Copyright © 2020 James Russell Stoakes
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http://JamesStoakes.com
“How can I help you miss?” the receptionist asked.
Sarah closed the door behind her. “Hi, how would I go about buying some heating oil for someone?” She held out her hands and explained, “I’ve never done this before.”
The receptionist was a little surprised by the question. “We’ll deliver oil anywhere you want,” she said. “There is a minimum order of one hundred gallons, though.”
“How much would it be to deliver a hundred gallons to this address and light the furnace for her,” Sarah asked, sliding a piece of junk mail she had taken from Alice’s house.
“Oh, I know this place,” she said. “Nice lady.” She punched the calculator before answering. “If you pay cash it will be $189.90. A credit card would be four percent more.”
“I don’t have that much on me right now,” Sarah said. “Could I order it now and come back later to pay? I’ll gave to go to the bank and come back.”
“It’s against company policy,” the receptionist said.
Sarah implored the receptionist, “She’s been out of oil for over a week. She’s cold!”
A man stuck his head out from the back office and looked over the receptionist’s shoulder. “Are you related to Alice?” he asked.
“No,” Sarah sighed. “We just met today.”
“You just met today,” he repeated back as he stared at her. “Come back when you can, I’ll cover you,” he said and went back into the back room.
“Okay,” the receptionist said happily. “It looks like your lucky day, the owner is willing to bend the rules for you.”
Sarah sighed in relief. “Thanks,” she said as she handed her license to the receptionist. “Hold this until I return,” she said. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Alice needs her heat more than I need a car.”
The receptionist took the license. “I’ll put the order in now,” she said.
It was then that the owner walked back into the room while putting his coat on. “I’ll take Alice’s order, Jenny,” he said. “Don’t worry, miss. I’ll make sure Alice is warm tonight.”
“Thank you,” Sarah said, relieved.
“No problem,” he said as he picked up the order sheet and exited the office.
“He seems nice,” Sarah said to the receptionist.
“It’s out of character for him to trust someone like this. Please do not let him down,” she implored Sarah. “It will be most unpleasant around here for the rest of us if you do.”
Sarah laughed nervously. “I’ll be back in a couple hours,” she assured her.
“There you are,” Mrs. Mitchel said as Sarah entered the house. “I was getting worried.”
“Everything’s okay, mom,” Sarah said with a big smile on her face as she went in for a hug. “I got caught off guard when it started to snow and was too far away to make it back safely.”
“Thank you for the message,” Sarah’s mom said, hugging her. “Where does Alice live? I don’t remember you ever talking about her before.”
“She’s a relatively new friend,” Sara obfuscated. “I was less than a mile away when I realized my situation.”
“Well, I’m glad you had someone to turn to,” Mrs. Mitchel responded. “Your dad is out on an interview!”
“Nice!” Sara said enthusiastically. Less excited, she said, “I have to update my resume and start looking for a new job.”
“What!” Mrs. Mitchel exclaimed. “What happened?”
“My boss was in a firing mood yesterday, I wasn’t the first to get let go,” she said.
“He must have been having a bad day,” she supposed.
“He shared his bad day with us,” Sarah said.
“Where will you start your search?” her mother asked.
“I’m going to start at the bank and work my way towards the supermarket,” Sarah answered.
“Ambitious,” her mother replied.
“Thanks, mom. I have to get going,” Sarah said. “I’ll let you know where I am later. I might hang out with Alice again tonight.”
“No boys, I hope,” her mom joked.
“No, no boys,” Sarah laughed.
Sarah looked at the balance in her passbook as she contemplated how much to withdraw. She had saved $1320 for her car so far. Taking a withdrawal slip, she thought, “I probably could have bought a beater with this if I had not been so picky.” She wasn’t sure how much some groceries were going to cost, so she took an extra one hundred. Rounding off, she withdrew $300.
“Good to see you, Sarah,” the teller said as Sarah approached.
“Hi, Martha,” Sarah greeted her back and handed her the passbook and slip.
“It’s your first time withdrawing from this account,” Martha said.
“Yeah, don’t rub it in,” Sarah said, a little depressed. “Is the bank hiring?”
“I managed to save enough to pay you,” Sarah said, handing her money to Jenny, the receptionist at the oil company. “Groceries are more expensive than I imagined.”
“Thank you, Sarah,” Jenny said and handed Sarah’s license to her. “Here’s this,” she said, “and Alice is all set by now. Joe got back about an hour ago.”
“How long do you think that much oil will last in her home?” Sarah asked.
“It’s hard to predict,” Jenny said. While she was thinking, Joe walked into the room from the back.
“It’s a small place,” he said. “The furnace is only about ten years old, but it needs a cleaning. If she’s careful and keeps the temperature reasonable, it could last until late February.”
“Thanks,” Sarah said. “I should have work by then.”
“You are between jobs?” Joe asked.
“Yeah, I was let go yesterday. This morning I put in an application at the bank for a part-time teller and at the grocery store for whatever they need help with,” Sarah said.
“Keep at it,” Joe said. “Something will come up as long as you don’t give up.”
“I know,” she agreed and edged towards the door. “I have to check on Alice. I have some groceries for her.”
“See you soon,” Joe said.
“Bye,” Jenny said as Sarah opened the door and exited.
“The girl has a big heart,” Joe said to the room as he went back to his office.
“Pretty eyes too,” Jenny said. “You don’t see that very often. I wonder if she wears colored contacts to get that look.”
Answering the knock at the door, Alice was surprised to see Sarah standing there with bags. “Sarah! What have you brought?” she asked. “Come in, come in. I have heat now. My son must have finally paid the oil company. With the house warm, I just got out of the shower.”
