Authors: Claire Matthews
CHAPTER THREE
JANIE
Thursday night at the Grind and Go was surprisingly busy. Janie made her way to the only vacant table near the back of the shop, and opened her appointment book. She may as well get some work done while she was waiting.
As a speech therapist, her schedule was usually booked, but the summer allowed her a few weeks of leisure time, since a good number of the kids she worked with were off on vacation with their families. Her more serious cases required year-round therapy, but the summer was definitely her down time.
She was juggling her appointments, trying to string a few days together for a last-minute leave of absence, when she heard someone clear their throat.
“Oh, my gosh! Hi. You must be Aaron.” She stood up to shake his hand, and noticed a slight reluctance on his part. Hmm.
“Umm, yes, nice to meet you,” he said to the wall over her shoulder. Her smile faltered, but she invited him to sit while she returned her agenda to her purse.
“It’s so cool of you to come meet me. Sorry I couldn’t email you all these documents. I’m pretty useless when it comes to technology,” she rambled. He looked at her briefly, then turned his eyes to the tabletop. “Do you want some coffee or something?”
“Yeah. I mean, yes, that’d be great. I’ll go get us both a cup,” he said, already moving towards the front of the store before she could respond. As he took his place at the end of the rather lengthy line, Janie took out her phone and surreptitiously texted Mia.
Janie: What’s the deal with this Aaron guy?
Mia: OMG, sorry. I should’ve warned you-he’s a major goober. But really smart and sweet.
Janie: Ok, just wondering if I smelled or something.
Mia: Oh, you smell.
Janie: ‘Mwah’. That’s the sound of you kissing my ass.
Mia: Later, loser.
Janie grinned and pocketed her phone. Aaron was closer to the front of the line now, and she took a few minutes to study him. Tall and thin, he wore dark jeans and a faded maroon t-shirt. His hair hung in strands across his forehead, blocking her view of his eyes. He wasn’t unattractive, but his slumped shoulders sent the message that he was unapproachable. Or just incredibly shy. Either way, he made her nervous. But if he could help her find the man who might be her father, nothing else mattered.
By the time he returned with their drinks, Janie had decided to do her best to make him feel comfortable. She needed his help, and she couldn’t afford to mess this up.
“I got you a medium. Did you want cream or sugar? I can go get you some.” He turned towards the front of the café again.
“No, this is great,” Janie assured him. “What do I owe you?”
“No,” his voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “I got it.”
“Thanks,” she grinned. “Although I’m the one who should be buying. You’re doing me an incredible favor. Do you want to go over the paperwork I brought?”
Aaron nodded, and they spent a good fifteen minutes reviewing what Peterson’s people had found on Kenneth Brown. Aaron asked several insightful questions, and Janie could tell that he was more relaxed when he was in work mode.
When they were done, Janie sorted the papers are returned them to their file folder. Then she held it out to Aaron.
“So do you think you can help me find him?”
“Oh, yeah.” It was the first thing he’d said with any confidence. “I’m sure of it. It’ll be tricky, but there are databases out there, and ways to track people—even people who don’t want to be found. Birth records, tax documents, property records, credit reports... I’m not a private detective, but I can pretty much find anyone on the internet if you give me enough time. I used to skip trace for a bank before I started designing software.”
“Really? That sounds cool,” Janie said, her interest piqued. “Did you find any serious criminals?”
“Not really,” he shrugged. “Mainly I just found people who were down on their luck. I usually felt bad about turning them over.”
Janie shrugged and blushed, embarrassed to have asked such a tacky question.
“I did find a guy who had three different families. They were all unaware that the others existed. I didn’t feel bad about finding him. He deserved the shit storm I unleashed on him.” Aaron grinned, which made Janie chuckle. He had a broad, open smile. It completely transformed his face.
They stared at each other for a long moment, until Aaron broke the silence. “I want to help you find your father, Janie. It would make me happy to help.” He looked down quickly, seeming surprised at himself for uttering such a sentiment.
