28. Lunch at Mortys

Lunch at Morty's

"I don't know about you, but I'm positively famished. Lunch?" Meghan asked as she closed the file in front of her. She stood up and grabbed her handbag before Hadley had a chance to respond.

"Oh, sure. Now that you mention it, I am getting hungry," Hadley smiled. She was actually starving but wasn't about to admit that. It was nice enough that her new coworker offered to buy her lunch, especially since she only packed an apple and a Nature Valley granola bar in her bag, which would need to keep her full until whenever she got back from her dad's house later. She was used to eating small, sometimes skipping an entire meal. She always made sure to pay her rent and utility bills before worrying about what was or wasn't in her fridge.

"Great! We can head next door for a sandwich. Give me a minute to lock up."

"Sounds good."

***

"I know this strip mall is pretty haggard, but Morty's is delicious. It's the only Jewish deli in the area and their meats are fresh. They wait to slice anything until an order is placed. If you like rye bread, I definitely recommend that. Though, I find myself leaning toward their kaiser rolls." Hadley nodded along as they stared at the chalkboard menu above the front of the counter. "Anyway, not sure why I'm giving a dissertation on delis. Get whatever you want!"

"Thanks, again," Hadley blushed.

"You got it, girl. Now that I've told you I prefer kaiser rolls, I think I'm going to mix it up. I'm going to get the pastrami on rye. You?"

Hadley eyed the menu. She'd never had most of the meats listed and was afraid of choosing the wrong thing. "Hmm, how about the turkey and cheddar?"

"Yum! Okay, I'll order while you grab a table. Sound okay?"

"Sure, thanks." Hadley chose a table in the back corner of the small delicatessen. She looked around while she waited on Meghan. The tables were made from beautiful beech wood and the matching chairs had comfortable burgundy vinyl padding. She noticed the padding here was perfectly intact, unlike the cracked cushions at her new job.

She enjoyed the style of this place, which was much nicer on the inside than the exterior suggested. The bottom third of the walls were covered by a green beadboard while the top of the walls were covered in photographs, some old and others relatively new. Her eyes bounced from one frame to the next, admiring the generations on display. She wondered if Morty was just a name or if he was the owner. Maybe one of these photos were of him.

Hadley's thoughts were interrupted when Meghan approached with their plates. Her eyes bulged at the height of both sandwiches. She couldn't remember the last time she ate such a big meal. It could keep her full for days. "Wow! Are the sandwiches always so huge?"

"They take their sandwich construction very seriously with the perfect combination of thick cut tomatoes and thin sliced onion," Meghan giggled. She placed a plate in front of Hadley before taking a seat across from her. "And don't forget the tangy kosher pickle on the side."

Hadley eyed her sandwich, determining where to start. Finally, she decided to just go for it and bit into one of the corners. "Oh wow, this is great," Hadley said, using her free hand as a curtain to hide her full mouth.

"This has been my go-to for a while. I usually come here once or twice a week. I'm pretty sure I would be as huge as this sandwich if I ate here as much as I wanted to, though." Meghan smiled before taking another bite, letting out a low mmm as she chewed. "I don't know what it is about food that is always so satisfying."

"I know what you mean. Honestly, I spent most of my life eating frozen dinners so whenever I have something real like this, it's heaven."

"Oh, yeah. I make those once in a while. Usually on nights after Amelia had an especially sassy day and I'm utterly exhausted." Meghan's eyes sparkled at the mention of her daughter. "I agree, though, it definitely doesn't qualify as satisfying."

Hadley smiled. "You're telling me. Thanks again for this,"Hadley pointed to her half-eaten sandwich. "It's hitting the spot."

"No worries at all! I figured this would be a good time to give you some of the background on Placers and what you should know going into it."

Hadley wondered what she could mean by that. Wasn't it just a normal receptionist position? "Sounds good."

"So, of course you've met our manager, Mary. She focuses more on high level stuff, and her magazines," Meghan smiled. "You'll see her in the office, especially on Mondays and Fridays when I'm not there. Otherwise, she's on the road meeting with our contracted companies. She also works to secure new contracts. We need to keep good relations with the companies so that they give us placements for our clients." Hadley nodded along as she bit into the crisp pickle spear. "As for our clients… that's a different ball game."

