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Chapter Fifteen
Mike
“Mike, what the hell is up with you?” Manny asked from the driver’s seat. “What’d you do this weekend? You’ve been dragging ass all day. And you look like you slept on the street last night.”
Mike didn’t answer. What could he say to his best friend? That he’d spent his entire weekend researching sex addicts and their recovery until his eyes blurred?
“Or did you finally find someone to do this weekend?” Manny watched him out of the corner of his eye while he drove them back to the shop. “She wear you out?”
Mike wished it were that simple. Wished that a quick one-and-done still did it for him, but he was too old for all of that now. It was played out and boring. He felt very little to nothing when he had those faceless fucks in the back seat of his truck or at their place. Sometimes, he didn’t even bother remembering their name… not that they remembered his either.
“No, Manny. I was home all weekend. I worked in the yard, did some paperwork, and watched some of the Tides spring training on Sunday.” Mike didn’t lie technically. He’d done a little bit of those things also.
“Did you hear anything else from the prosecutor’s office about Jim’s grandson’s assault charge?”
“Yeah, once they reviewed the tapes, they deemed it self-defense. Then after old man Jim refused to back up his grandson’s assault claim, the DA’s office dropped the suit. But I still have to pay the goddamn court costs.” Mike wanted a distraction from his thoughts, but not that one. He was trying to put that whole nasty incident behind him.
“You look like you need another weekend off.”
“How many times you gonna tell me I look like shit. Damn. I get it, okay?”
Manny probably didn’t know what to think as he shook his head and took the ramp off the interstate. “If you say it’s nothing, then it’s nothing.”
Manny knew him well enough to know that there was something causing Mike to lose sleep, and usually if he had a problem, his best friend was the first to know. He’d tell Manny when he had something worthwhile to tell him. Right now, all Mike had was a wish and some hope. Neither was worth talking about.
Manny appeared to take the brush-off as he switched the subject back to business. “You wanna go ahead and check out that OneHealth Fitness Center since it’s on the way?”
Mike looked up from his clipboard, noticing he was only a few blocks from the trailer. He wondered if Rayne was home. Wondered what he was doing right at that moment. Shit. Mike had been doing that a lot over the last few days. He needed to focus on something else. “Yeah. Let’s do it,” he mumbled.
“Let’s try to make this quick. The girls in the office said the property manager of this place called four times today, claiming it was urgent. I really don’t think we’ll have to sell ’em on a contract. Laura said they sounded ready to get lawn maintenance started ASAP.”
Mike nodded as he listened to the details. “How many properties does that gym have?”
“Seven, I think. The Suffolk location is an hour’s drive from the shop.”
Mike thought for a moment. “Damn, it’s gonna be cutting it close.”
“They’re desperate and willing to pay top dollar for us to start this week. So, I think we need to speed up our hiring process. Laura said some applications came in online last week. A few of the guys have landscaping experience.”
“Good.” Mike had to remember to give Laura a pay raise the second he got a chance to go into the office. She was their entire human resources department, their receptionist, scheduler, and accountant.
“I already told her Jason can meet with the applicants anytime this week if they’re available. He’s the crew leader, so he’s the one that has to see if they’re a good fit anyway.”
Mike was typically a lot more vocal in handling their company business, but he was fine to let Manny run the show today while he’d zoned out on information overload about Rayne.
Mike cursed when Manny turned onto the property. This fitness center was one of the most prominent gyms in Hampton Roads and had seven locations, one in each city. It was a two-story building with infinite one-way windows and skylight rafting that took up half the block, but Mike didn’t care about what was on the inside. He was there for the outside.
“This shit looks like wild kingdom.” Mike surveyed as much of the unkempt property as he could while Manny parked in one of the spaces near the back of the parking lot. “What the hell happened to their last landscaping contract?”
“I heard the company went under. Problems with management, I think,” Manny answered.
Mike grunted and dragged his stiff muscles out of the truck. It was after six in the evening and still warm with just enough daylight left for them to see how much work needed to be done. The lot was full of cars, the gym packed with people who’d just got off work and would rather go to a second location and work another two hours than go home and chill. People like that baffled him. Mike wouldn’t dare go to a gym even if they served free barbecue after each session. He thought it was a complete waste of time and money when running was free and push-ups and sit-ups could be done on any flat surface in a home.
“The medians are overgrown with brush, Mike. Look over there.” Manny pointed to several areas. “Those tree branches are hanging a little low for a parking lot, don’t you think?”
Mike took his bandana from his back pocket and wiped it across the back of his neck. Shit. “We might need to use Ray’s tree service again.”
“The gym manager has already offered to pay all subcontracted fees.” Manny joined him near the front door.
