In Plain Sight
#7 of Hockey Hunk Season 6
Ta-da-da-dah-ta-da-da-dah-ta-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dah... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WZha_LHVS8
In Plain Sight
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Hello everyone,
and welcome to the Hockey Hunk! It's time for a Friday chapter, and I hope you'll enjoy yourselves as much as I enjoyed while I was writing this. I think it turned out alright...but you be the judge on that, of course. Your feedback is important as always, so do leave me some, if you like!
Have a fun read!
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Have you noticed that in all those movies where everyone's been wiped out by a disease or a natural disaster or zombies or something, the real scariest part is to see whoever survived wandering around a completely deserted city? There's just something unnatural and scary about that to us, when that most unnatural, indeed, of places is void of the only thing that seems to give it any life whatsoever. Don't mind the bloodthirsty monsters lurking or the corpse-littered blood-stained hospital corridors...it's those empty streets, half-drank coffee mugs on tables, and the pieces of paper floating in the air that really gets under your pelts.
Well, that's a little bit of the feeling I get when I drive over to the Stepford Center every morning to open the shop. Sure, there is the morning commute traffic, in which I too spend some time on my way from Lyons Estates to the shopping mall, but when I take the turn from the road, all that opens in front of me is the massive empty parking lot of the shopping mall that only screams of one thing... _Dawn of the Dead. _Or maybe groans. Been a while. I think the first time I saw that movie might've been on a Betamax tape.
But that's the front. I maneuvered Hal's road warrior truck along to the circular road that took me behind the mall, which was slightly less post-apocalyptic. There were trucks parked on the loading docks and the employee parking lots were already filling up, with sleepy or...morning chirpy! furs slowly shuffling towards the entrances. I had to brake for some dozy wolf crossed the driveway without showing much care for who might be coming along. Finding my zone was not difficult, especially since it was a matter of parking the car next to my own, which was standing neatly on its own allotment. I had to be extra careful when stepping out, since Hal's door was just about high enough that it could take out my side view mirror with ease. What a strange car for that man...not something you'd imagine him driving. But he said it was so very useful, considering his four children and their varies transport needs, whether it was bicycles, bulky furniture, or his wife's gardening hobby which included heavy lifting of large bags of turf.
I put the key into the foreign car door and then pocketed the cowboy keys. I was glad to be getting back to driving my own car now. It was so much more economical, for starters, and I didn't have to fear of crushing other cars with the truck. And if I'd bumped it onto something...or if Paul...well...at least he seemed to be a responsible driver. He even resisted the temptation to try out the engine on the motorway. That was a nice thing to notice about him during the last leg of our drive to Kirk City...especially since my own chest was getting tense with the knowledge that he'd be seeing a compact nice Ford on the driveway of our house, and it was indeed not my car but the small car I had bought for Paul as his first car.
So, blame me for spoiling the boy a little, will you? I haven't given him all that much in life, at least not in the way that's not concerned with my checkbook, but if giving him the means of getting around town without having to borrow my car or stick to public transport will make him feel like a more independent young man, and then it's worth it. And it wasn't even a new car, nor an expensive one, so it was probably not too much in the "spoil him rotten" category of things. At least I hoped so. Rachel was not entirely pleased with the idea when I told her but she relented after a while. Apparently _Joel_had not really liked Paul driving the car.
I entered with a flick of my key card thingie and then shambled along the corridors of the mysterious staff side of the shopping mall. I saw a bear and a cheetah enter an elevator, but I decided to be a good boy and took the stairs instead. That ought to be a good stretch for those old striped legs as I slowly made my way to the second floor. Through the door I emerged into the main concourse, lined with mostly closed shops for now, of course, though many were opening up their security grilles and stocking up. I even got the chance to wave to the friendly apron-wearing red panda who was already putting out the first delicious morning sandwiches onto the plastic front display on the counter at the Step Forward Zone. Not only that place was conveniently located and reasonably priced and served a delicious product, they also sold kosher, which made all the different. How convenient!
The front was already up in our store, which meant that someone was already in, but I had to use my key to get through the glass door and onto the floor. Everything seemed neat upon my brief gazing along on my way through the short hallway into the door marked "STAFF", and then I was met with light, coffee, and the sight of Halford Ashley Junior's sizeable posterior being displayed while he was bent over and rummaging through the small fridge.
"...where is it..."
"Morning, Hal!" I spoke up.
"...morning..." the raccoon grumbled, his striped tail swapping the air while he dug through the fridge, "ugh..."
"Something missing?" I questioned while watching the black-cloth-covered rear make an involuntary shake.
"...I'm out of my cream substitute..." the raccoon complained, "damn it...looks like I haven't just lost it, I'm all out!"
"You'll have to go buy some more then," I missed.
Hal slammed the door shut and then stood up to his full stocky height, clad ever so neatly in black pants, a white shirt and a black bow tie, because Hal was convinced that a neat appearance was part of the job and the service we provided. And a bow tie, in his mind, screamed "OPHTHALMOLOGY!"
