yeah, I ordered that as well. Great idea, Laura. We need a woman’s touch around this place.”

“I can bring a basket of toys in and some magazines,” I tell him.

He nods, “That would be perfect. Whatever you like is fine by me.”

I excitedly clear the box off my desk, “Awesome, thank you.”

He pushes himself up from the chair and walks back into his office as I quickly log into my computer to get my day started.

Later that afternoon, an old familiar face comes strolling into the office. Even if I couldn’t see who it was, I could certainly smell him a mile away. I curl my nose as he approaches, reeking of gasoline, “Well, hello there.” He says as he approaches my desk and plops down in the chair in front of me.

I hesitantly glance up at him, “Afternoon, Charlie. What can I do for you?” I ask in a forced professional tone.

He snickers as he reaches out and grabs the picture on my desk, “Well, well well…what do we have here? Who are these little beauties?”

I reach over my desk and pluck the picture from his hand, “Thank you, those are my daughters. They are in high school, too young for you.”

I set the picture down on my desk. His eyes grow wide as he was clearly taken back by my comment. He reaches up to scratch the rough stubble of hair on his chin, “Well, I have twins in high school. A boy and a girl. Best not let my son see those two.”

I inhale audibly, “I doubt he ever would, Charlie; they don’t attend school in Laurel.”

Frank scurries over to my desk, “Charlie, are you giving my office manager a hard time again?” He asks sternly.

Charlie sneers at him, “No. I’m just making small talk, Frankie.”

Frank looks over at me curiously; I nod, “Yep, just discussing family is all.”

He turns back to Charlie, “You wanna come to my office now?” he asks.

Charlie hops up, winking at me as he passes by, and follows Frank to his office. Frank turns around and shuts the door. I breathe a sigh of relief once he’s out of sight. That man gives me the creeps in more ways than one. I know Frank said he was his only friend, but I don’t know how anyone could be friends with that snake. I just want to scream and run in the opposite direction when he comes around.

After a few moments, Charlie storms out of Frank's office and marches outside of the building before taking off in his truck, squealing his tires on the way out of the parking lot. Frank walks up to my desk, “Never a dull moment with him.”

I shake my head and snort, “Clearly!”

He plops down in the chair across from me, “I’m heading out tomorrow to start passing out cards and drumming up more business in nearby towns. I think you are doing a great job. How confident are you about running things while I’m out?” he asks.

“I feel pretty confident. I think I’m getting the hang of things.”

He nods, “I agree. I told Charlie he is not to show up here without an appointment any longer. He needs to call and make an appointment just like everyone else. You won’t have to worry about him making a surprise visit while I’m not here.”

I lean back in my chair, “Oh my gosh, thank you for doing that.”

He chuckles, “Yeah, don’t mention it.”

The phone rings and startles both of us simultaneously. We begin howling with laughter before I reach out to answer it as Frank hops up and returns to his office.

At the end of the day, I leave the building and walk towards my car in the parking lot. As I scan my surroundings on the way to my car, I’m stopped dead in my tracks as I notice Charlie, leaned up against his truck, watching me from the parking lot across the street. My heart begins pounding as fear creeps up on me, but I pretend not to notice him and hustle to get in my car. After I climb inside, I adjust my rearview mirror to watch him before turning on the ignition. He doesn’t budge, he just takes a puff of his cigarette while eyeing me closely, so I hurriedly start the car and pull out on the road. I watch out the rearview mirror to see if he pulls out to follow me. Luckily, I made it across town without seeing his truck behind me. That little incident still had me shaking. I mean, who does that? I breathed a sigh of relief while speeding all the way home.