Auggie and Annie family and home part 17
Two years later
Summer vacation was approaching and Jeremy was looking forward to his trip to Glencoe Illinois. He loved his grandparents but they rarely visited Auggie and his family. After the summer break Jeremy would be in 3rd grade.
"Time is passing by so quickly" Annie sighed when preparing Jeremy´s sandwiches for school. She took the red Tupperware lunch box and put two cheese sandwiches and an apple into it. Then she added a little bottle of orange juice and handed everything over to her son.
"Thanks Mum" Jeremy said, before he shouldered his school bag and left. He was now able to walk to school on his own. On his way to school, he always met with Tom his best friend and the two boys continued their way to school together.
Auggie was still under the shower. He would start working a bit later today. He had an appointment with a friend who owned a restaurant. Steven needed a waiter and Auggie had suggested to give Garret a chance who would be released from prison in two days. Auggie and Garret had kept in touch and of course Auggie knew how urgently his friend needed a job. Garret did not know about Auggie´s plan. Auggie wanted to talk to Steven first to spare his friend a disappointment in case Steven rejected Garret as a possible employee.
Auggie turned off the faucet, felt for the fluffy bath towel and started to dry himself. Then he shaved, brushed his teeth and walked over to the closet to get some clothes. Since he had been living with Annie his selection of clothes had changed a bit. He no longer wore exclusively grey, blue or black. Annie had encouraged him to buy some shirts and sweaters in different colours. She liked it when he wore red or mint.
Auggie opted for a red shirt with short sleeves, dark-blue jeans and a brown leather belt. He carefully dressed himself, grabbed his shoes and went down to the kitchen where Annie was just pouring some coffee for Auggie and herself.
"Do you think Steven will take him?" She asked when Auggie felt for the chair and sat down at the table. He found the coffee cup with the back of his hand and took a sip.
"We will see. I mean….Steven knows that I would not run any risk, recommending him somebody as an employee who is not reliable. Garret made mistake, he deserves a second chance."
"I hope everything will turn out just fine" Annie said before she took the first piece of toast and added some butter and jam.
An hour and a half later Auggie stepped off the bus. He carefully oriented himself before he turned to the right and started counting his steps, sweeping his cane in an arc before him. After five minutes he stopped, turned left into a narrow cobblestone road and continued his way along a narrow alley until he reached the restaurant. He swept his cane, found the door and entered.
"Hey Auggie my friend" Steven greeted him when he walked across the threshold.
"Good to see you, so to speak" Auggie smirked and Steven offered him his arm, leading him to a table next to one of the windows.
Auggie felt for the back of the chair, folded his cane and took a seat, putting the cane on the table in front of him.
"I would love to talk to you for a special reason" Auggie started the conversation " A friend of mine is looking for a job and you said you needed a waiter for your restaurant"
"Yes, I am in dire need of an additional waiter. Summer business is good and we have a lot of guests here every day. Does this friend of yours have experience in the restaurant business?"
"Well, not exactly. He had a different job and he lost it when he was sentenced to two years in Petersburg"
Steven now frowned "He was in prison?" He asked a bit incredulous of what he had just heard. An ex-prisoner was not exactly what he was looking for but he was prepared to listen to Auggie. Steven knew, Auggie would not recommend a person that could not be trusted.
"Garret is a good guy. He gambled and got himself money from a shylock to pay his debts. The guy blackmailed him to help him with some dirty business, threatening him to kill his children and his family." Auggie explained
"Wow that is a quite a story" Steven said. Now he had a different picture of the guy Auggie was suggesting to him as an employee. "And what kind of job did he have before that?"
"Well, he was an O & M trainer at the Centre for the Blind, where I did my training" Auggie replied. "He cannot go back to his old job and he urgently needs to find a new job and he needs some new perspective after being released"
"O & M trainer, that is something completely different" Steven remarked before he continued "But okay, I will give him a chance to prove that he is worth it to be trusted. He can start next Monday. Tell him to be here at 10:00 am."
