Heaven's Gate Bridge sixteen

HG sixteen

Taylor Munson was delighted to see Mr. Miller leave for the afternoon. He took the small cigar shaped flask out of his breast pocket from his suit’s coat. Inside it was whiskey that he had planned to drink on his way home. But with Mr. Miller out for at least an hour, he could take the small sip and have a breath that smelled of the new peppermint candy that he picked up. With the problems that he had on his mind, he wished that he had his flask or even the bottle that he kept in his cabinet. Drinking was indeed a problem but he also had a bigger problem and that was gambling. He loved the thrill of taking a chance and perhaps hitting it big on cards or the horses. The down side to this was that his father’s allowance and the wages for this job did not cover the big debt that he owed. His last double or nothing not only gave him one week to pay what he owed back, it might even mean his last week to live.

He sipped the last few drops slowly and then searched for the order form. He knew that Mr. Miller kept the paper work in order as a good businessman should. He found the order and compared it with the form that accompanied the bolt that they had received on Saturday. He looked carefully and then spotted that error that he had made. He had checked the wrong color. He was angry with himself that he had been careless and written the wrong kind of material. He had ordered pin-striped cinnamon brown when he needed a deeper chocolate brown for Mr. Michael Graham. Mr. Graham was on the city council and could be considered a man who was one of the best dressed in town. If Mr. Graham wanted a deep shade of brown, he got it.

Before he could make a plan to cover up his mistake, the door’s bell rang indicating that a customer had arrived. Taylor left everything on the desk and rushed up to the front where he saw that a young man accompanied by a beautiful lady had entered. The man must be a new customer because Taylor did not recognize him. Taylor came to attention and welcomed the man and lady as a new customer deserved.

“Welcome to Miller’s Tailor Shoppe. Mr. Miller is presently out but my name is Taylor Munson. I am his assistant. What can I do for you today?”

“Good afternoon Mr. Munson. I was happy to find a tailor shop in this part of town. I have moved here from up north and want to make sure that I can get all of the appropriate styles that a gentleman would require as a business man. Do you know when Mr. Miller will be back?. I prefer to talk to the head of the business to make sure that I get the quotations of suits that I might order.” he said as he looked around the shop. “Is there another tailor place near? I also want to take my wife to do some shopping for herself.” he responded as he pointed to his wife. She nodded and then turned to look out the window.

“I can guarantee that Mr. Miller will be here later. He will most definitely be here tomorrow morning. Do you have a card that I can give him?” Taylor asked.

“Of course. Here it is.” The gentleman reached into his waistcoat pocket and gave Taylor an expensive looking card that read, “Thomas Fillmore Cleveland, Attorney at Law, New York City, New York.”

“Of course I have not had new cards made but I will write my temporary address on the back.” He picked up the pen from the counter and wrote his address on the back. He made sure that the ink was dry and then gave it to Taylor.

“Very good sir. I will place this card on Mr. Miller’s desk right away and inform him on your visit when he returns this afternoon. Can I help you with anything right now? “ Taylor asked as he pointed to a display on the side of the room.

“I think I wait on that tomorrow as well. Thank you very much and good day sir.” replied Mr. Cleveland and offered his arm to his sandy red headed wife. Her dress was just as the beautiful ones that Taylor had seen in pictures of the designs from New York. She also seemed to float as she walked. She walked very close to her husband.

Taylor at once returned to the desk and put the card in the dish that Mr. Miller kept for cards. In the dish were two cards from new customers who came by last week. It was a busy week for the growing business. He noticed that he had been so busy earlier in the work and his conversation with Mr. Miller that he had not eaten. He picked up his bag and took out the chicken he had brought. He had some Earl Gray tea that he had made in the back of the shop. As he was finishing his lunch, the door’s bell rang again and in walked Joan with a package that had some of the fine pieces that she had taken home to work on. She looked a bit embarrassed since she expected to see Mr. Miller and receive a stern talking to for being so late. She was hoping that she would not be dismissed but she realized that Mr. Miller did have a good business to run.

In the Miller’s house, Catherine had finished reviewing her spelling words. She had planned to practice her music. She did not mind the finger exercises because she loved playing the piano. Her music teacher had told her that if she did decide to become a singer that the music she learned now would be helpful. She looked at all of the chairs and pretended that they were full of special people who would listen to her play or eventually sing at a recital.

Mrs. Hunt came into the room with an arm load of sheets. She was always busy in her own home and did not mind helping her best friend, Frances at this time of necessity. Mrs. Hunt was a little overweight and seemed out of breath from going up and down the stairs. She stopped to catch her breath as she looked for Catherine.

“Oh there you are my dear. I wanted you to help me with the washing of these sheets. You know fresh sheets on beds make a person feel so special. I thought we could change those in your mother’s room before she returned so she could go right to bed if the doctor told her to.” she said as she turned to go to the laundry room.

Catherine’s parents had discussed buying a new electric washing machine that they saw in the Sears catalogue. They wanted to have modern conveniences but still keep in the budget of what they could afford. Mr. Miller’s father had been very wise to show his son that money did not grow on trees. Catherine had only seen her grandfather for a few years before he died. That year her father seemed so sad and would not smile as much as he does at this time.

Catherine went into the laundry to help Mrs. Hunt sort the clothes. She noticed that the boys had put their dirty socks and a couple of shirts in the room. As she was looking at the way Mrs. Hunt was sorting the clothes, she started to repeat her spelling words. Mrs. Hunt nodded as each word was spelled successfully. The last word of receipt was incorrect and Mrs. Hunt turned to say, “’I before e, except after c.” Then Catherine smiled and they both laughed as they continued their laundry work.