Beth was nudged out of a deep sleep by someone's hands grabbing her arms and gently shaking her. It took her a minute before the grogginess that she felt lifted, and she heard a voice above her. "Aunt Beth, come on and wake up so that you can take us to school", her 14-year-old nephew Ben stated as he stood next to her bed.
Taking five children, her four and Annie's son to school during the week was a logistical nightmare. Traffic was horrible and it took at least an hour for the kids to all get ready in the morning. They were constantly missing the bus and Beth had given up and started driving them to school. She also had to make it to the bakery, where she worked in time for her 9 am shift after dropping the kids off to three different schools. The schools were scattered throughout the east side of the city, all within a 10-mile radius.
Annie and Ben coming to live with her with her had been both a blessing and burden at the same time. It was wonderful to have some extra hands to help out with the kids. Since her Divorce with her ex Dean she was struggling financially and had been stressed out with trying to juggle everything going on in her life. Annie helping out with the mortgage was helpful as well. Annie was a complete slob though and she felt overwhelmed with trying to maintain a clean and organized house plus working full time. She spent that more time cleaning up after Annie then she did cleaning up after her kids.
Beth had felt a huge sense of relief when her elderly neighbor that lived across the street, Mrs. Karpinski had recommended that she apply for an open manager position at her friend Dorothy's bakery downtown, 'The Breadwinner'. She was thrilled to get the job as baking was a passion of hers.
Beth handled all of the local business contracts and also handled most of the baking along with her pastry chef, Lucy. The job had flexible hours and she was able to typically make it home before her oldest son, Kenny made it off of the bus in the afternoon from Middle School. The other kids that were still in Elementary School soon followed Kenny. She was grateful that she could pick up Danny, Emma and Jane together. Annie picked up Ben from his private school after her shift ended.
Beth took some of her work home with her so that she could finish up with whatever didn't get done while she was working at the bakery, mostly orders of cupcakes, cookies and cakes that needed to be iced or frosted.
Beth also took care of the deliveries for the clients, which included private clients as well as local bars and restaurants. Most of them were within a 5-mile radius of the bakery. Beth didn't mind getting out and driving around to make the deliveries. Driving and listing to music relaxed her and even though she was working she didn't feel as stressed as she did at home, which during the week was chaotic. The kids were still at the stage that they were angry and confused that their parents were divorced and behavior issues that she didn't have to deal with previously were surfacing, especially with the two boys. Kenny was binge eating at school and his grades had dropped within the last quarter and she had already had to see the principal twice. Danny refused to let Beth go near him and screamed at her that it was all her fault that their Dad wasn't living in the home anymore. The girls were more clingy then usual and seemed to rely on her to do everything for them lately.
The night that she went to Lucky's was on a Saturday night and they were celebrating the finalization of her Divorce from Dean. The kids had been with Dean and she was excited to go out and let off some steam. She rarely got to leave the house and hadn't been even out to a restaurant in months. She had felt sorely out of place and uncomfortable sitting in the corner booth in her Mom Jeans and plain black V neck knit sweater. She felt like she was way too old and plain to fit in with the crowd there.
Everyone around her had seemed so much more hip then she was. The crowd was mostly local college students and it had been next to impossible to find an open pool table even though she had really wanted to try her hand at playing pool. She hadn't played pool since high school, when she would tag along with her ex-husband, Dean. Dean and his friends would manipulate most of the time there but occasionally Dean would hand her the pool stick to play. He showed her how to line up the shot.
Beth had excitedly been telling Annie and Ruby about her new job at the bakery. The waitress, a small framed young woman with flowing dark curly hair and tortoise frame glasses came up to their table with their sodas that they had previously ordered. The waitress seemed annoyed for some reason at something. She slammed the glass down in front of Beth so hard that the entire table shook and the glass nearly tipped over. She whipped out the notepad and in a monotone voice looking directly only in Ruby and Annie's direction she asked, "What can I get for you ladies?" After they ordered the food, the waitress pointed towards the bar. "If you ladies need any cocktails, Carlos over there will hook you up. He's like the best bartender in Detroit.
