The holiday season would come up quickly. Banquet sales kept the chef well-informed about the bookings and the chef told Jimmy Banquet Chef who passed it along to the banquet crew. No rest for the wicked.
By the end of week three things were more or less routine for Bill. The Falstaff Room was busy and stayed busy. Mondays were a touch slower than the other days and the weekends were gangbusters. It was sufficiently busy such that Caesar adjusted the schedule so Jo Ann came in a half hour later and worked until Rosie and Edelgarde were assured they could cover the closing. The change only affected about an hour’s time and it was in Jo Ann’s favor, more or less. Even if she minded, which she did some, she didn’t mind. The real rub was that she had no choice in the matter. Caesar was not one to not continually remind the girls that they could easily be replaced and there were lots of girls ready to step in immediately.
Having Jo Ann there more was good for Bill. Although there was nothing ever said, at least that he was privy to, just due to the circumstances of her being there, Rosie and Edelgarde were somewhat more reserved. That did not stop them from meeting up with him from time to time when no one else was around. Then, they might cop a feel of him, say something to him, make a suggestive suggestion. He might be standing in the ramp leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette. One of them might sidle up next to him with her own drink, a coffee or a soda, bump him gently with her hip, whisper something in his ear.
Bill appreciated regularity. Bill appreciated routine. Bill liked sameness. He did not like to look for things. He did not like to have to see where things were. He liked to be able to reach for something without looking and for it to be there, one time, every time, all the time.
Bill liked regularity and routine in his life. He liked knowing what he had to do ahead of time and then being able to do it without interruption. If anything was getting altered, he liked to be the one to do the altering.
Bill liked having a job. He liked having somewhere to go every day and he liked getting a paycheck every two weeks. His first paycheck was a good one, but it was a smaller one. They held two weeks, so he did not get it until he’d been there a month. He and his wife had to tell the landlady they’d be a little late with the rent, but this time, they expected, would be the only time.
And it would be.
The second paycheck was considerably larger. This one reflected one week at his new rate and it also reflected his new schedule of working all the time on banquets before heading off to The Falstaff Room. This second one, give or take, would represent his usual, and as he and his wife considered things, they understood they could begin to budget finances. For Bill, and for his wife too, which was a good thing, past monthly overhead the first budget item was savings. They had some now, but the goal was to continually add to it.
The week of the day that Bill got his first paycheck was a week that Bill had a day off. He and his wife made a date. In fact they made a full-day date. It was very simple. First they would sleep in. Then they would spend some home time together. Then they would go out for breakfast, even if it was lunch time. Then they would go to visit his wife’s parents. And finally they would spend the evening together doing whatever that might lead to.