Hadley set her pickle down, picking her sandwich back up, and watched the look on Meghan's face change. "Oh?"

"Yeah, they're not ideal. Before I get into that, though, I apologize… I meant to start by asking your background. Have you worked this type of job before? Mary let me know she hired you but didn't share too many details."

"I worked for a florist in my hometown. I worked there for seven years, starting in high school. It's a small-town flower shop but by the end of it I was managing orders and the majority of the store. It was part-time, until toward the end, but a great learning experience. Honestly, that's the only job I've had."

"I'm sure you're very organized, then," Meghan smiled before stealing a big bite of pastrami.

"I am. I also spent a few years helping a, uh, neighbor, with her farm. I cleaned the barn and stables and took care of the horses. It wasn't paid so I don't know if that counts but it's where I learned about the importance of hard work and responsibility. It was also a lot of fun."

"That's great. Willingly doing manual labor like that speaks to your natural work ethic. What about the customers at the florist? Were they mainly friendly or can you think of any difficult situations?"

"It was rare to have an angry customer. Customers were sometimes sad, wanting a bouquet for a memorial or to serve as an apology, but other than that…" Hadley shrugged. "On the rare chance we had an inpatient customer, Steve, the owner, stepped in."

"Got it. Okay, so this will be a whole new experience for you. These guys are not the best people you'll meet. It's important to remember that we're in charge and they are not. Most of them act entitled and occasionally come off downright rude. You'll never be alone with them, since Mary or I will be there, too. Just something for you to feel prepared for. Of course, we do get the nice ones, too. They're just rare."

Hadley's palms felt sweaty. Her only experience with angry men was through her father and she worked hard this past year and a half to distance herself from him so she could find her voice. The small pit in her stomach over knowing she'd see her father later today started to grow with worry that her new job would throw her into a similar aggressive environment as the one she worked so hard to escape. Swallowing a gulp of cold water, Hadley responded, "That's good to know. I've dealt with angry men before, I just prefer not to."

"I think we'd all prefer a gentleman. Realistically, the best case for most of these men is getting assigned to a short term, back-breaking warehouse job, most of which are third shift. They're not the golden egg they pretend to be. They get whatever low-level job we offer them. If they're rude on the job site, we'll hear it from the managers or foremen, and they won't be welcomed back. They get one second chance from us, assuming we have another vendor to send them to. If not, their file gets shifted to the back with a big red mark."

"Red mark?"

"Yeah, we're not subtle here. We'll take a red sharpie and literally write an X on their file tab next to their name. That's how we know they're problematic."

"Oh, okay. Got it."

"I don't mean to scare you. Like I said, they're not all bad. I just want to prepare you for the ones that are. Hopefully things will go easily for you. Once we finish up here, we should head back. We have an open interview period from 2 to 5 pm. I'll teach you more about our process as we go. I think for now, I've told you more than enough."

"Sounds good. I'm sure I'll learn as I go." Hadley and Meghan smiled and nodded at each other. They sat and finished their sandwiches before they cleaned up and walked back next door. Meghan was hopeful she shared enough to prepare Hadley since she'd hate to have this conversation yet again in two weeks with the next front desk girl.

Hadley, on the other hand, hoped Meghan was overly cautious in explaining their normal clientele. She never learned how to stand up to her father and was afraid she'd crumble with an angry client, too. Everything will be fine, Hadley thought, reciting her go-to motto.

When they settled back at their respective desks, Hadley began working on organizing the random files left on her desk. She chewed the inside of her cheek as she waited for someone to walk through the front door. Soon her mind wandered to what exactly her father could be donating. She tapped her fingers eager to get through the afternoon. A few relatively easy clients came and went and soon enough they were locking up.

"Nothing better than a quiet day," Meghan smiled.

"For sure. See you tomorrow?"

"You got it." Hadley waved at Meghan as they walked to their cars. Okay. Let's get this over with. Hadley turned the key in her ignition and set herself in motion toward her childhood home.