Thank You for the Coffee

Gerard hefted his backpack onto a shoulder and raised one corner of his mouth as an attempt at a smile.
“I’ll come back when I can, but I just really need to knuckle down, you know?”

His poor mother was never going to take the news well. It was only a couple of months until Gerard was done with college, but Donna had always been used to having him around; so much so that it would feel like years until she saw him again. It was only in this last academic year that he’d even bothered getting a student house, much less stay in it.

Gerard had never been what you would call a social butterfly. He’d spent the majority of high school and college holed up in his room when he didn’t have class, and apart from his classmates beginning to fear him as some sort of sociopath it had never really been an issue. He had a good number of friends; laid-back, who didn’t worry or get angry if he declined their offers to hang out. Gerard was borderline hermit; it was just a fact of life.

Nowadays hiding in his room didn’t provide the sort of relief he was after. His family weren’t overly intrusive or anything – they knew Gerard well enough to not poke their heads around the door every five minutes. However, he could sit at a McDonald’s booth in the middle of a crowded mall and get more work done amongst the noise and bustle than he would at home where no one would bother him. The barrier of a door was no longer enough. He found it much easier - and indeed much more tempting - to procrastinate whilst at home, which probably explained most of it.

As much as he loved art, it could be really lonely sometimes; lonely in ways that didn’t make sense to the people Gerard was cutting himself off from. If he didn’t give in to the isolation, the art would suffer; something he couldn’t risk as he was approaching his final deadline.

“Sure, honey” his mother replied miserably. “But you’ll come back for your birthday, right?”
Even if he hadn’t already been planning to, her pleading eyes would have changed his mind.
“Of course, Mom” he reassured her warmly.
Donna nodded, and gave her eldest a tight hug goodbye, before mumbling something about the phone ringing and shuffling back into the house. Gerard was left with his father.

“I don’t know why she’s making such a big deal” he grumbled, tugging the rucksack back into place from where it had started to slip. “It’s only a couple of months.”
Donald gave Gerard a mildly stern look.
“I think you do. Just give her a call every once in a while, alright?”
Gerard smiled and nodded, giving his dad a quick hug, too.
“Get your work done on time, and stay away from those nightclubs, alright? You can’t afford to be wasting time.” Gerard nodded wearily to his dad’s well-intended instructions. “And Gerard? ...Your mother wanted me to ask about the pills.”

Gerard sighed, and smiled a little. That’s why she was so worried.
“I’m still taking them, I promise. That’s not what this is about. I feel better than I have in a long time.” It wasn’t a lie. “Ask Mikey.”
Those two words confirmed to Don that his son was telling the truth, and was relieved that he could report back to his wife with good news.
“Good. Now let’s get you to the station.”

Gerard could have used the car journey to try and explain to his father why he felt the need to stay in New York for the last couple of months of his course, but he couldn’t quite muster the effort. Instead he stressed to his dad just how much work he needed to complete by mid-May, and hoped to garner the sympathy vote.

*

“Iero, the boss wants to see you.”
Frank wiped his hands on the apron around his waist and gestured to the bowl he’d placed on the hotplate.
“Fries to the blonde in the middle.”

For all the times to haul him into the office, the lunchtime slot probably wasn’t the best choice. The place was a regular coffee joint, prided on its caffeinated beverages and snacks as opposed to full meals. However, the draw was that their food was cheap, which always attracted the frazzled students at lunch and early evening.

Frank knocked briefly on the office door and went in before hearing a reply. His boss was wiping the sweat from his brow and trying to crack the window open even further. That was the thing about working here; the walls seemed to soak up the heat. It was always hot at Westside Cafeteria, whether it was summer or winter.

“You wanted to see me?” Frank asked.
“Yeah” his boss said, gesturing for Frank to take a seat. “I haven’t been met with too much enthusiasm on this idea so far, but if you’re in it’s all systems go. You’re saving up for a place, aren’t you, Iero?”
“Yes...” Frank replied, drawing out the vowel in suspicion. Frank was always saving, whether it was for a place of his own, a car, a new guitar or simply stocking up on money for future medical care.
“How do you fancy earning time and a half for a couple of months?”

Frank sighed. He’d work a 60 hour week if he could amass that sort of cash, and good old Mr. Mason knew it.
“What’s the catch, Gary?”

Gary Mason smiled apologetically before he spoke again, knowing it was impossible to pull the wool over Frank’s eyes.
“The college kids are now going into revision and assignment period. They’re always the only people left in here when we close up, so I’ve decided to try weekday evening slots.”

Frank nodded.
“Not a bad idea. And you want me to swap hours, right?”
“I need someone able enough to close up shop. I’ll still give you your 8 hour days, you’ll just start later, finish later. I’ll knock off your weekend shifts so you can just do Monday to Friday. And like I said, you’ll get time and a half for every hour past our regular closing.”

He was angling for Frank to take the offer, trying to make it sound as sweet as possible. It was hardly necessary; Gary had him at ‘time and a half’. Frank sighed, but it was good-natured, and he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face at the prospect of having that much money in a few short weeks. Perhaps summer wasn’t going to be such a drag after all.

“I’m in. You know I’m in, Gary, so cut the shit. What are my hours?”
The look on his boss’s face was positively gleeful.
“Well you can take the rest of today off, for a start. And then you can do Monday – Friday 3 ‘til 11 with 45 minutes paid break. That sound okay to you, kiddo?”

It sounded more than okay. That was 4 and a half hours of time and a half, five days a week. He could smell the paint in his new place already.