_ _
"Damn," he shook his head as he gave a forlorn look at the coffeemaker, its pot full by now, spreading a lovely scent.
"Once you go black, you can't go back?" I suggested.
He snorted.
"Folger's Crystals!" Hal grunted.
"That does sound like a minced oath," I mused.
His frown made his bifocal Teddy Roosevelt pince-nez wobble precariously on top of his long muzzle. He rubbed the rather stout underside of his chin and grumbled.
"Maybe I'll pop out between my 9:15 and 10:00," he said, "it gets worse, though."
"How could it get worse than you not being able to have your coffee with your cream substitute, Hal?" I asked seriously.
The raccoon swiveled and opened the fridge again, to pull out a bottle filled with an orange liquid of some sort.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Vitamin-C and D, zinc, calcium and magnesium-fortified carrot juice, courtesies of the old missus," he groaned.
"So she wants you to put that in your coffee?"
At least he chuckled.
"Very funny," Hal hissed. "She keeps sneaking stuff into my bag."
"You could always give it to May or Lucille or Ramon," I suggested.
He squinted, which made his eyes appear huge through the plus portion of his spectacles.
"I notice a suspicious lack of a mention of a certain senior partner in this business in that litany," he said.
I smiled, and purred a little.
"I'll promise to be a trooper and take a sip later on with lunch, if you want to split," I suggested.
"If you don't, I'll donate it to a food bank," he complained.
"Speaking of charity..." I mused as I put my paw in my pocket, "here's the keys. The car is on your spot and in original shape, and the tank is filled up to the max, as I promised as a way of compensation after you refused me to pay for it."
"Nonsense," Hal grumbled mostly to himself as he received the dangling keys onto his grey palm, "the gas is enough for me, thanks. I presume everything went well?"
After relinquishing the keys, I'd stepped over to the kitchen to take out a mug from the cabinet above it. I gave him a glance over my shoulder while side-shuffled over to the coffeemaker.
"Oh, perfectly fine, and we managed to fit everything into the car just right," I said. "You were most helpful, Hal, thank you."
"It's nothing," he shrugged as he pocketed the keys, "though glad to have the car back...missus nagged to me about burritos all the time when she took me in here this morning."
I chuckled, just as the coffee flowed onto my mug and let out a lovely-scented vapor along with its sprinkling stream.
"Not about carrot juice?"
He half-collapsed against the kitchen sink and made a face.
"Well she's a nurse alright, so nagging on about me eating takeaway food is understandable, but it's not like she doesn't partake herself..." he grumbled, "must be working in that place..."
"The Aphrodite Institute, wasn't it?" I tried to recall the name of Hal's wife's employer.
"...for personal excellence and style, yes," he commented, "aka liposuction and boob jobs."
I chuckled.
"At least vanity pays her much better than T-U-H, huh?" I said.
"With three more college funds to top up, I can't complain," Hal said, "and a daughter who's always on my wallet when she's not in college..."
I picked up a spoon for stirring my coffee before I settled myself onto a chair in the little coffee table. Hal still seemed to be reticent and trying to choose whether to risk the black coffee and the wrath of his stomach, or to forego coffee for now.
"Certainly not," I said, "at least Paul is keen on having a job, though, so it won't be just me supporting both of us."
"That's very fine of him," Hal nodded thoughtfully. "How is that going?"
"I've a few leads," I replied, "been going around the internet and even asking around here at the mall. I gave him a few places to call and ask."
"That's good, that's good," he said. "Your Paul sounds like a good kid."
I smiled a little while staring at my mug.
"Yes...yes..." I mused, "He seems to have turned out alright, everything considered."
"That's what matters," he grumbled hoarsely, "everything else is water under the bridge."
Such a bridge over troubled water, however.
"Speaking of water..."I mused, "there was an interesting fish-shaped sticker on the rear of your car..."
The reaction was amusingly dramatic. His eyes widened and his tail went rigid, and maybe, if he'd been holding coffee in his paws, it'd now be splattered on the floor.
"Oh GOD!" he gasped, sounding apoplectic.
I took a sip of my coffee and chuckled.
"You know, we have that commandment too," I said.
Hal made biting motions with his jaws.
"So your ex-wife's aunt doesn't put up religious stickers on your car?" he suggested.
"I wouldn't put it past her, perhaps" I said.
Hal didn't sound pleased.
"I'm so sorry about that," he breathed deeply, cheeks puffing out.
"My son was supremely amused," I chuckled for good effect. "No harm done."
"I don't know what it is, really," Hal shook his head, "my wife's aunt is member of some sort of an evangelical thing...she's 82 years old and has had both of her hips and one knee replaced and still she seems to have the mobility required for getting down on her knees to sabotage my car."
"Maybe she gets a lot of practice when she kneels down to pray," I said.
"Don't remind me," his ears drooped.
"So you knew it was there?" I wondered casually.
"My mother-in-law and her sister visited us a week ago," he replied, sounding very drained by the experience, "I noticed it right away and planned to use nail polish remover of paint thinner to get it off but then you borrowed the car and I just forgot..."
"It's fine," I waved my paw, "we had such a good laugh over it."
