You're Dangerous

by Casey McMillin

  It was, actually.

  She'd never admit it, but she knew she'd be tempted to ask for a ride if she started to go stir crazy being stuck in the neighborhood. She never had a car of her own, but she had access to them when she lived at home. In fact, she didn't at all like the feeling of not being able to go somewhere if she wanted. Now that she thought of it—saving up for a car was going to be pretty high on her list of priorities.

  "Who's your brother going to see?" Sam asked, randomly.

  She was thinking about not having a car, and had no idea what he meant. "What?"

  "I thought he was spending the night tomorrow because he was in Nashville for a concert."

  "Oh yeah, he is," she said. "He's going with one of his little friends to see Cam Bishop."

  "I figured. A bunch of my friends are going there too."

  She looked at him with an unimpressed expression. "I don't get it," she said.

  He shook his head. "Me neither. I can't stand country music."

  "It's not my favorite either."

  "Don't lie. You said you hate country music."

  "I mean I don't want to say I hate somebody's art, because that's what it is, and there are a ton of people who like it—I'll just say it's not my thing. Nate called me earlier. He's so excited about the concert that I had to act like getting to see Cam Bishop is the coolest thing in the world."

  "Do you even know who he is? He's like one of the most popular—"

  "Of course I know who he is. That song of his called Our Time to Shine was voted our senior song and I've heard it about a thousand times over the past year."

  "I hope Nate doesn't come over singing it."

  "It doesn't really matter," she said. "I miss him so much, I won't even care."

  "How long's he staying?"

  "Just one night," she said. "My parents are coming to get him Sunday. I'll probably bring them to Common Grounds so they can know what it looks like in case I get the job."

  "You're gonna get the job," Sam said.

  "I don't know," she said, trying not to be too hopeful. "I don't even know if they're hiring. It's not like they had a sign out or anything."

  "If they're not hiring, you should try that Greek restaurant right there next to it. We go in there sometimes. It's the same type of people working there as in the coffee shop. It's cool."

  "Thanks, that's good to know," Hannah said. She knew the place he was talking about but hadn't really even noticed what type of restaurant it was.

  Hannah went out to eat Thai food with the Culbertsons, but passed on going to the party with Sam. She was alone as she had been every night for the past week, and she was starting to crave human contact. She heard from her friend Molly, who was back home in Sparta hanging out with a group of their friends. It was really hard for Hannah to refrain from feeling sorry for herself. She was on the verge of tears, and that wouldn't have been the first time that week.

  Hannah called her mom to tell her the truth about her feelings, and that was just about the smartest thing she could have done. Rebecca, God love her, said some things during the two hour phone call that helped Hannah gain a little perspective on her situation, and she hung up feeling a little better. During their conversation, Hannah told her mom about the coffee shop and the application she'd filled out. Rebecca made her promise to send a picture of it via email if she decided to hand it in before they got there and could see it in person.

  Hannah went ahead and emailed pictures of the front and back to her mom because she knew she was curious. Her phone rang within in a few minutes of sending the email. It was her mom saying how impressed she and her dad were with the drawings, and how they'd have to be silly not to hire her baby girl. Even though Hannah felt better from the whole talk, she had a nice little cry after she hung up with her mom—she couldn't help it. She was just plain lonely.

  Once she got a few tears out, she put in her earbuds and found an album called Boys and Girls by the Alabama Shakes on her iPod. She started it at the beginning and listened to it all the way through before falling asleep.

  Listening to an album from start to finish was a concept taught to her by Mr. Nelson. Hannah, who'd been raised by parents that were both mix tape junkies, was skeptical of it at first, but Mr. Nelson had been onto something, and she learned to view an album as a piece of art. She especially loved that Alabama Shakes one, and like several of her other favorite albums, she had listened to the whole thing enough to know the lyrics by heart. Once it was over, she took out her earbuds and turned off the lamp at her bedside.

  As she dozed off, she calculated how much she'd need to make per month to afford car insurance. She was hoping to save money to pay cash for a car, but she knew she'd have to get insurance. She fell asleep budgeting hypothetical coffee shop money.

  Chapter 4

  Hannah was given permission to use the Culbertson's washer and dryer since the apartment didn't have a set. She had fallen asleep early the night before, and was awake and ready to go to Common grounds to hand in her application. Before she could do that, she wanted to wash her favorite jeans. Normally she wouldn't care how freshly laundered they were, but these particular ones fit her best on day one, and she wanted to feel as confident as possible.

  She woke up at 8AM but gave it an hour before she went to wash her jeans out of consideration for it being Saturday morning. The Culbertsons were already up and milling around the kitchen when Hannah went inside. They invited her to stay for breakfast but she told them she wanted to get back to her apartment so she could get ready to go to the coffee shop.

  "Which reminds me," Hannah said. "Do you happen to have a letter size envelope?"

  "I sure do, sweetheart," Susan said. "It's nothing fancy. It's just one of those yellow ones."

  "That's perfect," Hannah said.

  Hannah started her laundry and Mrs. Culbertson said she would throw it in the dryer once it was finished. She sent her back home with a pop tart and the yellow envelope.

