Chapter 38

Without much pomp or circumstance, Dan turned the lock on the front door and opened the pizzeria for business Saturday morning at ten o’clock. He felt a little pride when he slid the sign down to show that the store was open.

He paused for a moment to look at the sign and said, “Parker’s Perfect Pizza is open for business.”

Diana snapped a picture of the moment, wishing that she had a camera that could take a whole sequence of pictures. The digital camera had an intolerable delay between pushing the button and taking the picture. The delay was so long that she worried that she had missed the shot.

After checking the image captured by the camera, she said, “I got the picture!”

“We’ll have to put that in the newsletter,” Dan said making a joke.

He had shown Diana the picture of Harold Derkins and himself that had appeared in the Derkins newsletter.

Since there wasn’t a line of people waiting to get in, Dan and Diana walked to the back of the pizzeria and took seats at the table occupied by Debbie.

Diana said, “I’ll put it in the newsletter.”

Debbie, the waitress who was scheduled to work that morning, asked, “You’re making a newsletter?”

“I don’t think we’re big enough to need a newsletter, yet,” Dan said.

“Of course we are,” Diana said. She was wearing the t-shirt that identified her as an employee of the pizzeria. Pointing a finger at herself, she said, “I’m the editor.”

“You don’t even work here,” Dan said looking over at her with a frown.

“Yes, I do. I’m your Igor,” Diana said.

“You don’t have a hunched back,” Dan said raising an eyebrow.

“You’re too pretty to be an Igor,” Debbie said picking up on the Frankenstein reference.

When Dan rolled his eyes, Diana turned to Debbie and said, “I like you.”

“Thank you,” Debbie replied.

Turning to face her brother, Diana said, “I already gave my notice two weeks ago at the pharmacy. You’re stuck with me.”

“What?”

“I gave my notice two weeks ago so that I could help you with your business,” Diana said. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Seeing the shocked look on his face, she said, “I’ll deliver pizzas, work as a waitress, or do what ever you need to have done. I want to help you succeed.”

Dan would have fought her on that, but he realized how important this was to her. Nodding his head, he said, “Okay.”

Debbie turned to Dan and asked, “What should we be doing now?”

“I think we should just relax for a bit. It will be a while before we have a customer,” Dan said. He looked over at the door of the pizzeria. No one was beating on the door to come in. The helium balloons and signs advertising free soft drinks and cinnamon twists with every order helped give the place a little more of a party-like atmosphere to it, although the basic décor already accomplished that.

Nodding her head in agreement, Diana said, “Ten o’clock in the morning is a little early for pizza.”

“I know. I figured that I would use the slow time to get ready for the rest of the business day,” Dan replied. He planned to get in at nine o’clock in the morning and start the pizza dough for the afternoon and evening. He would have to work on it for two hours before it would be ready for use. The dough for the morning would be some left from the night before. Knowing that spaghetti sauce always tasted better the next day, he would start the sauce for the next day during the afternoon’s slow time.

“So why aren’t you running around doing things?” Diana asked amazed that he was actually just sitting around.

“I got here at a little after eight this morning,” Dan answered with a shrug of his shoulders. Seeing that she still didn’t buy it, he added, “I’ve done everything that can be done to get the pizzeria ready for the customers four times over. The bathrooms have been cleaned, the floor mopped, the tables wiped, and the food prepped. I’ve got my list and everything is checked off on it.”

“You and your lists,” Diana said dismissively.

Shrugging his shoulders, Dan said, “Keeping good lists of things to do, allows you to focus on getting the job done rather than trying to remember what needs to be done. It’s all part of getting control of your life.”

“I know. I just haven’t gotten into that habit yet. My life isn’t as complicated as yours,” Diana said.

Dan looked at his sister and said, “It’s a good habit to get into while your life isn’t complicated. Nothing is harder than trying to develop a new habit while you are busy doing other things.”

“I believe you,” Diana said.

There was one major difference between herself and Dan. She accepted the articles as good advice, and tried to remember the concepts in it when she needed them. Dan had taken the concepts and incorporated them into every aspect of his life. Looking around at what Dan had accomplished so far, she began to wonder if his approach wasn’t the better one.

Dan asked, “Have you started identifying goals yet?”

“Not yet,” Diana answered. She hadn’t formally written down a personal definition of happiness. She shrugged her shoulders and said, “The fact is, that I don’t know enough about my options to know what I want to pursue.”

“Have you developed a personal definition of happiness?” Dan asked.

“Not yet,” Diana answered.

Shaking his head, Dan said, “You have to do that. You won’t get anywhere if you don’t know where you want to go.”

“I’m taking responsibility for my happiness,” Diana said.

Shaking his head, Dan said, “No you’re not. You think you are, but you aren’t. You are using the facts of life to justify what you want to do. Your short-term actions may have long-term effects. You need to sit down and define what you mean by happiness. You need to establish some real goals for your life.”

“I’ll get around to it,” Diana said.

“What are you two talking about?” Debbie asked.

Dan reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. From within it, he extracted a small piece of paper that had the Facts of Life, and the URLs to the three articles printed on it.

He handed it over to her and said, “A friend of mine gave me three articles about how to live a happy and productive life. I think everyone should read them. When you get a chance, I suggest that you download them and read them.”

“What is so special about these articles?” Debbie asked with a frown.

