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Bickering is not getting along.
Closing up the coffee shop by myself is not a big thing. It’s not worth fighting about. I need to let it go.
I count to ten, then start over and count to thirty, then start over and count to ten again. That’s fifty altogether.
Maybe I need a beer.
Shuffling to the kitchen, I stretch my shoulders to release some of the tension from my neck. He probably didn’t know Janet called in sick. He probably didn’t know that I had to do everything by myself.
Also, he didn’t ask, right? He didn’t tell me that he had free time to watch a baseball game?
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.
Okay. I’m just going to let it go. Life is too short.
With a nice cold beer swishing around between my cheeks, maybe I do feel little better. I take another stab at the living room, smiling like a really good sport.
“So, hey…” I start as I settle in on the sofa next to him. “I had an idea. Want to hear it?”
He jams his hand under my bottom like he always does, so he can cup my ass cheek when I sit next to him. This used to be really cute. At this moment, it’s making me want to start counting again.
“Want to hear it?” I ask again, prodding.
He squints at the screen, clearly enchanted by whatever it is the White Sox are doing.
“Yeah, babe, tell me all about it.”
“So… You know that space next door? The empty space?”
“Oof!” he exclaims, dodging an imaginary line drive.
“The space next door!" I repeat, much louder. “Remember it?”
Finally the game cuts to a commercial and Ronnie turns toward me, smiling in that forced polite way that he has, where it doesn’t really look like he is smiling at all.
“The old jewelry store?”
“That’s the one!” I nod quickly, knowing that I have about a minute and a half before I lose his attention again. “Well, I was thinking, what if we expanded?”
“We don’t really have enough business to expand,” he scowls. “People expand when they have too much business, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, but what if,” I say, gently sliding in front of him so that I am between him and the TV, “it’s not really an expansion? So much as an addition? Like maybe an additional service?”
He glances down, noticing that I’m practically sitting on his lap. For just a flicker, I actually do have his attention.
“Okay, what kind of service?”
“Maybe… A daycare center? Maybe even a small school like a Montessori? I think a lot of our customers would find a lot of convenience in this. How many of our regulars are single moms?”
He starts to roll his eyes, then stops himself just in time. Still, that phony smile looks like it’s going to crack right off.
“Listen, Chelsea. I know that you have this thing for early education…”
“A thing?” I repeat, slightly incredulous. “I have a degree, Ronnie. And a certification.”
He shrugs. “Yeah, and I love that about you. And you probably don’t want to really be a barista for the rest of your life, right? Is that where this is coming from?”
One. Two. Three.
