I hope you enjoyed chapter 1. Here is chapter 2.
I thought about that day with Jill for a while and finally decided to ask Jill if she would be interested in going to the movies with me on Sunday, since we were always closed on Sundays. She asked me what I wanted to see and I told her there was a new Indiana Jones movie out. I really liked Harrison Ford as an actor; 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' was one of my favorite movies.
She smiled and said, she would love to go with me. I told her we could even catch a little dinner.
"...and perhaps a bit more?" she asked with a smile.
We had a wonderful time. We both liked the movie and I held the popcorn at the theater. I would have to say I liked being with Jill even more than I liked the movie. We headed over to the Longhorn Steak House for dinner. As we ate, we talked about all kinds of things. Jill asked me where I lived and when Will started working at the bar.
I smiled. "You ask a lot of questions. There is also a lot more I would like to know about you, but I'll go first. Will got married a couple of years after he graduated. He was dating a girl and she got pregnant, and demanded that he marry her to 'take care of his child'. He hardly knew the girl but he wanted to do what was right. Soon things were not working out well; he felt she was acting strangely. He asked for a DNA test. The obstetrician assured him the prenatal test wouldn't hurt the baby. Come to find out he wasn't the father and so he was able to have his marriage annulled. For a while he floated around from job to job 'til I came out of the service."
"When I came home and found out I inherited the bar I kept on most of the employees to keep it running 'til I was ready to take over.
At the time it was just a typical neighborhood bar, with a kitchen that Uncle Bob, had not used. He hadn't provided any entertainment either. I took the money that I had saved up while in the service and started investing in fixing up the place. There was room to expand the building so I added more space. I renamed it 'Jacks Place', put in some jukeboxes and did a lot of remodeling giving it a fresh new look. Will came in and asked me for a job. He's my only brother so of course I hired him. I taught him the bar trade and when he proved his competence, I made him supervisor for the evening shift and my assistant manager.
"We built a stage and put in a dance floor. On some Fridays and Saturdays, we began to bring in neighborhood bands.
"You asked where I live. Just around the corner from the bar is a nice quiet trailer court. Shortly after we re-opened the bar, I got the idea of serving food. Mary was one of my neighbors in the trailer court and we talked about her being my cook. She liked the idea of a part-time job and so we started serving lunch. She came up with the idea of the daily specials. She was a cook at a school many years ago.
"Now, are you going to tell me something new about yourself? You've heard about most of my life."
"I guess I was a good girl growing up but was somewhat of a party girl in college. I got good grades so my parents never said much to me. I started drinking a lot and got drunk more times than I would like to admit. I'm a little ashamed of my past but not much I can do about it now. I married Peter and it was fine for a while. He inherited his bar from his parents; they wanted to retire and travel. I took care of the book work since I had a university degree in business. I could tell that he was taking money from the till and not telling me even though we were married. He told me it was 'his business'. He was becoming unbearably selfish and was slowly closing me out. He was gambling all the time."
"I put up with it until he started cheating on me. I actually forgave him after the first time but then found him with his friend's wife. Instead of apologizing he had the gall to ask me to join a swapping club. I knew I had to get out of that disaster of a marriage. I took my personal stuff and left him. I divorced him and moved away not telling him where I was going."
I took Jill home and thanked her for a wonderful date. She leaned forward and gave me a light kiss. I knew I was falling for her. Over the next few days, we talked a little and I asked her what she did with her evenings and days off. She told me she and her sister, Rita, had joined an exercise club and they would go there two of three times a week. She said Rita's two kids were in sports so they tried to make it to most of their games.
She asked me if I would be interested in going with them sometime. She thought I'd enjoy watching them compete. She said they usually went for pizza or to a fast-food place after the game. I took her up on it and went to Jill's niece Susan's volleyball game. It actually was pretty exciting but was even more fun being with Jill, her sister and her family.
Susan said she wanted to go the Pizza Hut. I told her since her team won the game that I would splurge for the pizza. Her brother Mark asked if I was coming to his game on Saturday and I told him I would see if I could make it. I really liked Jill's family and was hoping to spend more time with them.
It was pretty busy at work and Jill and I never got to spend enough time alone together. I explained to her that it always took me a lot of time to do the book work. She reminded me that she had a degree in accounting then asked me if I did the books on a computer. I told her I wasn't much of a computer whiz. She mentioned that she had a Quick Book program for small businesses that she kept when she left her husband. If I was willing, she would install it on my computer and she could do my paperwork in a third of the time.
The program would do the accounts receivable and payable. It would also do the payroll and taxes. I asked her what are the drawbacks and she smiled that smile at me and said she would know all about my business and finances. I gave her a silly grin back.
I asked her to come in Sunday and we could download her program and then maybe have dinner. She smiled at me and said, "it's a date". We even shook hands on it.
We met up at the bar on Sunday and she downloaded the program. She was putting in all the relevant information. I sat back and watched her type. Damn, she typed fast. I went and made us a cup of coffee as she typed away. When I brought in the cup of coffee, she asked me for my latest balance sheet. She put in all the latest figures. She even listed all our suppliers and the balances we owed them.
Next, she listed all our employees and the last payout to each one, as well as the cost of the extra benefits. She said each day she would take an hour in the morning and update each week's balance sheet from the first of the year until it was all up to date. She stood up and said that was enough for that day. I asked her if she was my new bookkeeper and accountant. She looked deeply into my eyes and with a flirtatious smile warmly said, "only if you want me to be."
I kissed her and it wasn't just a touch of lips. "Jill, let's go out to dinner. Where do you want to go?"
