Silentii Praemium

A constant heavy rain continued to fall outside the Burger Barn on Route 14, turning what would normally be a busy Friday night into one almost totally devoid of customers. In fact, the dining room had been empty for the last hour since the dinner shift ended, leaving the four workers behind the counter little to do but watch the clock and wait for their day to end.

Adam Wright rested his arms on the far left side of the counter, watching the little show going on at the other end. Leaning against the far wall, Brenda Stratton was once again holding court. Five foot nine, with long blonde hair, the seventeen-year-old had a thirty-eight inch bust that would've been impressive even if she hadn't left enough buttons open on her uniform blouse to give even the most casual observer a good look at her assets. Most of the time, all Adam saw of her was the view from the rear since, being eighteen already, he usually worked the grill. Still, he had to admit, that view wasn't bad either. The girl also had a first class ass.

At the moment, Brenda had the full and undivided attention of her two remaining co-workers, Harry Feldman and Teddy Ramirez. She was trying to decide which of them was going to have the honor of going out of their way and drive her home. Rumor was that the high school junior was dating some college guy, but that didn't stop Harry or Teddy from thinking that they might have a shot at her if only they could get her alone long enough.

Normally, when it was this slow, the night manager would send at least one worker home early, if only not to have to pay them to just stand around. That hadn't been done because the regular night manager had called in sick at the last minute and the store manager had to stay when she couldn't get a replacement. To add to the night's problems, Mr. Jamison, who owned this and three other Burger Barns in the area, had shown up unexpectedly on one of his frequent inspections trips. After spending ten minutes or so checking the kitchen and dining area, he had disappeared down the basement with the manager to check the inventory.

With few exceptions, most of the kids who made up the Burger Barn work force hated Helena Lockwood, the store manager. In fact, their favorite nickname for her was "Triple W", shorthand for Wicked Witch of the West. Adam, along with two of the other workers who were already in college, was one of the exceptions to that view.

With high school already a month and a half behind him and college the same distance ahead, the blond haired teen understood that as uninspiring as working at Burger Barn was, it was still a real job. As such, it was going to be run as a business and that was how Helena ran it. As long as they kept giving him a check that he could exchange for those little pieces of colored paper with dead presidents on them, she was more than justified in asking him to take care of anything that was job related. Be it simply showing up on time when he was supposed to, or taking out the trash at the end of the night. As simple a concept as that might have been, many of his co- workers seemed to have a hard time grasping it.

Shifting position, Adam felt his foot bump against something and when he looked under the counter, he saw three trays of hamburger buns stacked one atop the other. They were part of the delivery from earlier in the day, the one that Harry was supposed to have carried downstairs to the storage room.

"Hey Harry," he called out, having to repeat himself a second time to get his attention.

When Harry finally turned around, Adam pointed out the trays he had forgotten. The shorter teen shrugged his shoulders as if to say "so what", adding to his gesture the fact that one way or the other, he was out of here in twenty minutes. Then, secure in the belief that he would be leaving with Brenda, he returned his attention to her.

Adam let out a quiet sigh, wondering why he even bothered. Harry had already forgotten, or didn't even care, that old man Jamison was downstairs taking inventory. When the billing manifest said twenty trays of buns and there were only seventeen on the shelves, didn't he realize the owner was going to be wondering what had happened to the other three. And if he took it out on Helena, who did Harry think she was going to take it out on?

Without giving it another thought, Adam picked up the trays and backed into the swinging doors that led back into the kitchen. The door to the basement was still open so he had no problem getting to the stairs. Reaching the bottom, he didn't see Helena or Mr. Jamison, but since there were three rows of storage shelves, he simple assumed they were on the other side of one and out of his line of sight. Putting the trays where they were supposed to be next to the stairs, Adam turned to go back up, then paused.

It was possible, he considered, that they had already noticed the discrepancy since the last time he had helped with inventory, they had started with the supplies by the staircase. Perhaps it might be a good idea, he told himself, to check with them before he went back up. He wouldn't mention the bun trays unless they asked, he decided, just inquire if he could be of any help. There was no sense in getting Harry in any trouble if it could be avoided. Not that Harry would appreciate it, Adam knew.

