Page 65 of Infatuated as They Come
“You’re lucky I gave you this job at all,” Jay muttered with a shake of his head before looking at me. “It’s in the back. Can you please jump on that now?”
“Yeah, I’m on it.” I gave Lex a slap to the back, laughing as he just groaned out a soft “kill me” in response.
If I was lucky, the system hadn’t been fucked with that much and I’d just have to blow out the lines and change the master cylinder. But if I wasn’t lucky—and that was usually the case—then the whole system would need to be changed and replaced, which meant I was in for a real long day.
I dumped my stuff in the break room and quickly found the Honda at the back of the shop, and after a long look, I could tell I’d have to replacequite a few things since the brake fluid had spread out. I’d be busy all day, but I liked being busy, and I liked knowing that at the end of the day, I’d be coming home to the girl I loved.
It was Holly on my mind as I worked, muscle memory playing to my advantage as I got started on replacing the master cylinder. I imagined her in front of me, me painting her, me trying to capture every single color. Her brown eyes and golden skin and dark hair and pink, blushing cheeks. In my head, I wasn’t some mechanic with sore legs and calloused hands; I was what she thought I could be: I was painting every day and she was my muse, my everything, my biggest and brightest and best inspiration. By the time my lunch break hit, I had replaced a good chunk of the parts.
I wasn’t planning on eating lunch as I sat down in the break room. I just wanted to rest my eyes for a minute or two. Or three. Head on the table, I ignored the aching feeling in my arms, determined to get through the rest of the day.
“You poor thing,” I heard Audrey’s soft voice say. Then there was the sound of a chair being scraped along the floor. “You look just like Lex. I think he found someone’s car to have a nap in…”
I chuckled, the sound a little muffled. “He’s smart.”
“Smart or lazy?”
“Both. Good for him.”
“Don’t you think you’ve been working too much lately?” Audrey asked. “The last few weeks you get here so early and leave so late.”
I lifted my head up to meet her eyes. There was a sympathetic look on her face as she frowned at me, lips pressed together tightly. “I’m fine. I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”
“Mhm. I believe you.”
But I could tell she didn’t. “I really like it here. I don’t mind all the hard work.”
“You know, Jay was telling me about some art program you were doing. It sounds fun.”
“Yeah, it’s been pretty cool,” I said with a slow nod. I had been spending my last few weekends down at the studio and I hadn’t realized how goodit would be to have all that space and freedom. No cramped corners and bad lighting. No worrying about getting streaks of paint on furniture in the apartment. Just me and a blank canvas and all the room in the world to make what I wanted.
“You should paint something for the main office. Something to spruce the place up a bit. What I’m trying to say is that you should paint me.”
I chuckled. “We could do that.”
“I’m sure you’d be happier painting than being stuck here. Don’t get me wrong,” she said, placing a hand on my arm, “you’re very good at fixing cars and we’re so happy you’re part of the team, but wouldn’t you rather be doing something you love?”
“You sound like my girlfriend,” I mumbled.
“Your girlfriend sounds smart.”
“She is. Real smart.”
“You should bring her down here one day. I’d love to meet her. Maybe she has a friend that could motivate Lex to stop sleeping so much.”
I snorted. “Yeah, maybe. She’s been pretty busy, so she hasn’t had a chance to check the place out. She’s on the cheer team too and writes for the paper, so she’s dealing with her own stuff.”
Audrey gasped. “She’s a cheerleader?”
“Yeah. Real good at it too. You should come to one of the games and see her in action. She was head cheerleader back in high school.”
She held a hand to her chest. “So cute. It’s all veryUptown Girl. I can see why you’re working so hard now. I guess it’s all for her, huh?”
“Something like that,” I said with a little smile. My eyes found the clock, and my five minute break that should have been a forty minute break was over. “I gotta head back in now.”
She checked her watch. “You only just sat down. You haven’t eaten.”
“I’m not hungry,” I lied. “I’ll get out of your hair.”
