Charlie

The alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. As she slowly turned toward the jangling beast she realized it was raining little sleet pellets against the windowpane.

“Great!” she opined in her most sarcastic voice. “It’s going to be one of THOSE days.”

One of those days when the customer came in eager to find a perfect gift for their aging parents since most young people chose to shop elsewhere for themselves. Or it was that little old lady looking for the perfect outfit for her Mah Jong New Year’s Eve party, or an older gentleman seeking the perfect robe for his perpetually cold, frigid wife. And everybody would be complaining about this weather, as if she had any control over it.

Life after Phil would have been so much better if she had obtained skills more worthy of her brainpower but, Nooooo, she had acquiesced to her husband of 35 years. No woman of his was ever going to work. But he had up and died of a heart attack at age 54 with no life insurance, no savings, and her with no job skills! At least the funeral home was allowing her to make payments, a monthly reminder she hadn’t even had enough funds to plant his sorry butt!

She readily admitted Phil had been a total control freak! She wasn’t even aware of their financial situation until it was too late. Thank goodness he had been unable to provide her with children. She’d have more than her own mouth to feed otherwise. The cat was her only houseguest and he was getting a little long in the tooth as well. She recalled a recent story about cats eating their lone owners rather quickly after their death, unlike dogs that would guard their owner instead of feasting on them! She doubted she would replace him when he croaked. He had been Phil’s cat and only tolerated her because she was the only one left to feed him.

These were her thoughts as she ate her oatmeal and dry toast and readied herself for a long day of cashiering at the only department store in this Podunk town. She hated working there but was unqualified to work elsewhere except fast food restaurants, of which there were plenty, but the smell made her nauseous. And she hated the thought of moving to a larger city. What difference would it make anyway, it’d just be a different retail job in a larger town with more people.

After doing a load of laundry, making her bed and moping the kitchen floor, she fed Phil’s cat and left bundled up in a parka, gloves, and winter hat. At least she got a discount for her clothing. That was literally the only good thing about working retail.

The car started on the third try. She couldn’t afford a new car or even to fix this old junker. At least it was paid for. She knew she’d be in real trouble if and when the day came it wouldn’t start. She literally didn’t know what she’d do but decided not to think about it for now.

The house had been foreclosed on right after Phil died as she had no means of making mortgage payments and the bank clearly cared not one iota about her being homeless. So she had found an old garage apartment for rent and moved in with help of the only neighbors Phil had allowed her to befriend. Even they had stopped coming around after a couple of months. She realized she hadn’t nurtured the friendship in any way. But in her mind all she had time for was working, sleeping, cleaning the apartment, and eating. She was the permanent, ‘I’ll work any chance I can get’ person. When anyone was sick, they called her. When anyone was on vacation, they called her. When they needed extra people for restocking during the holidays, they called her. She needed extra hours in order to continue to make payments on all those credit cards Phil had charged to the teeth. And she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to pay off every single one of them on her own.

She arrived in plenty of time to clock in ahead of schedule. The powers that be didn’t seem to mind. She was a hard-working woman. Not especially good with customers but no real complaints, just a little unfriendly with a sour look on her face most of the time. They didn’t know her circumstances. She kept her secrets close. She was efficient and could get a lengthy line of people checked out in no time.

She could wrap Christmas gifts quickly, too. She was fast with her hands. The gifts looked like masterpieces and customers were pleased with the results. She’d be the ideal employee if she’d just smile every once in awhile.

When the store finally closed at 9:00 and she was able to leave around 9:15 after getting the cash register to balance perfectly, sleet had turned into rain and the temperature had risen to just above freezing. Hopefully it wouldn’t drop overnight because the roads would be a disaster tomorrow morning if it did.

She said a little prayer as she turned the ignition but the good Lord wasn’t listening on this cold night. It had finally happened. No matter how many times she turned the key, the car wasn’t responding. Her head dropped to the steering wheel as she finally realized the inevitable had occurred at the most inopportune time.

With her head still resting on the steering wheel she heard a slight tap on the driver’s side window. She jerked her head up and found herself staring into one of the most kindly faces she’d ever seen. The man had the bluest eyes imaginable and she found it hard to look away, or even think clearly. His hand was making the roll down the window gesture so she did. He asked if there was anything he could do to help because he worked next door at the auto parts place and had noticed her having trouble with her car.

She was still staring at him when he asked, “Are you okay? Do you need medical attention?”

That got through to her. She looked away, mumbled, “I knew this day was coming. It took 3 times to get her going this morning but it looks like that was her last gasping breath.”

He smiled as he said, “Well, we’re not giving up on her that easily, are we?”

“I don’t know the first thing about cars and I can’t afford to pay you to fix this one. But if you let me make payments I would really appreciate your help,” the words rushed out. It was difficult for her to request assistance and somehow he knew this.