Turning around the first corner, he still didn't see them in the empty row, but Adam half expected that. Helena had a desk at the back of the last row where she could take care of paperwork in relative quiet. No doubt, that was where they were.

As he stepped around the second corner, Adam was hit with a shock that had the same force as if someone had just swung at him with a baseball bat. It was only at the last moment that he managed to catch the "oh shit!" that began to spill from his lips.

Helena and Mr. Jamison were at her desk all right, but it was hardly mundane paperwork that occupied their attention. Helena was leaning over the small desk, her dress bunched up around her waist. Even in the dim light of the overhead fluorescent, Adam could see that her panties were down around her ankles. Mr. Jamison, who was a half foot taller then Helena's five foot two, also had his pants down around his feet and was bunched over the smaller woman. Adam didn't have to actually see it to know he had his cock buried inside the store manager. His hands were tightly closed around her small, rounded breasts.

"Oh yeah, baby," Helena said in a voice low enough that it barely carried far enough for Adam to hear, "give me that big, hard cock!"

Adam felt he'd been standing there for minutes, but it was in reality only seconds. He thought his heart had stopped when Helena turned her head to the left and looked right at him. Or so it seemed. But then she went right on with what she was doing.

Not wanting to risk a second more telling glance, Adam quickly beat a hasty, silent retreat.

It was only when he again stepped back out to the front counter that Adam finally realized he'd only been gone a few minutes at most. Brenda and the guys hadn't even noticed he'd even been gone. Looking out at the still empty dining room, Adam waited with no small trepidation for Helena and Mr. Jamison to come back up.

Which they did, less than five minutes later. Walking right past him with barely a nod, Helena saw the store owner to the front door. It was only when she turned around again that Adam realized, with no small measure of relief, something that he understandably hadn't noticed before. Down in the basement, Helena hadn't been wearing her glasses. Even if she had looked his way, all he might have been was a big blur.

A short time later, Helena, much to Harry's distress, let Brenda and Teddy take off since they had the most hours already this week. She pointed out, as Harry himself had indicated, his own shift was nearly over anyway. Once Harry did indeed leave, only Adam and Helena were left to attend to the few customers who braved the rainstorm. In the two hours that remained before closing, not a word passed between them that wasn't work related.

-=-=-=-

It took most of the next week for Adam to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. During that time, he also found himself looking at Helena Lockwood in a different light. For a woman he guessed was only a few years younger than his mother, Helena was still attractive. In an older woman kind of way, he quickly clarified to himself. Short black hair framed a round, pretty face, which in turn rested on a body that, while not the sort most guys his age were attracted to, was the kind his mother and her friends would've been happy to have maintained. If Adam could've looked into one of those basement filing cabinets and seen Helena's he might've been even more impressed. Rather than being younger than his mom, Helena was, at forty, actually a year older.

He'd heard people say that Helena had been married for a while, but was now divorced. Mr. Jamison, he knew, was married because his wife, who was something of a shrew, was also in the habit of making surprise inspections. More than a few times she'd said out loud that she assumed that all of them were somehow stealing from the store, but she just hadn't been able to prove it yet. If he were unfortunate enough to be married to a woman like her, Adam imagined that he also be looking for someone else to fuck too.

Adam's own experience with fucking was somewhat limited, confined to two former girlfriends and one semi- professional who had entertained at his older brother's bachelor party. Still, it was enough for him to wonder, at least for a while, what it might be like to do it with Helena. It was a question he didn't share with anyone else, least he have to explain why he was suddenly wondering about it, and one soon filed away with similar thoughts he'd had at one time or another about teachers and even some of his mother's friends.

In another week's time, the whole incident had been, if not forgotten, then at least filed away in his memories.