“Thank you. You know, I never even realized I wanted to find him until I realized there was a possibility of it happening. Having a name and a possible location is more than I ever hoped for.” She leaned forward and reached for her purse. “Listen, I hate to rush off, but I’ve got a client at seven.”
“Oh, okay. What kind of client?” he asked, then blushed, a light shade of pink rushing up his neck and over his cheeks.
“Nothing sordid,” she laughed. “I’m a speech therapist. I help kids with speech communication disorders.”
“That’s…great. I mean, I worked with a speech therapist when I was a kid.” He paused for a moment. “I had a stutter,” he added.
“Well, it certainly seems to have worked. Score one for the speech therapists,” Janie grinned, raising her fist in mock triumph.
“No, really,” he continued, his voice serious. “That lady, Mrs. Winston—she was incredible. I was this miserable kid, and she helped me with my speech, and…I don’t know. Never mind.” Aaron ran his hand over the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable.
“No, I understand,” Janie said. “Some of the kids I work with have completely shut themselves off from their peers, because talking to them is just too difficult. They lose all self-confidence, when all they need is a little work, and someone who’ll listen without judging them.”
Aaron nodded, but still avoided her gaze. Oh, God, she’d embarrassed him.
“Listen,” she said briskly, changing the subject. “I’m gonna run. Can we meet sometime next week, after you’ve had a chance to do some initial sleuthing? We can go to dinner—my treat.”
“Oh, no, that’s not necessary—“
“I insist,” Janie said. Then, without thinking too hard about it, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. “It was nice to meet you, Aaron.” Then she took her bag and rushed out. She didn’t look back.
CHAPTER FOUR
AARON
It was almost seven in the morning, and Aaron still wasn’t out of bed. On a typical day he would have already jogged, showered and eaten breakfast by now, but his sleep had been fitful. Janie was on his mind. She was nice. And kind of
sparkly
. She was pretty, in that way that you might not notice until you had a conversation with her, but it was more than her looks. She seemed open and kind, and he hadn’t spent a lot of time around friendly women in recent years.
Whatever it was about her, he felt drawn to her, and that hadn’t happened in a long time. Katy had done a number on his head back in college. He was young and naïve, and assumed after they graduated that they would get jobs and get married. When she left him, he was crushed, and it had become a little too easy to fall into a world of computers and code and late-night gaming. Now, at twenty-four, he was finally beginning to recognize the futility of such an existence.
As he rolled out of bed and stumbled into the shower, he knew he had to help her find Janie’s father. She was such a kind person. Kind to him. Kind to her clients, he could just tell. She needed someone to be kind to her. He wanted to be that person.
***
Having skipped his run, Aaron was actually a few minutes early to work. He booted up his computer and began scanning the paperwork that Janie had provided. Kenneth Brown. Mobile, Alabama. Clearly he and Janie’s mother had been in a relationship. He could only guess why her mother would lie to Janie, but he was going to find out the truth. He decided it might be helpful to do some preliminary searches on Janie’s mom as well as Kenneth. As he typed in “Elaine Block,” to his first search engine, Mark walked in and plopped himself on the faded blue couch in the corner of the office.
“’Sup, Dillon?” Mark drawled.
“I’m working on Janie’s case. Which means that I’m going to get behind on the Metrodrive project. Which means I’m going to have to work most of the night on that.”
“What’s your point, dude? What would you be doing if you weren’t working? Playing Minecraft and eating Tony’s Party pizzas?” Mark smirked.
“None of your business. I’m just saying, if you want me to do this extra work for your sister’s friend, it might be nice if you took some of my other work off my plate.”
Mark was silent for a moment. Aaron kept his mouth shut. He knew it was asking a lot to reassign some of his work, but if he could put Metrodrive off for a while, he might be able to spend a few days in Mobile and talk to some people.
“Man, no one understands Cinema 4D like you do. It’ll slow things down.” Mark sounded pained, by Aaron decided to push it. He had to do this.
“Okay, but I’ll have to tell Janie to find someone else to help her.” Aaron would do no such thing, but Mark didn’t need to know that.