"Thanks my friend, I owe you one" Auggie smiled and he and Steven shook hands before he stood and made his way to the door. Outside, he took his phone, dialed a number and called a taxi. Taking the bus would require too much time. He had two more days to work until the weekend and on Monday he, Annie and Jeremy would drive to Illinois and visit his parents. He wanted to get as many things off his desk as possible before his vacation. Auggie did not go home so often. Even after being blind for so many years he still felt awkward there. Everything reminded him of the time before the accident and therefore he rarely visited his family in Glencoe.
DC, however, was different. He had started a new life there after Iraq and most people knew him only blind. In Glencoe, old friends, neighbours, and former high school classmates would talk to him and remind him of the "good old times" when he could still see. Auggie was reluctant to admit that, but he did not go to Glencoe on a regular basis because these memories hurt him and they hurt his parents, too. But for his son seeing his grandparents was important and so he tried to overcome his awkward feelings and went on vacation to Glencoe with Annie and Jeremy.
Auggie felt for the lid of his watch, opened it and felt for the time. The cab should be there any minute. Shortly after, he heard the sound of an approaching car and heard the car stop. The taxi driver looked over to him, opened the window and called "Taxi for Anderson?"
"Yeah, that would be me" Auggie replied and walked towards the sound of the car engine. His cane tip found the back of the car and Auggie trailed his hand along the side of the cab feeling for the door. Finding the handle, he opened and sat on the back seat.
Half an hour later he was in Langley. He walked into his office, folded his cane, stowed it in the first desk drawer and booted his computer. He listened to the sound of the booting device, took a seat on his chair and slung his headphones around his neck. Seconds later a voice called
"Good morning to you Auggie"
It was Joan Campbell. She had entered through the glass door and walked now towards Auggie´s desk.
"Hey Joan" Auggie turned a bit into Joan´s direction.
"Are you already looking forward to your Glencoe trip?" She asked, placing one hand on Auggie´s shoulder.
"Well, it is nice to see my family again but a visit brings back old memories and things, I would love to forget" Auggie confessed. Joan knew him well enough to notice when he was hiding something. She had been there for him after his accident and back then he had already told her about his reservation to go back to the place of his childhood.
"I can understand you" Joan said and added "But I also think it is important to work on these things. You cannot run away and hide for ever"
"I know" Auggie nodded and slid his hand across the Braille display, reading the screen content.
"I wish you a wonderful time" Joan finally said and left.
Auggie listened to Joan´s retreating steps and started to concentrate again on his job. He did not want to leave anything undone, before he went on vacation.
At noon, Annie walked into his office.
"Are you hungry?" She smiled, hugging him from behind and placing a soft kiss on his left cheek.
"Yeah, I could use something to eat. Maybe a hamburger and definitely some coffee to keep me awake. Last night was pretty sleepless"
"I know what is going on, you are worried about going back to Glencoe, right? But you don´t need to be concerned. It is just friends and family there waiting for you. Everyone knows you"
"That exactly is the problem. They all know me, I mean they KNEW me when I was still sighted and I cannot deal with the way they behave around me since I have gone blind"
"I will be with you, no need to worry" Annie said again before Auggie rose from his desk. As usual she offered him her elbow and led the way to the cafeteria.
"Was your attempt to find a new job for Garret successful?" Annie asked leading Auggie towards a table and placing his hand on the back of a chair.
Auggie took a seat and Annie walked towards the service counter to get their snacks.
Auggie was immersed into his own thoughts when Annie returned with a tray.
"Coffee at ten o´clock, hamburger at six" she said placing the cup and the plate in front of Auggie. He slowly oriented himself, feeling for the napkin, the plate and the coffee cup and started eating.
Annie looked over to her husband and realized that he was still miles away, immersed into his own world. Therefore she quietly started eating as well. He did not want to talk that was obvious.