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“Sorry, that was too easy.”
“I’m just going to pretend we never had this conversation.” Eve looked up into Charlie’s blue eyes. She didn’t know why, but they looked kind and inviting. Perhaps that was why she dared to ask for help. “Can I ask you something else? Something that hopefully won’t lead to a horrifying image.”
“Go on.”
Eve turned the computer screen slightly. "I’m trying to make sense of the schedule for today but I don't know any of my father's shorthand. What does ‘WT Nissan 1999’ mean?"
Charlie leaned forward on the desk and more of her blonde hair cascaded out from underneath her cap. "That's winter tyres for a Nissan 1999."
"Oh, I see.” Eve scribbled down the translation. “What about ‘RWM rep plus new WS’?"
"Right wing mirror repair plus new windscreen," Charlie said smoothly.
Eve scanned the rest of the schedule, only slowly making sense of all the letters and abbreviations. "There's a lot of wing mirror repairs booked in for today."
"We always do lots of those after a crescent moon."
"Why?"
"Because shifters are terrible at parking. I'd bet the majority of these accidents happened at the Crescent Lake car park before or after the fated mate ritual," Charlie reasoned.
Eve was impressed, not just Charlie's ability to understand her father's shorthand but at her deductions too. It made total sense that external factors like events or weather influenced the type of request they got at the garage, but she hadn't thought of it before now. She liked it though. Predictability was her friend.
"How long will all of these take?" Eve wondered out loud.
A thoughtful look appeared on Charlie's round face. "The tyres, I’d say about forty-five minutes to an hour so we usually count an hour and a half for the task. A wing mirror replacement is about an hour. Windscreen is an hour too but it has to stay out of the sun for half an hour afterwards too."
Eve quickly jotted the helpful answers down in her notebook. This was the type of information she wished her dad had embedded in the system but it was likely such common knowledge, it didn't warrant writing down.
"Thank you for running through this with me, you've been a great help. Does everyone use this shorthand or is it just my dad?”
“Just your dad.”
“Does Jack ever do the schedule?” Eve asked.
The moment she mentioned her brother’s name, Charlie leaned away from the desk. When she spoke again, her smile was gone. “No, he doesn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t know, ask your dad. Is there anything else or can I get back to work?”
“No, that's all,” Eve said, a little confused by the sudden shift in tone. She wished she knew what brought it on but the conversation was clearly over.
She watched Charlie leave, even more intrigued by her than before, and determined to get to know her better.
Five
Charlie
* * *
Charlie strained as she carried a tower of boxes to the garage. If she was allowed to shift into her bear form, this would be so much easier. Unfortunately, a big busy street passed right behind the car park which meant lots of curious onlookers with phones and cameras. Charlie didn't mind the odd picture of herself online but she didn't fancy going viral in her bear form.
The sound of approaching footsteps sounded to her right. "That looks heavy, let me help you!"
The boxes instantly got lighter as someone supported the other side and Charlie was somewhat surprised that it was Eve coming to help her.
"I've got it," Charlie said, trying to pull the tower back towards her. It was a reflex she developed working around bigger, burlier men who were always underestimating her strength.
