6
I'm not fully sure why I lied. Mr. Atwell always greeted me with a smile when I picked up my dry cleaning. He was there when I got married. He gave me a great deal on the dry cleaning for my tux, and the brides maid dresses. He let me pay him in installments when I didn't have enough after the wedding went over budget. He didn't even charge me any extra. He was there with a smile every time I needed a suit cleaned for an out of town meeting. That was back when I worked for the law firm. He was also there after I came back to town, when I brought my suit back stinking of cigarettes, cigars, and often stained with various types of alcohol from entertaining the clients.
I remember once a young mother came in while I was waiting. She seemed in a hurry. She had a purple blouse over her arm, stained with what looked like red wine. She quickly placed it on the counter, telling him that she needed him to get the stain out. Her daughter was trying to get her attention while she fumbled in her purse. He got a lollipop from behind the counter and gave it to her. His smile seemed to beam an honest caring.
I had to confront him. I had to find out if that smile was just a lie he got so used to telling. I had to find out what I was missing. Even if it killed me.