Looking over at Debbie, Dan answered, “I am twenty-one years old and graduated high school less than two years ago. I graduated completely lost concerning what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I didn’t know anything about jobs, women, or money. To tell the truth, I was pretty ignorant about everything. I felt that I had no choices except to spend the rest of my life as a manual laborer.

“My friend gave me those articles to read. As a result of those articles, my life is completely different. I am in control of my life and what I am doing. I am sitting here waiting for my first customer to arrive in my pizzeria. I live with two, possibly three, wonderful women. My financial situation isn’t very good, but I am working to make it better. Every dime that I have is invested in this place.

“It might not sound like much, but compare where I am with where most people my age are at in their lives. A lot of my classmates are still in college wondering what they are going to major in, and what kind of job they’ll have when they graduate. Those who aren’t in college are mostly working in minimum wage jobs that aren’t careers.”

Diana had watched Dan work to make this day happen. She had supported him in his efforts, but hearing him explain the magnitude of his accomplishment really drove home the point that he had taken control of his life. She thought about Tom and the fact that he was a personal assistant to one of his professors at the university. She knew that Tom was smart, but at the college he was surrounded by smart people. Still, he was already a rising star at the university and that was impressive.

Debbie had listened to Dan describe how he had taken control of his life, and contrasted it with her life. She was five years older than he, and she was still drifting through life. She earned minimum wage, drove a seven year old car, and lived in an efficiency apartment. The end of the month was always a struggle with regards to money. Her dates were strangers picked up in dance clubs, after consuming massive quantities of alcohol. She was going nowhere, and getting there fast.

Looking down at the card, she asked, “These articles helped you?”

“Yes, they helped me,” Dan answered.

Diana thought about what her brother had said. She realized that maybe she wasn’t taking full advantage of the information in the three articles. There hadn’t been any real accomplishments in her life; at least, not in comparison to those in Dan’s life.

He looked over at the door and said, “Oh, good. Our first customer has just stepped through the door.”

Tom stopped by the pizzeria in the middle of the afternoon. It was quiet, but Dan was busy making spaghetti sauce for use the next day. After getting a mug of root beer, Tom went to the back kitchen and stood at the door watching Dan do his magic in the kitchen.

He said, “You look pleased.”

“I am pleased,” Dan answered.

The lunch crowd hadn’t been very big, but he didn’t expect that on a Saturday. He was hoping that the ‘pizza and a movie’ crowd would generate most of his business that night. Although it was a ‘grand opening’, he never expected it to turn into a horde of people lined up to get into the door. The grand opening sign outside was intended to declare that the pizzeria was open for business, rather than generate a party.

“Good,” Tom said with a sigh.

“What’s the matter?” Dan asked.

“Ellen called and let me know that she has a boyfriend,” Tom said. It had been a very awkward conversation.

Seeing that Tom already had a root beer, Dan couldn’t offer him another. Instead, he said, “I’m sorry. I know that you enjoyed your time with her.”

“Yes. Of course, I knew that I was just scratching an itch for her,” Tom said. The fact was that she had been scratching his itch, as well.

“That doesn’t mean that there weren’t real feelings involved,” Dan said knowing that Tom did care about Ellen.

Nodding his head in agreement, Tom said, “I think we’ll remain friends. At least, I hope so.”

“I’m sure you will,” Dan said with a smile. He put the lid on the spaghetti sauce and turned away from the stove. He said, “She is a good person.”

“I guess that I’m a little gun-shy after my experience with Susan Anderson,” Tom said. He had run into her over the Christmas holidays and had been given the cold shoulder. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve that kind of treatment.

Nodding his head, Dan said, “Alison told me about Susan. She thinks that Susan probably doesn’t want to be reminded that she had sex with you. She’s a little inhibited.”

Tom looked at Dan with an odd expression on his face. He said, “I don’t understand. She was really uninhibited in bed.”

“Really?” Dan asked while washing his hands.

“She did all kinds of things that Ellen didn’t do,” Tom answered.

Although she was restrained in public, it she was very different in private. Once her clothes came off, she was insatiable. In bed she was a wildcat.

“Like what?” Dan asked. He couldn’t imagine what kinds of things Tom was suggesting.

“I’d really rather not say,” Tom said feeling that he had already said more than was appropriate.

“You’re right. It’s none of my business,” Dan said with a smile. He dried off his hands and then started cleaning up the kitchen.

Tom watched Dan work in the kitchen. It amazed him how Dan never pressed anyone beyond their comfort level. Shaking his head, he said, “So how are things going with the women in your life?”

“I don’t know,” Dan said. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I found out Thursday that I was moving in with Ann and Sally. They packed me up and moved me that morning.”

“You’re not living at home?” Tom asked. He was rather surprised that Dan would move out of his parent’s house and open a business the same week.

“Nope,” Dan answered. He wiped down the counter and stepped back to look at the kitchen.

“So what is like living with two women?” Tom asked.

“I don’t really know yet. Thursday night I was so nervous about yesterday that I couldn’t sleep. Last night I fell asleep on the couch,” Dan answered. He suspected that there was a difference between living with someone and spending the night.

“When you figure it out, let me know,” Tom said with a wink.

“I’ll put that on my to-do list,” Dan replied with a laugh. He looked over at Tom and knew that he was just making small talk to keep his mind off his other problems. He asked, “What are you going to do now?”