AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pulled my aids out of my ears, went to bed, and cried myself to sleep after that.
Dante and I were together. We hadn’t said the words boyfriend or girlfriend yet, but it was heavily implied that we would be seeing each other exclusively. He clearly seemed to miss that memo judging by the state his back was in. I felt overwhelmingly hurt, but what surprised me was how angry I felt too. I had dealt with a lot of crap from my ex over the years, things that most women couldn’t imagine putting up with, but I would never let a man treat me so poorly ever again.
That included Dante.
When I showered, dressed, and headed to work the following morning, I did so thirty minutes earlier than usual just so I wouldn’t bump into Dante. None of that mattered, though, because he didn’t show up to clock into work at nine, ten, or even eleven. It was a very weird day, to say the least. The lads didn’t stop by my desk for a single chat or cup of tea in the three hours I had been sat down, and that was just odd. I didn’t ask anybody any questions though. I kept to myself until Harley made his way to me at midday.
“Hey, Ina,” he said, then when I looked up at him, he signed, What’s up?
He leaned his elbows on the desk’s top.
“Nothin’ much,” I answered verbally. “Same old, same old.”
“Yeah.”
There was a moment of silence.
“So listen.” Harley cleared his throat. “Date’s takin’ care of somethin’ this mornin’. He’ll be in by lunch.”
I stared at Harley, who didn’t twitch or so much as blink as he spoke to me. I wasn’t sure why I was looking for signs of him lying, but I couldn’t help myself. I knew I didn’t know Dante inside and out, but in the time I had known him, he had never just ghosted me. It was uncharacteristic of him. I had a bad feeling about it.
“Oh, okay,” I said. “Thanks for lettin’ me know.”
Harley didn’t move a muscle. “Did the aul fella tell ye?”
“Tell me what?”
“That he’s hirin’ two or three new mechanics.”
I gasped with surprise. “You’re coddin’ me!”
“Nope.” Harley grinned like a Cheshire cat. “He said you suggested it, so he’s gonna do it.”
“Oh, this is bloody great!” I beamed. “I made him graphs showin’ him just how much more income the business could be makin’ with more hands. This is just brilliant!”
“I think Gav being on paternity leave has shown him just how full our logs really are, but your graphs really opened his eyes.” Harley winked. “Good job, love.”
I blushed with the praise. “Thanks, Harls.”
Mr Collins walked down the hallway from his office at that moment.
“Ina, honey, I’ve great news.”
“About ye hirin’ on new mechanics?” I clapped my hands together. “Harley already told me.”
Mr Collins’ blue eyes darted to his son. “Ye thunder-stealin’ bastard!”
“I didn’t know ye wanted to be the one to tell her.”
“Ye did too, ye shitebag.”
I laughed at their interaction.
“When are ye plannin’ to hold interviews, sir?”
“We need to advertise that we’re hirin’ first,” Mr Collins answered me. “I know social media is a go to place, but the good ole newspaper never steered me wrong.”
“We can do both,” I assured him. “Companies offer advertisin’ deals that are spread over multiple outlets nowadays.”
“Huh.” Mr Collins tilted his head. “That’s handy.”
“Just let me know everythin’ ye want in the ad, and I’ll get a mock-up for ye to approve.”
“Already emailed ye the details, hon.”
I chuckled. “I’m not surprised. You’re always on the ball.”
“I’m headin’ out for the afternoon. I have a meetin’. Email me with whatever ye come up with, sweetheart.”
Another meeting that wasn’t on his calendar.
“Will do, sir.”
Dante was pushed to the back of my mind as I got to work on drawing up a few different advertisements for Mr Collins to approve from. I was chuffed beyond words that he was hiring more mechanics because it was what the business needed. We had way more clientele demand than what we could handle, but with two or three new mechanics, we might just be able to find a nice balance. I knew the current lads would appreciate the help when it came to easing the workload on their logs. The garage, especially with the new expansion, needed additional staff.
We had six mechanics—four of them were fully qualified, two of them were apprentices—but all of them worked full time, and we had ten bays for them to operate out of, not to mention our roadside rescue service. Even hiring on three mechanics would mean we had a bay to spare, which meant we could add another mechanic to our staff in the future if needed.
I was in the middle of emailing five different advert mock-ups to Mr Collins for him to inspect and give me feedback on when the door sensor beeped. I looked up with a smile that was almost instantly wiped from my face. She made eye contact with me and approached me with the heir of a drug lord. I nearly died when I realised what was happening.
