“That’s cool. I don’t need more money. Or much at all, really. I live with my aunt for free. She might want me to buy my own food, but I can figure it out,” Nina said with a shrug.
“There will be longer hours. We’ll still be short-staffed after the program is over. I always thought I’d hire some new employees from the trainee pool but only one or two. So it would be the four of you doing everything. It’s going to be a lot of work.”
“Great,” Nina beamed, “I like work. Love it, actually. The more, the better. Besides, I don’t have much else going on, being newly single and all.”
That one stung. It was also getting dangerous. I figured Will had already guessed the situation. Still, I didn’t want her hinting that something was going on between us, even if it wasn’t happening anymore. I didn’t want to lose any respect among the crew by them finding out I was banging a trainee. There was a lot more to it than that, but it was difficult to explain. The situation itself looked cliché as hell on paper.
I tried to keep things casual and not show any kind of reaction.
“Fine, get back to work. We have a lot to get done, thanks to the miracle worker here.”
That got a chuckle, which was a relief. I hated tension at the best of times. Never mind when I was still hurting from a shattered heart. It was a wonder the thing would even beat after everything that had happened to it.
I went back to my office, very much still in control, before basically deflating back into my chair. The crew weren’t the only ones with work to do, but I just didn’t seem up to it. I looked up at the monitor for the security camera, going against the full-throated screams of my better judgment.
It hurt just to see her — even in black and white — an actual, physical pain in the general area of my chest. My dad had died from a heart attack brought on by the betrayal of a woman. It seemed only fitting that I should go the same way.
That really wasn’t fair, though, just like most things in life. I watched Nina work, interacting with the rest of the crew, in her absolute element. I felt an emotion I thought long buried come back up: pure, extraordinary love. I had discovered I loved her a while ago. A feeling I’d thought died when she’d walked out of my house with her smug prick of a dad in tow. Turns out it was only sleeping, and it was time for the beast to awake.
It was all true. I tried to deny it based on nothing but my own stupid pride. Making me a lot more like Nina’s dad than I cared to admit.
Sarcasm aside, business at the shop really was great. Better than it had ever been since we opened. Even before my semi-blacklisting after having to let Hank and Mike go. The majority of the customers were repeats, most of whom came in because of Nina. Because of her work's speed and precision and her excellent personal skills, many customers asked for her by name.
She was clearly popular among the crew, at least if their threat to quit en masse if I fired her was anything to go by, and the customers loved her, particularly women. There was, unfortunately, a bit of reputation among mechanics, particularly the more traditional ones, to talk down to women or patronize them. I knew I was in no position to criticize, but I wasn’t too proud to admit I’d made a mistake.
Sweet-natured and honest, almost to a fault, Nina put people at their ease, and as so often happened, they told their friends. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to find out that most, if not all, of the new business had come by way of word-of-mouth. No matter how much it hurt just to think about her, I would have to be crazy not to keep her around.
My fingers shook slightly as I dialed. I was in no fit state to be around customers and needed to get away. Will had a set of keys as well and would be able to lock up at closing time. I’d put a private door for emergencies that went out the back of the shop.
“What’s shakin’, good buddy?”
John hand answered on the second ring. His powers of deduction often reaching the point of the uncanny. He’d been that way since we were kids. One of the main reasons, along with his no-bullshit honesty, was why we’d been friends for so long.
“My hold on reality,” I said, only slightly exaggerating. “Do you think we can meet at the La Muerte Grande?”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” said my best and last remaining friend in the world.