“Seriously?” Mark sounded incredulous. It wasn’t like Aaron to refuse a request. Or to stand up for himself.
“Seriously.”
Mark heaved a heavy sigh. “Fine. Two weeks. I’ll put Gene on Metrodrive, but you’ll need to spend this afternoon getting him up to speed."
“No problem—I’ll get with him after lunch.” Aaron was grinning, and Mark gave him a suspicious once-over.
“What’s up with you? You seem awfully happy about this little arrangement.”
“Just happy to help, boss.” Aaron saw Mark scowl. He hated it when Aaron reminded him of their employer/employee relationship. They’d been friends since high school, and it made Mark uncomfortable. It didn’t bother Aaron—he made more money than anyone else in the company (except Mark, of course), and suffered none of the administrative or managerial headaches. He considered himself the lucky one. Mark rolled his eyes and changed the subject.
“So, what do you make of Janie’s case? Do you think you’ll be able to find this guy?”
“I’ll find him,” Aaron said, his face grim with determination.
“Well, good. Poor Janie’s been through hell. Her mom died after a long bout with cancer. It was just her and her mother, and now she has no one. I’m not sure if this Kenneth Brown guy is good news or bad, but if she wants to find him, someone should help her. She’d had enough crap heaped on her over the last few years.” Mark sighed and stood up. “But look, don’t get her hopes up. If he’s untraceable, let her know sooner rather than later. I’d hate to see her disappointed again.”
“I said I’ll find him,” Aaron insisted. Mark raised his hands in mock surrender.
“Okay, buddy. If anybody can, it’s you.” Mark slapped him on the shoulder and left the office. Aaron turned back to his computer screen and started to work.
CHAPTER FIVE
JANIE
Mia was in the office when Janie returned from her late morning appointment.
“Hey, how’d it go?” Mia handed her a cup of coffee as they sat at the conference table outside their cubicles.
“Man,” Janie sighed. “It was intense. Poor kid is so depressed. His parents are totally lost. We made some progress, but he’s gonna be a tough nut to crack.”
“Well, eighth grade is a tough year. He’s bound to be resistant.”
“Yeah, but we don’t have a lot of time. If I can’t get him into some pretty intense therapy soon, we’re going to lose him. To drugs or alcohol, or something worse. I’ve seen it play out too many times.” Janie took a big gulp of stale coffee, and lost herself in thought.
“Earth to Janie,” Mia said a moment later. “I was asking about your meeting with Aaron the other night. How was it?”
“Oh, yeah. It was…good. Aaron seems nice.”
Mia laughed, and Janie threw a napkin at her. “Seriously, he’s nice. A little awkward, but he’s not as bad as you said he was.”
“Aaron is a doll. He and Mark have been friends forever. But he’s about as suave as a Teletubby.”
“I don’t care how suave he is—as long as he can help find my dad, he’s worth his weight in gold.” Janie paused. “He seems kind of…I don’t know. Closed? And maybe a little sad.”
“Says the girl who picks up strays like lint. Don’t feel bad for Aaron. He’s brilliant, and my brother pays him a fortune.” Mia winked as she picked up their empty coffee cups and headed back to her cubicle. “Although I’m sure he’d be open to something more than a business relationship if you wanted to go there.” She ran behind her desk before Janie could pelt her with another balled-up napkin. Janie shook her head and chuckled. The last thing she needed in her life was a relationship.
Back at her desk, she wrote up her notes on Jason, the depressed eighth grader with Apraxia, and began transcribing her treatment plan for Georgia, a shy nine-year old with a lisp. She was so engrossed in her notes that it took her a minute to realize that her phone had chirped with an incoming text. Pulling herself away from the computer, she pulled out her phone and chuckled when she saw her latest message.
Aaron: I don’t suppose Kenneth Brown could be a 38 year-old blues guitarist?
Janie: Not unless he was a sexually promiscuous fifth grader. And my mom was a pervert.
Aaron: I’ll take that as a no. Are you available to meet later this week? I actually do have some information you might find interesting.
