Page 2 of His New Toy

“Thank you,” the man said, briefly touching Seth’s shoulder. His hand was large and warm, and Seth nearly dropped the box.

“H-happy to help, sir,” Seth managed as they walked to the cash.

“Please,” the man said with another soft laugh. “Call me Clark.”

“Yes sir,” Seth said automatically. He’d had politeness beaten into him as a kid, for better or worse. It meant he had pretty decent customer service skills, but it was hard to kick the habit. Especially around clear authority figures. “I mean, Clark, sir.”

Seth winced at the slip, but Clark only smiled. “I suppose ‘Clark sir’ works too.”

They went up to the register, Seth trying to ignore the hot flush up the back of his neck at his own fumbling. Abby’s register was free since Jeanette was still handling the other woman, so Seth held up the box to be scanned as pleasantries were exchanged. Clark swiped a matte black card that looked as sleek and expensive as the rest of him.

“Mind bringing it to the car for me?” This he aimed at Seth as Abby finished up the transaction.

“Yes sir,” Seth said, because he wasn’t about to use the man’s name in front of Abby. She was already sending him a sidelong glance of curiosity.

And then they were heading out into the cold. Seth couldn’t suppress a shiver when the wind hit him. His best jacket was in the backroom because he hadn’t expected to be going outside.

“It’s just here.” Clark gestured to one of the front spots. The car was huge and black and shiny. Seth didn’t know much about cars, but he could recognize the Bently logo. With a beep, the trunk slid open.

Seth set the trampoline box inside gently, careful not to bang any edges of the car.

“Thank you, Seth,” Clark said. He had his wallet in hand, but then paused thoughtfully. “Actually, you know I’m terrible with any kind of tool. Do you think you could assemble this for me? It would be an enormous help, and I would pay you for your time of course.”

Seth stared at him with his finely-tailored suit and handsome smile. He was clearly a man used to getting his way, and that made Seth nervous. “Oh uh, I don’t– I’m not– we don’t have that service here.”

Clark nodded. “Yes, I understand. Surely an exception can be made? My granddaughter means the world to me, and it would ease my mind to know this trampoline was assembled by a professional.”

Seth’s cheeks were pink, either from the chill or the compliment he didn’t know. “Oh. S–Clark I’d love to help you, I’m just not sure my boss–”

But Clark was already waving him off. “It doesn’t have to be now. Are you free later this week?”

“I’m off Thursday.” Seth wasn’t sure why he said it, except that the man was standing so close to him now, looking expectant.

“Excellent.” Clark pulled a phone out of his pocket. “What’s your number? I can text you the address.”

Seth gave it, unsure of exactly what was happening.

“Perfect,” Clark said. Then he was taking Seth’s hand and slipping a folded up bill into it. “I’ll text you. Thank you for all your help Seth, I’ll see you Thursday.” His large hands squeezed Seth’s before letting go. Despite the cold, Seth felt the heat from that touch radiate up through him.

“It was no problem sir–Clark.” He blinked wide-eyed and horrified at his own continued blunder.

Clark only smiled, lips curling slowly into something playful. “I’m beginning to like the sound of that,” he said. Then he stepped back, releasing Seth from that intense gaze.

Seth walked back to the store in a haze, ignoring the look from Abby and heading straight back to the stockroom. It was only then that he uncurled his hand to find a crisp $100 bill in his palm.

Chapter Two

Seth nervously looked from his phone to the huge, beautiful house in front of him, and back again. 520 Brickmeyer Avenue. This was, by all accounts, the place that Clark said he lived.

Seth wasn’t surprised by the fact that the man lived in this house or this neighborhood, but he was very surprised by the fact that Seth was anywhere in the vicinity of either place.

“Calm down,” he muttered to himself. “You’re just here to do a job.” He was very much a service worker in a position to pick up some extra cash. The $100 tip from a couple days ago was going to be a huge help with Seth’s bills.

So Seth had come. He was not about to turn up his nose at making a little extra income. Clark hadn’t mentioned how much he’d be paid for the assembly, but he’d been given $100 just to carry a box to his car. Even if Seth did the set-up for free, he’d still have been paid for his time, and that was including the bus fare he’d had to spend in order to get to Clark’s house.

So it was six o’clock on a cold Thursday evening, and Seth had a trampoline to build.

Fuck, it wasn’t even like these things were that complicated to put together. It’d take him all of half an hour, maybe, and he’d be on his way home with hopefully some more money in his pocket.

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