Chapter 15

Cal was out of the house early the next morning. It was going to be a nice day again, so he decided to walk. It shouldn’t have been any different from a normal summer’s morning. Cal didn’t get very far before he realized that a lot was changed.

Usually, he would encounter a number of people on the way. Most of them he saw day after day. He would give a polite nod or ‘good morning’. Those whom he met would do the same and then both parties would proceed on their way minding their own business.

Sometimes he would stop to engage in conversation, especially if he was aware of some news about the individual. All-in-all, it was a pleasant way to start the day. All of that had changed.

He noticed people looking away as he approached so they could pretend not to have seen him. When they thought he wasn’t looking, Cal caught them glancing at him out of the corner of their eyes. One retired gentleman who always greeted Cal slowed his pace so as not to arrive at the corner at the same time as Cal and cross with the same light. It had all changed in the space of a day.

He was waiting for a light to change when it came to him.

“Jack Ross’ press conference yesterday—I almost forgot.”

So much had happened the day before that Cal had put yesterday’s early morning event out of his mind. So, he grasped the ‘what’ of it, but the ‘why’ eluded him

He would have understood if they had run up to him and pressed for more details. ‘When would the new owner move in? How much would they be paying? Would they hire locals or bring in their own crew?’ Cal would have explained how premature those questions were. No one did that. Instead, they chose to eye him in covert silence.

“What are they mad about, anyway?” he asked himself.

Perhaps they were angry, or perhaps not, he reasoned. Perhaps they were afraid, or suspicious of new things that would alter what they had assumed to be permanent. For sure, they sensed change and no matter how good change might be in the objective analysis, it always means giving up a comfortable seat.

“Someday, they’ll thank me,” he consoled himself.

It was a potential solution to the puzzle, but not the only possibility. It was still early. He had already eaten breakfast at his house, however, an extra serving of toast and coffee wouldn’t hurt very much. He decided that a trip to the Bluebird would be a good idea. He had a good chance to find out something there.

It was the middle of the morning breakfast rush. He saw Millie and Bonnie scurrying from table to table. The working men near the front of the diner became quiet as Cal passed by them. They always did, but Cal felt it even more on that morning.

Of course, Cal knew that the men eating breakfast in the diner already had jobs. They wouldn’t be the ones seeking employment from Midco out at the Annex. They probably liked things as they were.

Cal saw Mille glance at him as he made his way to the back of the diner.

“Alright if I take the usual booth,” he asked her.

“I’ll be right over,” she called back.

“Just coffee and whole wheat toast,” he answered.

He arrived at the booth and set his brief case down on the opposite seat. He peeled his jacket off and tossed it on top of his briefcase. Then he poured himself into the free side of the booth. He shook his head. It was only a little after eight and he felt tired already.

It was only a few minutes later when Millie arrived with his order. She set it in front of him and then placed a few small plastic containers filled with grape jelly along side the plate of toast.

“Anything else?” she asked.

“No, I guess not,” Cal replied. “I just thought I’d stop in before I went into the office.”

“What’s the matter, Cal?” Millie asked. “You were always up for a big breakfast. Now it’s just toast and coffee. You feelin’ alright?”

“Sure,” Cal answered. “Actually, I came in to see if I could figure out what’s going on. Everyone I’ve met today is acting funny.”

“Go on!” Millie laughed. “You’re imaginin’ it.”

“No,” Cal insisted. “Look at that guy at the counter—second from the left.”

As Cal pointed out, a man wearing the uniform of the maintenance crew at the college turned away, but too late.

“Well, I guess it’s because of your bein’ on TV yesterday.”

“How can that be? It was just for a few seconds,” Cal pleaded. “It was Ross’ press conference, not mine.”

“They’re used to seein’ Jack Ross on TV all the time, but not you,” Millie explained. “Now you’ll be goin’ up the ladder. You won’t be one of us anymore. Why else would Ross put you on TV?”

Millie refilled Cal’s coffee and started to walk away.

“No, wait Millie. You’ve got to help me figure this out.”

“I thought I just did,” Millie replied.

“No! There has to be more to it than that,” Cal insisted.

“I’ll be right back, Cal,” she answered. “Let me take care of these other customers first.”

Millie walked away. Cal sat thinking and scratching his head.

“I just don’t understand this at all.”

He looked out at the customers in the diner. A few more stole a glance at him. He knew many of them had voted to put him in office. He was doing the job they elected him to do. Somehow, they resented him for doing it. He wondered if he had that right. He was about to go around with it in his mind again when Millie reappeared at his table carrying the coffee pot.

