(unedited)
Bikers, Chains and Bad Boys: Chapter 2
Later on that night, I was putting on the new brake calipers I'd gotten from Andy's. Andy turned out to be the man who offered me the job and, thankfully, knew exactly what I was talking about when I asked for the calipers.
I was just finishing up when Dad leaned out the door in the garage that lead to the kitchen. "I'm heading to work. Your plate's in the microwave." He said.
"Okay. Thanks, Dad." I replied, sending him a smile.
"Sure. Did you get it fixed?"
"Got the new brake calipers on," I sighed. "But he needs a bit more work before he's ready." I stood up, wiping my hands on a shop towel and making my way towards the work bench up against the wall. "Oh, hey, I forgot to tell you something. When I went to get the parts, the guy that owns the shop offered me a job." I said, turning to smile up at him.
He looked surprised. "Really? How'd you manage that?"
"Apparently, this guy, Paul, had been working on a bike and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't start. So, I walked over, did my thing, and wah-lah. Apparently the owner saw me and he said the guy had been working on it for two weeks and I fixed it in thirty seconds." I ended my story with a laugh. My dad chuckled, shaking his head.
"Well, good for you, sweetheart. When do you start?"
"Tomorrow morning at nine A.M."
"Good. Well, I'm off. Have a good night and I might have to work over so if I don't see you in the morning, have a good first day at work." He smiled. I walked over to hug him and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"You, too, Dad. And thanks. I love you."
"Love you, too, sweetheart."
I made my way back to the work bench as my dad got in his car and drove away. Since it was already ten, I cleaned up the garage and put my things away before heading into the house. Tomorrow was my first day at the shop so I wanted to get some good sleep tonight. I ate my dinner, showered and headed for bed.
~*~
The next morning, I was up at five, ran five miles and made it back in time to shower and whip up breakfast for Dad and I.
"Hey, sweetheart." My dad said as he walked into the kitchen. He kissed the side of my head and leaned over my shoulder, sniffing the food I was plating for us. "Are one of those for me?"
"Yes, sir." I replied, handing him one of the plates. He took it and turned toward the table. "I'll get you a cup of coffee."
"Thanks."
"Sure."
"You heading out after this?" He mumbled around a bite of eggs.
"After I make your lunch, yes. It'll be in the fridge like usual." I said, taking a bite of my own food.
"You don't have to make me lunch everyday, sweetheart. I can do it." He said.
"It's okay, Dad. I like making you lunch."
He smiled gratefully at me and I gave him one in return. We finished our meals in comfortable silence. When Dad was done, he stood up and went to place his plate in the sink. He kissed the side of my head again and mumbled a good night and good luck before heading to his room.
I put together a couple ham and cheese sandwiches, wrapped them in plastic and set a bag of chips on the counter with the note I leave everyday.
Dad,
Sandwiches are on the top shelf.
Have a good day, I love you.
-H
After I was finished I went back to my room and threw on jeans, a tanktop and a t-shirt. Grabbing the paperwork, I headed out to my first day of work with a real smile on my face.
~*~
As I was coming up on the shop, I heard loud laughter and voices. Nobody really paid any attention to it, just went about their business. I pulled out my phone to check the time. 8:47 am. Good. Dad always taught me to be early.
I let my eyes roam around as I slowly entered the garage. The guys from yesterday were all there but I didn't see Andy anywhere.
"Hey, Cool Whip!" I swivelled around at the voice. The laughter had stopped and everyone's attention was directed at me. I blushed. Cool Whip?
"Hey." I gave a slight laugh. "Uh, Cool Whip?" I squinted my eyes and made a face at Dustin.
"Yeah!" He exclaimed, slapping Paul's back as he said, "'Cause you whipped his ass yesterday!" Paul scowled as his face flushed. The loud laughter that followed caused Andy and a guy about my age to come out of the office to see what was going on.
"What the hell's so fu-" Andy started before he saw me. "Oh, hey. Finally someone who shows up on time." Shouts of protest sounded through the room. I smiled at him. It got quiet for a second before I stepped toward him, holding out the forms he gave me yesterday. "Thanks."
"Sure." I smiled again.
"Alright," He turned, starting toward the middle of the room. "I'm a little curious about what you know and what you can do. So, after you left yesterday, the boys came up with a little test for you since Paul-" Paul grunted. "-and a couple others think that what you did yesterday was just luck."
We stopped and formed a circle around four bikes. "There's something wrong with each of these bikes and we're going to time you to see how long it takes you to figure out the problem with each one, if you can. Then we'll time you on how long it takes you to fix each of them." I glanced up to see a bunch of smirks directed at me. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Andy.
"Everything you need is in this shop." He said, making his way to a chair a few feet away.