-=-=-=-

The clock on the wall ready quarter to five and Adam was already thinking that he had only a little over two hours to go until the end of his shift. He was off the weekend, having already done enough hours for the week by filling in for Teddy who had gone away with his family on vacation. He really didn't have any plans for his days off, but anything was better than spending them here.

"Listen up people," Helena said, stepping out from behind the partition to the kitchen. "I need a favor from one of you."

At the mention of the word "favor", all eyes looked in other directions. The last time any of them had done Helena a favor, it had involved working a double shift on a holiday.

"Oh come on, its not that bad," the dark haired woman grinned. "In fact, I'm even willing to make it worth your while."

Unconvinced, most of them still tried to make themselves look uninterested.

"I had a little car trouble this morning," Helena went on as if she had a receptive audience, "and I need to take a box of reports home to review over the weekend. Needless to say, I don't plan to wrestle with them all the way home on the bus. So I need one of you to give me a lift home."

Even with the favor defined, no one stepped forward to take her up on it.

"Did I mention that I don't expect whoever gives me a lift to come back and finish their shift," Helena added. "In fact, I'll even sign off on their time card so that you get paid for the full time."

That, most of them quickly decided, was a different story.

"I'll drive you," Brenda offered before any of the boys could say anything. She had finally gotten off her father's suspension of her driving privileges.

"No, I don't think so," Helena replied just as quickly. "Even if I didn't know how many tickets you've racked up already this year, I've seen you drive and wouldn't dream of getting in a car with you behind the wheel."

"Harsh," someone was heard to say in a low voice, but no one disputed the accuracy of Helena's statement. Few others would volunteer to ride with Brenda either.

"Then I guess that leaves me, " Harry jumped in, thinking he could drop her off and still be home before dinner was on the table.

"With that bomb you drive?" Helena said. "The only thing worse than riding in that thing would be for Brenda to drive it."

With only left Adam and one of the older workers who seemed the most logical choice to give the manager a lift since he had done so a few times before. But to Adam's surprise, Helena turned to him.

"How about you, Adam," she asked, "you live in Douglaston, don't you? I'm in Bridgetown, it's right on the way."

"Yeah, I guess it is," he admitted, realizing that he'd just been volunteered.

"Fine, then it's settled then," Helena smiled. "The box of files is on the counter in the kitchen, please be a dear and take them out to your car, I'll be right out in a minute."

-=-=-=-

Adam had just pulled his car out in front of the main door when Helena stepped through it. Settling into the passenger seat, she gave him her home address and some directions on the best way to get there as she adjusted her seat belt. It turned out to be only a few blocks from where his Aunt Linda used to live before she got remarried, so Adam knew exactly where they were going. If he was lucky, it would only take ten or fifteen minutes to drop her off and he was home free.

An estimate that was totally blown away by a sixteen wheeler that had jackknifed across Route 14, spilling its cargo all over the highway. It took almost an hour to work their way around it.

"I now feel bad about using up the free time that you were supposed to get out if this," Helena said to Adam as they turned off the highway and headed down the avenue that led to her apartment complex.

"Not your fault," Adam grinned, "and I'm still on the clock so at least I'm getting paid for this."

"That's what I like about you, Adam," Helena replied as they rolled into the small parking area behind the building. "You take a sensible approach to life. I'm sure either Harry or Brenda would be fuming already about how unfair it all was that they didn't get off early after all."

Not knowing what to say, Adam just went to the back seat and lifted up the box of reports. Heavy as it was, he could see why Helena didn't want to be taking the bus home with it.

"Oh, you don't have to carry them up for me," Helena said when he lifted them out of the car. "I've taken up too much of your time already."

"Still on the clock," Adam assured her as he closed the back door with his foot.

"Okay then," Helena agreed as she led him to the outside staircase that led up to her third floor apartment. "I'm afraid the building doesn't have an elevator so we'll have to walk up."

The box felt a lot heavier by the time Helena opened the door to her apartment and then stepped aside for him to go in first. Coming in behind him, she said to put it anywhere.