Janie: Yes. YES! When? Can we meet tonight?
There was a pause, and Janie was afraid she was coming off as borderline bonkers. She was just about to text him an apology for being overeager when his next message came through.
Aaron: Sure. We could meet for dinner. Or not. I mean, we could also just meet at the coffee shop again, if you don’t want to get into a whole dinner thing. No pressure.
Janie rolled her eyes and grinned.
Janie: Aaron, I’d love to have dinner with you. Do you like Italian? We could try Gratzi’s over by the mall. They have great breadsticks.
His response was almost immediate.
Aaron: Yes. Let’s meet there at seven, okay?
Janie: Great, see you then. Thanks, Aaron.
She dropped her phone in her purse, and found herself smiling for the rest of the afternoon. Must be the promise of breadsticks, she thought to herself.
***
Aaron was in the bar when Janie arrived at Gratzi’s. She walked past him twice before he stopped her with a wave and a shy grin.
“Aaron? Oh, God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t recognize you!” Janie felt herself blush, probably because it wasn’t like her to be quite so rude. But he truly looked like a different man. His hair had been cut in a trendy short style, and she got her first unobstructed look at his eyes, which were so brown they were almost inky. His face, which had previously sported a few days stubble, was clean-shaven. And his dark jeans and pressed charcoal shirt made him look older, and a little more self-assured.
“Yeah, um, I got a haircut. Apparently it was way past due.” Janie wanted to kick herself for making him feel self-conscious. She quickly looked over his shoulder and began to study the assortment of liquors behind the bar.
“Do you want to get a drink before dinner?” She could use a dose of something before they began talking about her father. Just the thought of finding him, and possibly meeting him, brought butterflies to her stomach.
“Yeah, okay. What would you like?” Aaron looked a little shifty, and Janie backpedaled.
“We don’t have to if you’d rather not.” She grabbed her purse, ready to head to the hostess station, but he stopped her with a hand on her forearm.
“No, no, I’m sorry. Of course we can have a drink. I’m just not much for alcohol. I used to drink quite a bit in college, but I found that it made me kind of stupid.”
“That’s the point, silly,” Janie laughed. “Life’s not worth it if you don’t act stupid every once in a while.”
Aaron grinned and shrugged. “Then set me up. Luckily I walked here from my apartment, so I can get as stupid as I want.”
“So you live close?” Janie asked, signaling to the bartender with an outstretched hand.
“Yeah, about a mile away. In the lofts by the waterway.”
“Oooh, those are nice,” Janie gushed, impressed with his fashionable digs.
“They’re okay. There weren’t enough outlets for all my computer equipment when I moved in, so I had to spend a ton of money for an electrician to refit the whole place. Other than that, it’s nice.
“Wow, how much computer equipment do you have?”
“Enough for you to run like hell if you ever saw my place. Mark says my apartment is where the Geek Squad comes to die.” His face was so serious that Janie was unsure whether to laugh or not. She turned to order he drink instead.
“Martini for me. What about you?” She turned to Aaron and caught him staring at her intently. “Aaron?”
“Oh, sorry. Yeah, give me a Michelob, please.” He fixed his eyes firmly on his lap, and Janie felt the need to put him at ease. Or at least to try.
“Listen, Aaron.” He looked up expectantly. “Mark and Mia told me that you are a bit of an…introvert.” She paused, but he showed no reaction to her words. “I get it. So many of my patients are introverts. They live a lot in their own heads, and most of them are brilliant, and interesting, and really want to talk if they find someone willing to listen.” Janie paused, and Aaron swallowed. “And I’m, you know…willing to listen.”
He nodded, and his shoulders relaxed infinitesimally. They were saved from an awkward silence by the bartender, who placed their drinks in front of them with a flourish.
“Awesome. Cheers,” Janie said, holding up her martini glass until Aaron clinked it with his beer bottle. They began talking about his job, and her job, and Mark and Mia, and living in Austin when you were no longer a twenty year-old college student. They ordered a second drink, then a third. By the time they decided to get a table, over an hour had passed, and they were feeling much more comfortable in each other’s company.
