Jade's chpt. 3

 Chapter 3

Thomas was the lead engineer at Robi-Worx and the youngest as well. After receiving a scholarship, he attended the Massachusetts School of Technology where he graduated with honors. His mother always knew how gifted Thomas was and she was evermore proud of how much he achieved.  Unlike many businesses, they graciously granted Thomas a work from home status for the time being so he would have flexibility to work between his mother’s appointments.

“You’ve reached Alex, I can’t answer the phone right now. Leave your message at the beep.”

“Hey it’s Thomas, if you have time to meet me at Marcellia’s, I’m going to be finishing up work for the day around 6. I know it’s short notice but I hope to see you there, I have something I want to show you.”

Thomas dashed around to get ready as soon as he submitted his updated project to the design team. He was working on a state-of-the-art AI model that would help humans with every-day tasks. The day couldn’t go by quick enough once he’d found those letters which he grabbed in a hurry on his way out of the door.

After arriving at Marcellia’s. he ordered his usual. It was his favorite when he was young and he needed something comforting. Although it was 2040, this restaurant was stuck in the 1960’s, Katherine had always been drawn to it’s style.

“Okay Thomas I’m here, you sounded animated on the phone, what’s this about?”

Alex sat down in the booth across from Thomas.

“I found these letters, Alex. Letters from some man named Stephen.”

“Okay, do you know who he is?”

“Not very well, I remember meeting him once when I was young. We were on a vacation in Tennessee.”

“Well, what do the letters say?”

“I haven’t gotten there yet; I was hoping you’ll sort through them with me. They seem incredibly personal. It seems this guy meant a lot to my mom, there are dozens of letters in this box.”

“Sure, I don’t mind. I’ve got time right now.”

The waitress approached;

“Hi there, can I take your order?”

“Well, you did ask me out to dinner didn’t you Thomas?”

“Alright, no need to twist my arm, you go first.”

Thomas and Alex began sorting through the letters as they waited on their food. Thomas in his well-organized fashion had a pen and notepad for each of them to write descriptions about what each letter said, even though without the other half they didn’t make much sense. They had carefully summarized each letter and put each summary with its corresponding letter.

“Okay, it’s been 2 hours and I’m getting awfully tired Thomas. I have to work in the morning, call me when you’re done sorting through the letters.”

“Thanks for your help, Alex. It means a lot.”

Thomas left 15 minutes later, leaving a $50 tip for the waitress. Katherine had always taught him it was rude to hog someone’s booth, and to pay for it if you do.

Once he arrived home, he sorted through the mail he’d left on his desk earlier that day, in it was a sealed letter from Stephen Hennessee. Thomas chuckled when he saw that it came from the great state of Tennessee, he thought to himself what a name that was to live in that state.