I smirked and made my way towards the bike closest to me as the rest of them moved to sit down. I looked to Andy, waiting for him to tell me when to start. He lifted the stopwatch in his hand and looked at me as he clicked the button.
"Go."
The first one was easy to figure out. There was a leak in the brake line. I saw it as soon as I walked around it because there was an generous puddle underneath the bike. Obviously these guys thought I was stupid.
"Six seconds." Andy chuckled. "That was Corey's." I looked at Corey and he winked at me with a smile. "Next is Paul's."
I smiled and walked around the second bike, not seeing any obvious problems. I stopped and thought for a second. This is Paul's bike. Okay.
I looked up to see Paul trying to hide a smirk. Squinting at him, I walked up to the bike and straddled it. I saw the frown on Paul's face before I reached up to start the bike. Unsurprisingly, it didn't start.
I raised an eyebrow at Paul, who scowled at me as he confirmed what was wrong.
"One minute, twenty-three seconds." Andy called out. "Next is Dustin's."
Paul continued scowling as I continued onto the next bike.
It had already been ten minutes and I hadn't figured it out yet. It wasn't til I was squatted down and bent at an odd angle that I saw what it was.
"Oh- she got somethin'." Corey called, making the ones who had got up to turn and sit back down to watch me again.
I shoved my hands in, fiddled around a bit to make sure and when I was I turned my head to narrow my eyes playfully at Dustin. He answered me with a cheeky smile. It was a simple fix, but it was a simple fix that would take me a while because of the way you had to do it.
I called out my answer and Dustin nodded to Andy.
"Thirteen minutes and forty-two seconds." He called.
"Woohoo!" Dustin cheered. "I'm in the lead!"
"Last one's Jeb's." Andy told me. I looked to Jeb who sat on top of the work bench, arms folded across his chest. He smiled at me, amusement in his eyes. I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes before they slid to his right. The guy who wasn't there yesterday was staring at me curiously as I walked to Jeb's bike. When Andy called 'go', I got to work.
I stood back up, blowing out a breath at the stray hairs hanging in my face. This time was taking a lot longer than the others. It wouldn't surprise me if it had been an hour or more. I glared noncommittally at Jeb, who only smirked in return. Walking to the front of the bike, I stood with my hands on my hips and stared at it, thinking.
It wouldn't start.
The lines were fine. Wiring was fine.
But, the damn thing wouldn't start.
I frowned as I thought through every possibility I could think of. I mean, I checked everything from the fucking speedometer to the start-
You've got to be kidding me.
"Oh my god." I muttered, rolling my eyes at myself. I whirled around, facing Jeb. "The starter?"
Jeb chuckled, gave me a small proud smile and nodded once in Andy's direction.
Andy chuckled. "Any guesses, boys?" I looked at Andy, who gave me an amazed smile.
"Five hours." Paul grumbled. Andy rolled his eyes.
"Mmm, two and a half hours." Dustin called from the corner of the shop.
"Hour and a half." Corey said.
"Hour at the least." Jeb guessed.
"Tyson?" Andy said, looking at the guy next to Jeb. Said guy turned his head to me, narrowing his blue eyes curiously.
"Forty-five minutes." He answered. His voice was deep. A little deeper than I expected, but still nice.
Everyone looked at Andy, who smiled wide and walked over to me, throwing an arm onto my right shoulder. "Twenty. Nine. Minutes." My head whipped to the side and up to him so fast, I felt a painful crick in my neck. My jaw dropped. It felt like forever!
"You shittin' me?!" Dustin shouted, smiling at me as he bounded over. "Damn girl! You're a beast!" I chuckled at him, my eyes floating to my left. Tyson was staring curiously at me, his face blank. My lip lifted up a bit in a smile at him.
"Alright, now we have to time how fast you can fix them." Andy said, heading back over to his seat.
It took me less than an hour to fix each of the bikes. When I was finished with them, Andy stood up and patted my back before making his way into the office. Corey bumped my fist, Jeb sent me an approving nod and Paul ignored me as they finally began work for the day.
Dustin walked over to me. "So, you single?"
I rolled my eyes and walked away.
~*~
By the end of the day I had changed two flat tires, helped Jeb put on a new muffler system and continuously shot Dustin down on his pick up lines.
"Alright, here's you're schedule," Andy said, handing me a piece of paper as we finished cleaning up the shop. "You get two alternating days off per week, as does everyone else. If you need a specific day off, let me know and I'll see what I can do."
I smiled and thanked him. He told me a few of the rules he has, my pay rate and a few other things before he told us we could go home for the day.
"See you tomorrow, sweetcheeks!" Dustin called as I began walking down the street. I flipped him off and heard him chuckle as I crossed the street. Slipping my hands into the back pockets of my jeans, I couldn't help the genuine smile that settled on my face.
Couldn't have asked for a better first day.
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