“The chicken parm is to die for here,” Janie said, noticing that her voice was a few notches louder than usual. Damn martinis.
“Okay, I put my dining enjoyment in your hands,” he said, closing the menu without even looking at it. “It’s a huge responsibility, by the way. I’m a terribly picky eater.”
“Really? Hell, I’ll eat anything that’s not nailed down.”
“I once went an entire summer consuming nothing but Swedish Fish and blueberry Pop Tarts. My mom thought I’d get rickets.”
“Did you?” Janie grinned at his goofy smile. This man needed more beer in his life.
“I’m not exactly sure what they are, so it’s hard to say. I’m alive, though. Today was a coffee day. A pot of coffee and three protein bars. No wonder I’m so drunk.”
“You’re drunk
?”
Janie slurred, which made Aaron start to giggle.
God, he’s actually really cute
, Janie thought.
“I shouldn’t admit to being drunk off three beers. That takes ‘unmanly’ to a whole new level.”
“I’m pretty sure the Swedish Fish and Pop Tarts did that already,” Janie laughed, which set them both off again. It took a while for them to pull it together when the waiter came to take their orders. Still laughing in fits after the waiter left, they finally began to talk about the information Aaron had found about her father.
“So what have you unearthed so far? Is he alive?” Janie felt her nerves ratchet up. She was surprised when he grabbed her hand and squeezed it supportively.
“I don’t know much at this point. I found plenty of people who remember him from the 1980s and 90s in Mobile. It looks like he lived there until 1996 or so.” Janie nodded, encouraging him to continue.
“The trail goes a little thin after that. What I’d like to do, if it’s okay with you, is go to Mobile for a few days and interview some people.”
“What? I mean, that’s be fantastic. Do you need money? I can pay for your gas and your hotel, your meals, whatever you need.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he waved his hand, dismissing her words. “But…would you come with me?”
“What?”
“I mean, come along to help me out, you know. There are some people there who might remember your mother, and you’d be able to help me corroborate their stories.” He dipped his head, and Janie reached over and took his face in the palm of her hands.
“I’d
love
to come with you! I have vacation days and everything. If I could just talk to people who knew them…I mean, maybe I could figure out why my mother lied to me.” Before she could sort out her motivation, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. Immediately feeling awkward, she sat down quickly and spread her napkin over her lap. “When did you want to leave?”
“Well, Mark’s given me two weeks off to work on your case. I think we should make the most of that time, if your schedule’s flexible.”
“I’ll check with my supervisor tonight. If I can get someone to cover my Thursday appointments, I’m free until the first of the month.” Janie grinned broadly. This was really happening!
The waiter arrived with their food, and Janie dug in, hungrier than she’d been in a long time. It took her a few minutes to realize that Aaron was basically pushing his food in circles around the plate.
“Do you not like chicken parm? Why didn’t you tell me? I’m sorry,” she cried, feeling awful for her presumptuousness.
“No, no, it’s fine. I don’t really eat much of anything at restaurants. It’s kind of a weird quirk. I told you—picky eater.” He shrugged and went back to shuffling the food on his plate.
“Then you should have suggested a restaurant where you felt comfortable eating,” Janie insisted.
Aaron put his fork down and gave her a serious look. “Janie, I’m a little weird. There’s no two ways about it, so it’d probably just be easier to ignore it than to focus too heavily on my basketful of quirks.”
“You’re not weird!”
“Of course I am. It’s taken me years to accept it, but I have. Denying it doesn’t help. Being ashamed doesn’t help, either. I just try to surround myself with people who can accept me and my flaws.
“Eccentricities aren’t flaws. They’re what make people interesting.” Janie declared. Aaron thought for a moment, and then grinned.
“Then I guess I’m the new Dos Equis guy.”
Janie grinned back. “The Most Interesting Man in the World?”
“That’s me,” Aaron declared, puffing his chest out with practiced pride.
Janie raised her glass and winked. “I’ll drink to that.