“You mean they aren’t mad about it being a Japanese company?” Cal asked.

“Gosh sakes, no!” Millie scoffed. “They hardly even noticed that part. Everyone figures it will be another one of them ‘it almost came true, but not quite’ kinds of things.”

“Then what are they mad about?” Cal demanded.

“They’re not mad at all,” Millie said. “They just have to start thinkin’ about you as someone different than what you used to be, that’s all. You were one of them until yesterday. Now they have to get used to you bein’ different. Like I said, it’s on account of your bein’ on TV.”

“But I’m no different. The TV was only...”

“What would help,” Millie said, “is if you weren’t single. You need a nice girl to be with—maybe married to somebody.”

Millie waved her hand at the diner crowd.

“She could smooth out the sharp edges with them for you while you’re off doin’ whatever you’re doin’ and they’ll all think you’re still a regular guy.”

“I never thought about it that way,” Cal admitted. “I don’t think I would be...”

“For example, look at Bonnie right over there,” Millie said. “She’s as cute as a button, and hard-working, too. Best of all she’s available. All you have to do is say the word. I’ll fix you right up.”

“That’s okay, Millie,” Cal replied. “I don’t think she’s my type.”

Millie set the coffee pot on the table of the booth. She bent down lower so she could whisper to Cal.

“What type would that be?” she asked Cal. “There’s advantages to her, you know. Don’t quote me, but I don’t think she’s ever been anyone’s type, if you know what I mean.”

Cal didn’t answer, but he gulped hard. Millie stood up and picked up the coffee pot.

“She’s twenty-two—still lives with her parents. Whaddya say?”

“I’ll have to let you know on that, Millie. I’m tied up this weekend, anyway. I promised I’d help on the farm.”

“Think it over, but don’t think too long. A pretty thing like Bonnie won’t stay on the shelf for long.”

Millie walked away and Cal looked down at the toast that he’d only half-eaten. He realized he wasn’t hungry. He took a big swallow of his coffee and left some money on the table. He put his jacket back on and picked up his briefcase. On his way to the door he saw Millie and Bonnie standing together. He waved good-bye to them.

“Bye, Cal,” Millie chanted.

“Bye, Cal,” Bonnie repeated and wiggled her fingers at him as a substitute wave.

In a few seconds he was outside. It was time to get to the office.

“Maybe Millie’s right,” he speculated to himself as he walked. “I’m not getting any younger. It just never seems that there’s time for that kind of thing.”

He was waiting for a light to turn. There was no time to shepherd the Annex project, fend off Jack Ross and start a relationship with Bonnie or any other young woman all at the same time. As far as Cal was concerned, the young woman part was the most complex issue of any of the three.

“But wait! Bonnie? I don’t think so. She’s not my type, and I don’t think she’s as good looking as Millie says. She looks kind of gangly to me—and I’m almost twelve years older than her.”

The light turned and he stepped out into the crosswalk.

“Millie thinks that ‘available’ is my type.”

Thus, he granted himself a reprieve, but the earlier advice was well-taken. He resolved to have a talk with Delores in a few months when he was under less pressure.

“Maybe a school teacher would be right.”

He filed the idea away in the back of his mind. He’d given it all the time he could afford to spend on it.

Cal walked into the office. Delores scolded him for being late. He didn’t ignore her, but didn’t listen very hard, either. It was the routine. She brought him in a cup of coffee and set it on his desk and then closed the door behind herself as she left him to get his day started.

He scanned his calendar. A client was coming in at ten to discuss applying for a zoning variance. Cal didn’t see a problem there. He had almost an hour before that. He turned on his computer to check his e-mail. It was then that he saw it.

“Tanaka! I almost forgot.”

The e-mail tag read ‘Midco-Japan’.

Cal had nearly forgotten his letter to Mr. Tanaka. He hesitated before opening it, afraid of what the reply would say. He braced himself for the worst. A cancellation of the project wouldn’t be unreasonable after what had happened with Ross. His finger trembled on the mouse. He opened the e-mail and read it.

“I can’t believe it, Cal said out loud.

He had never guessed that Mr. Tanaka was naïve. Of course, he had only been in his presence for two hours a month ago.

“Maybe the one who is naïve is me,” Cal whispered.

He allowed the ugly thought to seep through the crevices of his mind. He reminded himself that he was just a small-town lawyer trying to pull off a big project. Others in Appleton would fare no better.