  She was on her way to Common Grounds by 10:30AM. The amount of jitters that were coursing through her body were just about unmanageable. She walked around the back way in an effort to work off some of the nervous energy. There was an alleyway behind Common Grounds, and like all the other businesses on the street, the back yard had been turned into a parking lot. Common Grounds had a gravel area that could hold about fifteen or twenty cars.

  Hannah, who had walked there the long way, approached from the back of the coffee shop, and had to walk through the gravel lot and on the path that ran along the side of the house to get to the front door. She was alone on the path and stopped to consider the envelope. Part of her thought it was cheesy to put an application in an envelope because then she would just have to explain what it was to the person she talked to. On the other hand, she felt slightly shy to see the reaction to her unorthodox way of filling it out. She stood there on the path for at least half a minute before she decided to go ahead keep it in the envelope.

  Hannah expected them to be busy. Her plan was to order coffee to go and slip it to the cashier as an afterthought when they already started to help the next customer. As she approached the door, she started to get the feeling that they might not be as busy as she imagined. There were less than ten people on the patio, and when she opened the door, she saw that she was the only one in line. In fact, as soon as she walked in, both employees standing behind the counter told her hello and made eye contact.

  She recognized the person working the cash register as Nothing the atheist, which made her decide that maybe it would be a better idea if she brought it back some other time. It wasn't like she was scared of him or anything, it was more about the fact that he was featured on the piece of paper that was in the envelope, and she didn't know how he would react to his cartoon if he looked at it.

  Hannah ordered her coffee to go and paid for it. Then she took the paper cup to the coffee station where she poured and doctored her coffee. She wasn't even thirsty for it. She was just going thr
ough the motions. She was a little disappointed about how everything had gone down.

  She pushed the door open with her backside and turned to walk out with her coffee in one hand and the yellow envelope in the other. She noticed a guy with a bus pan and a rag cleaning one of the tables on the deck. It reminded her of Taylor and she figured, why not just hand it to him, since he obviously worked there. Without giving it any more consideration, she walked over to him.

  "Can you please give this to your manager?" she said. She set the envelope on a nearby table since his hands were most definitely wet.

  "Sure. I'm a manager," he said. "Is everything okay?"

  She smiled, but felt so nervous and trapped that she started immediately retreating in an effort to make her exit off the side stairs of the deck. "Oh, it's all good," she said, smiling and waving him off like he should just go back to busing tables. "It's just an application I'm dropping off for you to look at whenever. Thanks!" She threw another big smile in there for good measure and then turned and ran off toward the path that led to the back of the house.

  What an idiot! I literally just ran away from the guy who was probably the one to impress. How could I have known he was the dad-gum manager? He was busing tables for crying out loud! I should have just talked to him. What's wrong with me? Why in the world would I run away like that?

  Hannah was horrified, but what could she do? It wasn't like she was going to turn around and go back. She just kept walking, holding the cup of coffee she cared nothing about. She told herself there was always the Greek restaurant.

  ****

  Her little brother didn't get to her house until 10:30 that evening, and rather than spend the whole day alone, Hannah hung out with Sam. She was pissed at herself about the application fiasco and felt lonely and frustrated. She and Sam played Mario Kart and listened to music, and too bad if that gave him false hope. She needed the company.

  That evening, after Sam had gone home, Nate's ride text her to let her know when they'd be arriving. Hannah sat on the stairs that led up to her apartment when she knew they were close. She and Nate were extremely excited to see each other even though it had only been a week.

  He told her all about the fan festival and concert they'd been at all day, going on and on about what a good singer Cam Bishop was and how he had Daisy Lee as a surprise guest to do a duet. Hannah knew Daisy Lee was a female country singer, but was just as unimpressed by her as she was by Cam Bishop—maybe even more unimpressed, if that was even possible. She was happy Nate was excited, though, and loved hearing him describe everything.

  They stayed up till almost 2AM, talking, and cutting up, and even playing a few games. She missed her little brother's company, and was so glad Nashville was close enough to do sleepovers. She told him all about how she'd dropped the envelope and turned tail and ran around the side of the coffee house. He thought it was a hilarious, and asked Hannah to retell it three times. Each time she embellished a bit more to the point where she was saying she threw it at him like a Frisbee and ran off while it was still in the air. He laughed like it was a hilarious sight, and Hannah laughed too, thinking that it wasn't far from the truth.

  "I want to go in there tomorrow when mom and dad get here," he said.

  "I was planning on bringing you guys, but now that I did that today, I'm a little embarrassed to go back there."

  Nate looked disappointed, but didn't protest. She wanted to bring them there, and still might, but she felt reluctant since the drop and run was so fresh.

  Her parents ended up talking her into taking them by there. They spent the whole afternoon in Nashville, and one of the first things they did was walk to Common Grounds. It was slow in there, and there was only one person behind the counter. Hannah was relieved to find that it wasn't any of the people she'd encountered so far, and her family got drinks and checked the place out like any normal consumers would. Hannah and her family enjoyed a visit to Common Grounds without a single confrontation about her recent job seeking, and she was so glad they got to see it.