Beth had nodded at the waitress. "Thanks, but we're not drinking tonight".
Annie rolled her eyes are Beth. "Don't be such a party pooper, Beth; we are here to celebrate your divorce from Mr. Douchebag. Just live a little", she said exasperated at Beth.
"Besides Ben is watching the kids and you didn't drive here, we took an uber", you have absolutely no excuse. "Annie continued.
Beth thought about it for a few minutes and finally relented. "You know Annie you are absolute right. I do deserve to celebrate my freedom from Dean. ", she said.
Beth got up and nodded towards Annie as she headed towards the bar.
"That a girl", Ruby cheered her on.
Beth returned to their table with a round of shots. Annie pointed towards the man standing behind the bartender. He was dressed all in black-black jeans, black short sleeved t and a black beanie covering his hair. He had several tattoos on his tan, toned arms and what appeared to be an eagle tattooed across his neck. He was waving his arms frantically in the air as he spoke to the bartender from behind the bar. The bar was crowded but he stood out.
"Who is the tatted honey? Annie asked Beth.
"I think it's the owner of the bar. The bartender said, 'Ok, boss;' when they were talking and I was up there. I wasn't really paying attention to the way that he looked, Annie", Beth emphasizes, shrugging her shoulders. "I was concentrating on trying to get the bartender's attention to order our drinks", she continued.
"Oh come on Beth, you are telling me that you didn't notice the hottest guy in the bar. He definitely noticed you. He was staring you down from the moment that you walked up there", Annie stated. "I mean really staring, like eye fucking level staring", Annie confirmed.
"What are you talking about Annie? ", Beth said. Beth moved her arm a few inches from her body down the length of her torso. "Look at me. I am a 43 year old divorcee with a Mom bod, dressed like I am ready to go to a PTA meeting. I can assure you that he was looking at one of the young thin, college girls that were corralled around the bar", she stated with increasing annoyance.
"Oh come on Beth. You are a gorgeous woman. You always looked like you could be a model growing up. What the hell did Deansie do to your self-esteem?" Annie asked.
"Believe me, after Dean cheated on me with at least five girls that looked like they should be in a Sorority house, I have learned that this, she gestures to her cleavage and sweeps her hand in the air , down full length of her body, is not what Men want", Beth frustratingly stated.
"You are selling yourself short", Ruby stated. "Guys in high school would literally trip over themselves to try to talk to you and they still do, you just ignore them. You could have had your pick of men and you chose the doofus football captain, who peaked in high school. He ended up ignoring you and treating you like you were his personal housekeeper and babysitter instead of his wife and the mother of his children. You deserve so much more", Ruby said, finishing her pep talk to Beth.
Beth rolls her eyes, "Thank you but you are just saying that because you are my best friend and you see me from a different perspective. I am telling you, that man was not looking at me. He didn't even look in my direction when I was talking to the bartender. Besides, I am sure that I am not his type. I am a middle aged, suburban Mom who works at a bakery, I would never be mistaken for being a cougar on the prowl for hot, younger men. ", she concludes. This comment initiates a bout of hysterical laughter from Annie.
"Come on Beth, what are you implying? That you are some dowdy schoolmarm that men wouldn't bother looking at twice"? Annie questions.
"No", Beth states while looking down at her hands on the table. It's just that I am sure someone like our waitress with the full sleeve tattoo and a tiny waist is definitely more of his type then me. She looks young and has an edgy look. The edgiest look that I have going on is wearing my jeans tucked inside my ankle boots.".
Ruby looks at Beth with raised eyebrows, her mouth gaping open, "Come on, just because he has tattoos, you are assuming that he would only go for someone that also has tattoos? You should go up there right now and flirt your ass off with him", she tells Beth.
