He smiles from behind his thick beard. “I appreciate that and will definitely take you up on the offer.”
He takes another long pause. “One more thing before I set you loose. Dylan told me that you and Beau have some history.”
I merely nod because quite frankly, I have no idea what to say.
He goes on. “I’ll do my best to keep you two apart, but let’s be honest, this is an auto shop that doesn’t have long hours. You two will be here at the same time more often than not.”
“Understood,” I tell him. “Like I said, I don’t need any special treatment. Beau and I may not be getting along right now, but I will be professional. I promise.”
If I’m being honest, if this were any other job, those words wouldn’t hold much meaning, but I wholeheartedly mean them now. Jack is doing me a favor, and I’m not going to fuck him over.
I may be unhinged, but I don’t mess with family.
We talk for a few more minutes. He goes over salary, and it’s more than I’ve been making waiting tables, so I’m happy.
Before we get back to work, Jack says, “I’m not sure that we’ve ever had a woman work in the shop, but I’m glad you’re here. If you need anything at all, just come tell me.”
I smile. “Will do.”
***
Three hours later, I’m sitting in the middle of Jack’s office with file folders spread out on every usable surface. I’m crouched in the middle of the mess, trying to make sense of it all. A true crime podcast plays in a low volume through my phone. Eventhough I’m not paying too much attention to it, the familiar noise helps to keep my ADHD brain focused on the task at hand.
I don’t stop for anything until Jack opens the door. Seeing the giant mess I’ve made, he stops walking any further.
“Uh, Jo. Everything okay?”
“Well, yes. I started doing the filing that you asked me to, but absolutely nothing was where it was supposed to be.”
He sighs. “Jamie has been handling the filing, so that’s not surprising.”
“I didn’t want to just shove things in random places.” I pause to giggle and say, “That’s what she said.”
Jack also chuckles as I continue.
“When I took everything out, I realized that everything inside the files was pretty messed up too, so I took everything and laid it out to get a better look.” My eyes scan the room at the mess I’ve made. “Sorry. I guess I didn’t realize how far down the rabbit hole I went.”
“No!” He exclaims a bit louder than I think he means to. “You can do whatever you need to get things back in order.”
“Are you sure? I can clean it all up and put it back how it was.” I really hope he tells me to keep going because I’ve been on a roll.
“I’m sure,” he says.
“Do you want me to move out of your office?” I ask.
“Not necessary. I’ve got some stuff out in the bay I can do to keep me busy. But I did come in here to grab you for something.”
“Oh? What’s that?” I pick up one of the folders and thumb through it.
“Food. I bought lunch for everyone to celebrate your first day.”
I look up at him. “Really? You didn’t have to do that.”
“Don’t get too excited. I mainly did it because I forgot my lunch,” he jokes. “Come get some before it gets cold.”
I stand up from the center of the chaos and hop over assorted file folders all the way to the door. I can only describe it as it looks like I’m playing a rousing game of the Floor is Lava.
I follow Jack to the breakroom where he’s gotten a decent spread from a local barbeque place. Everyone else already has a plate and is sitting down eating.
