Short Short Story Mr. Kents Fate

In Chicago in a 1000 square foot office an old man with a busy agenda hired a young lady to take care of his sick girl friend. The office was closing in a years time and the old man wasn't going to renew the lease. His back was going bad. His staff was getting impatient with the old mans plans and he had dreams of leaving to Arizona.

His name is Mr. Kent he spent a handful of days at Weiss Hospital and the Dr. Hudson's Pain Clinic during the end of the year. The young lady's name is Geraldine and she drove him to his doctor appointments and picked up coffee and lunch on the days she came in to his office. She was frustrated with her job hunt and the way things were with her other part time job at the theater and moved home with her parents again in Michigan.

After driving Karen, Mr. Kent's girlfriend to get her hair styled, to the drug store, and to the doctors office, her daughter Renee a prominent lawyer came to pick her mother up out of the care of the inexperienced young woman and Mr. Kent hired a stay at home doctor for Karen. Stephanie the secretary and Geraldine smoked cigarettes and talked about dating and rock concerts on their thirty minute lunch break from Mr. Kents office.

He was often calm, and very collect going through his files, bills, and sales calls. He was very joyful and endearing to the women in his office. He took very good care of his appearance and the kindness that flowed from his heart was a wave of warmth and affection. He longed to see his daughter and grand children in Arizona. He spoke of them often and his plans to live near by them and get out of the cold winters of Chicago which often left him very ill and with a lot of pain in his joints.

Mr. Kent was exhausted by the long labor directions he had to give to his construction workers and fatigued by old age. His friends and him laughed and played cards every Thursday night in the office after work hours and during work hours he met a lot of interesting new realtor prospects who wanted to work and often sent them on their way with strong advice and consultations of their next step. It was up to them to follow his expertise in direction.

He built large condominiums along the north side of Chicago and elevators for churches. Dealing with lawyers, contractors, and construction workers through his success Mr. Kent dealt with many problems along the road. Robbery, and dishonest dealings came in for him to experience along his journey as an inventor.

He had two deceased wives, a living son, and grandson. He was often cheerful and very enthusiastic to teach real estate, and help the unemployed back on their feet in the least. He took care of Stephanie his secretary and her young son with groceries, rides, and money. But as it was, Mr. Kent didn't have much health left to get himself the help he needed to get out of his gambling problem. As a mysterious man, little was known about Mr. Kent and his daily where a bouts after the office closed.

Geraldine continued to run errands with him once a month. Buying a hearing aid, new wig, taking clothes to the cleaners, laundry mat, mail to the post office, grocery store, and other various errands paying her in cash a few twenties here and there. He often was aggressive and pushy in his commands to Geraldine for his young errand runner often made devastating mistakes involving parking tickets, job inexperience, laziness, daydreaming, dishonesty, distraction to detail, and very poor hand writing.

to be cont.

Chocolate Fountain

It was noon when I wrote the time in with a blue ink pen and met eyes with the chefs in the kitchen. The dish washer was pacing his station, servers were setting up and taking down tables with things like table cloth and silverware.

It was over 70 degrees in the kitchen near the dishwasher station where me and another server stood wiping down water glasses. Questions were just rolling off my tongue as usual about where we put dirty champagne glasses that were used for mamosas, were there any clean water glasses yet, and where do I put these pastry blades.

It was hard to remember everyones name but I think I did all right with all the young new faces I was engaged to interact with afterall it was Mothers Day and the dining room was set up like a restaurant on the lake in Chicago. There were over 600 cloth napkins and not one was in sight for over thirty minutes. Already one of the servers said that she lost twenty dollars from her tips.

Everything seemed right. And the sweet spot or the climax of the night after the wear and tear of our bodies from lifting trays with dinner plates the weight of a VCR and balancing glasses was the chocolate fountains flowing with white and milk chocolate in which a handful of servers took a taste with strawberries and marshmellows. What a delightful and enjoyable end to a luncheon made especially for mothers. My senses rose up and the soars on my head from dehydration and all the bread and donuts (perks of the job) were gone and the night was complete with a belly full of melted chocolate and a few cups of coffee.

It was 5:00 p.m. and time to clock out. The staff crowded around our name cards where we clock in near one of the large freezers and a very small bathroom used by the chefs. I pulled out the blue ink pen and wrote in the time I left the kitchen to sit down in a quiet room to myself. I could hear laughter in the banquet room where the servers and cooks collaborated. I wondered if I should join them but I was to content where I was drinking the rest of my coffee out of a little styrophone cup.