The kitchen table told the whole story before I even sat down.
Two overdue bills, a coffee ring on the electricity notice, and a crayon drawing my daughter Lily made of our family standing in front of a house. When you have three kids as a single parent and rent is climbing faster than your paycheck, pride becomes a luxury you can’t afford.
That’s how I, Stan, 35, ended up taking the job as Mrs. Whitmore’s driver.
The kitchen table told the whole story.
***
My new employer was a wealthy widow in her 70s, the kind of woman who lived behind iron gates and wore pearls to breakfast. I expected Mrs. Whitmore to be cold..
I was wrong.
That first day, she came down the marble steps slowly, pearls at her throat, and offered her hand as if I were someone worth greeting.
“You must be Stanley.”
“Stan, ma’am. Just Stan.”
“Then, Stan, it is,” she said with a smile. “I hope you’re patient. I move slower than I used to.”
I expected Mrs. Whitmore to be cold.
***
For weeks, my job was simple. I initially drove my boss to appointments, charity lunches, and every Friday to the cemetery, where she placed white roses on her husband Arthur’s grave.
Mrs. Whitmore never cried; she just talked to her late husband quietly, the way you talk to somebody in the next room.
Then she started asking me questions.
“How old are your children, Stan?”
“Seven, five, and two, ma’am.”
“Do they look like you?”
“The older two got their late mother’s good looks, thankfully.”
She laughed, and not the polite kind.
Mrs. Whitmore never cried.
The curious questions continued.
“Do they know how hard you work?”
“I think they’re aware, ma’am. They always complain about never getting to spend time with me,” I confessed.
The elderly woman sighed. “It will be worth it in the end.”
***
Sometimes, after I drove her home, she invited me in for coffee. I always sat near the edge of the chair, careful not to seem too comfortable on furniture worth more than my car.
“It will be worth it in the end.”
“You can lean back, you know,” Mrs. Whitmore said once. “The cushions will not bite.”
“Old habits, ma’am.”
“Eleanor. When it’s just us, please.”
I nodded, but I knew I’d never call her that.
She talked about Arthur, the lonely house, and her four grown children, who only showed up when there were papers to sign.
Referencing her oldest son, she said one afternoon while stirring her tea slowly, “Bradley called this morning. He wants me to meet with the estate lawyer. Again.”
“The cushions will not bite.”
“That sounds important, ma’am,” I replied.
“It sounds like vultures circling, Stan. But you didn’t hear me say that.”
I pretended I hadn’t. But I had, and I felt sorry for her, a woman with everything, surrounded by people who looked at her like a signature instead of a person.
Maybe that was my mistake.
***
One afternoon after lunch downtown, Mrs. Whitmore accidentally left her wallet in the back seat.
I noticed it only after I’d dropped her off and was pulling out of her driveway. I parked the car and carried it inside untouched.
