“Quinn, you just sold the garage.”
“Yes,” I say, looking into his eyes. “And my father is an alcoholic. He ran us dry, Jace. The bills took a massive portion of that. It won’t last forever and I don’t want to get stuck when it runs out.”
He nods. “I understand.”
“Quinn?”
The sound of my dad’s pained cry jerks me off the bed. Jace gets up behind me. Dad was out when Jace came to hang with me, but he must be home and by the sounds of it he isn’t doing so well. I rush out of the room and down the hall, skidding to a halt when I see my father hanging off the kitchen counter, barely holding on. He’s covered in vomit, his shirt is torn and he has grazed and bleeding knees. He obviously fell a few times.
My shoulders slump and I turn to Jace. “You should go.”
Jace stares at my father, the expression on his face a little broken and a lot horrified.
“Quinn,” he whispers. “I didn’t realize…”
“Jace, just go.”
He snaps out of it. “No, no way.”
He strides towards my dad before I can, and hauls him up straight. “Right, Robbo, takin’ you to the shower.”
“Jace?” Dad mumbles, blinking up at him.
“Yeah, it’s me. Come on.”
“Jace,” I say but he gives me a hard look.
“No, Quinn. Let me help. You clean up the mess.”
He nods towards the front door and I turn to see a pile of vomit on the floor. Great. Jace disappears into the bathroom with Dad, and I gather up my disinfectant and bucket, then I get to work scrubbing the carpet. My phone rings midway through. I push to my feet with a weary sigh and wash my hands, then I pull it out of my pocket and am surprised to see Tazen’s number on my screen.
Why is he calling me?
I press the green button and put it to my ear. “What?”
“That’s not a nice way to speak to your boss, Quinn.”
I sigh. “I’m not in the mood right now, Tazen. Why are you calling?”
He’s silent for a minute. “Everything okay?”
“Don’t pretend you care. What. Do. You. Want?”
“I can’t find my recent projects folder.”
“You’re in the garage?” I ask, surprised.
He laughs softly. “I don’t stop working, angel.”
“Right,” I mumble.
“Quinnie!” I hear shrieked from the bathroom and my back snaps straight.
“Tazen, hang on.”
“Quinn?” Tazen asks, concern etched in his voice. “What the fuck was that?”
“Just … I’ll call you back okay?”
“Quinn…”
“I’ll call you—”
My sentence is cut off when my father comes charging out of the bathroom, stark naked. I scream and spin around, horrified. “Jesus fuck!”
“Quinn!” Tazen barks.
I hang up quickly and drop the phone, calling out, “Jace?”
“Sorry, Quinn,” Jace says, rushing out behind him, his voice sympathetic. “I was showering the old man and he freaked out on me.”
“Quinnie,” Dad protests. “What the fuck?”
Anger bubbles in my chest, but I keep my back to him and my mouth closed.
“Come on, Robbo.” Jace tries for calm. “Get yourself dressed and go sleep it off.”
“Fuck you, Jace,” Dad barks and I flinch.
This is something I’ve noticed has been happening more and more lately. Dad is getting angrier, more short-tempered. This worries me.
“Relax,” Jace warns. “It’s time for bed.”
“You don’t tell me when I go to bed,” Dad slurs. “Who the hell do you think you are? Bring it on, boy.”
“Dad,” I yell, finally losing my hold on the anger bubbling up. “Get dressed and get into bed. I can’t take this anymore. If you’re going to act like a child, that’s how we’re going to treat you.”
“Quinnie…” Dad whispers, hurt.
My shoulders slump and tears burn under my eyelids. “Just,” I whisper, “go to sleep.”
There’s shuffling sounds, and a moment later a door closes. I slowly turn to see I’m alone in the room again. I glance down at the mess only half cleaned on the floor and the phone beside it that is flashing with another phone call. Tazen. Fuck. I reach down and snatch it up, pressing it to my ear.
“Tazen.”
“What the hell, Quinn?” he yells. “I’m coming over.”
He’s … what?
“No, you can’t come over,” I cry.
“I fucking can. You were screaming. Are you hurt? Fuck, angel, are you hurt?”
He’s … worried for me. My heart swells.
“I’m okay,” I say softly. “It was just … a friend stayed the night and he was drunk. It’s a long story but I’m fine, don’t come over.”
Tazen is silent a minute. “You’re lying to me.”
I close my eyes. “I’m your employee, Tazen. You’ve made that horribly clear. I’m no more. What happens here is none of your concern. You rang about a file, it’s under new builds in the second filing cabinet. I’ll see you Monday.”
“Angel,” he starts, but I click the phone off.
I drop my head and let one silent tear run down my cheek.
* * *
By Monday morning, I’m ready for work again. My weekend was slow after Dad’s drunken meltdown, and I spent most of it making sure it didn’t happen again. Jace came over to check on me a few times and Lenny showed up once and kept an eye on Dad for a few hours so I could go to the store and stock the fridge. I know Jace told Lenny what happened, and I know they’re both looking out for me.
But I’m tired.
So damned tired.
I get into the garage before Tazen and the guys, so I get some serious invoicing done. By the time nine rolls around, I’m on top of most of the work for the day. This work is boring the hell out of me, and I honestly don’t know how I’m going to keep on top of it when all I want to do is go out into that garage. Maybe Jace is right, maybe I need to let it go and get another job.
“Hey.”
I turn to see Tazen standing in the doorway to the office.
“Ah, hey.”
He tilts his head to the side and studies me. “How was your weekend?”
I stand. “Fine. I have done all the work for the day already. I think I’m going to take the rest of the day to look for work. I’m not cut out for this.”
Tazen’s eyes narrow. “I thought you would do anything not to have to leave this place?”
I cross my arms. “Yes, Tazen, you’re right but it’s clear you’re never going to give me even a slight chance to work as a mechanic so I’ll find someone who will. Now, unless there is something else you need me to do, I’m going to head out.”
He studies me for a long, long moment before he finally speaks. “You want a job in the garage?”
“Is that a stupid question?” I mutter.
He smirks at me.
“Answer my question, angel.”
“Yes, Tazen, I want a job in the garage.”
“Fine,” he says, crossing his arms. “It turns out I might have some work for you there. But there are conditions.”
I roll my eyes to the ceiling, then back, muttering, “Of course there are.”
“You don’t touch my builds.”
I blink. “So you want me to do what then?”
“We have a fuck load that come back in for services, replacement bits, things like that. You can help out on those, it’s basic work but it’ll give you great experience. You’ll have free range with all that, but no one touches my builds except my trained men.”
Gosh, I hate him sometimes.
But he knows I’ll accept, because even doing basics on the cars that come back in is an amazing chance. It’s also a chance to prove just what I can do to Tazen arrogant Watts.
“Fine,” I say casually.
“You work the same hours, and you take orders from me like the other guys. You’re not running this show anymore, Quinn. You do something without my permission, I fire you. These are the same rules all the men have.”
“Fine,” I say again.
“Good.” He steps out of the way. “Let’s see how well you really handle this man’s environment, because I can tell you now, my guys won’t be happy about having a woman on the team.”