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“Listen, Grace. I’m tired. I know you are,” she said. “I’ll take Darius out. I’ll show him how sorry I am for being an asshole. I’ll do it on my terms.” She was being stubborn. “Then when we have time, we can go out and you can pay for dinner.” She tilted her head back. “If you want to invite my brother, that’s fine.”
“It’ll probably be another week before I have an actual day off,” I warned her.
“That’s fine,” she said as she got up. “But me doing this isn’t just repairing the relationship I have with my brother.” She closed the distance, offering me a hand up. “We need to set things right between us. I don’t care what happens between you and my brother.” She took a breath and released it shakily. “But the longer this goes on, the more tired I get.”
I nodded, letting her help me up. “Handle Darius. I’ll figure out how to balance everything.”
“I’m willing to help you out here,” she said, gesturing between us, “because I can’t expect you to fix everything and not get overwhelmed.” She kept a tight hold on my hand. “This bad idea was made between friends. I’m not letting it break up our friendship. Are we clear?”
I nodded along with her as she spoke. “I didn’t push you away after you screwed my brother. I can only hope you don’t do the same to me.”
“Girl,” she snorted. “Your brother is trying to start something back with me, so I don’t have any room to be angry with you.” She nodded. “We’re on even footing. I’m not gonna be mad.”
***
I zombie-walked into the parts department of the dealership, two paper cups of coffee in my hands. George, the man training me, perked up. He was an older man that had worked at the dealership for forever. He had graying hair and a little pudge to him, but he was the friendliest guy.
“You bringing me coffee, kid?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips. “Are you trying to bribe me into telling your dad that you’re picking this shit up lighting fast? Because it’s gonna take more than a cup of coffee.”
“Oh no,” I said, not hiding my exhaustion. “He’d know you were full of shit. This second coffee is for when I finish the first one.”
He snorted back a laugh and patted the countertop where the computer was situated. “Start chugging on the clock. We’ve got a long day, so I will look the other way when you need a refill as long as you remember to bring me some, too.”
I offered him the second cup, and he laughed, toasting my cup before he took a sip. “I’m assuming you took over the coffee pot, because there’s been a serious improvement in taste,” he said into his cup.
“I don’t know who was making it before, but it’s really obvious that they’ve never worked in a restaurant or a gas station,” I explained easily. I stepped up to the computer and clocked in. “I bounced around between jobs before I found one that I was comfortable with that didn’t serve coffee.”
“Not even the spiked kind?” he asked, then he eyed me.
“Nope, not very many people ask for coffee at a bar,” I said as I stepped away. “What’s the plan for the day?” I asked.
“You’ll man the phones,” he said after taking another sip. “What I want you to do when they tell you what parts they are looking for is to repeat it back to me. Then I can help you look it up. If they don’t give you specifics, ask for the car. We’ll be able to go from there.”
“You just don’t want to answer the phones,” I huffed out as I went to put my purse in the filing cabinet he had cleared out for me.
“When you start a new job, you get stuck doing the shit work. It is what it is, kid,” he said with a chuckle. Then he cleared his throat. “Pretend to look busy, boss incoming.” He shifted from foot to foot, his attention on the computer in front of him. “After you put the car make in model into the system, it’ll give you a list of common parts that need to be replaced. Things like brake pads, alternators, CV joints,” he said, waving a hand as if he were bored. “If it’s a shop calling, they’ll be able to tell you exactly what part they need. But make sure you verify the make and model. Just to cover your ass.”
“Is all this gonna be on the pop quiz?” I asked, making a note regardless. He had already told me this on the first day of my position, but if he was repeating it for the sake of the boss, it was obvious I needed to take a note. I looked up to see my brother at the counter. “Everything good?”
“I need to see you,” he said to me. Then he turned to George. “Are you still training her? She’s not doing shit on her own yet?”
“She mans the phone. I just keep an eye on her, just to make sure she’s getting it down,” he answered honestly. “Kid doesn’t know anything about cars. I don’t want to set her up for failure.” He gestured to himself. “How would that make me look? Especially since I’m responsible for training her.”
“Don’t go above and beyond,” Kyle said as he eyed the other man. “You don’t need to sacrifice your commissions just so Grace can quit when the job gets hard,” he said dismissively before he looked at me. “I need you in my office.” He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder. “Make another pot of coffee before you get there.”
I snorted. “Give me a minute and I’ll be there.” I turned to George. “I’ll bring you a cup when I get back.”
“Smuggle me some creamer and sugar while you’re at it,” he suggested, and once Kyle was out of sight, he huffed. “Don’t let your brother chase you off. Just because cars are mostly a man thing doesn’t mean you can’t work here.”
“Thanks. I’ll be back in a bit, I’m sure.” I trotted out of the main office for the parts department. I went across the nearly full drive-through where customers were dropping their vehicles off.
The morning air was cool and crisp, but it did nothing to wake me up. It was a sign that the rest of my day was gonna suck on a level I couldn’t put words to. I paused long enough to start a new pot of coffee. As soon as it started percolating, the customers in the waiting room formed a line.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” an elderly man said. “I got in here and it was empty.”
“I’m Grace, in the parts department. If it gets empty again, you just tell someone in here to give me a holler,” I said, before I headed to Kyle’s office.
I didn’t bother to greet him. I didn’t even know if I should sit down. From the look on his face where he sat back against his desk, it felt like I was in trouble. I hadn’t been clocked in for thirty minutes. I couldn’t comprehend what I’d done.