"Well, still..."
"When have you offended me, Hal?" I questioned him. "In any capacity, that is."
"Well..." he shrugged.
"Give yourself some credit," I said, "and me, too."
"Hmmmph," Hal gave one of those signature shrugs that reminded me remarkably of Zero Mostel, in a way, and that was an accomplishment alright for someone as particularly gentile as Halford Ashley Jr.
"Have you read your emails today yet?" I asked.
"Should I have?" he replied while giving dirty looks at me enjoying my black coffee with such obvious delight.
"I was just wondering if that company called back yet with their schedule," I said.
"Which company?" Hal sounded absent-minded.
"The...uh..."I frowned, "Was it called DAD or something...Data Assistance and Development... or was it design...?"
"Oh, right, the website company?"
"Indeed."
"No, not yet," Hal said, "but we've only been on the pipeline for a couple of months now, and it's not like we're exactly in a hurry yet, do we?"
"Well..." I mused, "We did think about getting it done by Christmas, didn't we?"
"The Christmas season is rather steady as it is," he replied, "we've already sold the first gift certificates, haven't we?"
"Ramon was saying something about that the other day," I replied, "might still be nice if the web site was all pretty for them to browse it..."
"Apparently most of the sales still come face to face," Hal said, "Lucille and Ramon are really good at what they do."
"That was still last year," I said, "who knows how stuff has changed. That Facebook thing and..."
Hal chuckled.
"That 'thing', you say?"
"Well, you know what I mean," I said, "It's more and more word of maw, and advertising in the social media."
"We need those like buttons for our web site," Hal replied.
"Eh?"
"Well you know, on almost every website, there're those little icons you can click so that you can like the page on Facebook or Twitter or the like," he said. "That way, all your friends online know which pages you like."
"Hmmm..." I said, "maybe we should hire Paul to act as a consultant to us in these things..."
Hal chuckled.
"Why not my Courtney then if the only requirement is that of being a teenager and of eligible age to be hired?" he said.
"Hmmm...quite so..."
"Besides, you're suggesting that we're too old to really understand this social media business," Hal grumbled. "We're not old!"
"Just seasoned?" I suggested.
"Yes," he tugged on his shirtsleeve as he spoke, "besides, before someone invents a pill that shrinks or grows your eyeballs or they figure out how to actually grow new ones in test tubes, we are never going out of business."
"Hear, hear."
"And with how the government has been doing in regards to stem cell research, I don't think we have anything to worry about for quite some time."
I chuckled.
"Guess we'll still be able to put our kids through college with this archaic business of ours," I smirked.
"But if we invented that eyeball solution, we could also retire on a private island..." Hal envisioned.
"I might just buy my missus a private private island," he chuckled.
"Heheheh," I laughed.
"Ack!" he yelped, looking at the clock. "And now it's almost time for my first..."
"Got a full book?"
"Quite," he said.
"I've got the first squinters coming in," I said, "It's that time of the year."
"Blessed be the summer holidays, everyone's eyesight seems to deteriorate," Hal declared.
"And blessed be those overzealous schoolteachers," I said, "you know that many of them are false alarms, though. Some of them are just lazy."
"Good for them, bad for us," he said.
"Some of them could have a lazy eye though, that's business for us," I said.
"Don't mention it, I've got a frog with strabismus coming in at 12:15," Hal bristled.
"Guess I should go and check whether my slit lamp is still in order," I said, also noticing the time, "in case someone's been playing with it while I was out..."
"Me?" he chuckled.
"You have unhindered access during all Saturdays," I noted.
"Well I did pay half of it," Hal said, "plus, since your new system can be reset with the press of a button, what would it even matter?"
"Maybe it's a principle?" I suggested.
"Hmmph," he said.
"Speaking of kids, where's the rest of our staff?" I mused as I let my eyes wander around the room.
"It's Monday," he said. "And we don't open in another half an hour. Since when did they skip an opportunity to come in at the last moment on Mondays?"
"Since we started scheduling 8:30 am practice for those really busy furs who have trouble making the time for appointments otherwise?" I suggested.
"I'm still debating the sensibility of that idea," I made a point of yawning.
"I do have one confession to make," Hal said.
"Hmmmmmmmmmm?" my ears perked.
"I...might have borrowed the coat," he said.
"You?" I gawked.
"Five kids coming in on a single Saturday, one of them was only five years old, too, and seemed to be a bit unsettled," Hal explained, "So I thought I'd give it a go."
"You touched my coat..." I said slowly.
"It was an emergency," Hal replied seriously.
"I can't believe you touched my coat..." I shook my head.
"It doesn't stink or anything," Hal said. "And I returned it to your room."
"Did it even work?" I asked, the smile tugging on the corners of my muzzle.
Hal shrugged.
"Let's say that it was a gallant attempt," he said.
I smirked.
"Well, after all...there can only be one Doctor Crocodile..." I smiled broadly.
*
Thank you for reading my story! I hope you enjoyed the tale so far, and I look forward to reading your feedback! As always, remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well.
See you on Monday with the next chapter!