The Store Manager - Chapter 4

Silje was a little nervous when she approached Morten’s table, she hoped she wasn’t overstepping her boundaries. He seemed like a pretty easygoing guy and he’d told her his buddies weren’t joining him ‘till closer to 9, so she hoped he’d like some company while he waited for them. She wasn’t planning on staying out late since she was working the early shift the coming day.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. 

Morten looked up at her, clearly surprised, but it only took him a moment to pull himself together and a smile spread across his face. “Not at all, have a seat."

“Thanks,” Silje said as she set her glass on the table before she pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’m just having a beer or two before I head home and since you told me you’re not expecting your buddies to arrive in another hour or so I figured we might as well keep each other company.”

“I like the way you think,” Morten grinned. “I hadn’t planned on heading down here so early, but I didn’t have much else to do and I got restless. Some company is definitely a good thing; reading the news on my phone isn’t very interesting.”

Finding Unexpected Love - Chapter 6

“You want to have kids? With me?” Bryan asked, disbelief lacing his voice.

“I think you’d make an incredible father. We’ve only been going out for a few weeks and I’m not saying we should rush into anything, but it hit me the other day that you’re a guy I can imagine settling down and having a family with.”

“Really? You don’t mind the challenges that obviously comes with my disability?”

“I think you can do pretty much anything you want to. You just have to do some things differently and there’s nothing wrong with that. But...before we talk about having kids and marriage, which I think it’s a bit premature, I have something else to ask you.”

“What?”

“I briefly chatted with Kelly yesterday and she was wondering if we want to join her for dinner next Saturday. I told her I’d have to check with you, since your work schedule is so unpredictable.”

“I’ll have to double check, but if I remember correctly I work an evening shift on Friday and a morning shift on Saturday, which means I get off work around three in the afternoon.  If we meet her at around seven in the evening it gives me time for a quick nap to recharge my batteries a bit. I know it makes me sound like an old geezer, but my back usually hurts a bit, especially around the area of my injury, when I’ve been in my chair for 10 hrs straight or more. A couple of hours of laying down usually take care of it.”

“I’ve been known to lay down for a powernap after long workdays too, especially days that are filled with meetings that makes me sure my brain might explode or something if I have to deal with any more information, so you’re not alone in that department.”

“Really? I thought I was the only person below the age of 70 that needs afternoon naps,” Bryan said with a laugh.

“Nope you’re not alone. So, you’re game for dinner with Kelly on Saturday?”

“Yeah. Um…have you told her I’m disabled? Or did she notice it in the bar the evening we met?”

“I haven’t told her and she didn’t notice. If she’d noticed she would’ve said something, I know her that well. Do you want me to tell her?”

“Yeah, I’d prefer that. Definitely. Things are usually less awkward if people know beforehand.”

“I’m meeting her for lunch on Tuesday. I’ll tell her then.”

Bryan nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Finding Unexpected Love - Chapter 5

Meaghan woke up in Bryan’s bed the following morning. He was sleeping on his back with his left arm draped across his stomach and the right wrapped around her; she was curled up against his side with her head resting on his shoulder. Her thoughts wandered back to the previous evening. Their date had been wonderful and she was glad that Bryan had finally let her in and told her more about how his disability affected his life, wheelchair aside. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been slightly intimidated when Bryan wheeled out of the bathroom with a grey plastic bag with a clear tube attached to it in his lap. The other end of the tube disappeared into the fly of the plaid pajama pants he was wearing.

She had tried not to stare as Bryan had transferred to the bed and attached the bag to a hook or something on his side of the bed. Then he’d pulled out two white plastic braces padded with sheepskin from under the bed. He’d quickly positioned his right foot, which she’d noticed were completely motionless, in one of the braces and then he’d secured a wide piece of sheepskin over his foot. It was held in place by three narrow Velcro straps. There was also a wide Velcro strap padded with sheepskin that went across his ankle and one around his calf. He’d repeated the process with the brace on his left foot and then he arranged his feet and pulled up the down comforter so it covered the lower part of the body before he looked over at Meaghan with an uneasy look on his face. “Still not ready to bolt for the door?” he’d asked her quietly; his insecurity was evident.

Meaghan had responded by scooting closer to him and kissing him passionately. She felt the corners of his mouth curl up in a smile he wrapped his strong arms around her pulled her flush against him and returned the kiss eagerly.

The Store Manager - Chapter 3

Within two weeks of his return to work Morten was working a full time schedule. He’d soon realized that it did him good to get out of his apartment and do something useful; he felt more energized than he had in months and much more like himself again. The holiday season was just about to start and he was excited about it. It was without a doubt Morten’s favorite season and he loved the hectic pace of the busiest time of the year. 

“Morten, can I get your opinion on a display?” Elise asked; she was leaning the doorjamb of the office they shared. They’d settled back into a comfortable routine since his return; Elise was in charge of the shop floor and he took care of the administrative side of the business.  It was pretty much the same routine they’d had before Morten’s accident and it worked well for both of them.

“Sure, give me five minutes to finish this up and I’ll be right out, okay?”

“Thanks. It’s up by the cash register.”

“Got it,” Morten replied with a smile before he turned his attention back to the document he was working on; a training document for the seasonal employees. Over the past week Elise and he had interviewed about 20 people. They’d hired six of them and they were starting the following week. Morten knew from experience that it could be useful to send them an overview of the basic routines in the store before they started so they had an idea of what was expected of them.  He’d made the document a couple of years ago, but head office had introduced a few new routines since then and Elise had mentioned a few things she thought should be added to the list as well. After a few minutes he saved his progress and printed a copy. He grabbed the document from the printer, slid it into a plastic folder and placed it in his lap before he released the brakes on his wheelchair and pushed away from his desk.