the dayton days [73]

Cars made a drink for me

Monday. I worked 5:30-1:00, my last shift with Carly :(. There's a new hire, my replacement, her name's Taylor, and she's adorable. "I so knew you'd be into her," Carly quipped. I went straight down to Cincinnati and unpacked all my stuff in the infamous walkthrough room. Tony moved out to Illinois to be with Jessie, so it's perfect. "This is so minimalistic it's giving me a hard-on," Rob said. I spent the afternoon hanging out with Gambill, and Mandy & Ams made quesadillas. Tomorrow's my first day. *Fingers Crossed*

Tuesday. I woke up to iced coffee and a sunrise. Mandy dropped me off downtown for my first day at Tazza Mia. I cut my finger within five minutes and made a fool out of myself in front of Cassie by spitting up in my drink. John's training me, and he told Mandy that he could see me being a permanent fixture to the store and that I was KILLING it on the floor. After work I met up with Mandy at Soho--err, Fushion, they changed their name--and we hung out at her place (well, our place, good ol' Claypole), and we hit up Japp's bar where Tazza Mia makes liquor drinks, and then we smoked hookah. Regarding Tazza Mia, this place feels good, all of it does. "It's like I didn't move from Cincinnati, more like I took a sabbatical, and now I'm back." All this bodes well (minus my cut finger: at least I didn't need stitches. That would've looked great on my first day). Brandy Rae told Blake, "Anthony has no idea his worth." How sweet. I tried calling Jessica, but she didn't answer and didn't try to get back with me. And honestly I don't much care.

Wednesday. Day Two! I didn't cut open any fingers, so there's some progress. We were much busier today. John said I'm kicking ass at the job, and he told Rob he's recommending Bob make this deal final ASAP. Rob, Mandy and I carpooled home. We smoked and had a light dinner and played some Smash Brothers on the Wii with Rob & Amos. We heard gunshots in the street. "So nice to be back." Heavy rains shook the house. Jessica called me to see how everything was going. Unexpected and delightful: lots of whimsical laughter. 

Thursday. Day Three! Bob offered me the job, and I took it. He's even letting me go on vacation. Everyone's excited now that it's official. Mandy & I celebrated in our own way, and then I headed back to Dayton and stopped by work to see Carly. She was a hot mess: drama with Devyn, me moving to Cincinnati, and Faith may be quitting to take care of her family, since Kiel got a new job. Jess called me, flipping shit about Faith leaving, ASM is out the window, and Spring Valley's like the Titanic heading straight into an iceberg. "We're losing all our best people!"

Friday. Jess and I opened together, our last time. It was pretty damned sad. She gave me a going away present: a pack of cigarettes. "I'm not going to say bye, 'cause I know I'll see you again." I tried going to the store later in the day but was wearing Mom's slippers, so I had to backtrack. I spent the evening packing for both vacation and Cincinnati. I went for a late-night smoke drive. Carly told Jessica, "Anthony's over what happened with you, he's moved on." She told me Jess' face instantly fell into fear and disappointment. "And shame on her, because she's going to try to draw this out."

Saturday. I woke at 3:30 AM and at four Mom, Dad and I headed down to Cincinnati to pick up Ams before beading to South Carolina. We rolled into Hilton Head around 5:30, unpacked at the condo. We're 1/4 mile from the beach. We had dinner at a bar-&-grill (I had broiled scallops and veggies, yum!) and then we got groceries. The store was SWAMPED. And there was an adorable petite girl my size. Hard not to check her out. When Mom & Dad went to bed, I went out to the beach and smoked. Mom and Ams joined me, and we looked for sea turtles but could only find their tracks. 

Sunday. I slept in till 10:00 and had a cigarette next a palm tree. We went to the beach for a while, then rented some bikes so we can bike around the resort. I relaxed around the condo for a bit, got Starbucks from down the road, and wrote twenty-five pages in a possible short story. Ams & I smoked and went swimming.