"Ok, I am done with this conversation and ready to go. He's a very attractive man but I am sure that he would never be attracted to someone that looks like me. Besides, he may not even be single. It's not worth me embarrassing myself, trying to flirt with him". She said as she slung her purse onto her should and stood up to get out of the booth. "Now let's go ladies," she said waiving to the direction of the door as she pulled out her phone to place a request for an Uber.
The next Monday, Beth headed over to the bakery to find Dorothy excitedly shoving a signed contract into Beth's face as soon as she walked in the door.
"We got a new contract to provide all of the bread products to Lucky's Pub and the Eagles Talon Restaurant. This our biggest contract yet," She said with enthusiasm.
Rio Sanchez owned and operated the two bar /restaurants. One, the Eagles Talon was a swanky place uptown that gave off a Boho vibe. Beth had heard that it had excellent reviews. The other one, Lucky's was more of a casual pub that offered billiards and dart games in a back room.
"Hmm, that's coincidental, I was just at Lucky's on Saturday night", Beth exclaimed.
"Well, honey maybe the owner overheard you talking about the 'Breadwinner' and that's why he contacted me this morning, insisting that we sign a contract right away", Dorothy guessed.
"No, that's not possible. Only the moody waitress was around when I was talking about working here. I really didn't think she earned our generous tip. She almost broke my drink glass when she slammed it down in front of me and after that she nearly spilled my food onto my lap", Beth told her.
Dorothy laughed at Beth's story. "So you took the brunt of her wrath?" She asked.
"Pretty much, she was sweet as pie to Annie and Ruby but acted angry and annoyed with me for some reason", Beth explained.
Dorothy went over the contract with her. The bread would be delivered once a week on two separate days to each of the restaurants at 2 pm.
"I need to be home by 3 pm so 2 is cutting it really close when you account for traffic", Beth stated.
"Mr. Sanchez insisted on that time", Dorothy noted. "He even asked who would be doing the deliveries and when I mentioned your name, he seemed to know who you are".
Beth thought about it for a minute, not having any clue how Mr. Sanchez would associate her with the bakery or know her name. She had only caught a glimpse of him once.
Then it hit her, maybe he saw her name on the receipt when she signed for the credit card transaction and recognized it. She didn't give it a lot of thought beyond that.
Maybe Dorothy is mistaken she thought to herself and this whole situation was a giant coincidence. The shop had been under water for the past 6 months. Some months they were lucky to make enough to cover the rent and other expenses to keep the bakery open. The contract to serve as the distributor for Mr. Sanchez's restaurants would help to ensure that the shop didn't go under and Beth could continue to pay her bills. She was starting to fall behind on bills lately and had resorted to selling some of her furniture on craigslist and Marketplace just to ensure the lights stayed on at the house. This contract was the miracle that the shop had needed.
Beth had set her alarm early on Wednesday to make sure that she woke up in enough time to get dressed and take the kids to school. Annie had already left to go to her job at the firehouse. She had recently become a certified paramedic after passing her GED.
Beth had her first delivery today at Lucky's and she didn't want to be late.
Dean had the kids over the weekend per the custody agreement. Beth had requested that he only have them on the weekend to ensure that the kids could stay in their school district. Dean hadn't yet rented an apartment and was staying with his Mother at her house. Her house had 2 extra bedrooms for the kids to stay in so Beth was fine with that. Dean assured Beth that he would rent a spacious townhouse that had enough space for the kids to stay in rather than the cramped one bedroom apartment that he had rented for nine months during their separation before the divorce was finalized.
Beth knew that Dean was irresponsible with money and would have trouble maintaining a home on his own without his mothers help or Beth's.
Sometimes though Beth wished though that Dean could take the kids for the entire week just sometimes. She felt that she was taking on the majority of the parenting responsibilities, which included cooking 5 nights a week for 7 people, cleaning the house, helping the kids with their homework, taking the kids to their extracurricular activities plus working full time at the bakery. It was sometimes overwhelming, and she wished that she had someone to assist her. Annie did help with the kids but she couldn't cook and she didn't bother to clean.
