icfreeman

Funny thing...  After several months of working with this manager I despised, I actually learned to deal with him.  That is after he left to work in the Oxford, Alabama store for six weeks.  He came back and worked-- a little.  Instead of finding him in the office, he now hung out at the bar.  It wasn't until one cold night that something changed between us.

First off, you need to know that Eric owns a Jeep.  Now this Jeep isn't new by any means.  In fact, it was made in 1993, and he's had it about that long.  The radio doesn't work, the heater doesn't work, and there aren't any window in it because they have been slashed.

So one winter night he called me.  When I asked what he had been up to that day, he replied that he was working on his Jeep, trying to replace or fix a water pump or something like that.  He also added that it was not fixed and he was the opening Kitchen Manager in the morning.  He was going to get up early to try to finish fixing it, but if he couldn't would I be willing to pick him up and drive him to work.  We talked for a couple of hours before I finally said I needed some sleep.

I agreed to take him to work.  I don't know why.  Maybe it was because our relationship was more friendship now than loathing enemies.

As I slept that night, I kept dreaming about the early morning call from Eric.  Over and over again, my mind played out different scenarios about my reaction if he called, and his house he lived in.  In some scenarios, I knew exactly where he lived, in others I set out to get him before realizing I had no clue where I was going, and then I couldn't get back in touch with him.

Around six a.m., my phone rang, waking me.  It was Eric saying that he needed my help.  He'd been working on his Jeep for about an hour and a half with no luck.

"Let me get dressed and I'll call you right back," I told him.

I jumped out of bed and threw on clothes for my second job-- playing with kids at Pump it Up.  Soon after, I called him back.

"I'm getting in my car now.  Where do I need to go?"

"I live out on 280.  Call me when you get to the Summit."

I turned the heater on as hot and fast as it would blow as I drove to Eric's place.

As he got into the car, Pink was playing in my CD player.

"I love Pink," Eric said.

"Yeah, me too.  She's my favorite.  I have several of her CDs," I responded.

We talked on the way to work about nothing in particular.  When we arrived, Mark was already in the office.  As the three of us sat in the office, Mark questioning why Eric chose me to take him to work (because I lived the closest to him.  Everyone else was a good 30 minutes away), and Eric asking about the morning duties, I looked over to Eric and began to wonder.

What if he were my boyfriend?  He does smile a lot, and can be sort of a clown.  Naw, that'd be too weird, I thought.  To like Eric like that?  No way!