Free Run to You by Ginger Rapsus Page B

her into the conference room. “That sounds really good, Mr. Blakely.”
    “You can call me Tom.”
    “But Greta calls you Mr. Blakely.” He winked, and sat down on a folding chair in the huge, sunny conference room.
    Brandon picked up a big sandwich, dripping with beef and juice, and took a big bite. “This is good.” He took another big bite, picked some green peppers from the top, and gulped them down. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
    “Oh, I can’t polish off a big sandwich. I’ll take half of one.” Greta carefully selected one of the smaller sandwiches, picking off some of the peppers. “I have a lot of work to do. Didn’t you have a practice this morning?”
    “Yeah. Yeah, we sure did. And it was tough. It gets tougher as the season goes on.” Brandon wolfed down the big sandwich in a few gulps. “That was good.”
    “I probably seem boring after your big workout and all. It’s pretty quiet in here today.”
    “This isn’t boring. Actually, it’s kind of nice.” Brandon looked at the conference room; Greta’s co-workers had left her and her friend alone to eat together. “You make jewelry and do special orders?”
    “And we buy gold and silver from people. You wouldn’t believe some of the things they bring in. School rings, wedding rings. It’s kind of sad.”
    Brandon suddenly remembered his grandmother’s gold ring, and wondered if it was in their safe, or wherever they kept the stuff they bought.
    “What do you do with the rings after you buy them?”
    Greta finished her beef sandwich, and took a drink from a pop bottle. “We send them to the smelter. If we have gold teeth, we pick out the gold…”
    Brandon made a face.
    “And we have a coin expert on staff who checks the coins, to see if there’s anything really valuable.” Greta wiped her mouth. “Okay. Back to work.”
    South Side Precious Metals was so different from Brandon’s workplace. He practiced and watched films and was under tremendous pressure to succeed. Hockey was a fast and intense game that got more intense late in the season. And he constantly worked out, to keep in shape and force his body to play the very best game he could.
    Greta’s place was quiet and slow-paced. It was different, but a nice different.
    “Can I watch you work on something?”
    “Sure.” Greta was taken aback by his question. She never thought of her work as exciting, especially when compared to the life of a professional athlete. “Sure. My table is over here.”
    Greta and Brandon walked to her work area. Her table was large and well-lit, with an array of engraving tools within easy reach.
    “Here’s my latest project. A gold bracelet with a simple design. My customer likes simple designs. Some of my customers like more fancy and elaborate engravings.”
    Brandon spent the next few hours watching Greta work. He hesitated to ask her many more questions, even when she picked up some odd-looking tool and used it on the bracelet. Her concentration and attention to detail showed in her work and the finished product.
    “I’m sorry if you’re bored,” Greta said after half an hour.
    “No, no. Don’t be sorry. This is not boring.” The slow pace was so different from the speed of a hockey game and the intensity of practices and workouts.
    An hour went by without anyone speaking.
    Finally, Greta peered at her project. “I think it’s finished. Let me double check.” She picked up a magnifier and studied every inch of the bracelet. She knew just what to look for and knew how she wanted it to look.
    She began polishing the bracelet. “Done. Now I’ll put this in a bag, with the customer’s name on it, and call her to pick it up.” She looked up the customer’s name and phone number in a card box, not on a computer. “Brandon, I can’t believe you watched the whole thing.”
    “You made something pretty. You created something. I never knew there was so much to jewelry. I thought it was…just there.”
    “Thank you. Glad you