The Greeks of Beaubien Street by Suzanne Jenkins Page A

all. When Gretchen was back in the house, she and Jacob became even closer. Marianne had a few concerns, but she stifled them, telling herself she was jealous of her own daughter because of her relationship with Jacob.
    Then Gretchen met Mike Ahmed. He came into the bank and went to her window. Later he told her that he saw her at a local bar with friends one night and admitted to following her home. He went back the next morning so he could follow her to work. Gretchen didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, no alarm bells went off. She was flattered that he cared enough about her to find out the details of her life. The first time she saw him, he was in the line that lead to her window. He walked up when it was his turn.
    “Hi, I’m Mike. I know this is strange, but I’ve wanted to meet you and didn’t know how else to do it. I’m hoping you’ll have coffee with me sometime, like today. What do you think?” Mike was tall and muscular and Gretchen felt an instant attraction to him. She looked up to see her manager watching their interaction.
    “We are being observed. Meet me at noon.” Then she flashed a big smile said loudly, “Sorry I can’t help you!” He turned and walked out, but not before catching the manager looking his way with intensity. Mr. Friedland walked over to Gretchen’s booth as soon as the young man was gone. He waited as she completed transaction after transaction, finally finishing and turning to him. She decided to take the lead.
    “Well that was a little strange! That young man wanted to open a savings account with no money,” she said. Eyebrows lowered, Mr. Friedland motioned for Gretchen to follow him away from her window.
    “If he comes in again, get my attention, okay? He looks like trouble.” Gretchen nodded okay . In the meantime, lunchtime couldn’t come around fast enough. She would meet Mike at the coffee shop, but they obviously couldn’t stay there. The thrill of sneaking around made the relationship seem more exciting than it should have from the start. It turned out that Mike Ahmed was a little odd. He said he worked for Ford as an engineer, but he was rarely at work. He came to the bank and took her to lunch every day. If she had a weekday off, he was available. Gretchen chose not to confront him about his free time. There was a reason he was keeping his life private and that was okay with her because of his charm. After that first coffee, they walked around the corner to Taco Bell. They sat for her allotted half hour and told each other their stories. Mike’s weren’t true but Gretchen didn’t know it then. His lies made his life sound normal, almost boring.
    She wasn’t nervous about introducing him to her family, although her father might scoff a little at him being Lebanese. The boys she brought home were always treated with respect by her parents, but there had been nothing for them to complain about because she’d limited her involvement to the white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant group. Jacob swore he didn’t care about Mike being Arab. He was just too old for Gretchen. They were sitting around the kitchen table on a weekend morning, drinking coffee and reading the paper.
    “Honey,” he simpered, “he’s at least ten years older than you are.” Gretchen looked surprised. She hadn’t thought to ask Mike’s age.
    “Dad, are you sure? He doesn’t seem that old!” Marianne turned her back. Oh Lord, my daughter . How can she be so naïve? In a rare move of support for her husband, Marianne Parker spoke up.
    “Gretch, Dad’s right. He’s too old for you. We just don’t want you to waste your time with him if he’s too old to have the life you want someday. Are you in love with him? We don’t even have to have this conversation if you aren’t.” Jacob turned red in the face, but said nothing. Gretchen laughed: her light, sweet laughter at odds with the mood in the room.
    “Heck no! I’m not in love with him, I promise you. He amuses me. Plus,