Before the Horns - A Bob Velseb Story

Chapter 8

Bob wiped the icing from his face with his thumb, licking the buttercream mess off a calloused hand as he strolled his way to work. 

He'd decided it was smarter to order cupcakes rather than keep trying to burn his beloved kitchen to the ground. And yeah, sure he'd also gotten an extra cupcake for himself, but it was his money. Plus, it'd been months since he had his last cupcake, he was allowed to indulge in himself a little bit. 

Bob clutched the little white paper box of cupcakes with two hands being sure not to drop it. He'd gone through the trouble of waking up early, almost setting fire to his house, and walking the extra mile to get fresh cupcakes, and didn't want to screw up on the last step. 

7:35, still on track, he thought, checking his watch. It was the earliest he'd ever made it to work, and he beamed at himself in pride. Look at me go, he thought, wakin' up super early to do somethin' nice for a coworker an' gettin' to work early.

When he saw Sarah shivering outside the diner, Bob's smile only grew. "Well good mornin' Miss Sarah, how're you?" he called as he pulled out his keys.

She eyed the box in his hands and replied shortly, "Good. And you Mr. Velseb?"

Bob handed her the box, "Hold this a sec. I'm doin' real good this mornin', thanks for askin'!" He pushed the door open and held it for Sarah. "When'd ya' get here?" Bob asked.

"Ten minutes ago." she responded, seeming almost annoyed that he wasn't already there. She extended the box for Bob to take back, but he waved her off.

"That's for you. Just wanted to give ya a little 'thank you' for all the help ya gave me yesterday. I didn't know what flavor ya liked, so I got the best four. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and blueberry. Hope ya don't mind the gift. You can put it down in the stock room till the end of your shift if ya like," he explained, heading back to the back, "Oh, and I almost forgot! I gotcha an apron for ya uniform. You don't need a hat or nothin', that's just 'cause I prefer wearin' one."

Sarah nodded, pulling her new apron off the hook it hung from by the door. Bob turned to hand Sarah the apron he'd gotten her, surprised to see she already had one.

"What?" she asked, trying to read his odd expression. He'd never made that face in front of her before, and it was almost concerning. 

Bob weakly held up the new apron he'd actually bought for her. "Uh, you don't mind swapin' aprons do ya? I uh, I needa throw that one out. Here you can have this new one, that apron's been here god knows how long," he remarked, his voice almost quivering. He extended both hands, one empty and requesting, the other with the new red apron. He was trembling.

Sarah gave him a questioning look, but decided to comply. She needed to stay on his good side, and plus it startled her how shook he was by a simple piece of fabric. She dropped the old apron in his open palm, swapping for the new one and putting it on over her work shirt.

Bob took the old apron out the back exit, disappearing from view as the big black doors swung shut. When he was sure she couldn't see him, Bob slung the red thing into the dumpster and sat against the wall. With trembling hands, he held himself in a panic, trying to slow his breathing. He couldn't believe he'd missed the old thing, he thought he'd gotten rid of all of the paraphernalia from the little butcher shop's humble beginnings. 

Bob looked out across the alley, but the world was swimming, going blurry and sparkly. He couldn't breathe. It felt like there was a hot stone stuck in his throat making his chest and face burn. His eyes stung. There was a violent swell of warmth ballooning in his stomach. Holding a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he eventually got himself to calm down without any tears. He had to keep strong for the sake of Boys & Grills, for the sake of his customers, for the sake of his new coworker Sarah, and most importantly for the sake of his own sanity. Everything was perfectly fine and would stay that way, so long as he held all the feelings out of the light. 

Once he could breathe without his whole body shaking, Bob stood, brushed himself off, and headed back inside. He smiled weakly, seeing Sarah quietly eating the vanilla cupcake from the box he'd gotten her, taking mental note it was probably her favorite. She'd already wiped down the counter for him, turned on all the lights, and even cleaned the glass of the display case. Shaking his head still wearing a tender smile, he came to sit with her at his little table. 

"Sorry about that," he chuckled quietly, "Just had to toss that old thing. I dropped my keys under the dumpster puttin' it in though, so that's why I took so long."

Sarah finished the rest of her bite, replying with a suspicious, "Right," She pondered for a moment, setting the half eaten sweet back in the box. 

She thought about maybe asking if she was his first coworker, but decided against it. She didn't want to upset him, and risk her progress. Plus, it was pretty disturbing seeing him upset. Bob always wore a smile, so when he didn't things just didn't feel right.

"I suppose we'd better open up shop," Bob groaned with a sigh, forcing himself up from the little bamboo chair.

"I suppose we should," she agreed, standing up with him. 

Together, the two began doing one last sweep of the little butcher shop, cleaning tables and such until it was clean enough to open. The ugly feeling Bob had gotten that morning finally started to subside when customers began filing in, and he'd nearly forgotten he was ever down by his lunch break. Sarah even offered to run the counter again to give him a longer lunch. It was the least she could do, and thought it'd be a good idea to keep working for his trust. Maybe she'd even done it as a good deed on her own accord as well, but Sarah would never admit to that.

After a good long lunch, Bob got back to work with Sarah with a wide smile returning to his face. Things were finally starting to feel okay again.