After a little bank loan, a bully landlord, which was soon starting to sound like... 'Land, Lord...,' an 'old school acquaintance happen-chance meeting... obnoxious young boy he'd been when Simmy knew him as a lad. He looked like he'd grown up... maybe getting close to 50 does that for a man.
Then... voting and hoping your choices were good and right for the city... Simmy had a moment to think on and ask Sam... "Have I had any female mentors... oh yes, Mary-Anne and Donna but other than that they've been mostly male mentors, hey?"
"Yep, mostly," he said.
"I've mentored lots of people, male and female. I mentored when I was in my 20's. I think our sons are capable of that, too, on a lot of levels. I was telling this Scott at the bank that some of the young people I have had the privilege to deposit into are... a counselor, a nurse who married a pastor, an owner of a bookstore/eatery- a marriage team connection,... some really good results in some of these kids- turned- adults. Oh, another nurse... and her brother who wanted to work in the movie industry. I wonder how that has turned out for him so far."
"You know, when I think about it, all of those, that whole group came from my 7 years at the cafe when our kids were babies- to- toddlers. I really think everyone is capable of mentoring others in a everyday normal and ordinary walk of life way."
"Sam, are you listening?" His head was in his National Geographic. When that magazine arrived, Simmy may as well be saying, 'Rhubarb ate the steel leg of Mondrian College' and Sam would politely give a, 'Mmm Hmm,' not realizing that he was really giving himself away..."
"So, how did you handle that nasty landlord?"
"Well, he tried to tell me that he was doing me a favour by letting me give him ideas for his banquet hall 'for free' and that I should realize the favour he was doing me. He even tried to tell me that this was part of the rent deal. I said, 'No, it's not!'"
"That's ridiculous. How old- school is this guy?" Sam asked.
"He sounded exactly like the last two employers I had- overly powerful, stealing my work/ clients and unbelievably abusive in his delivery. What the heck is that, Sam? Is this normal for the business world? When I told him that I would show up at his banquet center with you in tow, he told me not to bother coming and, 'as a matter of fact, don't ever come into my place.'"
"What? What did you say then?"
"The bank loans guy was shaking his head and rolling his eyeballs just listening to one side of this conversation so I knew 'the problem was 'old-school guy.' Even more strange, after he told me never to set foot in his establishment, that I won't give him free interior design services for, he said, What time do you want to meet tomorrow?... like he'd just put Mr. Hyde back into the bottle and Dr. Jekyll was, once again, back in control. Completely insane and mad old guy!"
"I wonder what he'll be like tomorrow," Sam murmured.
"I'm going to feed him my delicious pumpkin cake. Maybe that will chisel a crack on his crusty heart or, at the very least, he won't be able to talk. I'll bring lots of cake...," Simmy grinned.
"You know, he reminds me so much of the last two employers that I had, I think I'll develop a book around a group of old, power- hungry men, in this city, meeting together, debasing women and... oh wait, those horror stories have already been written... over and over and..."
"Get some sleep, love," Sam said.
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