“Your son,” Sarah started to say but stopped. “I’m glad you’re safe and warm, Alice,” she said instead. “I grabbed some staples for you and a few extras.”
Alice laughed as she pulled some chocolate chips from one of the bags. “What did you have in mind?” she asked.
Sarah pulled a VHS from one of the bags. “I noticed you had a VCR yesterday. I was wondering if I could convince you to make chocolate chip cookies with me and watch Titanic while we ate them?” she said conspiratorially.
“Titanic? I think we could manage that,” Alice said with a giggle. “I love chocolate chip cookies. Did you know the recipe on the bag is the best?”
“I didn’t, but I bought the ingredients based on that recipe,” Sarah confessed. “It looked surprisingly easy.”
“Cooking is a breeze,” Alice said. “I’ll teach you to cook so well, your cooking alone will enrapture any man you want,” she said with a laugh.
Sarah blushed. “Getting to the point of cooking for one is the tricky part.”
“Nonsense,” Alice said, dismissing her concern. “You’re what, barely sixteen, I would guess?
“Yeah?” Sarah acknowledged while continuing to unpack groceries.
“Soon, boys will be flocking to you,” Alice grinned. “And when they do, you just have to ask them if they want you to cook for them.”
“My mom says something similar about boys coming from every direction soon, but she warns me that they only have one thing on their mind,” Sarah said carefully.
Alice laughed at the insinuation as she retrieved a bowl from the cupboard. “Many will have only one thing on their mind. Some will surprise you. Not all men are one-dimensional,” she assured Sarah. “Your mother is justified in being worried, though. You are a very beautiful young lady.”
“My eyes seem to bother some people,” Sarah added. “Some of my classmates call me freak because of them.”
“They are unusual,” Alice agreed, “but very a very pretty combination with your complexion and blonde hair. I noticed them when you were helping me up yesterday. One blue and one green, pretty rare, I would bet.”
Blushing again, Sarah said, “Thanks,” as she began reading the recipe and collecting items. “It can’t be that rare, my mother has the same condition,” Sarah added.
Alice quietly watched her work. Sarah measured out the flour as Alice had done for the pancakes and put it in the bowl. She did the same for the white sugar but struggled a little with the brown sugar.
Retrieving a thick tablespoon from the drawer, Alice handed it to Sarah and said, “Pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup with this.”
Nodding, Sarah did as she was told and then dumped it into the bowl in a clump. Using the spoon, she broke it up and mixed the ingredients together.
“Are you sure you have never done this before?” Alice asked with her usual smile in her voice.
“I’m just applying what I saw you do this morning to this recipe,” Sarah said as she reached for the butter and the pan they had used earlier to soften the butter. “I am a little surprised how similar the recipes are to each other.”
“They are similar,” Alice said, contemplating the ingredients and watching Sarah get the butter ready. “Make sure there is nothing in the oven and set it to 375 degrees,” Alice directed.
Alice put the other staples away that Sarah had brought. There were chicken drumsticks, a package of beef sirloin, chicken breast and a small package of hamburger in one bag. These items she put in the freezer above the refrigerator. “You didn’t need to buy so much, Sarah!” Alice admonished her.
“Enough to keep you from being hungry for a week or so,” Sarah said. “That’s all. I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I kept it kind of bland and went by what I saw my mother buy in the past.”
“There are green peppers, broccoli, and an onion in one of those bags,” Sarah said as she stirred. “You said you could cook. I remember those being good combinations.”
“Clever girl,” Alice said. “I’ll hang on to this,” she held up the receipt, “and make sure my son reimburses you for the food the next time I see him.
“I’m not worried,” Sarah said. “I’m just happy that you are happy.”
“I am,” Alice said with a grin.
“That smells so good!” Sarah said excitedly as she brought the VHS tape to the VCR. The blinking of the clock was what drew her eye to it earlier in the day. She set the time quickly and pushed the tape in.
“I never took the time to set that,” Alice laughed. “I wish it could be turned off. I have clocks for telling time.”
“For the longest time, my parents could not figure out how to change it on theirs,” Sarah laughed. “My brother always had to do it. The new DVD player sets the time automatically somehow. I have no idea how.”
“VHS, DVD, Blue disc. If they keep changing the format, how can they expect anyone to purchase their media with any confidence that they will be able to play it in the future,” Alice said, sounding frustrated.
“Blue Ray,” Sarah corrected. “I understand the frustration, but things change.”
“Too darn fast, if you ask me,” Alice said, flopping down on the sofa in front of the TV. “Where did you find a VHS of Titanic? I watched it once a long time ago on a rented cassette before the video rental place went out of business.”
“Yeah, they’re all gone now. Netflix and cheap DVD’s put them under,” Sarah confirmed. “I remember going to one with my father when I was very young. This tape is part of my mother’s collection. I hope it’s still good.” Sarah had to change the station on the TV and found the credits for the movie playing. “It looks like it still works, but it needs to be rewound,” she said, pressing stop and rewind. “It looked a little fuzzy, but it should be okay.”
While the VCR whirred, the timer went off in the kitchen. “I’ll get it,” Sarah said.
“Be careful,” Alice reminded her.
The VCR clunked as the tape reached the beginning and clicked again as it began to play. The federal copyright warning popped up on the screen at the same time Sarah arrived with two small plates with cookies on them. “They’re still very hot,” Sarah said. “Don’t burn your mouth.”
“They smell so good,” Alice said, holding the plate under her nose. “This is a real treat, Sarah. Thanks!”
“My pleasure,” Sarah said as she sampled a small corner on one cookie. “So good,” she said involuntarily as the movie started.
Now that the previews were over, Alice grabbed the remote and turned up the volume before nibbling on one of her cookies.