“Not even gonna say hi?” Blair asks me.
“Hi, Blair. Have a good day, all right?” I say, motioning for to continue on her way. She starts to scowl at me but then changes her mind and gives me a bright smile. “See you later, honey,” she calls and drives away.
I just shake my head, wondering what I was thinking of getting mixed up with that ten tons of crazy.
I walk my bike into the garage as Laney pulls into the parking lot along the side of the shop.
Ah, Laney’s here, that explains Blair’s sudden mood change. Women are fuckin’ crazy.
“Hey, is that the motorcycle you were telling me about? You didn’t tell me you got it running!” Laney says as she enters the garage a few minutes later. I can’t help smiling. Laney isn’t a gearhead like I am, but somehow, she still manages to get how important my rebuilds are to me.
I show her the bike and she’s impressed when I point out the modifications I made.
Some of the other mechanics that work for me show up as I’m showing her the bike. I was just about to tell her that I’d like to take her for a ride sometime, but the guys showing up keeps me from getting that chance.
Greg and Owen walk in, looking between Laney and me with surprised expressions. “You opened the shop?” Greg asks.
I shake my head. “Yeah, I did.” Usually Greg or Owen opens up since I’m known to stay well past closing.
I introduce the mechanics to Laney and her to them, but I keep the introduction brief because Owen is checking out Laney like she’s something he’s planning to eat.
I pull her away from Greg and Owen and show her to the front office. “If any of the guys give you a hard time just let me know. Mike and Rod are the two apprentices. That’s everybody besides Cindy, but she’s on maternity leave, like I said.”
Laney’s sexy smile makes my pulse speed up and I wonder if she can tell how nervous I am around her.
She sets her purse down and folds her hands in front of her. The action pushes her breasts together, and I can see the hint of her cleavage at the “v” of her shirt. “I’ll let you know if there’s something I can’t handle, but I’m sure there won’t be. I worked here before, remember? I’m excited to see the update in the computer system you implemented when you took over.”
“Yeah, let me show you,” I tell her, walking over to the computer.
Laney
Austin wasn’t exaggerating when he said business was good. After the brief training he gave me on the computer program, he scribbled down Cindy’s number on the notepad in case there was something that came up he didn’t cover that I may need help with.
Customers started showing up while he was giving me the training. In fact, I can’t help noticing that the majority of them are women. Maybe that’s because men prefer to work on their own cars? But I’m guessing that probably it’s because Austin is easy on the eyes and his smile is so contagious that customers continue to smile even when they’ve been given their bill.
Luckily, the computer system is pretty straightforward and makes billing and scheduling much easier than it was back when I worked here in high school.
Sandrine, a woman I knew in high school, comes in just after two o’clock. She has a lot of questions and no matter how many times I try to steer the conversation away from how it feels working with Austin again to scheduling a car service, she can’t seem to spit out what it is she’s come for.
She keeps looking through the windows in the office that give a view of the garage, so finally I ask her if she’s here to speak to one of the mechanics.
She blushes. “I don’t want to interrupt Austin while he’s working. Can I have a piece of paper?”
I totally resist rolling my eyes and hand her a piece of plain copy paper.
She writes him a note and hands it back to me. When I look at the piece of paper, I take note that she drew a heart around his name on the outside of the folded paper.
Real smooth, Sandrine.
I play with the idea of tossing the note into the waste basket, but my conscience won’t allow it, so I put it in his paperwork slot on the wall. Sure, it may have sunk to the bottom where it isn’t visible, but I’m not a wizard who can defy gravity.
At four-thirty I begin the stages of closing up the office for the day, the biggest step being cashing out the till so that the money can be taken and deposited at the bank.
When I cash out the till I’m confused because somehow, I’m five dollars short.