Chapter 44

Charlie showed up early the next morning as Jenny finished breakfast.  She washed her dishes quickly in her tiny sink and put them in the cabinet. 

"You know" she told him "I like having a tiny house.  It's a lot easier to organize".  Charlie could recall several memorable incidents of "bad organization" and nodded.  One time she'd lost a paycheck. 

Jenny pulled at the hem of her navy t-shirt "Is this OK?"  The navy shirt flattered her warm complexion, dark hair, and green eyes.  The jeans seemed to strike a good balance between fit and comfort. 

"Looks fine to me" he responded.  "Do your jeans have elastic?"  Jenny nodded, baffled.  "I've found they work better." he continued, running his hand down his thigh. 

Jenny chattered nervously as they got in his midsize SUV.  Princess was a silly girl, and loved to hog the bed.  Charlie explained their day:

They'd go to the wholesale warehouse first.  NO personal shopping; they were there to work.  Jenny winced, remembering Charlie had witnessed some of her worst manic spending sprees - he wouldn't believe her medication had her level now. 

After the warehouse, they'd go to his warehouse, to load up on soda.  Afterwards, they'd go to the primary location, an 8 story office building.  He needed to stock the food, snack, and soda machines.  "It's a lot of work" he warned her.  "I'm probably an idiot for doing this.  You'll hate me by 4 PM."  Jenny laughed at him and flexed a muscle. 

A few hours later, Charlie had given her a key (on a lanyard), and obtained an ID badge from building management.  Jenny looked down at the card, fingering it.  "I feel like I should be wearing heels and walking in a big hurry, carrying a file folder".  Charlie grinned.  "You'd look great." 

They took the folding handcart out of the SUV and began to load.  Charlie was surprised how naturally she worked, understanding his wishes before he even spoke.  "It's easy" she explained.  "Stocking is all the same, and the heavy things always go on the bottom".    The cart loaded, he began to pull it into the facility. 

A few minutes later he stopped in the vending area.  Vending machines lined one wall.  Another wall of windows looked out at the parking lot, and a third wall held the sink, coffee pot, and microwave.   A teal carpet covered the floor.  "This is nice" Jenny remarked. 

A few hours later, exhausted, they pulled the empty hand cart out of the building and loaded it into the SUV.  "I can see why you're thin"  Jenny remarked.  He certainly wasn't skinny - but well muscled in all the right places. 

"Vending is a great workout" he said, pushing his sweaty hair back off his forehead and finger-combing it into place. 

"I hope you didn't mind me making all those notes" she replied, worried.  Had she been a pain? 

"I with my other people had been so diligent.  I know you only ask questions because you don't know the answer.  I swear one guy kept asking me the most basic questions just to annoy me.  He could barely open a vending machine!"  Jenny nodded.  It seemed like employees were Charlie's biggest work issue. 

She could help with that. 

"Are you up for tomorrow?" Charlie asked, a worried light in his eyes. 

Jenny nodded.