Member-only story
Beastly Winter — Chapter 23
The evening wind howled, driving the wet snow ahead of it, plastering trees and houses, painting every surface a thick coat of virgin white. Sleek silent creatures darted from cover to cover, camouflaged in frosted winter fur.
Inside the back office of the restaurant, Roy Gaston sat at his desk with the latest figures from his bookkeeping service. They weren’t pretty.
A harsh winter wouldn’t help. As things stood, he’d be able to hold on six months at best. The struggling economy had taken its toll on his loyalest customers. They came less frequently and spent more modestly. A few familiar faces just disappeared. Their money problems became his own. Why had he hired another waitress? Nola’s plight touched him, but more damage would be inflicted when he’d need to lay her off. Jennifer, he decided, would be first to go.
Things, Roy reflected, couldn’t get much worse than this.
No one knew that his restaurant was now also his abode. He took birdbaths in the office’s cramped bathroom and slept on an inflatable mattress stored in its tiny closet. His wardrobe was in the trunk of his aging Cadillac, the remainder of his belongings in storage in Somerville. He’d always been first to arrive and last to depart, so nobody yet realized he didn’t leave for home after closing.
