Jason & Darius |Craving Yours| ✔

36. Sunshine & Rainbows

Darius Dixon

I pulled my body from under the Toyota I was working on. The model was old and most of its parts were hard to find but a stubborn part of me refused to give up on the old rust-bucket. The owner Mrs Kangarii was one of my oldest customers. And she always brought her car in for servicing every four months. I had tried to explain to her that it was time to let go but she was adamant about keeping the old car.

Apparently, her husband had bought it for her forty years ago before he went to war. That was the last thing he ever bought for her. So she cherished the old thing despite all the expenses it wrecked up. I opened the front of the car and bent over the engine. If the nice old lady was not ready to give up then why would I? I was just glad to have something that distracted me from Ollie's situation.

I removed the throttle cable from the carburettor, yet another part that needed replacing. My mind wandered back to Ollie's hospital room as I continued to work on the car. The doctor's had used a lot of fancy words to tell me they put her in a coma. Something sharp and painful had twisted in my gut at the thought of Ollie in a medically induced coma because she was too traumatised.

The nurses had allowed me to sit by her bed for a while until visiting hours were over. Visitors were given one hour in the morning to see the sick. And after that hour I did not feel like I was ready to leave her alone.

"Hey, Boss! A Mr Cameron is looking for you." Joseph said with an unsteady voice.

Everyone in the garage was walking on eggshells around me. I didn't blame them since I had fired David the first day I came to work after Ollie was found. David had been a bad employee and he was syphoning out car parts when he thought no-one was noticing but everyone else didn't know that. They all thought I fired him because I was in a bad mood.

"Mr Cameron," I said walking over to the counter as I wiped my hands on the greasy rug.

"Darius." Mr Cameron exclaimed loudly with his usual joyful tone, "I wanted to introduce my friend to you."

I watched as a tall good looking man sauntered into my garage with a quirky smile and pep in his step. If I hadn't been worried about Ollie I might have found him attractive.
"Henry." He said smiling as he extended his hand towards me.

"Nice to meet you, Henry. I am Darius."

"Darius is the best mechanic you will ever meet. Have him take a look at your car. I am sure he can figure out the problem. He is good at anything." Mr Cameron said smiling at Henry.

I chuckled as I revelled shamelessly in the praise.

"He is single too." Mr Cameron said patting Henry on the shoulder.

Henry let out a nervous laugh before turning to me with a smile that looked eerily like Mr Cameron's, "My uncle likes to pretend he is cool, so he can set me up with men he approves off."

Mr Cameron looked at Henry with a frustrated look etched on his face. And for a moment, I forgot about all my worries as deep bouts of continuous joy wormed up my body. The laugh that escaped my mouth felt so foreign and yet, it didn't stop.

"I am glad you approve of me, Mr Cameron." I managed to say between my laughing fit.

"Well, of course, he approves. He has been raving about how hot and reliable you are the whole way here." Henry said glancing at his uncle with a cheeky smile, "I was about to ask him about his marriage just to remind him."

Mr Cameron let out an impressed chuckle as he looked over at his nephew fondly, "Okay Boy. Don't push it."

"Sorry," Henry said laughing, "But you were right about him and I don't mean about being a good mechanic."

"What did I tell you?" Mr Cameron said looking pleased."Okay then. I am going to go and stand over there whilst you two talk.

"He is not very subtle is he?"I said laughing at the absurdity of the situation

"No. Uncle Phil's presence can never be missed or mistaken for something else," Henry said smiling at me.

"So do you really have any car problems or are you just trying to take out?"

"Both." He said smiling.

"Oh," I said wincing as I thought about Jason. A selfish part of me reminded me that Jason had ghosted me. And a lot of people considered that a sign. A clear 'stay away from me' sign.

"You are not single are you?" Henry said smile falling a little.

"Well..."

"Just my luck. Twice in the same city." He said more to himself, "But you can still fox my car?"

"Yes. Joseph will take down your details and I will get on it tomorrow." I said nodding towards Joseph.

"Ok. Nice meeting you Darius. Whenever you are single give me a call." Henry said handing me a business card.

I placed the card in my pocket and smiled at him as I walked away.

As soon as I finished working on Mrs Kangarii's Toyota I rushed to the supermarket nearby. Carol had said something about needing art supplies for school or something like that.

I shifted the paper bag into my left hand trying and almost failing to maintain my balance as I tried to carry Carol's school supplies home. I was just about to cross the road when a familiar laugh caught my attention. A light baritone chuckle that was always accompanied by a small hiccup. I would have known that laugh in my sleep. I would have known that laugh anywhere. I turned around and caught a glimpse of familiar dark hair and an unfamiliar boisterous charm. Of course, I choked it all up to missing Jason. The Jason I knew didn't wear garishly loud colours or bump his shoulder into unfamiliar smiling men. And I had been thinking about him.

The Jason I knew was...serious-faced and seemed to walk under a gloomy cloud. A real-life Batman, only without the mask. It couldn't be, could it?

I stopped walking so I could take another look. The wide smile on his face. The lazy hand that seemed to find ways to touch the guy he was with. The misplaced joy in his eyes. Everything looked foreign on him. He looked like a brand new person. My heart stuttered helplessly as I watched him lean into the other guy he was with.

"Hey, Move out of the way you blocking everyone!" Someone yelled from behind me as they managed to shove past me.

I barely caught the pencils that fell out from my grocery bag before glancing one more time at the familiar yet unfamiliar happy man. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and walked away. It couldn't be.