Dean got to be the fun weekend Dad. He took the kids places and let them sleep in. He didn't cook for them, it was either take out, fast food or anything that could be microwaved. His Mother had severe arthritis and most days she couldn't get up and down stairs or move around much without being in debilitating pain.
Beth took a look at her in the bathroom mirror. She preferred to look natural, fresh faced and didn't wear much makeup anymore. She looked really tired. She was fortunate that she still looked younger than her actual age but she did wear a bit of concealer to cover the dark circles that had formed under her eyes.
She felt every bit of her age in her bones. She put her strawberry blonde curls into a loose ponytail and slathered on the mineral based sunscreen on her face and chest. She was wearing black jeggings, a dark green lacy tank top and an oversized tan cardigan with black flats. She knew that she was meeting with Mr. Sanchez today so wanted to look somewhat put together for their first meeting.
After dropping off the kids at school and grabbing the daily deliveries from the bakery, she headed over to Lucky's. She was met by the back door by a heavily tattooed, bearded muscular man that was wearing a yellow beanie, a black leather kutte and chains hanging from the pockets of his jeans. He wore black leather motorcycle boots and even though he wasn't taller then she was at 5'7 she was intimidated by him.
"Hi, you must be Mick, the manager", she said, extending her hand to shake his hand. After he looked at her with a blank stare, she dropped her arm. Dorothy told me that there was a possibility that Mr. Sanchez would be busy".
"Mr. Sanchez?", Mick questioned, smirking and cocking his head to the side. "Oh, you mean Rio,. Yeah, he's busy. You may see him around another time", Mick remarked.
"Ahh, ok let me go get your order from my van", she said with her keys in her hand. Mick just watched her and didn't attempt to make a move to help her. She was struggling to carry the large pile of rolls and loaves of bread by herself but she managed to get them all into the kitchen. She left them on the counter in the kitchen where Mick had instructed her to leave them.
Beth caught him shaking his head at her as she left and thought she heard him say, "Yuppie Bitch" as she got into her van .
Oh great she thought, he's just so pleasant to deal with she thought sarcastically. I just am so thrilled to deal with him for delivery drop offs. She wondered if Mr. Sanchez..uhh correction, Rio was as unpleasant to deal with.
Friday was her delivery day to the Eagles Talon. She didn't put as much effort in choosing her outfit that day as she had on the previous delivery day because she thought that it wouldn't matter what she looked like because grumpy Mick would be there to greet her. She decided on a pair of loose grey sweat pants and a pale pink cropped T Shirt with her Nike sneakers.
The delivery was right after she had been running around the area making cupcake and birthday cake deliveries. Sweat was dripping down her forehead and her hair had begun to the loose strands of her hair that was in a ponytail was frizzing around her forehead. Her hair was sticking to her face because of the was a unusually hot day for November in Detroit. It was warm enough that she didn't even need to wear a coat.
"Hey now", she heard a voice announce as soon as she walked into the kitchen of the Eagles Talon with the bread delivery.
She looked up to see Rio standing in front of her. Rio looked even more handsome from close up. He looked at least 10 years younger than she was. He was thin and tall but tone with lean muscle that she could clearly see defined because he was wearing black shorts and a white tank top. He looked like he had just come from the gym.
Rio smirked down at her and her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. She knew she must look like a mess. What a wonderful first impression she must be making, she thought to herself. Rio looked like he was amused as her cheeks flushed bright red.
"You must be Ms. Marks?" he asked her.
"You can call me Beth," she corrected him.
"Elizabeth", Rio drawled out her full name, which no one called her anymore.
"You can leave those on the back counter by the stoves", he directed.
Rio's gaze dropped down to her face and he looked concerned.
"Are you ok?" he questioned.
Beth had taken a step backwards. She felt dizzy and hot all over her body. Her head was pounding and the room was spinning around her.
She started to speak and managed to get out the words, "Yes, I just need to.." before she felt herself falling backwards and everything faded to darkness.