The apartment was a one room studio, with a kitchenette off to the left. Adam headed for it and put the box down in the center of the counter. While Helena took a moment to sort through the mail that she had picked up at the mailbox by the foot of the stairs, Adam checked out the rest of her home. It was simply decorated, with a large, oversized sofa in the center of it that he guessed opened into a bed as well. In front of it stood a television and DVD player on a stand with a coffee table between the two. Back against the far wall stood a combination dresser/closet that stretched half the length of the wall.

"It's not much, but its home," Helena said as she dropped the mail on the coffee table and followed Adam over to the kitchenette.

"I actually like it," Adam offered. "It's a lot nice than my parent's basement where I'm living now."

"But you're going away to school in the Fall, aren't you?" Helena asked.

"Yeah, that's one of the reasons I moved down into the basement," Adam confirmed, "so that my little brother could have the upstairs bedroom all to himself."

"That was very nice of you," Helena smiled as she opened the refrigerator. "I could use a beer," she added, changing the subject. "Would you like one, or would you rather a soda?"

"A beer would be great," he answered, remembering that age limits to the contrary, his Dad saw no reason why he couldn't have a beer now and then as long as he was responsible about it.

"Here you go," Helena said as she popped both bottles open and handed him one. "Why don't you have a seat on the couch and enjoy it."

Helena paused a moment as Adam did so.

"I'm really going to hate losing you when you leave for school," Helena said as she sat down on the other end of the sofa. "You're one of the few workers I have that take the job seriously."

"The others aren't so bad," Adam offered, even if he really didn't believe it.

"Well maybe if they didn't spend half their time trying to get into Brenda's pants, I'd have more of an appreciation of their work ethic," Helena said unexpectedly.

Adam had been in the middle of taking a drink and had to keep from spitting it out. It wasn't that he disagreed with the assessment, he was just shocked to hear it actually said, especially from Helena.

"Oh come on," Helena laughed softly, "I'd have to be blind not to notice."

"I guess so," Adam agreed with a small smile.

"Hey, truth be told, I have also noticed that some customers, at least the older male ones, seem to make it a point to stop by when Brenda's working the counter," She added as she took another taste of her own drink. "Now I can't say that as a boss that I totally approve of the way Brenda puts it on display, but then again, if it helps keep a steady customer stream, who am I to say anything about it if no one complains."

Somehow, Adam couldn't image any of the customers registering a complaint about the way Brenda wore her uniform. Or the way she didn't wear it.

"I've also noticed that you don't seem to pay her the same amount of attention as might be the case with a young man your age," she went on, "which lead me to think that you already have a girlfriend taking care of you ..."

"No girlfriend," Adam interjected, "at least not anymore."

"Boyfriend?"

"No!" he replied even more quickly.

"Not that there would've been anything wrong with that," Helena grinned, her smile showing she didn't mean any offense. "It was just a possibility to consider, that's all. Actually, speaking for my gender at least, I think it would've been a real waste of a guy as cute as you. But if it had been the case, I do have a nephew that, well never mind."

Adam said with a look that was an area he didn't want to go.

Taking the hint, Helena backtracked the conversation.

"Why then not take a shot at Brenda?" she asked. "In my opinion, of all of you at the Barn, you'd have the best chance of scoring with her.

In a very short time, their conversation had gone in a direction that Adam found almost surreal. Still, it wasn't as if he was rushing for the door to leave and put an end to it.

"It just seemed to me that she wasn't worth the effort," Adam heard himself answering with an honestly that surprised him.

"Well, if there is one thing that girl definitely is, it's high maintenance," Helena noted. "Probably take a lot more than what Burger Barn pays to treat her in the manner in which she seems to think she's entitled."

"This is getting stranger and stranger," Adam thought as he finished the last of his beer.

"Would you like another?" Helena asked when he put down the empty bottle.

"That probably wouldn't be a good idea," Adam replied, "seeing that I still have to drive home."

"A good level headed decision," Helena smiled as she finished off her own drink. "That's another thing I like about you, Adam, you're a lot more mature than most boys your age."