Home Away From Home - 19. Chapter 19

As soon as they left for orientation, “Doug, I got to find a coffee pot and buy some coffee. Do you know the kind of coffee Tony likes?”

“Yes, and I know what kind of coffee machine he likes.”

“Lead on.”

I ended up buying a french coffee press and a very strong Italian coffee. “When we get back, I’ll show you how this works.”

The school was providing lunch, I only needed to worry about Doug and myself. “Doug, there’s a cafe that a lot of students use. They have great pastrami sandwiches and chicken noodle soup. Up for it, my treat?”

We walked to the cafe, “How’s your mom and dad?”

“They are doing great. Mom loves Anthony, in fact, he may be forcing me into second place. An Italian mother loves cooking and that smart little guy is now my mother’s favorite. She taught him how to make sauce and my dad couldn’t tell them apart. I’m glad they have accepted him, I know some of my family will not. But the important ones will."

Opening the door to the cafe, I heard, “Hey Carlo, you back?”

“Hey Nick, yes, I’m back, you can’t get rid of me that easy. Nick, this is a good friend of mine, Doug, Nick.”

“The usual?”

“Yes, make that two. Come, we can sit here. Nick owns this place and I have eaten here a lot, sometime I pay and sometime I don’t. Today, I am going to try and catch up on my tab.”

Nick brought over two bowls of hot chicken noodle soup. I watched Doug taste the soup, his face lit up. “I think he likes your soup, Nick.” Doug just shook his head yes and kept eating. “Nick, do you ever make this to go?”

“Yes, if you bring a container I’ll sell it you by weight.”

What I have in mind is enough soup for five people, tonight.”

“OK, I think I have a container that will hold that much. What time?”

“How about 6”

“That’s perfect, we close at 6 so you can have it then.”

“Thanks Nick I appreciate that.” Nick left and I hadn't started to eat my soup. Doug had finished his and was eyeing mine. “Doug, do you want my soup?”

There was no need to answer, he swapped bowls so fast he could have been a scam artist on the streets of New York. Nick brought our sandwiches and Doug went to heaven. This, I would not trade. When we were finished, I knew how much everything cost, so I placed my money under the sandwich dish and added extra. Waved goodbye to Nick and headed to back to the apartment.

We brought up the rest of the luggage, I made up the bed in the guest room, check the guest bathroom to be sure there were enough towels. Everything was perfect. Then I showed Doug the office and told him what I wanted done. “Come with me.”

We took the elevator to the cellar. Doug opened what appeared to be a storage area. “When the people move out of the apartments, some of them leave items behind. I checked them over and if they are in good shape, I put them here. Look around, I think there are two leather office chairs but they might need cleaning. I don’t know what type of table you are looking for, I think there was a round table from someone’s office here. It was like a conference table. Why don’t you take those two chairs up to the apartment while I look for the table.”

I took the chairs to the apartment and they were dirty. I knew you are to use a special cleaner on them but they were really dirty. So I took a soft cloth and shampoo and began cleaning. I got most of the dirt off but I knew I’d need leather cleaner to do the rest of the job. I went back down to the cellar, there were two tables in the hall. One looked in really bad shape, the other was a round conference table which would accommodate 4 chairs. I thought that one would be the best. “Doug, did you see and book cases?”

“I think there’s a tall one that probably would extend from the ceiling to the floor. I’ll help you with the table. We can measure the wall.”

The table being wood was easy to clean. It had a nice grain and went well in the room. While I cleaned the table, Doug measured the wall for the book case. “I think that book case will easily fit and have about 3 to 4 inch of space between the ceiling and the top of the case.”

So we brought up the book case, I cleaned it as well. Now the only thing that needed cleaning was the chairs. I need to get some leather cleaning soap and conditioning. I got a lot of dirt off these chairs, but there is still a lot here.

“Do you know of an automotive store close by?”

“Yes, there is one on the street behind the school auditorium. When I run that way, I can see it.”

“Let’s go.” We must have been gone 15 -20 minutes, when I heard my name being called.

I looked around and there was a guy and girl who were in my class. They wanted to talk and I wanted to clean. Doug saw my problem, “You talk ,I’ll clean.”

By the time I got home, Doug had the chairs cleaned and they looked good. I sat down in one and sorted of jiggled around when we heard something drop. We moved the chair and on the floor under the chair was an old fashion watch and chain. “Who do you think that belongs to?”

“Open the lid, sometimes there is a name or company inscribed inside the lid.”

I opened it and there was something about a reward and the date of 18 something. “I think we need to clean this up.”

“Give it to me, I know a clock smith, he might be able to clean it and even get it running again.”

“Do you think there’s anything else under these chairs?”

“Let’s tip them over and look.” We did, there was nothing.

“Do you think there are any more chairs down there. Two more would be great.”

“I don’t know. I’ll give you the keys and you can look. When you're finished looking, keep the keys and the next time I’m here I’ll pick them up.”