He nodded his acceptance of the terms and asked her to pop the hood. He looked at the engine for a moment, asked her to try and start it, she did and he said, “I think it’s the starter but it’s too late to work on her tonight. Can I take you home and fix it tomorrow while you’re working? I assume you’re working again tomorrow since I notice you’re here almost every day.”

That surprised her and she said, “That would be very kind of you but if I don’t have transportation I don’t know how I’ll get to work.”

“Then I’ll come get you on my way to work. Is that acceptable to you?” He was really going out of his way to be nice and she didn’t understand his kindness. She wasn’t used to it. Phil had been a man of very few words and those weren’t very caring ones at that. She finally nodded and hoped he was a man of his word.

The conversation was stilted and tense as they drove the ten minutes to her apartment. Mostly she just gave him directions. He had tried but she was a reserved woman and unable to simply chat. She thanked him and went upstairs to Phil’s cat. She eyed him dubiously and wondered if he would gnaw her bones if she died tonight. She gave him extra kibble just in case.

A shower and a snack had her in bed by 10:30 but she couldn’t get to sleep. The man’s face kept intruding and she wondered what he wanted from her. They always do, want something, that is. What she didn’t realize was that the man, Charlie, was a genuinely good guy and simply wanted to help a lone woman in need.

The next morning the alarm went off at its scheduled time and she sat straight up in bed. She’d been awakened from a disturbing dream that involved Charlie, who was supposed to pick her up around 9:30 this morning. But the dream had been almost too real. He had apologized for being unable to pick her up this morning. She couldn’t shake the feeling but got out of bed anyway. She went about her morning tasks, fed Phil’s cat, and was ready by 9:15 for Charlie to appear. But he never did.

The first call to her boss was accepted gracefully and he stopped by on his way to work to pick her up. He needed her that day and offered to get her car fixed and take payments out of her earnings in minimal increments. She was grateful for his offer and agreed to that arrangement.

During her first break she walked next door to see if Charlie had simply forgotten her but received the bad news that he had been involved in a horrible accident last night and was in the hospital with serious injuries. She didn’t know what to say. She felt guilty and thought if he hadn’t taken her home he wouldn’t have been in the ideal place for this tragedy to occur.

As she walked slowly back to work she realized she had to go to the hospital to see Charlie. It was the right thing to do because the only reason he was hurt was because of his desire to help poor wretched her.

Around 4:30 her boss had let her leave to get her now repaired car and as soon as she was able she drove to the hospital to see if Charlie was still kicking. There were several family members hovering and also employees from the auto parts store. She hung around the waiting area until they left, but that wasn’t until 10:00 that evening. She was patient and didn’t want to intrude on anyone’s time with him. As she entered the ICU, she realized that talking to Charlie was out of the question. There were so many tubes, needles, machines hooked up, and beeps, she was shocked. She’d never seen anything like it. She stood by his bedside and took his limp hand in hers.

“Charlie,” she said, “I know I am the reason you are here and I can’t tell you how sorry I am you offered to take me home. You wouldn’t have been in the area to have an accident if you hadn’t been the nicest person I’ve ever met.” A tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the hand she was holding. She didn’t know if he felt it but it embarrassed her just the same, to expose herself to a stranger was unthinkable. She left hoping and praying Charlie would live through the night.

The dream that night was especially poignant. Charlie had come to her again and said he in no way blamed her for the accident. The roads had been slowly icing over and he could have had the misfortune on his way home anyway. It was simply an accident and he promised her in the dream he was going to get better. She shouldn’t worry. She had tears in her eyes when she awoke before the alarm and thought maybe she was going a little crazy with these dreams about Charlie.

A few days later found her at his bedside again. There were still a lot of tubes and beeps but they had upgraded his prognosis considerably. Charlie was still seriously ill but when she took his hand he squeezed hers just a little. She didn’t know if he knew it was her or was just a reflexive movement, but it made her smile.

She started coming to the hospital almost every night after work for a few minutes. The nurses thought she was family and she never informed them otherwise. Finally Charlie was moved to a regular room and was taken off most of the tubes and gadgets. He was now breathing on his own and had finally been awakened from a drug-induced coma. His body was healing and the first time he saw her he smiled, his blue eyes twinkled merrily. That was her undoing. It was the happiest moment of her life thus far. No one had ever made her feel she was the most important person in the world, not Phil, not Phil’s cat, no one!

And that was how she and Charlie became best friends. Charlie was a patient man and eventually their relationship evolved into a serious one. They became engaged and ultimately married on the second anniversary of their first meeting on that cold wintry day when her car wouldn’t start.

Every so often she thought how remarkable it was she’d said a prayer for her car to start, but when it hadn’t, God had known just what she needed. He had answered her prayer in the most extraordinary way!