  The Culbertsons put a bunch of food on the grill that night and had Hannah and her family over for dinner. They left for home at around 8PM, and Hannah went to bed smiling for the first time in a week. The next morning, which happened to be Monday, Hannah's phone rang with a number she didn't recognize. She picked it up without thinking much about it.

  "Hello?"

  "Is this Hannah Garrison?" a voice said. Even though he'd only said a few words, she could hear in his voice that he was smiling.

  "Yeees," she said, smiling back.

  "This is Michael Vick. I'm the general manager of Common Grounds coffee house, and I'd like to set up an interview with you, if that sounds okay."

  Hannah wanted to squeal, but obviously didn't. "I think it sounds great," she said.

  "Can you meet me there at nine tomorrow."

  "Tomorrow morning?"

  "Does that work for you?"

  She was silent for a second, trying to catch her breath. "Sure," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  "Excellent. I'll see you in the morning." She could tell he was smiling, but he hadn't mentioned the application. She assumed he liked it since he was calling for the interview, and spent the rest of the day in a good mood because of it.

  The next morning came fast, and by then, her good mood had shifted into being so nervous she could shake right out of her skin. She wore a shirt that wouldn't show sweaty armpits because, well, that's just how high-strung she was—it was bad enough to plan her outfit around it.

  She walked into the packed coffee shop at 8:53AM. She didn't really know what to do. She wasn't going to stand in line with the people ordering coffee, so she decided to try to talk to the person working the espresso machine.

  "Hey, I'm a little early, but I’m here to meet Michael," she said.

  The barista was a girl she'd seen before but never talked to, and she nodded as she continued to turn knobs and push buttons. "What's your name?" she asked.

  "Hannah."

  The girl tilted her head back and yelled behind her in the direction of the kitchen. "Tell Michael Hannah's here to see him." Everyone turned to look at Hannah for a second, but then went back to what they were doing.

  A handsome, blonde, ruddy-cheeked guy came out of the doorway that led to the kitchen wearing a huge smile. He looked to be in his thirties, and she knew by the way he regarded her that he was the guy she'd spoken with on the phone. He came around the counter with his hand extended for her to shake.

  "I'm Michael," he said.

  "I'm Hannah."

  "Would you like some coffee, Hannah?"

  "Is that my first official question—because it's an easy one. Yes. I'd love some. Put me down for no hesitation on that one."

  He laughed. "What'll you have then, Miss Hannah?"

  "Now, this one's tougher for me. I'm afraid I haven't tried most of your menu. I'm up for being surprised if you want."

  He smiled and studied Hannah's face for a second before responding. "A surprise it is," he said.

  He pointed to a table that was made from an old "men at work" sign that had been glazed over. It was a table for two in the middle of the crowded room, and Hannah sat down at it, hoping she was going to be able to control her nerves. She took a few calming breaths as she watched Michael make her drink.

  Once he was finished, he brought it to the table, and Hannah noticed that he was holding the yellow envelope along with a small three ring binder. He must have grabbed that stuff when he went back there to make her coffee because he hadn't had it with him before. He sat in the seat across from her and placed the binder and envelope in a neat stack in front of him. They shared a few seconds of silence as he looked at her like he didn't know quite what to say.

  "We, uh, we get some interesting answers to our application questions, as I'm sure you could imagine, but, uh, yours, uh… it's in a class of it's own, Ms. Hannah."

  She gave him a hopeful smile.

  "It was the mo
st fun I've ever had reading an application," he said. "I almost felt like we should have it framed or something." He hesitated for a second then said, "To tell you the truth, I liked it so much, I was tempted to offer you a job over the phone." He opened the envelope and carefully removed the paper, smiling as he looked it over again. "I can't believe how you nailed Taylor and Nothing like this," he said, laughing.

  She just smiled. She was curious to know whether or not they'd seen it, and if so, how they reacted but she didn't ask. Instead she just said, "I'm glad you liked it. And for the record, I would have taken that job you almost offered over the phone."

  He hesitated only for a split second before replying. "Well, let's make that happen then."

  She looked at him as if she was assessing how serious he was.

  "I'm not kidding," he assured her. "The application was pretty much enough, but I like your personality too, and I'm the person who does the hiring around here. I don't see why we should drag it out, if you want the job."

  Hannah couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. "Sure. I'd love the job," she said. She was shaking from excitement, and she clasped her hands around the warm mug of coffee to play it off.

  "I wont be able to do more than fifteen or twenty hours a week on the schedule, but people are always looking for someone to cover their shift."

  "Sounds perfect," she said.

  Just then, the front door swung wide, and Michael looked toward it to see who was coming in. He'd done it a few other times since he'd been at the table, but never for more than a quick second. That time, however, his eyes stayed on the person and he began smiling broadly.

  Hannah followed his gaze to find a guy standing there. He was just about the most gorgeous thing Hannah had ever seen. He was over six feet tall with shaggy, dirty blonde hair and darkish skin for a white guy. She wasn't sure, but it seemed from where she was sitting like he had light eyes.